Blogs from Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 18

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 ... read more

A Tuesday in Toledo No one knows the day I slept in this morning and then laid in bed reading. It was heaven. I bought an extender for my converter yesterday from the grouchiest old man at the hardware store and was able to play my iPOD in my room (to drown out the BONO/U2 from Mary´s room). The extender makes the adaptor so far out from the wall that it needs to be propped up but that´s cool. Getting back to the grouchy hardware guy; this guy thought Mary and I were total idiots. The outlets here are round and recessed. My converter is a rectangle and so the plugs don´t reach the electricity connection. Any hoot, I don´t speak Spanish and left my dictionary in Madrid (damn you Mr. Abdul) and Mary was unfamiliar ... read more

Morning in Toledo Oh, what a beautiful morning! I woke up at 7AM to my Ironman alarm. I padded to the next room and woke up Mary. We got dressed and headed out for water and Coke light. Then back to the residence to meet the group at 9AM. We headed across town to the ESTO offices which are located in the University and had coffee at the campus diner. To our great surpise, they have a full bar and beer tap in the campus diner. I think that would have been a fantastic addition my college experience! We then walked to the other site of the University (everything is very spread out) which is a converted armory. We met the head of the nursing department at Universidad Castilla-LaMancha (UCLM) and saw a presentation of how ... read more

For my last trip out of Madrid.. until I go home to New York... we went to Toledo with the school. Toledo is known for being the city of cultures, it has 2 of the 3 surviving Synagogues in Spain as well as a famous Cathedral and Mosque. It is also known for its metal work. They sell many large and very sharp swords and such. They also work with GOLD... pure gold plates, hand-crafted that cost over 2,000 euro. It's crazy! ... read more

It´s official. I´m not just a guiri on vacation here. I´ve gotten a Spanish hair cut, I´ve been to a Spanish dentist, and I´ve fled the city, as many Madrileños do, to the local countryside. My pequeña viaje began at the Madrid train station, Atocha Renfe after a late morning churro con chocolate and a fresh copy of Las Memorias de una Geisha in Español (has anyone noticed that I have a book fetish?) which I bought while prowling the street bookstalls near the Prado. AND, I can actually read this book, which is helping my Spanish immensely. I was charmed to find Renfe to be your classical old train station with high smoked glass windows and old brick construction (just like you expect to find in Europe). But Renfe has an exotic twist: as you ... read more