Surrealism, Part I

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I was sent to another hospital. And that was the most surreal, and typical for our country experience, that can happen to anyone on a daily basis.
I always have 3 associations in my head in this regard. The first is with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The book and the movie. Somehow, when you enter a Bulgarian hospital, it always reminds me of "those times". Maybe because, entering a Bulgarian hospital, a person is usually instantly transported to another time, to another era. The other two associations are Kafka and a Bulgarian writer whose work is very similar to Kafka's - Stanislav Stratiev. A person enters an institution, has to face state administration, a problem has to be solved, but upon entering, one simply gets lost, nothing is solved, and one can even simply die in the dark corridors of the surreal world of state institutions. Very gloomy. And now I will show you clearly what it is about. Although I don't have many photos of this place, almost none, I was not in the mood, I was too scared to take photos. But I will try to describe things and the atmosphere as they were.

First, I had to go to this hospital by taxi. I am almost terrified of having to travel in the capital by taxi, because the transport is not very organized. And I have many reasons to be terrified of taxis and taxi drivers. In short, traveling by taxi in Bulgaria can be very unpleasant at any time. But that is another topic.
So, the distance between the two hospitals is between 3.1 and 4.1 km, depending on the route, and by car it takes 10 minutes, while by public transport... now that I'm writing this post, I'm checking it, and the result is mind-boggling - 44 minutes. So, there's simply no other choice but a taxi. The overall disorganization and unavailability of transportation, not only in the capital, but throughout the country, between settlements, etc., is also another topic, and I have written about it when I talked about how difficult it is to organize and carry out a trip from where I live to the capital.
At least the trip to and from this hospital wasn't very expensive for the 3-4 km. It cost about 10 euros both ways. Fortunately, taxi prices haven't gone up dramatically yet, although there's always the possibility of being charged an incredibly large amount while riding in a taxi.

However, when you enter the area of the other hospital, you fall into a state of surrealism that is difficult to escape from. Both hospitals I am talking about are university hospitals. But there is an infinitely large difference between them. And while the first hospital I told you about looked pretty good, albeit lacking a bathroom in the rooms, entering the huge courtyard of the second hospital, one finds oneself in a labyrinth of broken alleys, wild bushes, asphalt roads with huge potholes, muddy and unpaved parking lots, broken and unmaintained buildings, and abandoned construction sites. A courtyard teeming with people who have come to seek help and treatment in this huge complex. Should I say - in vain... 🤔

A few weeks ago, an acquaintance had made a video of the stairs of one of the clinics and had shown the crumbling staircases, the peeling plaster... it was as if you were in a long-abandoned building. And this is the university hospital, where billions of state and private funds are poured and circulated annually...!!! Oh no, we are in the Eurozone already - what kind of joke is this? I don't know if you can understand how impossible it all is. And I feel sorry for myself for being so cynical, for having seen so much and for being able to see so much more, without any self-deception about anything...

Anyway. I found the right clinic to which I had been sent, a little difficult, as expected. I asked some young doctors who were walking along the sidewalk. I can imagine how tired they must be of such questions. But damn it, put up regular signs, trim the bushes, fix the sidewalk tiles...

I was sent to this clinic with just a piece of paper, written by hand. And I need to have some very serious tests done. Even when the doctor from the first hospital sent me away, she told me: "You have to be persistent. These people there don't feel like working, but you have to insist."
And I was thinking: God, I also have to think about how to get home that day, I don't have much time because of the lack of transportation, I have so many more tests and examinations to do, and I also have to deal with "being persistent because some doctors at some university clinic don't feel like working."

On the other hand, how could they want to work in such an environment? And yet, they work, i.e. they go to work, they report that they went to work, but that's all.

When I think about this issue, things start to seem even more impossible.

Now, from the standpoint of time, because I have the opportunity to draw conclusions and compare the work in these two hospitals, however, I'm not sure if I see a big difference.

It's impossible to like working in such conditions. So, it's clear that people don't work well. But, do people who work in good conditions, at least they work well?

I'm starting to get off topic because if I start telling you the gist of the whole thing now, the post will become too long and therefore impossible to read. So I'll stop here. And I'll continue later.

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|