Almost every morning when I walk into work there is one of the patients looking out of the shower room window through the bars. It is one of the few places you can get a partial view of the main street; where the 4-dimensional people lead their lives. Almost every morning he greets Kiki and me in the same way (in English), "God bless America", pause,"...and maybe England". "What about Romania?", I asked him the other day. Without any hesitation he responded, "Ah, Romania is a drunk man!"
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| A nice shady part of the hospital where we often take patients for ice creams |
(Note: The views expressed by philosophical patients in this blog are not necessarily those of the author - or any other large International News organisation for that matter)
I am trying to get this blog out early this week, or at least on time, as I would like to be in a position to pass the 'fit and proper person' test and be in a position to take over the remaining 61% share of BSkyB. Mind you, I don't even know how to pick up my own text messages or voicemail - so I probably don't stand a ghost of a chance.
What 4th Dimension?
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| I think someone famous (or their dad) lived here once. |
I've harped on long enough about Goffman and his findings that total institutions such as the one where I am working as a volunteer (www.vfmh.org.uk) essentially 'mortify the self'. That is, they take away the very essence what it is to be a person; both as an individual and as a social being. It struck me that as part of this the patients do not have any access to the 4th dimension that Einstein made his reputation describing and we, in the modern westernised world, are always so short of; namely TIME. In that excellent book that I mentioned quite a few blogs ago ('Speaking our Minds') one of the contributors who had been in a locked 'Mental Hospital' for several years noted that time had no meaning for him at all. That is until the possibility of release was on the cards - then it dragged on and became something to fear in case he did something wrong.
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| This is only the back of what is a lovely Greek Orthodox church in Sibiu. You should see the front! |
There are schedules everywhere over which the patients have absolutely no control. Doctor's visit, medication, mealtimes, shower day, shaving day, cloths change day, head shave day (I refuse to call it a haircut) etc. Even the visits to the club are timetabled and agreed at our Friday meetings - they are then pinned up in staff offices and we have to stick to them. Sometimes there might be a visit. Some patients never get any visitors at all, and some never have. Some have been in the hospital over 20 years.
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| The worried well? |
I was talking to someone about the film 'Groundhog day' over the weekend. Basically the lead character in the film keeps waking up on the same day with the same things happening in the same sequence around him. He is the only person aware that he is living a series of repeats. However, at least he has a degree of free will and can make choices about what he does even if he is trapped in a time cycle. The patients are also trapped, but have no such free will. Can you imagine having absolutely no input in how you spend your time - ever. We really try hard in the club sessions to allow patients as much control and choice in their limited one hour per week as we possibly can.
In the UK we tend to work towards what is commonly called the 'Recovery Model' in Mental Health. For a good description of the recovery model have a look at this link (Click here). Have a look back over this blog and see how many of the essential or desirable characteristics of the model you think are being met in this environment. In fact in many instances exactly the opposite is the case.
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| This is what happens to plants when they get loads of sun and water. This is our back garden. Leeks I think. |
We have had a nice hot few days, including the weekend, with temperatures getting up to 34 C (about 93 F I think). Kiki and I decided to visit the Tarnaveni outdoor swimming pool straight after work today. I have to say I had heard a few horror stories about the place. Actually it was OK. A decent sized pool, clean (an insider told us that they changed the water each Monday, hence going today) and not too crowded. In true Romanian Health & Safety fashion there were two different bars where you could buy beer and not a single lifeguard or piece of safety equipment in sight. However, we also did not see a single bit of loutish or unsafe behaviour. It was nice to cool off. Weather is supposed to be getting hotter for next weekend.
Counting down
It is difficult not to count down the weeks until we leave. I have 4 weeks left (present plan is that Kiki will be leaving at the same time). After the sessions today we realised that we will only see these patients another 3 times. They have been so loving and giving and tell us how important we have become to them. I don't think any or them realise just how important they have become to us.
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| No Juliet - just a pretty balcony |
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| Small mountains just to the left of Aiud - which is to the left of Blaj, etc |
There seems to be a lot of Hay cutting going on at the moment with every spare verge and scrap of land being scythed (very skillful). Great horse drawn carts of cut grasses are then carted off and formed into haystacks. Apparently you should be able to tell where you are in the country by their distinct shape and style.
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| No idea where this is. |
Sorry, quite a philosophical and introspective blog this week, so lets finish off with a 'That's Life' picture special. Sorry, no talking dogs, but we do have a funny pet picture and a piece of 'odd shaped' fruit.
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| post modern kitten - but where to? |
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| This is where the phrase 'pear shaped' came from - a Romanian pear. |
If you've managed to read this far - Thanks!
Until Soon
Paul
