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.
1 comment:
Water bad, beer good! ;-)
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