Hospitals

I am in Rome, enjoying the sights and the food. We have had a sick student, so I have been visiting Italian hospitals, which while less attractive sounding, has at least been a sincerely edifying cultural experience.

Today I met an old woman, very beautiful, who was in the emergency room because her son had pushed her down and she was worried that her arm was broken. Her face was bruised and cut and she cradled her arm gently. It was horrible. When I asked where her husband was, she shrugged, and told me that he would not accompany her, that he never did when their son attacked her. "He's like that," she said.

She was amazing woman, very strong, but very tired and beaten down. She told me that she had attempted suicide three times. Oddly, we also spout about studying Latin, yoga, and Athenian museums.

Later, an older couple was waiting with us (the student, our old friend, and I) in the area reserved for patients. The staff kept trying to kick out the old man, whose wife was a patient, but he just laughed at them and made jokes. His wife would shush him and tell him to go, but it was easy to see how happy she was that he was there. She even loved his silly jokes, like when he settled back in his chair and said that what we needed was a nice big bowl of spaghetti.

Today, both the student and I
Should have time to join the group and check out some museums and the like. And tonight, for sure, a delicious meal.

More soon.