Translation of substraer

At noon the oldest soon came home. He was a doctor and gave me some salt and other Cuban medicine. I was reluctant to swallow that stuff but the pain and the doctor's smile persuaded me in the end.
Please write me from your home as soon as your are back. My Spanish is better than that of most Americans, but my English is worse than that of most people here. It is a strange position that I am in.
We paid for the taxi and waited thirty minutes for the driver to arrive. Again, Argentina reminded me of Italy. We drove into town and were looking for a place. The town made a great first impression.