The night before last myself, Elly and our friend from Brighton Rick (name changed as requested), decided to go to the Full Moon party at Bolivar Beach Bar. The night started out great, with us travelling first to Piraeus to pre-drink at Ricks flat to then getting a taxi to the night club around 12pm. On arrival we got a free drink with the 10 euros entry, which frankly I knew I didn’t need, having finished off a litre of Vodka between myself and Elly I was suitably pissed by the time I arrived at the club. This had its benefits as I didn’t have to buy a single drink for the rest of the night. So, I am not able to tell you if the drinks were expensive or not. The club itself was amazing, as it states in the name it is on the beach which means there is plenty of room to relax but also areas to dance and get properly involved with the DJ. I had a great night until we left to leave the club. Our friend Rick (the only person who knows how to speak Greek) had run into the sea and seemed perfectly fine, bar a little wet. As we went to meet our taxi, myself and Elly got up and helped Rick to his feet, who at this point fell facedown and was out like a switch. I sobered up instantly. Looking back, I am very glad that he had got dressed before passing out. How the Greek staff and services dealt with this situation was incredible. They had clearly seen all this before and had done the procedure countless times. Pretty much straight away four of the staff grabbed a beach chair lifted Rick onto it and almost like a king being paraded through a crowd, he was carried through the party. Elly and I following behind like a royal procession. Once a bit further down the beach, by the exit to the bar the staff put him down and checked his pulse. At this point, I thought the next step, as we would in England, would be chucking Rick in the back of a taxi and getting him back to our apartment to sleep the night off. However, when we asked the bar staff if we could take nick from there, they responded that the ambulance was on its way already and to wait for them to arrive. This was very surprising to us as he was just drunk, and as students we have been in this state ourselves or have seen many people in the state without getting the emergency services involved. In the back of my head I thought the ambulance would arrive, tell us off for wasting their time and send us packing. This, however, was not the case. The ambulance arrived and tried to ask us what happened, through gestures and the word “Drunk” being repeated. Then to our disbelief loaded the only Greek speaker in the group into the back of the ambulance. The very jolly, non-uniformed driver in his fifties with a greying moustache then laughed and said, “Jump in... to the after-party”. His colleague strapped us into the back, and we were off. This after-party turned out to be the A&E and wasn’t a party I ever want to have the bad luck of returning to. The room was full of injured and ill citizens. Quite frankly to a recently sobered up Brit it was pretty horrendous. There was a man with his nose bandaged up, but with scarlet stains covering his black and white stripy T-shirt. There was screaming from a room, the door still slightly ajar but I remember wishing that it had been completely closed. And people in hospital beds filling the room completely apart from a small walkway through the centre. Luckily, we were put next to a bed with a teen who we later found out was also unconscious due to alcohol. Yes, we were in the intoxicated corner of the emergency services. We later learnt that the two women waiting with the seventeen-year-old was his mum and aunt, and it was the kids first time drinking. The hospital staff proceeded to take blood from Rick and then to put him on the drip. At first, they asked me to hold his arm while they stuck a massive needle into him. As they started to withdraw the needle from the said arm, I began to feel sick and subsequently faint. Deciding that I didn’t want to add another patient to the already overcrowded hospital, Elly took over holding his arm while he underwent heart monitor tests and blood tests. I decided to take a seat (on a medical stall somewhere in the cramped room) and drifted to sleep. Waking up around thirty minutes after when Elly needed to leave for the toilet, I then took position of watching over Rick. Hours passed like minutes as our alcoholic dazes had long passed and we stood there worn out having been up for around 20 hours. It was now around 6:30am, and we had been there for a good few hours... and I began to hear the patient snore. I wasn’t having this, and got hold of the doctor, asking him if I was allowed to wake Rick and go home. He replied frankly “of course, of course”. So, starting off gently I began to shake my now sleeping friend, he stirred a little but not fully so I thought a few light slaps to his face while saying his name might work... until his eyes eventually opened, dazed and confused. I was so glad, not just to see him alive but of the prospect I would finally be able to go to sleep. As Elly kept him awake, I ran and got the doctor to take the drip from his arm. In a few minutes, after Rick had conversed with the doctor in Greek, he was out of bed hailing a taxi to take us home. As we left the emergency room, I saw the mother and auntie employing my rough but effective technique of raising the drunk, and I hope that it worked sooner than later, hospitals are never good venues to pass the time. Looking back how the staff and the emergency services handled the situation was fantastic and professional, even though the hospital was daunting I never felt unsafe and it was the best place for our friend at that point in time. Even better, it was free, and no payment was asked for. I know now that I am in good hands in Athens. By Alex Hood (@alexjohnhood)Edited by Elly Babe (@elly_babexxx)
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The Academics:We are three Brighton University students who have been given the opportunity to study at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This blog will be our way of sharing our experiences of living and studying in Greece, plus will include tips and advice for those also looking to study abroad or even just visit Athens. Who we are:
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