Cool Gelato From a Hot Man

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Flirting in Rome

Chocolate Gelato Mary and I had a busy day touring the local primary care clinic in Toledo. We were able to learn more about the distribution of care in Toledo's version of Universal Health Care. What was most striking was the similarities of how the systems work; the amount of time office visits were, who is seen by who, the focus of primary prevention. The differences seemed to mostly on how care is payed for and the organization of care to be closer to the population (and the use of home visits to provide care to those who cannot go to the clinic). It was a wonderful tour and very informative. I need to sit and ponder what I learned and compare it to the information we will get next week when we are able to visit hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Now onto the good stuff. Mary and I went out for gelato after dinner. We went to our favorite establishment, Il Cafe el Roma, where the owner is very cute and talkative. We met him earlier in the week and were happy to see him again. We chatted about what nightclubs to visit tomorrow night and about the differences between Madrid, Toledo and Seattle (where he lived for two years). After we got our gelato, I took out my wallet to pay and asked "how much." He said, "no charge for my Minnesota friends." Mary and I melted, walkedaway on a cloud. Free ice cream from a cute man who owns an ice cream shop. What more can a girl ask for!

We walked to Zocodover (the town square) to enjoy our treat and soon saw one of the undergraduate UND nursing students. We began to chat with her and then Javier came over (he's an ETSO guide for this internatioal program). So we spent about 1 1/2 hours noshing on gelato and hanging in the square like locals. We felt very European. I love Spain.

As it is now 1AM, and I need to be up tomorrow for a University activity, I should sign off and go to bed. More to come...

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