Hospital Visit in the 3rd World

 

So I was not generally unhappy with the service because I had no choice and since it is not a suing kind of country, my only recourse being never do that again, it is a mute point.  However we were a little shocked by some parts of the practices.  So let me brief you–My daughter, within the first 3 days of being in the 3rd world, caught the flu.  It was confirmed by a blood test and an x-ray. Those may seem like some extreme tests for the flu but when in a place where it can be almost anything, it is the best option.  That was followed by a 4 day hospital stay.

Some gripes

First clinic–finger prick, wtf, and they get a drop at a time and then are hitting the canister on the table to drop it down.  Hmmm–could it not break, maybe splash out, maybe you might drop it.  It also took  a few minutes.  When you have a kid-you have to be fast and furious.  A regular blood test would have been less traumatic.

Hospital in middle of busy ass area–literally, you had to have skills to even turn into the hospital from the oposite lane.

No gloves-2 times

Guy came  into our room and did not even identify himself

-Man comes in our room with street clothes-who the hec are you?

I left hospital to buy some goods as I would be over “nighting”.

-There was no sign out/sign in desk. Wtf

Did I mention that earlier a man came to our room with two female doctors and he had no uniform, no badge and said nothing.  Who are these f-kers*?

Oh this last thing had me climbing the non existent curtains.  So the bed rail was preventing my toddler from face pancaking into the concrete floor.  When I took a closer look I saw that there was dried blood.  I almost lost my shit as it was on several of the posts and I agonized over making a grand gesture and saying something to my husband or the staff. Then I jumped out of my mind, grabbed the bottle of alcohol  provided by the hospital and started wiping with some paper towels that we had bought from the store.  I was able to clean the part that actually grazed the pillow and cover sheet.  Yes I am super anal about that and I would done or but it was a lost battle.  (This particular thing is not a 3rd world phenomena, your hospital might make you cringe if you study it.  I thought that the orderlies took care of this. )

Here is the best part

Hospital is across the street from a mall-the only place to buy goods-food, clothes, etc. and to get wifi. You have to cross a 6-8 lane road.  I received some aid from an adult crossing guard but I still didn’t trust the drivers.  Wtf-where is the light? Where is the pedestrian crosswalk over the main road, since no one wants to/can stop?

Funny-everyone says that life is fast, no it was just the flipping people on this road.

Have to lighten the mood-I was watching Nickelodeon, as what else would one do in a hospital if reading is not possible.. — This little minion like thing was going through the scanner at the airport check-in .  No liquids or less liquids-right.  So he drinks all but 3 ozs of the soda and sends the bottle through.  When he comes out the other end he spits the soda back into the bottle and then walks off the customs line.  Funniest shit I have seen-in a while.  I wonder if that would work for us real folk.

Note:  they let you keep a bunch of stuff from the hospital, of course you will pay for it at the end.  Pillow. Plastic basin.  Toothpaste pack. Bottle of rubbing alcohol. Towels.

I was in China a while back and someone told me not to get sick.  This was confirmed when I saw the nasty traffic and heard the sirens from who know where.  Then I witnessed the ambulance driving on the wide sidewalk as the traffic did not clear a path.  hmmmmmmm.

Happy Health Travels!!

Restaurant Review-Apostolos Pizzeria -Obidos, Portugal

So why did we have pizza in Portugal, when Italy is just a hop skip and a jump away.  Hmm, we felt like it.  There are no rules when travelling and enjoying your meal is key as well as enjoying yourself.

On a week night with little foot traffic we

Restaurant Review Lisbon

Oh so what do you do when you kind of want something different.  (When traveling) I mean you can top out and pay an arm and a leg and get really fancy food that took an artist chef an hour to prepare, or you can seek out some Nepalese food.  That is just what we did on our last night in Lisbon.  To our great luck, there was a place within walking distance of our place.

It was a small place but the staff was attentive.  They allowed my daughter to make a chips garden on the floor.  I call it a chip but it was one of the crispy flat breads.  It had an airy taste like a snack we had when little kids.  It was cooked in a large pot filled with hot oil and it went from a flat translucent shape to a chicharron consistency and shape.

The portions looked a little small but then, we could not forget where we were. (not the land of large and extra large.) We even tried some hot spices and were crying “uncle” at the end.

 

Now to the rating:

Ambiance–great and well no other kids (7)

Smell–decent and not overwhelming when you enter (10)

Service–great (10)

Taste–8.5, I was pretty impressed.  I only took away .5 of a point from the Mango Curry dish as it did not have anything else but the sauce and the chicken. I felt they could have added something-like onions, peppers, etc. -I mean that it did not have to be cooked down. Texture can do wonders for a dish. I have also experienced slightly  seasoned white rice in the past. It’s rare but this was good.

10 on taste is reserved for a complete meal that blows my mind.

 

The place is called Fishtail.

http://fishtail.pt/

Address: Av. Óscar Monteiro Torres 54, 1000-281 Lisboa, Portugal

Phone:+351 21 135 1248

 

 

When in town, check it out!