As you may have noticed, I haven't been too up to date on the blogs posts recently. That's mostly because I had an absolutely incredible weekend in Istanbul two weeks ago (talking about that wouldn't make sense in a blog about my time in Greece, but I'll post pictures anyways, plus some from the Peloponnese) and spent last weekend at the Hygeia Hospital in Athens. Plot-twist, amIright?
Basically what occurred is this: while on our CYA sponsored trip to the Peloponnese, I encountered some questionable Pastichio in the city of Tripolis. Pastichio is a (normally delicious) dish consisting of layers of cooked beef, pasta, and bechamel (but it's NOT lasagna, they get mad if you say that). This happened on a Wednesday. By Saturday morning, I was being whisked down the mountains of Delphi in a taxicab to reach the hospital back in Athens, two hours away. I was diagnosed with some severe dehydration and an infection in my gastrointestinal tract - they still don't know what the pathogen was, but hey, that's life for you. After three nights, four days, and a nuclear arsenal of antibiotics, I was released with a clean bill of health. It has been kind of an out-of-body experience to think that I was just in a Greek hospital.
My stay in the hospital was surprisingly headache free as well. There was barely any language barrier with my limited Greek and the staff's extensive knowledge of English. The CYA administration was also incredibly efficient and helpful in making sure I got the care I needed and handled everything regarding my insurance (and keeping my family in the loop). I'm really grateful to have such an amazing group of people looking out for me while I'm here.
I had to continue my antibiotic regiment for a few days after returning to Pangrati and CYA, but I'm officially med free! My Greek teacher let me know that the community holds medical donation drives at a nearby church, and I took the opportunity to donate the antibiotics (they're mostly over the counter here) to charity today. They go to sick citizens here that can't afford the prescriptions or have been hard hit by the financial crisis. It's the least I could do after all of the help and care I was given/shown in the past week. And it also really made me feel like I'm a part of a community here in Pangrati. So I guess this story has a silver lining afterall, besides the fact that I have a pretty awesome story to tell about my experience abroad now. That and my newfound knowledge of the Greek medical system.
Hopefully next time I'll have a more culturally interesting post (I'll be in Italy next week for our fall recess!)
Anthony
Basically what occurred is this: while on our CYA sponsored trip to the Peloponnese, I encountered some questionable Pastichio in the city of Tripolis. Pastichio is a (normally delicious) dish consisting of layers of cooked beef, pasta, and bechamel (but it's NOT lasagna, they get mad if you say that). This happened on a Wednesday. By Saturday morning, I was being whisked down the mountains of Delphi in a taxicab to reach the hospital back in Athens, two hours away. I was diagnosed with some severe dehydration and an infection in my gastrointestinal tract - they still don't know what the pathogen was, but hey, that's life for you. After three nights, four days, and a nuclear arsenal of antibiotics, I was released with a clean bill of health. It has been kind of an out-of-body experience to think that I was just in a Greek hospital.
My stay in the hospital was surprisingly headache free as well. There was barely any language barrier with my limited Greek and the staff's extensive knowledge of English. The CYA administration was also incredibly efficient and helpful in making sure I got the care I needed and handled everything regarding my insurance (and keeping my family in the loop). I'm really grateful to have such an amazing group of people looking out for me while I'm here.
I had to continue my antibiotic regiment for a few days after returning to Pangrati and CYA, but I'm officially med free! My Greek teacher let me know that the community holds medical donation drives at a nearby church, and I took the opportunity to donate the antibiotics (they're mostly over the counter here) to charity today. They go to sick citizens here that can't afford the prescriptions or have been hard hit by the financial crisis. It's the least I could do after all of the help and care I was given/shown in the past week. And it also really made me feel like I'm a part of a community here in Pangrati. So I guess this story has a silver lining afterall, besides the fact that I have a pretty awesome story to tell about my experience abroad now. That and my newfound knowledge of the Greek medical system.
Hopefully next time I'll have a more culturally interesting post (I'll be in Italy next week for our fall recess!)
Anthony
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