European Balcony Decor applied to...an air conditioner!?

Interesting idea to hide a nasty looking air conditioner. Not sure if this makes it look better or worse....you decide.

Healthcare in Spain

Since I have been living here, I have had private healthcare. It's quite decent, and there are a few things that stand out to me:

1. I pay approximately 40 Euros per month for the plan itself. If I go to the doctor, the copayment is 1 Euro, unless it's urgent care (4 euros).
   
2. Medicine is not on a copayment system, you just pay for the price of the medicine. But it seems to me that most medicine is reasonably priced.
3. If I get any tests (blood analysis, x-rays, etc), the results are mine to take home. It's my responsibility as the patient to keep those documents and show them to the doctor. When I had pneumonia, I had 3 x-rays of my lungs over a period of 2 months, and I still have these at home. Patient accountability - what a concept!
4. Tests and analysis aren't very expensive. I think I pay an extra 2 euros or something. In any case, the doctors here are quite reluctant to prescribe medicine to their patients without all appropriate tests first. This is the complete opposite from the US, and I think it's because the tests tend to be quite expensive and not covered by our health insurance.

Today I signed up to the public healthcare that is covered by social security (since I'm working, I am eligible). It was relatively simple - I just had to prove my residency, social security and work status.

They gave me a temporary card that I can use for going to the public hospital, and if I need to go to urgent care and for whatever reason cannot go to my private hospital, I will be taken care of free of charge at the public hospital. Oh, and apparently when I purchase my medicine, it will be cheaper than if I were purchasing it with a prescription from my private healthcare doctor.

I asked for an appointment to meet my primary care physician, which will be this afternoon. I'm not sick or anything, but I am interested in learning about the system and will ask some very basic "I'm a stupid foreigner" questions.

Take a look at my appointment -- they print it out on a receipt!!!

Senior Love

One of the first things that I noticed when I first moved here to Madrid was how many elderly couples walk hand-in-hand in the streets.

You see old sweethearts, helping one another strut along, holding hands as if they were newlyweds.

Sure, sometimes you see them arguing in overly loud voices so the other can hear with his/her hearing aid, but more than often, you just see them walking silently and seemingly happy together.

It's very endearing...and even though I have been living here for more than a year, it still makes me smile.


For some reason, I don't have the same image in the U.S. Why is that?



Well for starters, there are a lot of elderly people here in Spain. I looked up the census data: 24% of Spain's population is 60 years and older, compared to the 14% of United States. Take a look at these population pyramids for both countries in 2009. Everything above the black line is the population of 60+ years of age. When you see this in more visual terms, you can tell that Spain's population is much more aged than the United States.


I definitely notice the aging population here, much more than I ever did in my own country.

But perhaps I notice more elderly people here for another reason. Perhaps it is because the Spanish culture is much more "street-based". What I mean by this is people go out, they are social, and they are used to walking around on the street to handle their normal errands. In the U.S. people tend to travel by a more private transportation mode - their own car. Whereas in the U.S. the elderly might be driven in a car by a family member (if they no longer drive themselves), here the elderly will take the bus and the metro, talk to their other elderly friends in the main plaza, and maybe go to a small bar for some tapas.

I'm not sure how much convalescent homes has to do with this visibility, either. The United States is known for utilizing convalescent homes more than what is considered acceptable in other cultures, but I have been told more than once that in Spain there are quite a few "elderly residences" and that it isn't uncommon here.

Twins aren't always a good thing

My friend and I were walking in downtown Madrid and we suddenly were walking behind these two really tall ladies, dressed as twins. I had to take a picture with my mobile - I know, I'm rude. But I needed proof that I wasn't drunk off of my sangria at lunch.

I promised my friend that I would explain in this article that most people in Spain DO NOT look like this and that she was equally horrified.

So, for the record (and before my friend disowns me) - Most Spanish women don't look like this, nor do they dress like this. Even Spanish men have better dress code than this...

It's Balcony Time!!!

As it's now spring (Corte Inglés, the Macy's of Madrid, has announced it's marketing campaign to inform everyone that it's now officially spring. Thanks Corte Inglés.), we can start enjoying the balcony.

We bought a small red, square table that is foldable so we can have breakfast outside and enjoy the sunlight. I decided that in my free time I would re-paint the flowerpots, as they were probably painted 40 years ago and since then they have been rather destroyed. Here are the before and after shots:

Before - Greyish blue with stains that nobody should have to see.
Bright red to match the table. I went to a store where we could buy these little trees (Picea) for a good price. I lugged them all the way back hom walking/metro in an oversized Ikea bag.