I'm sure some of you have been having trouble sleeping because you're wondering if I'm getting enough nutritious food to eat, but now you can rest easy knowing that I'm eating plenty of sausage.
Hungarians eat sausage for breakfast and dinner every day, and sometimes for lunch. Breakfast for my family is pretty much the same as dinner - bread with cheese, sausage (pepperoni-like or salami,) ham, and/or pate, plus some paprikas (yellow peppers - so mild they're almost flavorless) and possibly tomatoes. At dinner we might add orange juice and pickles and cherry preserves. There is plenty of fresh fruit in my house, but it is primarily eaten as snacks or for dinner. Sometimes we have muesli for breakfast or dinner, too. Lunch is the main meal. On Sunday we had roast beef with potatoes and soup, pickles, and cherry preserves for lunch. On Saturday we had "vishli" which was hot dogs stuffed with sausage and bacon and topped with 3 kinds of cheese and then sour cream and more peperoni and paprikas, which we ate with bread. If I don't go vegetarian in Spain, I'm going to be a sausage when I get home. But the food is all good.
I didn't do much this weekend. Yesterday I went with Zsolt, my host, up to a nice view spot on a nearby hill where I could see the city and the area our house is in. Later in the day Agi and I went to a museum which had an exhibition of 150 years of Hungarian art - 1800 to 1950, and also a permanent history exhibit. Then we had crepes and got a ride home from Zsolt, who was visiting his father and celebrating his name day.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Suggestions needed
I need suggestions for an 'American dinner' to cook for my family. I'd like to make enchiladas but I'm sure that I won't be able to find tortillas. So please send or post suggestions for what would be a truly American dinner I could make them.
Guaranteed Authentic Mayo Chix Garment
Yes, "Mayo Chix" is a brand here, one I saw while shopping with Agi, my host mom, on Friday. They have a catalogue and everything, and they charge $50 for a sweater with the above statement woven in. There are a lot of brands and t-shirt logos here that look American but when you read them they don't really make sense, or at least they're brands or places I've never heard of. It's amusing for me to read peoples clothes if they're in English. Clothes don't seem to be any cheaper here than in the US, and I think they're more expensive, but then again I don't usually buy things at the sort of little boutiques in malls that Agi likes to check out.
I spent the last two days with Agi. On Thursday we went to Obuda and saw some roman ruins, the Vasarelli museum which was interesting and Agi had never been there, and we bought bagli, which is Hungarian Christmas bread made with poppy seeds. It's delicious. Then we went to the Szécheny baths in City park. http://spasbudapest.com/furdo.php?idx=14&menu=8 We spent a couple hours soaking in warm watter. The coolest pool is outside and it has different fountains and water jets that come on at different times. One of them propels you quite quickly around a tiled circle in the center of the pool which is fun, and you kind of feel like you're exercising. Kids and adults all get in and go around bumping into one another. We left around 7:30 and headed home.
On Friday, we did some shopping and then went to lunch with Dr. Nagy, (my host dad) and their daughter Oshi (this is a phonetic spelling and may be wrong.) After lunch we went to the Sammelweiss Museum of medical history. Sammelweiss was a Hungarian physician who practiced in Austria. At that time, many mothers died of "child birth fever." Sammelweiss discovered that if you washed your hands, particularly in chlorine, before delivering the baby, the mothers were less likely to get sick. (His colleagues would go straight from the anatomy dissection lab to the delivery room without any hand washing or changing of clothes.) So essentially we have Sammelweiss to thank for hand washing. Unfortunately, everyone in Austria thought he was crazy when he told them this, and he died in Hungary without recognition until after his death. The Museum traces the history of medical practice from African witch doctors with shrunken heads (they have a replica) and Egyptian mummification and doctors, through Greek and Roman medicine, trepanation and blood letting in the middle ages, through the present time. We had a personalized guided tour from one of the museum employees who explained the displays in Hungarian and then Agi translated to English for me.
The Sammelweiss Museum: (I wish I had payed the 3 dollars to take pictures inside but I didn't)
Friday night I went out with Oshi and some of her friends. We did some bar hopping as most of their favorite spots were quite full. We ended up in a little cafe with a foosball table and beers which seemed cheap to me but were pricey for the neighborhood (My 1/2 liter eidelweiss was less than 3 dollars.) They were a lively group and it was the first time in Budapest I have been over dressed - usually I am underdressed because people like to dress up here, but this group actually had on t-shirts and jeans. At 11:30 I rode the night bus home, which goes directly from downtown Pest to my usuall bus stop, and was very crowded for much of the ride.
Me and Oshi:
I spent the last two days with Agi. On Thursday we went to Obuda and saw some roman ruins, the Vasarelli museum which was interesting and Agi had never been there, and we bought bagli, which is Hungarian Christmas bread made with poppy seeds. It's delicious. Then we went to the Szécheny baths in City park. http://spasbudapest.com/furdo.php?idx=14&menu=8 We spent a couple hours soaking in warm watter. The coolest pool is outside and it has different fountains and water jets that come on at different times. One of them propels you quite quickly around a tiled circle in the center of the pool which is fun, and you kind of feel like you're exercising. Kids and adults all get in and go around bumping into one another. We left around 7:30 and headed home.
On Friday, we did some shopping and then went to lunch with Dr. Nagy, (my host dad) and their daughter Oshi (this is a phonetic spelling and may be wrong.) After lunch we went to the Sammelweiss Museum of medical history. Sammelweiss was a Hungarian physician who practiced in Austria. At that time, many mothers died of "child birth fever." Sammelweiss discovered that if you washed your hands, particularly in chlorine, before delivering the baby, the mothers were less likely to get sick. (His colleagues would go straight from the anatomy dissection lab to the delivery room without any hand washing or changing of clothes.) So essentially we have Sammelweiss to thank for hand washing. Unfortunately, everyone in Austria thought he was crazy when he told them this, and he died in Hungary without recognition until after his death. The Museum traces the history of medical practice from African witch doctors with shrunken heads (they have a replica) and Egyptian mummification and doctors, through Greek and Roman medicine, trepanation and blood letting in the middle ages, through the present time. We had a personalized guided tour from one of the museum employees who explained the displays in Hungarian and then Agi translated to English for me.
The Sammelweiss Museum: (I wish I had payed the 3 dollars to take pictures inside but I didn't)
Friday night I went out with Oshi and some of her friends. We did some bar hopping as most of their favorite spots were quite full. We ended up in a little cafe with a foosball table and beers which seemed cheap to me but were pricey for the neighborhood (My 1/2 liter eidelweiss was less than 3 dollars.) They were a lively group and it was the first time in Budapest I have been over dressed - usually I am underdressed because people like to dress up here, but this group actually had on t-shirts and jeans. At 11:30 I rode the night bus home, which goes directly from downtown Pest to my usuall bus stop, and was very crowded for much of the ride.
Me and Oshi:
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
A longer update
Statue Park:
Unicum!
Unicum!
Yesterday I attended the first meeting of the board of directors of the first private hospital company in Hungary. Exciting! Of course it was in Hungarian, so I didn't understand everything, but I got some of the jist of what was being said. They approved some of the things I had discussed with Dr Varga, including some of the criteria for the peer review committee. One of the most debated topics was whether to include elected members on the board of directors which was my suggestion. I'm not sure if they decided yes, no, or to postpone this decision, but many of them were worried that this will make their lives much harder. I hope if they choose to try it they will find that sometimes it makes things easier, and that it makes the base of information and perspectives they use for decision making broader.
Other things discussed at the meeting were the formulary, which was postponed pending expected national legislation, and the governing rules for the board of directors which were approved. They also discussed drug reps who currently have completely unrestricted access to the doctors, which some people would like to regulate. The situation with drug reps here seems quite similar to the situation in the US 5-10 years ago. But at least there is some recognition that this may not be ideal. Along with me and Dr. Varga, attendees included 2 other consultants, the quality control officer for the company, the CEO, the pharmacy consultant/director, and the directors of the 2 hospitals which will be or are run by the company.
Today Michele and I went to statue park where all the old Soviet statues were sent to die. There should be some funny pictures to post from that trip later tonight or this week. After that we went to the Zwack Unicum Museum. (Unicum is a famous Hungarian Liquor.) We should have eaten lunch first, but when we emerged from the museum at 1:30 after 3 tasting shots at least we were happy. We rode the tram to the Nagy Palacsinta house - big crepe house - which is open 24 hrs a day, and had a late lunch. For 5 dollars I had one savory crepe which was Milanese which means spaghetti with red sauce, cheese, and mushrooms, and 3 turos (desert) crepes which are my favorite, plus 0.2 litres of "coke light." I like that value menu!
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop of the several kilos of alcohol we bought at the Unicum museum, and then headed to Mammut (the mall) for some shopping and internet, so here we are. I'm going to need another massage just from carrying my purchases home in my backpack!
Yesterday I didn't do much other than attend the meeting. I was tired from the busy weekend, so when I got home I just read and went to bed early.
I asked my host Dr. Nagy why there is not more ongoing protest about the corrupt politicians in power here. Earlier, he and Agi had said that people here are not upset that the party lied, because they expect politicians to lie, or because the did things which were not good for the citizens, because they expect this from time to time too, but because they said that they lied and made bad decisions. But anyway, he says that given the very sad and unlucky history or fate of protesters in Hungarian history, people are not particularly inspired to speak up. Even the first king, St. Steven, was mean to his dissenters - he cut them into 4 pieces and sent the parts out to the 4 areas of the country to show what happened to people who disagreed with them. And it is true that most of the Hungarian revolutions or times when people have tried to stand up to those in power and change injustice have ended very badly for the protesters, so I suppose this is understandable.
Other things discussed at the meeting were the formulary, which was postponed pending expected national legislation, and the governing rules for the board of directors which were approved. They also discussed drug reps who currently have completely unrestricted access to the doctors, which some people would like to regulate. The situation with drug reps here seems quite similar to the situation in the US 5-10 years ago. But at least there is some recognition that this may not be ideal. Along with me and Dr. Varga, attendees included 2 other consultants, the quality control officer for the company, the CEO, the pharmacy consultant/director, and the directors of the 2 hospitals which will be or are run by the company.
Today Michele and I went to statue park where all the old Soviet statues were sent to die. There should be some funny pictures to post from that trip later tonight or this week. After that we went to the Zwack Unicum Museum. (Unicum is a famous Hungarian Liquor.) We should have eaten lunch first, but when we emerged from the museum at 1:30 after 3 tasting shots at least we were happy. We rode the tram to the Nagy Palacsinta house - big crepe house - which is open 24 hrs a day, and had a late lunch. For 5 dollars I had one savory crepe which was Milanese which means spaghetti with red sauce, cheese, and mushrooms, and 3 turos (desert) crepes which are my favorite, plus 0.2 litres of "coke light." I like that value menu!
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to drop of the several kilos of alcohol we bought at the Unicum museum, and then headed to Mammut (the mall) for some shopping and internet, so here we are. I'm going to need another massage just from carrying my purchases home in my backpack!
Yesterday I didn't do much other than attend the meeting. I was tired from the busy weekend, so when I got home I just read and went to bed early.
I asked my host Dr. Nagy why there is not more ongoing protest about the corrupt politicians in power here. Earlier, he and Agi had said that people here are not upset that the party lied, because they expect politicians to lie, or because the did things which were not good for the citizens, because they expect this from time to time too, but because they said that they lied and made bad decisions. But anyway, he says that given the very sad and unlucky history or fate of protesters in Hungarian history, people are not particularly inspired to speak up. Even the first king, St. Steven, was mean to his dissenters - he cut them into 4 pieces and sent the parts out to the 4 areas of the country to show what happened to people who disagreed with them. And it is true that most of the Hungarian revolutions or times when people have tried to stand up to those in power and change injustice have ended very badly for the protesters, so I suppose this is understandable.
Sight Seeing
The Museum of applied arts, where we saw the treasures of the Esterhazy:
Michele horsing around in the catacombs:
View of parlament from castle hill:
View of castle hill from Pest with the chain bridge in the foreground:
Michele horsing around in the catacombs:
View of parlament from castle hill:
View of castle hill from Pest with the chain bridge in the foreground:
So I wrote this on Monday but the e-mail posting function seems to be broken, so here it is now. I will add some pictures of me and Michele and the city etc when I get home if my family is not using the computer.
Michele and I have been so busy sight seeing that I haven't had any internet time. On Friday we went to the "House of Terror Museum" where the fascists and then the communists tortured and killed their political prisoners, then to a special Van Gough exhibit at the art museum, and walked around city park and Hero's square. On Saturday we spent the day on castle hill, at the Budapest History Museum, the Telephony Museum which has an awesome web site I will post a link to eventually, the Matyas Templom, and the Labyrinths underneath castle hill. Saturday night at 10 we went to the oldest bath house in Budapest - nearly 500 years old, which has lots of young people from 10 PM to 4 AM Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday we went to the "Treasures of Esterhazy" exhibit at the applied arts museum which is an exhibit of fancy stuff recovered from a large old estate in Hungary, then we went to the Lutheran church and museum and St. Steven's Basilica, where of course we saw St. Steven's preserved right hand. We called it a somewhat early night. Today was shopping day, the cave church, and the Gellart baths complete with a 3200 Forint (17 dollar) half hour massage. The massage was good but the warmest bath was 38 degrees Celsius so I will try a new bath house next. Tomorrow I go back to "work."
Michele and I have been so busy sight seeing that I haven't had any internet time. On Friday we went to the "House of Terror Museum" where the fascists and then the communists tortured and killed their political prisoners, then to a special Van Gough exhibit at the art museum, and walked around city park and Hero's square. On Saturday we spent the day on castle hill, at the Budapest History Museum, the Telephony Museum which has an awesome web site I will post a link to eventually, the Matyas Templom, and the Labyrinths underneath castle hill. Saturday night at 10 we went to the oldest bath house in Budapest - nearly 500 years old, which has lots of young people from 10 PM to 4 AM Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday we went to the "Treasures of Esterhazy" exhibit at the applied arts museum which is an exhibit of fancy stuff recovered from a large old estate in Hungary, then we went to the Lutheran church and museum and St. Steven's Basilica, where of course we saw St. Steven's preserved right hand. We called it a somewhat early night. Today was shopping day, the cave church, and the Gellart baths complete with a 3200 Forint (17 dollar) half hour massage. The massage was good but the warmest bath was 38 degrees Celsius so I will try a new bath house next. Tomorrow I go back to "work."
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Somjas Vagok! (I'm thirsty!)
The view from my bedroom:
The veiw from my family's back yard:
The hospital I visited on Wednesday:
Me and a famous Hungarian:
I don't understand how most Hungarians have not yet died of dehydration. Maybe it's how they stay so thin, but I really don't see them drinking a healthy amount of water. They often don't drink anything with meals, and if they do have water it's usually a 0.3 liter bottle of mineral water. You have to ask for water in restaurants.
So ranting over, I will answer some questions my Mom sent. What are the hospitals like there? I have been to 3 hospitals so far, two in the country and one in the city. They are all much older than American hospitals, and generally look less attractive, although they do seem to be clean. Patients stay in rooms of 4-8 beds, and the bathrooms for the whole floor of 30+ beds are in the hallway. Patients tend to stay much longer than they do in American hospitals, and Dr. Varga is concerned about how to get them to accept shorter stays. If I were in any hospital I would want to stay as few days as possible, especially with 3+ roommates, but I suppose it all depends what you're going home to. Dr. Varga gave me a tour of the national hospital on Monday, which is a large complex with separate buildings for different departments. I got to see the Neonatal ICU where they said they can keep babies alive after 24 weeks, which is the same as in America, with a 50% mortality rate and a high morbidity rate, (33% immediate mortality, 33% later, and also high morbidity in the US.) So it seems that despite more limited resources, they are practicing very high quality medicine here. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising, since my general impression of Hungary is that it's a proud and industrious, and quite capable country, despite it's rocky history. Some other differences include different surgical subspecialties maintaining separate operating rooms, and several day pre-operative stays for most or all non-urgent / elective surgery patients. One-day surgery is virtually unheard of here, and despite concerns that patients will not be enthused about it, Dr. Varga is introducing it at the hospitals he helps manage.
So ranting over, I will answer some questions my Mom sent. What are the hospitals like there? I have been to 3 hospitals so far, two in the country and one in the city. They are all much older than American hospitals, and generally look less attractive, although they do seem to be clean. Patients stay in rooms of 4-8 beds, and the bathrooms for the whole floor of 30+ beds are in the hallway. Patients tend to stay much longer than they do in American hospitals, and Dr. Varga is concerned about how to get them to accept shorter stays. If I were in any hospital I would want to stay as few days as possible, especially with 3+ roommates, but I suppose it all depends what you're going home to. Dr. Varga gave me a tour of the national hospital on Monday, which is a large complex with separate buildings for different departments. I got to see the Neonatal ICU where they said they can keep babies alive after 24 weeks, which is the same as in America, with a 50% mortality rate and a high morbidity rate, (33% immediate mortality, 33% later, and also high morbidity in the US.) So it seems that despite more limited resources, they are practicing very high quality medicine here. I suppose that shouldn't be surprising, since my general impression of Hungary is that it's a proud and industrious, and quite capable country, despite it's rocky history. Some other differences include different surgical subspecialties maintaining separate operating rooms, and several day pre-operative stays for most or all non-urgent / elective surgery patients. One-day surgery is virtually unheard of here, and despite concerns that patients will not be enthused about it, Dr. Varga is introducing it at the hospitals he helps manage.
How do Hungarian houses compare to those here, since most people live in apartments. How far is it to a bus, from the suburban house, and how frequently do they run? My Hungarian family's house is quite similar to an American house of the same age (mid 1900s I would guess) except I think it has more bathrooms. On the second floor, where my room, my hosts room, and their son's room is, there are 2 bathrooms - one with a toilet and sink and the other complete. There is at least one bathroom on the first floor, and one in the basement. I haven't been to the third floor to see what's there. And the mother-on-law apartment that is attached must also have at least one bathroom. It takes me about 1/2 hr by bus then tram to get to Moskva ter, from where I can take subways or trams to pretty much anywhere I would want to go. When i went from my northern suburb of Buda to a northern suburb of Pest on Wednesday morning at 6 AM the trip took a total of 1 hr, which isn't bad at all.
Has Budapest changed at all in five years, and in what way? I think more people speak English in restaurants, museums, etc. I think there is more diversity in clothing / personal style at least amongst young people. (But there's still lots of crazy red hair amongst middle aged and elderly people, and lots of tight pants.)
Is the government still being pressured to resign because they lied in the parliamentary campaign? I haven't heard much about this, although there was some excitement this week when someone fired shots at the main police headquarters. My host family suggests it may have been the government itself faking an attack to justify the restrictions that have recently been placed on group protests in front of the government center.
How many people ask you about US foreign policy, and do they believe you when you deny agreement with it? Whenever the war in Iraq has come up, the Hungarian I am talking to jokingly suggests that it is all related to oil. I was discussing the 1956 revolution with someone and he suggested that perhaps America did not help "spread democracy" in that case because Hungary has no oil. Because I am their guest, I think they are nice to me, but I would not be surprised to learn that they are really very happy with recent American foreign policy, as they should be. However, today Michele and I visited the Terror Museum, in the building where the fascists and then the communists imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured their political enemies, which reminded me of luck I am to have been born in the US, and makes me a little bit less embarrassed to be an American.
I think that's enough for now. I'll write more about Michele's visit sometime soon.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Safe arrival and first day
I arrived safely in Budapest at around 9:30 Hungarian time, 4:00 AM Minnesota time. The airport minibus driver (like a super shuttle) had no difficulty finding the home of my host family. I had a tasty lunch, unpacked, and then had a nap. After my nap we ate dinner (also tasty) and walked to a nearby shopping area so I could get cash from the ATM. My hosts are Dr. Nagy, his wife Dr. Czimbalmos, and their son Gergö who is a law student in Vienna. They have been exceptionally welcoming and nice to me. They live on a lovely hill in "cold valley" a northern suburb of Buda.
This morning I rode into work with my host, Dr. Nagy, and then rode the tram and subway from his office to the office of Dr. Varga, my other mentor / supervisor for this visit. Dr. Varga showed me around the hospital complex and then wanted to 'pick my brain' about hospital administration in America. Unfortunately, I did not have much good info to share with him.
In the afternoon, I returned to Dr. Nagy's office and went on some house calls with him. So far, all of the patients I have seen have been very friendly, despite the fact that pretty much all I can say in Hungarian is pleased to meet you/good day, thank you, hello and goodbye, and I don't speak very much Hungarian. I had no difficulty buying tickets for the train or navigating around the city, so that is good. Tomorrow I will buy my monthly transit pass, try and get some concert tickets for the opera or some folk dancing while Michelle is here, and either do some sightseeing or work with Dr. Nagy in the afternoon.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
All Ready??
Tonight (Friday) I went to happy hour and karaoke with my friends for an "All American Night Out" before I go. It was a good way to spend my last night in America for a while. I will miss happy hour with you guys!
I also got my last board score back this week - Step 2 CK - and I passed, so unless there's a test associated with the hospice rotation, I am done with tests in med school. Hooray!
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