Universal Healthcare

One of our friends visiting Brno this week came down with Conjunctivitis, Zánět spojivek, normally called "pink eye" in English.  So we made the decision to go visit Bohunice Hospital.  

Going to the hospital on day 2 of a 4-day weekend?  Not something that sounded like a fun time but we headed to the emergency room.

When we got to the hospital the receptionist told us to go directly to the eye clinic on the 16th floor.  Within five minutes the nurse had taken some personal information and our friend was seen by a resident.  

A senior doctor joined, multiple x-rays just to rule things out, and a prescription for medicine and we were headed home.  Everything done in just one hour.  Our friend doesn't have a Czech health card but does have a European health card.  In a situation like this, you have to pay for the visit and medicine, you submit a claim with your country's health insurance system and get reimbursed.  

The visit, with the x-rays, cost 500 Kč (~$21) and the medicine was another 500 Kč.  In the USA, even with good insurance, it would have cost way more.  

I never understand why universal healthcare is seen as a bad thing by so many Americans (Republicans).  It's not something radical.  There are 73 countries in the world that offer universal healthcare coverage and all but 43 countries in the world have free healthcare or access to universal healthcare for at least 90% of their citizens.  

In the USA there is national defence but the moment national healthcare is brought up, you would think that people were advocating for the downfall of the country.  

Sure, no system is perfect and there's always room for improvement, but I've never seen a country with universal healthcare trying to repeal it.  It's as if universal healthcare is a good thing.

The USA is the largest country without universal healthcare and to put this in perspective, some other countries without free healthcare are Nigeria, Yemen, South Africa, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. 

I'm very happy that I live here in Czechland where we have a very good healthcare system.  And I've never heard of anyone in a country with universal healthcare going bankrupt due to medical bills.  That's just an American thing.  Most Americans are one major disease from losing everything due to medical bankruptcy. 

Update:  Our friend was fully reimbursed for the 1000 Kč within a week.

Commonwealth of Nations

Today is the 5th of November which is Guy Fawkes night.  So Happy Bonfire night to all of my Commonwealth peeps.  

Here's a bit about the Commonwealth of Nations.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of 56 countries, most of which, 52 of them, were once part of the British Empire either as colonies or dependencies.

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, Charles III immediately succeeded his mother as monarch of the Commonwealth realm even though he has not yet be crowned king.

Once Charles III will be king, he will be both monarch and head of state, of the 15 countries of the Commonwealth realm.

These 15 countries are the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

There are five countries that have other monarchs but are still a part of the Commonwealth.  These five are Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga.

The remaining 36 members of the Commonwealth are all republics.  They include Bangladesh, Barbados,  Botswana, Cameroon, Cyprus, Dominica, Fiji, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Kenya, Kiribati, Malawi, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Vanuatu, and Zambia.

The Commonwealth consists of 31,5 million km² (12.2 million square miles) which is about 21% of the world's total land area.  The Commonwealth countries are home to 2,4 billion people which is about ⅓ of the world's population with 94% living in Asia and Africa.

There's no requirement that a member has to have been a British colony.  Mozambique, Rwanda, and Gabon never were.  The Commonwealth Charter states that members have shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The human rights thing is a bit funny to me.  The UK left a legacy of anti-homosexuality laws, particularly during the 19th century, at the height of the British Empire.  Being gay is still a criminal offence in more than 30 Commonwealth countries.  There's a direct link between anti-gay law and increased rates of HIV.  While the Commonwealth accounts for about a ⅓ of the world's population it has more than 60% of the world's HIV cases.    

Membership in the Commonwealth isn't forever.  Ireland was the first country to leave.  It left when the country became a republic.  Prior to India becoming a republic the rules were changed so that India could remain a member.  Zimbabwe left in 2003 but it is now trying to rejoin.  Other potential members currently include Somaliland, South Sudan, Suriname, and Burundi.

The three Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man aren't happy with only being represented by the UK.  All three want to have direct representation with the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Games are held every four years.  They began in 1930 as the Empire Games.  They contain the usual Summer Olympic events plus "British" sports like bowls, netball and rugby sevens.  The next games take place in 2026 in Victoria, Australia.

Update August 2023:  Looks like it's getting too expensive for cities to host the Commonwealth Games.  Two cities have withdrawn their bids for upcoming games.  Here's a BBC report about it.

©BBC News

Fingers Crossed

My exams are coming up so "fingers crossed" that I pass.  In English, you put the middle finger across the index finger to "hope for the best", "wish luck" or to just show support.  You usually do it with both hands but one hand will work too.

Of course, when you only use one hand then it could be that you are telling a lie.  But let's focus on wishing luck.

In Czechland and Slovakia you don't cross your fingers.  Držet palce is the equivalent of "fingers crossed" but here it means "to hold your thumbs."  

Držím palce - I'm holding my thumbs

Budu ti držet palce - I will hold my thumbs for you

When I send an SMS (text message) I still have to use the "fingers crossed" emoji because there isn't a "holding thumbs" version.

German speakers also hold their thumbs.  You'll hear drücken die Daumen in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In Sweden it's hålla tummarna, in Poland it's trzymając kciuki and there are thumb holding equivalents in Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Russia.  Even the Afrikaans speakers in South Africa "hold thumbs tightly" with duim vashou. 

It doesn't matter to me if it's "fingers crossed" or "held thumbs".  At this point I'll take all of the luck that I can get. 

Increased Lockdown

The COVID-19 situation in Czechland continues to get worse and now the South African variant has shown up here.  From 26.2. until 11.4., all Czech citizens and residents are prohibited from travelling to Botswana, Brazil, Eswanti, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia or Zimbabwe.

From 1 March, all schools including kindergartens will be closed.  So far only first and second grade classes have been open but now they will all close again.  There's an exception for child groups at healthcare facilities for the children of first responders.

The government will also restrict the free movement of people for three weeks.  People must remain in their district.  If you do need to travel outside of your district for work, to go to a doctor or public authority or to an airport, then you need to have written confirmation from your employer or a sworn affidavit.

Brno-City and Brno-Outskirts are considered a single district for the restriction of movement.  Some 26.000 police officers will be deployed to enforce the restriction.   About 5.000 soldiers will be used to reinforce the police.  

It's a good thing that I didn't choose to take my exams in March because with the new restrictions I won't be allowed to travel to Prague.

2019 Global Peace Index

The results of the 13th annual Global Peace Index are in. Europe maintained its position as the world's most peaceful region for the 13th year in a row.

Iceland and New Zealand kept the first two spots again.

1. Iceland
2. New Zealand
3. Portugal
4. Austria
5. Denmark
6. Canada
7. Singapore
8. Slovenia
9. Japan
10. Czech Republic

The USA came in at #128, out of 163 countries, behind South Africa but ahead of Saudi Arabia.  

Afghanistan and Syria swapped positions as the least peaceful countries.  The bottom five are:

159.  Iraq

160.  Yemen

161.  South Sudan

162.  Syria

163.  Afghanistan

7th Least Miserable Economy

The Bloomberg Misery Index sums a country's inflation and unemployment to determine how happy or miserable its people are.  With Czechland's record low unemployment it's not wonder that they finally cracked the Top 10 of the least miserable economies.

1.  Thailand
2.  Switzerland
3.  Japan / Singapore
5.  Taiwan
6.  Malaysia
7.  Czech Republic
8.  Hong Kong
9.  Israel / South Korea

The USA jumped six spots to the 13th least miserable economy.

Having low unemployment too low can be a bad thing.  Employers may not let people move to new roles because they will be unable to find a backfill.  If prices are too low it could mean that demand is low.

Venezuela is the most miserable as inflation is expected to hit 8 million percent this year.  8 million %!!    

Coming in behind Venezuela is Argentina, South Africa, Turkey, Greece, and Ukraine.

South Africa Trip Summary

South Africa has to have been one of my more interesting trips since moving to Euroland.
Technically I've been to Africa before.  There was the day trip to Morocco.
However, this was my first real taste of Africa proper.

My adventure started off with an 11 hour overnight BA flight from London to Johannesburg.

Johannesburg is the biggest city in South Africa.

There's plenty to see and do so I kept busy.  The best parts for me were my visits to the Lion Park and Soweto.

Being in the Southern Hemisphere, July is the start of winter here.  Many people were complaining about how cold it was. It did drop down to 2℃ (35,6℉) but having lived in Czechland I kept thinking that these people don't know what cold is.

"Christmas in July" is a popular Southern Hemisphere thing.  Every so often the radio would play Jingle Bells or Feliz Navidad.

Normally when I travel I'm game to just go out and explore.  I'll take a random street just to see what I can find.  Not this time!  South Africa's crime rate is out of control.  Except for walking to the local mall in Rosebank, I took an Uber anytime I wanted to go somewhere.  Every sightseeing thing I did was through a booked tour.  The nice thing was that since this wasn't a busy time, I was the only person on all but one of my tours.  So I had private tours for the price of group tours.  Sweet.

I had a half-day tour to Pretoria.  The Voortrekker Monument was definitely worth seeing.  But given my limited time I probably should have skipped it and gone to see the Cradle of Humankind.



The flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town is just over two hours.



While on the airplane I had a look through the inflight magazine.  There was a full page story on why Brno is the place to go visit.

Whilst I'm glad that Brno gets the recognition as a great place to be I kind of hope it that it retains its status as a hidden gem.

Cape Town was a bit warmer.  Fortunately, they had a few days of rain before I arrived which actually got their reservoir up to around 70%.  Water restrictions were still in place.  My hotel removed the plugs from the all of the bathtubs and asked people to keep showers to a maximum of 90 seconds.  This was rough considering it took over a minute for the water to warm up.

I enjoyed Cape Town much more than Joburg.
Especially the day trips out to Robben Island and the Cape of Good Hope.

As a mentioned, security is an important thing to be aware of in South Africa.  Way more so than in Euroland.  In South Africa, all of the nice houses are hidden behind high walls and electric fences. In poorer areas the electric fences are replaced with razor wire.  It gets exhausting always being on guard.  I don't get how people live here full time.

I'm very glad that I came to South Africa.  It was educational.  The scenery is absolutely spectacular.

There is so much potential here but people are squandering it.
There is so much fraud.  I think Nelson Mandela is turning in his grave over how things are playing out in the country.






I still want to visit Durban and Port Elizabeth.  I would for sure return to Cape Town but I don't feel a burning need to go back to Joburg.

Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point and Stellenbosch Tour, South Africa

On Friday, I went on an all day tour from Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Point, and Stellenbosch.

Cape Point is the mountainous stretch that runs about 30 km (19 miles) at the southwestern tip of Africa.


Our first stop was at Maiden's Cove for a view of the Twelve Apostles which is a scenic stretch of mountain on the back side of Table Mountain.



Then we stopped at Hout Bay which is about 20 km (12,5 miles) from Cape Town.  The town is home to about 18,000 people.  It's a lovely spot surrounded by mountains with a view of the Atlantic Ocean.

Panoramic view of Hout Bay

On the way to Cape Point we passed an ostrich farm.

We also saw plenty of baboons by the farm.

Cape Point is beautiful.  Again, great views of the coast and the Atlantic Ocean.

About 2 km away is the Cape of Good Hope.  The Cape of Good Hope is the most south-western point on the African Continent.  It's a popular spot for photos.

Boulders Beach is near Simon's Town.  This is home to the African Penguin, previously known as the Jackass Penguin.  This is the only penguin that breeds in Africa.

Back in 1910 there were around 1,5 million penguins and today it is considered an endangered species.  There are give or take 3000 birds in this colony.

On the way to Stellenbosch we drove past Khayelitsha.  Khayelitsha means "Our New Home" in Xhosa.

It is home to over 390,000 people.  It is South Africa's largest and fastest growing township.

Stellenbosch is about 50 km (31 miles) from Cape Town.  It was founded in 1679.

Today it is a university town with a population of around 20,000.  Unfortunately we only had about an hour to walk around so I didn't get to see much of the town.

We then stopped off at Zevenwacht Winery for a short tour and wine tasting.  The winery dates back about 300 years.

Robben Island, South Africa

Robben Island is 10 km (6 miles) from Cape Town.  The small island is 3,3 km (2,1 miles) long and 1,9 km (1,2 miles) wide.

Dutch settlers first used the island as a prison in the mid-17th century.

In 1845 it became a leper colony and it eventually became an animal quarantine station.

In 1961, South Africa's Apartheid government used the island as a prison for both convicted criminals and political prisoners.

This is where Nelson Mandela served 18 of 27 years before the end of Apartheid.  He, along with Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma, are former prisoners who became President of South Africa.

Nelson Mandela's cell 

In 1991, the maximum security prison for political prisoners closed.  Then in 1996 the medium security prison was closed.

In 1999, Robben Island was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are three tours a day from Cape Town.  The 3,5 hour tours start with a ferry ride from the V&A Waterfront.  The tour guides are former prisoners who are able to share their personal experiences.