Medicine Atop A Byzantine Church

  A bin full of plaster faces for sale at a roadside tourist stand.

I toured a Turkish hospital the other day, and as I walked around I spent some time with my feelings.  The government-run hospital was crowded and a bit run-down, supplies were short but the staff was doing the best that it could with what little it had.  Nasal cannulas and oxygen masks were in short supply, so they lay draped over old, blue O2 tanks waiting for the next customer.  The lunch cart made its rounds with pots of colored liquid being ladled out onto trays.  Patients lay on ancient looking aluminum beds in the hallways and rooms; it looked like what I envisioned an eastern bloc hospital to look like during the Soviet era.

My initial emotion was something just shy of contempt.  I wondered why a modern nation had such an antiquated emergency department.  Over time I softened and realized that they were practicing the best medicine that they could given the resources that they had to work with. The Turks are desperately trying to upgrade their emergency medical capabilities, after-all that was the purpose of the conference that I was lucky enough to attend. 

I found out later that the construction of the new hospital was on hold because the intended site sits atop the ruins of a Byzantine church.  I suppose that's not an issue that we have to deal with here in the United States.  I wish them luck.

Random Thoughts From Turkey

 A Turkish woman sells bags of oranges at the site of some ancient Roman ruins.  At first I didn't like the fence between us, but now think it adds something to the photo.

I spent the last week exploring parts of Turkey, country where I have very little experience.  Most of my time was spent in the south along the Mediterranean Sea, but I was able to eek out a couple of days in Istanbul as well.Here are some general observations as I sit in Paris' Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) on my way back to Atlanta.

• The first thing that comes to mind is Turkey is the cleanest country I've ever seen.  I watched a man collect up a random piece of trash on a subway car, exit the car at a station simply to throw it away in the garbage bin, and then reenter the car to continue his journey.

• Turkish is an evil language that resemblances no other form of communication used on this planet. I felt like a complete foreigner, unable to conjure up even the most basic of phrases.

• The history of Istanbul is staggering.  I should have read "Istanbul For Dummies" before I arrived.  

•  The towns along the Mediterranean are replete with oddly dressed Russian tourists.  I felt as if I were thrust back into the 1970's.

• Turkish men are oddly pear-shaped.

• Everyone wants to sell you something.  It's starts off with a innocent shared experience of tea and then progresses to more pricey items.

• Turkish Airlines cornered the market on turquoise leather seats.

• Turkish food is very good but you may have to struggle to find a good bottle of wine. 

• Taxis are way over-priced, but in they are all relatively new and painted the same shade of "taxi-yellow".

• Turkey is a progressive Muslim country, which I thought would be a good model for others to strive towards. People simply practiced their own beliefs and let others do the same, always being respectful toward one another.