Gaza Peds Urology PCRF September 2012

-->

We stayed at Al-Mathaf Hotel on the north end of the Gaza strip.

http://www.almathaf.ps/hotel/.

Al-Mathaf is a first-class hotel with a good restaurant and a museum that displays artifacts found in Gaza. Some date back more than two thousand years. Across the road a mosque is under construction. The site overlooks the Mediterranean and the mosque will be beautiful when it is completed.

 

Our morning commute was always interesting. We travelled to and from the hospital in an ambulance. Horse-drawn carts are common.  Passing depends on the relative abilities of your vehicle and the one being overtaken, as well as a snap assessment of the character and motivation of motorists in the opposite lane. I think Gaza would offer a good surfing venue if it wasn’t so difficult to get in and out. Here's a YouTube clip of the commute: http://youtu.be/7wi_FMvqQ8w

The fish market was interesting. We usually got there after the peak of activity, but some days there was still some commerce underway. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEBskDFDg_4&feature=g-upl

You could also see guys on sailboards fishing closer to shore.  Fishermen who go too far out will be chased by the Israeli coast guard.   -->

We worked at the Al Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital in central Gaza. http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/al_aksa_martyrs_brigades/index.html

-->

-->

The staff at the hospital is uniformly friendly and helpful. Our host, Dr. Fayez Zeidan, is a kind and generous physician who worked very long hours while we were in town. Here you see Dr. Fayez and Dr. John Gazak operating to correct a kidney deformity in a three year-old girl. She had beautiful red hair. She was not personally pleased to be there but her parents were very grateful that we could help her.

 

 

-->

Getting home from Tel Aviv was a bad news, good news story. Part of the problem was my fault: I got to the airport at 9:30 pm, only two hours before departure. Also, I don’t think that Ben-Gurion airport puts their A-list security team on duty during the Shabbat that abuts Rosh Hashanah. They X-rayed my gear a couple of times and then had to consult with higher authorities (probably about why they had to X-ray it so much). The guy who seemed to be in charge had undergone a major craniotomy within the last six months and I wonder if the plate in his head is seated properly.

I was told that a man travelling alone is suspect. Thus, the family: My husband, my daughter from a previous marriage, and "our" son.

The good news? I met some swell people who also missed their United flight.  We were routed through Moscow on Aeroflot (try the lamb). The Aeroflot flight attendants’ outfits are to die for. I loved the hammer-and sickle-on the cuffs.

Two of the attendants in economy wore name tags saying "Ekaterina".  One more and I would have been concerned.