To my amazement, the way I was received by the doctors prior to the actual testing was pretty welcoming. I found that they didn't ask for a name, but rather for a pseudonym and a birthdate to be my identity there. Then, I was sent to a counselor whose job was to give simple information about AIDS and HIV. The guy didn't show any signs of disrespect for the fact that I'm going to check if I have HIV, which was astonishing. I heard that until very recently AIDS was seen as such a tabboo even by doctors. And after the counseling session they gave me a few condoms and lubricants, and three booklets with information about AIDS, and then I went to have the test. I'll go get the results next Sunday, hopefully it'll be negative, wish me luck!! :-)

Oh, I also didn't pay a penny for any of that.

It was a very nice experience that I didn't expect to have at a government lab, and I'm happy my country is having a more liberal approach to sexually transmitted diseases and is actually propagating against the whole stigma that's associated with them, especially HIV and AIDS.