Greece Day 2: A cold start and a hot finish: A cold start and a hot finish

I woke up waaaay too early (it's an hour later here in Greece) and was looking forward to a nice hot shower before going to work. But nooooooo! There was no hot water! I tried in the kitchen, the bathroom sink, the shower. All ice cold. Also the radiators were all cold.

I had to improvise by boiling a kettle of water, diluting it with some cold water, and then pouring it over myself while shivering in the cold bathroom. After that very brief "shower"--it doesn't even deserve that name--off to work I went.

I sent a message to the airbnb host and he said he'd fix it while I was away.

I was already cold and by mid-morning my fingers were numb and white. (It happens from time to time--Reynauld's syndrome). I was shivering as I was teaching. We finally figured out how to get the heat working but I couldn't warm up.

It was a great day teaching a small group, which meant we had a lot of hands-on time per person and we didn't have to break into groups.

Midwives here in Greece face so many challenges; their profession isn't respected and isn't given the autonomy it deserves. In general, obstetricians have very little exposure to vaginal birth since the C-section rate is so high (officially around 66% but in many hospitals it can be 80-90%). I heard so many horror stories about things done routinely during vaginal births--the few that manage to happen before surgery can be done: routine episiotomy, Pitocin, Kristeller (fundal pressure)...ugh. Evidence doesn't seem to matter; authority does.

Midwives report coming out of their university training with a lot of theoretical knowledge but very little practical knowledge, and much of what they have been taught does not align with what actually happens at births.

One of the attendees drove me to a nearby grocery store after the workshop and then home to my airbnb, which was very helpful because I was also carting around two suitcases with all my equipment. I made myself a simple dinner, talked to the family, and settled down for a nice hot shower...only to find it only worked for two minutes and then went totally cold!

So I had to call the airbnb host again. He came over, called a repair person, and then they spent the next 45 minutes fixing whatever needed fixing. Then I FINALLY took a hot bath and read a totally non-serious brain candy book until I was sweating.