Tbilisi’s Hospitals Through a Vintage Hunter’s Eyes: Where Anthrax Shots and Chai Collide
let me tell you about the time i needed antibiotics after digging through mothball-coated 70s army coats at the dry bridge market - tbilisi healthcare is like its architecture: some spots polished like stalinist facades, others held together with soviet duct tape and good vibes. you know that acrid lemon-zinc taste when you lick a 9-volt battery? that’s how georgian pharmacies hit you - equal parts intimidating and fascinating.
*the Realpolitik of Band-Aids: med clinic georgia’s got that sleek oligarch energy (think marble floors, doctors who look like bond villains) but buddy, a local warned me "that place charges you €100 just for the air conditioning smell - go to evexi if you want real help." turns out evex hospitals are everywhere like stray dogs - decent emergency stitch-ups for less than a vintage leather jacket. check their tripadvisor chaos before trusting anything though.
> overheard while getting rabies shots at the national center for disease control:
> "თუ გინდა რომ ექიმმა შენზე ძალიან გაინტერესება, მათთვის შოკოლადი გაუტანე"
> ("if you want doctors to care extra, bring them chocolate")
embedded map where all the drama happens:
brass tacks for broke scavengers: rent near vake park=€500/mo (private clinics galore). saburtalo district=€300 (commie blocks hiding shockingly good dentists). current weather feels like a soviet-era dryer set to 'lightly crisp' - pack layers. yerevan’s 5hr drive if you need cheaper root canals, turkey’s 2hr flight for anything requiring actual anesthesia. dig through this expat rant thread before deciding where to bleed.
final drunk advice from a nurse i met at mziuri park: "always carry cash - sometimes the card machines 'catch cold' right when you need stitches. and never ever go to a state hospital on monday morning unless you want to witness human suffering worthy of tolstoy."* truth? the folks on yelp agree gov hospitals function like live-action tetris with too many L-shaped blocks. but hey - when apollo clinic patched my tetanus scare for €40, i celebrated with khinkali. chaotic healthcare, but undeniably human.
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