Hospital news

Today I am broadcasting from the hospital: the last five days I have been interned due to a twisted fracture in my tibia and my fibula. The story is the following: during one capoeira play, my opponent and I became very close from each other. We were playing capoeira d'angola, which is a variant of Capoeira where opponents try to play close to the ground, and perform movements to "bribe" each other and make him perform something we want. Well played, Capoeira d'angola is not a violent variant: you perform movements on a question-answer basis (you kick, I defend, and vice-versa). Not all the times you play it well. It might be that the tension of the moment makes you cross the line of a simulation and make it real, and you kick your opponent, or it might be that you are new at it and still don't know your body: you might kick in the wrong direction, open too little the legs, or block the wrong side of your head. In this case I didn't calculate the measures properly. I performed a "tesoura do pe", a movement that blocks and tackles the opponent, making him fall:

I had my opponent on top of me and I felt I could go out of his block by making him fall down, and when kicking him I did not calculate that the space where he was supposed to fall was occupied by my leg. The result: His whole body weight was placed over my lower leg, generating a twisted fracture on the tibia and the fibula. I've been receiving rye-bread diet during the last five days.

--

Some days past and now I am comfortably seated home, where I can finish this post. I'd like to describe the attention in the whole medical process, which I found pretty interesting in some ways, comparing to other places I've been before:

1. The first thing to do in case of an accident, is to call the emergency center. They will not send any ambulance unless you have fainted (in my case, with a broken and swollen leg, they recommended me to drive to the closest hospital), nor provide any useful information. However, doing this step seems to be necessary to be admitted in your ER room, as they have told me afterwards.

2. Once arrived to the hospital, there is a "do-it-yourself" mentality in the ER rooms more proper from IKEA than from an emergency room. There are no porters, no nurses nor anyone that can provide you some information associated to the hospital. The emergency room is located in the middle of nowhere (pretty convenient when driving for the first time with driving a patient with cardiac arrest, I imagine). In my case, I got a wheelchair because the friend driving me found one an empty one after roaming around asking for information unfruitfully. If I was alone, I think they would have expected me to hop to the counter.

3. Despite being so different, the healthcare systems in Colombia and Denmark seem to recruit people for their ER with a requirement of having no humanity in their treatment. After arriving to the hospital, I was taken care 3 hours after, and in the meantime I only got some ice and paracetamol to relieve the pain.

4. The big difference comes later, when passing from the ER rooms to a real treatment. The nurses and doctors seem to be, not only highly qualified, but they do care a lot about your stay and your comfort while hospitalized. I have never been received a menu with different options for a dinner in a (public) hospital. When it comes to information, they were through in explaining all possible consequences, and give me the liberty of influencing the decision on which treatment suit me the best. I have received this kind of treatment only in private hospitals in my country, and only because in most of the cases, I know the doctors attending me.

4.B. A funny aspect that I got to know while in the hospital, was the effects of cycling in unprotected gear all year round. I was hospitalized in the orthopedic surgery wing, and when talking to the doctors, they mentioned that most of their patients arrive in the winter season, and they are mostly girls cycling in high heels. I just remembered all those wonderful images from Copenhagen cycle chic:

The fact is, that despite how good your legs look on heels and a bike, there are increasing risks on falling of a bike with heels. On the icy season, pavement gets slippery and when falling, a high heel does not provide enough support for your heel, which normally ends in a surgery and long months of recovery.

5. Technology goes fast, and that is ever more evident in the healthcare industry. In a country like Denmark, you feel that there are a good investment in new technologies. For instance, I got an X-lite cast, which is an ultra light cast made out of biodegradable plastic. It allows your skin to breathe (almost nullifying that horrible itchiness from chalk casts), is slim but still strong and feels comfortable (you are still with a cast, but still).

Now, I will have 8 weeks of doing everything from home. It's a new process and I hoping not to go crazy in this period.

Kære danske pige....

It has been a bit more than four years since I first stepped in danish ground, with times on and off inside this society and their amusing cultural behaviours. In most of the aspects, I can see myself as a well adapted immigrant that can find his way in the middle of social constructions and protocols that in many other lands make no sense. One thing that I have never fully understood, is the way danish girls approach the contact with members of the opposite sex, which makes me get into very uncomfortable situations from time to time. The word "dating" seems to have a big weight in the danish society, but a different conception than the one I have coming from a latin world. Today I want to shed some light to you, danish girl (or girl living in Denmark for XX years), on what me (and perhaps most latin guys) actually mean when they are talking to you:

Let's call this:

"Guide for understanding the latin behaviour in the light of scandinavian women":


1. The fact that I talk to you without having 4 liters of beer already processed in my liver, does not mean that I want to sneak in your underwear, nor that I want to marry nor have children with you. In the place where I come from, being outgoing, spontaneous and forward-spoken when it comes to conversations is the natural behaviour, and to do that we do not require to be drunk. In fact, although alcohol ingestion is a socially accepted routine, being drunk is generally seen as a very disrespectful behaviour towards yourself and the ones neighboring you.

2. A latin individual in scandinavia tend to have roots in the society based on his network of friends (unless being married/divorced). That means that most of the compromises that come from family activities are not binding for a person like us. Do not misunderstand that with a conception that we "do not care about family": on the contrary, having a very weak state in our respective countries of origin makes family the backbone of our society, and latin people are very proud of their family traditions.  We also regard meeting the family as a very intimate act, that only comes with a friendship or a long term relationship.

3. Yes, a latino can be talkative, joyful and playful with friends and no-friends. That does not mean he is an "easy-goer" or that he wants to sleep with all the girls he talks to. Discussions with other people are the milestone to a deeper understanding of our society, and we love to compare our own cultural facts with yours. A smile is not an indication of a flirt, nor an invitation to bed. In case of doubt...well, we are in Scandinavia, so you might well ask directly.

4. I Never, I repeat, Never go on dates, unless you are my girlfriend or somebody I know for a long time. That is because I consider "dating" as a very romantic moment that the person in front of me needs to earn. Yes, we are the romantic type that can give flowers or open the door to our beloved ones, but it can't be anyone. That is different from the scandinavian conception where dating can be considered a sport that you practice with regularity with one or more people at the same time.

5. Yes, latin people have in general a different conception of time than nord-europeans. That might lead of spontaneous invitations or encounters without too much planning. If you receive an invitation like that, that does not mean we are "desperate" to see you or have something with you, that only means we got some time off and we would like to spend it with you, because we care of you as a person. Don't think it too much.

6. Finally for now: when meeting and liking a person for the first time, a latin guy might like to get to know the person better: whether the interest will evolve into love, a friendship or a plain acquaintance will be unimportant for him.  We normally invite friends over, irrespective of gender and age. Several times I have received a question:  "Are we going out on a date?" I find this really rude, because you are judging in advance what your intentions are with a person you barely know. After talking with danish girl-friends I got a plausible explanation --it is effective, and you don't have to think too much where this encounter is leading--. I like to be effective at work, but in my social environment I am clueless on how a relationship will evolve, and considering going on a date with a person I have met once will contradict point number 4.


I hope I have cleared some of the normal questions when trying to interpret my behaviour towards you, It has indeed helped me to understand how we both races are so different in minimal things.