travel Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Cruisin with the Colemans

My Horrible Experience in a French Hospital Emergency Room!

Posted on June 6, 2024 by CruisinColemans

Who would have guessed the blog I would write in Paris would be explaining why I would never go to a French hospital? But here are talking about it.

Warning: graphic images!!!

In case you missed it, let me catch you up…

At the top of the dome at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

On our first full day exploring Paris, we were at the top of the dome of the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. We were enjoying great views, taking beautiful photos, and about ready to walk back down the dome when I took a terrible fall. My head was bleeding something terrible. The paramedics were called and I was taken to the closest French hospital.

I’ve been to a hospital before while traveling in Europe so I didn’t think much about it. However, I didn’t know anything about the French healthcare system. The most important thing to know is it’s free but free doesn’t equal good.

I should have been clued in when the paramedics didn’t have a basic first aid kit with them. One paramedic borrowed tissues from a bystander, poured water on the tissue, and attempted to clean my head wound. Borrowed tissues and a used water bottle on my open head!!

Then I should have been clued in when I saw the ambulance waiting room. The smell was horrendous, like vomit on top of more vomit.

Let me pause here and say we firmly believe in accessible and affordable health care. I’m thankful people in France can go to a hospital, get treated, and not be in financial distress because of an accident or illness. However, there must be some better basic standards of care. Paramedics should carry a first aid kit and be trained well to manage an emergency in the field. Then there’s the hospital staff, they need more training before they touch a patient.

When I was taken back to a room I was greeted by a student doctor who only went by his first name. He was terribly unorganized, continuously losing and dropping things. His English was better than my French but that’s not saying a lot.

Back up for a just a moment, in 2019 when I was in a Spanish hospital I had an interpreter with me at all times. I shouldn’t have taken that for granted. By the way, from my experience the Spanish know how to manage an affordable healthcare system and have a well-trained staff.

Back to my student doctor, who wasn’t going to let my husband come back to the room with me. Boy, he didn’t see me coming because nobody was going to touch my head until my Brian was there to support me. The student doctor said patients weren’t allowed to have anyone with them was because of overcrowding. Well, the only place that was overcrowded was the waiting room so letting Brian come back just freed up room in that area. Sometimes I don’t understand the logic of others.

At this point he’s attempting to clean my head wound. We realized after we got home how poor of a job he did cleaning my head because I should have had at least 2 more staples and he missed connecting the skin on one staple. So now I have a head wound without a proper closure.

The photo on the left is what the student doctor saw based on how he cleaned my head. The photo on the right is what we saw when we cleaned my head when we got home!

Oh, but I missed the most important part! At no point was I offered pain medicine, nor was I checked for internal damage in my head or any other part of my body. I have a huge bruise on my backside but nobody checked my spine or neck.

The student came at me with a staple gun without numbing my head, properly cleaning it, or offering me pain medication. When I wouldn’t let him touch me until I got something for the pain, the best he offered me was the equivalent of 500 mg of Tylenol. Then he finished his paperwork before coming back to staple my head.

France is a first world country, though it is a civil liberties country, they can do better. They can be affordable and still do so much better. I have never been so disappointed. A licensed doctor never even came in to follow up or check the work of the student doctor.

When he was done stapling my head I received a prescription for basically Tylenol and was sent on my way. My head was never cleaned or wrapped. I received no gauze for the bleeding that was still happening. They were done with me. I gathered up my blood soaked sweater, took my bloody mess of self, we called a taxi, and went back to our apartment to use our own first aid kit to finish cleaning me up. Thank goodness we were traveling with a first aid kit. 🤦🏻‍♀️

The bottom line: If you’re in Paris (which is all I can speak to), there is an American hospital. Go to that hospital! Do not ever go to a French hospital, ever! Oh, and maybe travel with a first aid kit.

We arrive in Spain next week just in time to get my staples removed. I’ll let you know how that experience goes. It can’t be worse, right?

VF Day 16-18: Finding Joy in the Long, Flat Road & Teaching

Posted on June 19, 2022 by Cruisin Michelle

This long flat road from Santhia to Pavia reminds me first of the Meseta on the Camino Frances only longer. My photos are all same, I am tired of the views, and my inspiration isn’t coming like it was just a few days ago. It also reminds me of how a 15 week semester can feel.

Finding the beauty when the terrain doesn’t change

At the beginning of the semester everyone is filled with excitement, the students are diligently reading the assigned chapters, and they have set lofty goals for the term. Even after 24 years, I am inspired by their enthusiasm every single time… and then we settle into a routine.

Before long the honeymoon phase is over. The students are working two jobs, have a family, and are taking a full load of classes. They aren’t reading consistently before they come to class. I’m trying to raise their energy level but they are realizing how lofty their goals really were from the start.

I’m swamped with grading, committee work is intense and usually a waste of time, but dang it I have a job to do. I want them to love Public Speaking. See, see I have lofty goals too. Haha!

Teaching is much like being on a pilgrimage. In the beginning we are excited to embark on the new adventure, we are instantly inspired by everything around us, have completed the research, and oh yes, we have set our own lofty goals.

Then the routine settles in. We are more experienced than the typical student so we think we are ahead of the game. This is our third pilgrimage, so we are well-versed about what the routine will be – eat, walk, eat, walk, wash clothes, eat, sleep, repeat. But it only takes one tough semester for a student to figure out their routine. Experience can happen quickly out of desperation to stay afloat.

Something happens in the semester that requires a lot more of my energy to build them up, engage them, and remind them how important Public Speaking really is to their future. Good thing I am the queen of passion when it comes to Communication courses. I need that same mustering up of spark when the days on pilgrimage are long and boring.

Just like in a semester, on pilgrimage, I know what happens after the honeymoon phase is over. It’s the same thing that happens to me, my students, and yes, even to my professional clients. Life happens. All of a sudden you realize the five other projects you have put off doing and now they are due, someone gets sick, a bad nights sleep, maybe something stole your creativity, or maybe your schedule feels too monotonous to bear.

We are currently in the part of our pilgrimage where my creativity was stolen and, at the same time, my schedule is feeling quote monotonous. Some days Brian is the creative one. Have you seen his animated video game YouTube video from our walk? If not, click here. Other days, I try to be the creative one. Here’s my attempt at a TV show on the Via Francigena, click here.

We make a great team and together we get through the tough days. In comparison, I wish I could team teach. Creativity multiplies amongst creative people. A team gives one person the space to have a bad day, work through their emotions, while the other person cheers the team along.

Until the day comes when I can team teach, I will learn the lesson before me – a team comes from anyone around you and I when I don’t have my husband with me, I usually have an outstanding group of students eager to be on my team.

I look forward to the days ahead, the next phases of our pilgrimage, and I pray for that easy feeling of daily inspiration. I will continue to make notes which will come in handy when inspiration in low in my “regular life.” For now, I will rely on my teammate while on this pilgrimage.

Check out these two days on YouTube!

Then check out our ridiculous attempt at singing our way through the Via Francigena on this YouTube video!

Walking stats from Robbio to Mortara – 15.78 km

Lodging – B&B Antica Corte Lombarda – € 77

Walking from Mortora to Tromello – 13.6 km

Lodging – Hotel Duca di Tromello – € 75

Train from Tromello to Garlasco – 5.4 km. Walk from Garlasco to Pavia – 18 km

Lodging for 2 nights in Pavia – B&B Castellani – €171

*Listing our accommodation is not an endorsement. This is just a point of information for fellow pilgrims. See our reviews on Booking.com, the guidebooks, and fellow pilgrims for more details to make the decision best for you.

Teacher Life: The Demands, The Schedule, and Why We Travel

Posted on May 22, 2019 by Cruisin Michelle

If you are a parent, you know the anticipation your kid’s experience at the start of a new school year and the excitement of summer looming at the end of the year. Teachers have the same feelings. We look forward to starting a new school year; we want to meet our new students, hear about their summer adventures, improve our teaching plans. At the end of the school year, we are spent. Our brains have been in overload for 9+ months, we are mentally and physically tired from the demands of our students and our administration. But before I talk about that and why we travel, let me tell you about what we do as teachers.

Brian and I live in two completely different teaching worlds. For Brian, the middle school and high school choir teacher, he has his nose to the grind day in and day out. He is preparing students for concerts, contests, and assessing their learning five days a week for about 6 1/2 hours a day. When he is not in the classroom he is grading, planning, listening to music, working on the annual musical, and finding new music so he can continue to inspire their love of music from around the world and through the ages.

For me, a Professor of Communication, my pace is a bit slower but just as mentally draining. I spend my days discovering the latest research in my field, working through the technical challenges of online learning, grading research papers, facilitating learning in the classroom, advising students, and meeting the demands of the administrative parts of my job.

Yes, we are blessed to be in similar, even complimentary, professions. Yes, we are acutely aware of how lucky we are to have large blocks of time off together. Twice a year, during Christmas and summer breaks, we are extremely blessed because we have that time off together. Few teachers are that lucky. However, let me take a few minutes to talk about the drawbacks in the education world, as it relates to home/life balance. Balance is something we all have to seek out when it comes to figuring out how much time you should spend on work, with your family, and self-care. The chunk of time needed looks different for everyone and for most balance doesn’t come naturally.

Brian lives by a bell during the school year. If he has students in his classroom, nothing else can matter (even going to the bathroom has to wait). His students and their parents know him very well, many students take choir for up to seven years. In the world of instant access, he is in constant communication with them unless he literally unplugs. Fortunately, I am not in the classroom to the same extent as Brian, it would throw me completely off balance. My days have a bit of research, grading, teaching, and administrative work. My students are in regular communication with me, but certainly not to the same extent. That constant communication, along with all the other demands is draining for both of us and just like every other professional, we need to unplug and recharge.

Michelle hitting the books in her happy place, the library

However, because we have a few large blocks of time, we don’t have much time to unplug during the school year. This is the part that people who are not in the academic world don’t fully understand. For example, during the school year if we have a niece graduating, a child getting married, and an opportunity for a cheap, long weekend, we would have to make sacrifices because we only have three personal days total in an academic year. Now Brian and I have been teaching long enough, that we know those sacrifices are typically manageable. But it’s something we have to explain to friends/family when we are planning out our school year. I am not complaining, we are blessed, but it’s our reality. And I won’t even start on how ridiculous that our Spring Breaks are never on the same week, so we both typically work through them unless we’re lucky enough to still have our personal days so we can leave for a bit on one of the two weeks. But it’s Brian’s busiest season with his musical and my busy time because the end of the academic year is looming, so truly unplugging during either Spring Break isn’t an option.

As I am sure many professionals face, we deal with the constant work pressures, the “Did I send that email?” “Did I forget to tell Sue about the meeting tomorrow?” and just the “What am I forgetting?” feeling, maybe it’s age! Haha! Working professionals are always thinking about work. Unfortunately, some don’t know how or when to unplug. That breaks my heart because unplugging is good for your soul and your relationships.

For us, during the school year, we are often working an average of ten hours a day, six days a week. Brian has a lot of evening and weekend commitments because of the nature of his job and I have a mind-blowing amount of grading. Haha! Therefore, we can’t truly unplug until school is out of session.

This is why we love to travel! It’s easier to unplug if you go somewhere that doesn’t have cell service. For us, getting metaphorically “lost in the woods” feeds the soul in a way nothing else can. We figured this out very early in our marriage and have made traveling a priority ever since.

Every time we travel to a new place we realize how big this world is, our “to do” list grows, our time together on Earth feels limited, and our desire to see it all gets stronger. Traveling is more than simply seeing the landscape. Rather, for us, it’s about getting to know the people, the cultures, and learning about the social expectations.

Backpacking a section the AT for my 40th birthday

Traveling makes us better teachers. This isn’t simply because we unplugged, though it helps. Because we are responsible for teaching students how to communicate (Michelle) and how to sing cultural and historical pieces of music (Brian), we are better at our jobs because we have these experiences. I have been teaching Intercultural Communication for over 20 years but I have never been as sharp as I have been since I started traveling internationally. When we traveled on the Camino in 2017, Brian heard pieces of music where they were intended to be sung. He experienced the history that he only understood because of book knowledge up until that point.

Participating in “Hell Run” mud race for our 5 year anniversary with about 25 of our closest friends

Traveling is good for the soul, whether you hike, bike, kayak, lay on a beach, heat up in a spa, or hole up in a five-star hotel. Next time you travel in the off-season, remember that your kid’s teacher can’t just pull out of school like kids are pulled out of school. However, they are working to finding balance just like you do. They may have to travel during the most expensive times of the school year, but they are thankful for the ability to do it.