My stepfather often told me, when I was being unreasonable: "Why don't you broaden your pitifully narrow horizons." This blog reflects my desire to do just that. It involves tales of my adventures in extraordinary places but also ordinary places made extraordinary by the people encountered and the food.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Please tell me there's a hospital near by

So you're a low income Dominican who has just been in a motorbike accident. Where do you go to receive medical attention? Don't worry, there's a public hospital in Puerto Plata waiting to accommodate your needs.

Check out this guy hanging in the hospital's lobby giving you a friendly welcome!

Now imagine being stuck in a crowded room like this, where all the bedsheets, food, water, supplies and cleaning services must be provided by your family and the person next to you could be suffering from a highly contagious disease or AIDS. Hey, it's not so bad. You might be fortunate enough to have some random gringos take an interest in your case and help you out.

So, now you've been warmly greeted by the painting of the hospital's mustached founder hanging in the lobby, you've survived your hospital stay and received care, but your doctor wants to update your record. You must now go downstairs to the main floor to retrieve your file from the record's room. Easy, right?

Hey! I think that's my file right there!

That's nice. Now you need to wait in this line

to speak with this lady

who will look through these files in the hopes of finding yours.


Are you not sure what to do with your life? Have no fear! Why not devote your time and energy to updating the public hospital's record keeping system? It would literally take a lifetime to sort through and organize these files, let alone copy them into a computer database. How much do you want to bet that more than half these files belong to individuals long since deceased? Think of all the fun you'd have attempting to track each file's owner and updating all their information!

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