Spain 2026-07

Spain 8,

Sept. 26, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

Last night and today were not great. I somehow developed a prostatitis/cystitis/UTI/lower urinary tract infection probably from the cold water that I swam in. I was up all night, peeing every 10 minutes with dysuria (burning), frequency, nocturia, but no hematuria (bleeding).

This is old man’s or a young women’s problem. Needless to say, I got very little sleep. I did my washing quickly as I was running out of clean clothes and headed off to find medical care. The local pharmacy would not give me ‘antibiotica’ without a medical prescription. Meaños where I am staying, does not have a clinic, so I drove to Pontavedra 30 minutes away. All the streets are blocked off due to the race, which made parking rather difficult. The first hospital that I went to specialized in gynecology and paediatrics. They laughed at (with) me as I was neither the correct sex nor the correct age. They sent me off to the university hospital.

The ‘University Hospital’ was situated at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. Obviously, they don’t expect a large walk in clientele. The efficiency lies somewhere between Israel and Canada with a tendency towards the later. The triage nurse saw me within minutes and immediately placed me on a stretcher. I got undressed and put on a hospital gown. 1 hour late a nurse came in and took my vital signs. 1 hour later a resident came to see me, took a complete history and physical exam and then went to give her report to the ER doctor. He immediately ordered a complete blood test. The resident told me that the results would be ready in 3 hours.

Everyone was very kind and helpful but I had no intention of waiting another 3 hours. I told the resident that I was a ‘urologue’ and that I really only needed some Cipro and I would be off. She understood, returned soon afterwards with a prescription and asked me to sign a form written in Spanish. It was probably a release form. The hospital took my insurance card and didn’t charge me a cent.

I took 2 pillS and am feeling much better. I finally found a local high quality restaurant, 5 minutes from my hotel. The food is very reasonably priced and very plentiful. I have learned to only order a main course which comes with a salad and bread. I order the local wine by the glass and have been very impressed. None of the restaurants open before 9:00 pm and most people come to eat at around 10:00 pm

I will be up at 6:00 am tomorrow to drive to Pontevedra and secure a parking spot. I must register for the relay at 8:00 and the hang around until the afternoon for the relay race. We are 4 participants in a mixed team and each of us must do the super sprint, 37m swim, 10km bike and 2.5 km run. I am the oldest in my group. Surprise! Surprise!

I had no time to take pictures.

Love,

Brian

2025-03 Israel

Israel 20,

April 9, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

Good and hopefully wonderful news. The 4 month old baby that we treated 2 days ago has woken up with apparently no neurological deficits. It may however be some time until they see the long term outcome of the event. At the very least, we know that he is on the right track. In my mind, there is no question, the chief paramedic on our team who by his quick action, under difficult circumstances, saved the life of the child. Kol Hakavod. Way to go!

The news from around the world is getting worse and worse. Trumps tariffs, which have not been thought through by anyone who understands world economics, is wreaking havoc on the stock market in the USA, Canada, the EU and Europe. Now, even his billionaire henchmen who surround him, and lavish praise on him are having second thoughts as their portfolios decrease by the billions. No European country will ever trust the USA again. The good will that has taken 80 years to build since WW2, has been destroyed in one fell swoop, by one powerful man. Trump is 99% wrong in all his policies but may be 1% correct in his Middle East policies. He has announced that he will have direct talks with Iran in 3 days on Saturday about Iran’s nuclear policy. Iran has announced that the talks, which will take place in Oman, will be indirect through mediators. Has Trump misspoken and will he back down? I doubt it as it would cause him to lose face which he is not like him even if he is wrong. Here in Israel we are watching, this holding our breaths, with caution and hoping for the best outcome. One way or another, Iran must not acquire nuclear weapons.

Last evening I went to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv for dinner with a friend who I met at Sar-el. We had dinner in a beach restaurant overlooking the beach. I ate a fish called mullet which I have only eaten once before here in Tel Aviv. It was delicious.

We had a quiet day with MDA today. The 1st case was a lady who called the ambulance because she had an anxiety attack. The paramedics spoke with her for 1 hour. When it came time for her to come with us in the ambulance to the hospital, she went into her kitchen and brought out a pot of soup that she insisted in bringing with her in the ambulance and to the hospital. This is absolutely not forbidden. A neighbour came over to try to convince her that she could not take the soup with her. In the end, we were forced to leave the lady and her soup behind at curb side.

The 2nd case was an 18 year old girl that had an episode of tonic, clonic epilepsy. This was her first episode and the parents were obviously very frightened. The epileptic fit had finished by the time we got there and had only lasted a few minutes. Her VS were normal as was the EKG. She had not fever. We brought her to the hospital for a full neurological exam, blood work and a CT scan.

The 3rd case was an elderly Russian patient who didn’t feel well. She only spoke a few word of Hebrew. The paramedics did the best they could to get a proper history from her with signs and gestures. They are very patient with patients in these cases. There were changes on her EKG with no discernible chest pain. We took her to Tel Hashomer for further evaluation including blood work, serial EKGs and tropes.

The 4th case concerned a 30 year old female patient who was crying, yelling and had broken a glass in the stairwell. On further questioning which took some time, we were able to conclude that the entire family including the husband, the mother and the father were partners in a totally dysfunctional family. There may have been a court order that a judge had ordered house arrest for the husband and that the wife, who was the patient, had to stay and look after him. Go figure. The police were called for back up but they did not interfere with us. Eventually, after much discussion, the woman came with us to the hospital for stabilization. I was able to talk to the policemen who were motorcycle cops. We got to talking about motorcycles and they were quite impressed that I own a 1973 Triumph 750cc Tiger.

Over the last few days, I have really seen a cross section of Tel Aviv society. If you walk on the beach in Tel Aviv, you falsely may get the impression that everyone is tall, beautiful and in good shape. Once you leave the beach however, you can be surprised with what you see. Some people are overweight. Many of the apartments are somewhat run down. Some apartments are beautiful from the outside and in the lobbies , but the individual apartments are not well kept at all. There is a large immigrant population with different ideas of cleanliness and neatness than our own. Of course, that is what makes a society.

Love,

Brian

Bat Yam Beach

An older and poorer area of Tel Aviv

The fruit and vegetable stores are always good

Motorcycle cops with their permission to publish. Who is the little guy in the middle with white hair?

2025-03 Israel

Israel 6,

Mar. 25, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a routine day which will be quite similar to tomorrow I assume. We were up at the usual hour, had breakfast and then off to work at the warehouse. We emptied duffle bags, checked the equipment and then refilled them.

I should say something about the food. It is really healthy with a never ending supply of fresh vegetables for the 3 meals. Breakfast is a little different with an egg omelet and delicious cinnamon buns. Lunch is the main meal with an assortment of meats, fish and poultry. Supper is similar to lunch with a different assortment of the above. Desert is always made up of several choices of fruits. I am sure that you could eat as much as you want here and never gain weight.

We have a mixed group of volunteers from Canada, the USA, France, Peru, Estonia and Soviet Union. 30% are not Jewish. The Jews range from very religious and kosher, to conservative, secular and 1 atheist. All are Zionists or they would not be here. The age range is from young to middle age with 1 or 2 seniors of whom I am the eldest by far. Everyone is well educated so the conversations around the table and while working is quite stimulating. We all enjoyed the Krav Maga session yesterday. No one complains about the work or the organization. A few of us go for a walk or a run at the end of the day. One fellow was chased by a few ‘hungry’ stray dogs so I will have to be more careful when I run tomorrow as maybe they didn’t get enough to eat. The weather was hot today, probably hitting above 25C in the afternoon. It was rather hot to run so maybe I sweated more and lost a few more ounces.

Yesterday, my shoes gave out. The 1 piece soles and heels fell off spontaneously within minutes of each other. Perfect built in obsolescence. When our commander saw what had happened , he came over, took my shoe size and promised to bring me a pair of boots today. He was true to his word and this morning presented me with a brand new, black, pair of Israeli army boots. I put them on immediately and received jealous comments from my colleagues. I thanked him and the madrihots profusely. I am so proud to wear them. You can see them in the picture below.

Love,

Brian