NHS service or how to waste your whole evening but we won't complain because, HEY! FREE MEDICINES!

Today's blog has a different STAR and that's Lara. Because last Tuesday was a shitty day for me (stepped on a puddle in my kitchen with bare foot, forgot my lecture was in library, and LIFE WITHOUT BACON IS A NIGHTMARE) but her day on Wednesday was just the worst. And there was lovely Paula, just to ease everything for her :D

It all started when we attended a lecture on Research Methods for our dissertation, from 2pm to 4pm (timetable is important, because... well, worst time ever in my opinion). So Lara was feeling very bad and needing to go to the toilet with frequency. So she was checking on her phone where to go, where the closest doctor was, how to get to the hospital... and she was told off in class. But ANYWAY, we headed to the Forth Valley hospital in Stirling.
We were aiming on going there, and then getting a coffee and a muffin in order to redeem ourselves for being sick. I wasn't ill but one never says 'no' to a coffee and a muffin, that's a fact. But that NEVER happened, and you know why? Because we spent longer than 2h waiting for a doctor to diagnose Lara, even though we already knew what was going on. JUST GIVE HER ANTIBIOTICS.

But we arrived to the "Minor Injuries Unit", at around 5pm. At the same time, a convict arrived with a twisted ankle, accompanied by two prison staff members. HANDCUFFED. Not uncomfortable at all.
The health centre was very old, according to Lara, although I'd just say it looked like a village's health centre, but she's from Catalonia, so everything is very posh and high quality there, because they have the money, because they are just greedy :p So she was called in after 20 minutes or so...just to be told that what she had was not an injury (obviously) and she needed to get an Emergency Appointment, and we had TO CALL, because they wouldn't give us an appointment in reception. Even if the appointment would be in the same hospital, same unit where we were. ????????????????
So I called, because Lara was too tired and desperate to talk on the phone, and all I got was "Oh, well, emergency doctor arrives at 6... so you need to call at 6 to get an appointment". HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT? So if it's an emergency, I need to wait until 6 to get an emergency appointment? And when would that appointment be? Oh, that they didn't know.
So just waiting there, seeing people coming in and out, bored as hell, with no battery left in our phones... Feeling like in Medieval Ages.
And at 6:01pm I called and got an appointment. AT 6:45. Shouldn't have waited that extra minute...

As you can see, alcohol is a MUST in our grocery shopping

So we decided to entertain ourselves by writing the shopping list... until Lara started to feel really cold...and started to be a bit delirious...and to draw weird stuff.

Well, a dolphin is not a weird thing, or an octopus. But it's a bit disturbing since we were writing our shopping list. Was she considering eating a dolphin? She had just learnt that a Chinese person was expelled from campus for hunting a swan in the lake, cooking it and eating it. And high temperature was hitting... Who knows what was going on in that head of hers. 

But then she drew a very weird half-naked superhero wearing a crown. I really wanted the doctor to call for her, I was getting worried.

I blame the ugliness on the delirium of the fever.

I worried a lot when she began to draw her "future husband". To me, he just looks like an ex-convict (maybe inspired by the one in the room?) and a yihadist. Well, if you ever have talked to Lara, you'll know that she really likes buff, black/mulato, dark haired guys. And the more tattoos he has, the better. But to me, this prototype just looks like a surfing yihadist (no offense to anyone). So basically, a yihadist out of place. According to her, it's just a "nigga", like she likes them. Like Usher, like Trey Songz, like Chris Brown. (YES, "THE GUY WHO 'BOXERCISED' RIHANNA" by Alan), Nigerian dancers. Obama. And I think you get the idea.
Still, I think this drawing looks more like a tattooed Bin Laden or something like that. But once again, no offence to anyone!



Then finally at 6:50pm she got called to see the doctor, and I went in with her, because I didn't really trust her condition so she could survive the interview...with that gown-less doctor. Soooo unprofessional. She was pretty hyper too, which did not help our condition at the moment.
As we expected, she got a prescription for antibiotics, which she has been taken wrongly, and had to go to the doctor again today and got some more medicines... But like the title says, HEY! FREE MEDICINES! At least we got that going for us, which is nice. (Public health care FTW!)
Then of course, we had to walk back to the city centre (buses running every half an hour or so... too bored to wait) and go to Tesco to buy the antibiotics. 

Because this story is not funny enough, THE COMPUTER AT THE PHARMACY WAS NOT WORKING so she couldn't get the medicines yet... we had to wait until it worked again, but at least we could do the alcohol shopping. I MEAN, the grocery shopping.

So we went home, AT LAST. We got here at 8:30pm or so... So yeah, very busy evening! And no muffins :(

But WAIT, there's more!

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY TO ALL MY AUSSIE FRIENDS! And to every Aussie, even if you are not my friend. BECAUSE ONE DAY, YOU'LL BE. (#nocreepy) I'll move there and you all will love me :D

This can also be related to something Lara drew while waiting for the doctor...

If you find this in real life, please send it over.

It's an Australian surfer-prince-in boots. Now you understand why I worried?


Now off to kick Edinburgh's asses in the waterpolo game we have tonight. Because if you remember, they stole our victory last time! REVENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #staysexyStirling #bleedgreen



*If you are wondering what was happening to Lara... it's pretty obvious. Maybe it's not a very good idea to keep the doors WIDE OPEN in Insanity when we are sweating like pigs... just saying*

Edinburgh

Just to show that not everything in Stirling is about party and waterpolo, and that I also do interesting things (like attending lectures and such), I'm going to tell you a bit about my  last visit to Edinburgh.

Modern architecture for the Parliament, yeah.

I visited Edinburgh two years ago, and I feel in love with the city, that's a fact. Now that I live in Stirling, I have visited it again several times, and it keeps surprising me. I've been there like...6 times? Can't stop taking pictures every time! It's just wonderful!
(Well, Madrid still owns my heart, and that's
how it is...but if I decided to end terms with Madrid, I would definetely go for Edinburgh!)
I normally go always to the same tourist places: Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Calton Hill, Wetherspoons... :p

But last time we visited the SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT! And it was sooooo cool! We went there just to, you know, visit the Parliament. Fun and interesting. What a surprise when we get in there and we were allowed to attend a debate that was going on! HOW COOL IS THAT? I don't think Lara was very amused, although at the end she found the visit rather interesting, but Kevin was so excited! Pretty understandable for a person who studied politics, I guess :p

We could see that apparently politicians don't always take their job seriously regardless the country they are from, there were probably 20 members there out of 129... The debate was on Emergency Services and Safety, a hot topic now probably due to what happened in Glasgow before New Year, along with other issues such as the Charles Hebdo attacks in Paris.

As I said before, the Scottish Parliament is formed by 129 members, and as in may 2011 the political parties represnted were the Scottish Nationali Party (69) , Labour Party (37), Conservative Party (15), Liberal-Democrats (5), Green (2) and other Independent parties (1).

Booklets in Spanish! Oh, sí! :D 

If you wonder what acts the Scottish Parliament has passed recently, some of them are:
-Community Care and Health Act (2002) to fulfill the necessities of the elderly.
-Freedom of Information Act (2002) which allows citizens to have access to info about public bodies.
-Smoking, Health and Social Care Act (2005) which forbids smoking in public places, such as bars and restaurants.
-Disabled Persons' Parking Places Act (2009) which ensures a parking place to disabled people only.
-Marriage and Civil Partnership Act (2014) or better said, GAY MARRIAGE! :D


And of course, after such a brain work we needed some coffee...and muffins. But I shared mine with Lara, so I wasn't too unhealthy!


So there you go, some intellectual content in my blog besides all the rambling I write about sometimes.
See you soon! I'm very creative lately, hopefully it will last long enough. It's quite embarrassing to have only 13 texts published on my blog after 4 months! :p

A place called home?

Happy new year to everyone!Hope you had great Christmas, ate tons and that you enjoyed your time!

 It's been a while now since last time I posted something here, and it's been a while too that I wanted to talk about the concept "home". And I consider this is the perfect timing since I came back to Stirling a few days ago from the place where I was born and raised.
Considering this and that my closest relatives live there, I should consider my hometown my "home"... but not really.

This thinking has been going on since the beginning of last semester, when someone asked me if I had played waterpolo "back home". And I thought... "Back home? What's 'back home' "? Is it Talavera? Is it Madrid? Is it Reykjavík? I couldn't really answer where my home is. I played waterpolo in every place I've lived (not in a team in Madrid, but I've played there, almost the same) but what do you mean "back home"?

Talavera de la Reina

They say home is where the heart is. They say home is where the wifi connects automatically. They even say, and I can relate, that home is where the swimming pool is. So if we take all these statements into consideration, every city where I've lived could be considered "home". But yet, I don't.

I was born and I grew up in Talavera, my parents, family and the house where I lived most of my life is there, and I love going for holidays, but I still can't see myself living there.

It was hard to pick only one picture, and I'm not sure it's the best

I studied and lived in Madrid for 4 years, and if you know me a bit, you'll know that I love Madrid. Like crazy. Madrid is kind of the love of my life. Yes, I know it's not perfect, it's not flawless... but even with those mistakes, I adore it. I can never really put into words what Madrid means to me... but I don't even know my way in the metro anymore. I go there one day or two a year, to meet old friends and not much more. It's turned into an acquaintance rather than a best friend now. I can't feel like it's my home. I don't feel like an inhabitant but like a visitor. And that saddens me.

Reykjavík gave me great moments, great people and unforgettable things. But, let's be honest, I'm not done for Iceland. Living there 3 years was ok, no need to extend it. Good for those who are happy there, but I just wasn't... and I'm realising now, when I'm in Stirling.

I can't call Stirling my home either. Temporarily, yes, I'm living here, and I have friends here,  but it's like a fictional home. It feels good when you are getting here from any other city, and you see the Wallace Monument in the distance, it feels relaxed, it feels comforting. But it won't be my permanent home. Although I really like Scotland, and I wouldn't mind to live here for some years, but I can't completely perceive it as a home.




I guess that what I mean is that after living in so many places, I learnt to grow up as a person, yes. And I did. I grew up, I built my character, changes made me strong. But I can't feel "at home" anywhere! The perks of being a nomad. It makes me feel a bit insecure, and somehow anxious.
 There's no place where I know I'll go back to a place that is waiting for me or that I'll be happy and satisfied.

And I'm still trying to manage to move to Australia. One more place to add to the list. Will it be the last one, will I be able to make it my home? And if not, what after that? At this point, I am not sure if I will be moved by a place in a sense that will make me feel it's my home. Will I notice? How will I know it's the place I want to stay? I don't know anymore!


Well, this time I haven't written anything very cheerful, but one can't be smiles and jokes 24/7! I need to take a couple of hours a week off my cheerfulness :p