Rio

Once again, my life is moving very fast now. I think the best way to tell the story is through pictures. I didn't have my camera until Caleb Faulkner arrived on Friday, but I took enough pictures the next couple days to make up for it.

To begin our trip, we almost didn't begin our trip. The worst rain storm (multiple days) hit Rio in 45 years. Many of the favelas (slums built on hillsides) were washed out (in total 105 people died) and even the middle of town was flooded with many roads closed. Our flight was one of the first to arrive that night at Santos Dumont Airport and they even canceled the flight before ours. We decided to wait it out and they kept pushing the departure time back. This flight only had about 15 people on it, and it was the roughest one I have ever been on. It didn't bother me much, but I certainly did not read on this flight.

When we arrived in Rio, we took a taxi into Copacabana to our house. This was so much shorter than the last time I was here and took a taxi from Joao Jobim International. Our house was awesome and it had an air conditioner! My room was on the roof and I actually had to walk outside to get to the bathroom or into the house. I really liked this architecture and would like to include it in my house someday. I don't have many pictures of the house, but they do have a website and I will post it here in the future. Bottom line: this house was awesome.

The next two days kinda run together for me, but it rained quite a bit both days. I know that we went to a organization for neglected diseases and to doctors without borders one day, but I don't know what day. Another day, we went downtown and explored the black market. They literally have everything fake that you could ever want. I'm sure that some of the electronics were real, but I didn't trust any of them. I bought some fake Ray Bans and some presents for my family here and for my family and friends back home. Hope ya'll like the best of the Black Market Rio!

Both Wednesday and Thursday I got to spend some time in my room relaxing and reading in the air conditioning and this was greatly treasured. I finished my book the Snow Leopard and my assigned reading for Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It was really nice to lay around and just drink coffee and read my book in this awesome house. It kinda made me not want to go back to the states or go back to my host house.

On Friday morning I woke up at about 6 and tried to catch a bus on the Copacabana Beach Road (Av Atlantica) from about 6:30 to 8:15. Caleb's plane was supposed to arrive at 8:30, so I eventually gave in and got a taxi. I cost me about $30 USD and that was after haggling him down from $45 USD. When I got to the airport at about 9:00. Caleb's plane was already removed from the arrivals list. I found that he actually arrived a little before 8. Most people said that it would take about 1 hour to go through customs, so I thought I still beat him to the airport- I was wrong. I started to search frantically for him. I probably looked like a mom who had lost their child in the supermarket. I just kept thinking about what Judy would say to me if I lost her son in Brazil. I now know what it is like to be in a foreign country without understand anything except the some of the signs written in broken English, and I was trying to help Caleb not experience that feeling of despair (even though it is a very true cultural experience). Eventually after about 30 minutes of running, I literally ran into Caleb and gave him a huge hug. A taxi driver had been very nice to help him out (even though he just wanted to give Caleb a ride). We took a bus back to Copacabana (took about 2 hours but got to see most of the city) and only cost 8 R a piece. I almost spent as much picking Caleb up from the airport as he did on his whole plane flight! After this, I got my "baby" (camera) back and so the rest of my Rio experience we be in pictures.This is my first pic with my reborn camera. In the background is a place we went the night before to watch MPB music (Music Popular Brazil) and a live orchestra.

The game that we bought tickets for at Maracana. Maracana was once the biggest stadium in the world and it will be the host of the Olympics and World Cup in Brazil. More to come later.
Some nude statue that we of course had to harass.
Again, Caleb had to celebrate it.
We bought the tickets at the Botafogo office in deep Botofogo territory. Of course I decided to wear my Flamengo jersey this day. They wouldn't even let me go in the club house and some guys looked like they wanted to kill me. We left quickly. They are very serious about this stuff.
Panorama of the Black Market. Hope you guys are ready for some fake presents!
Metro
Saturday morning at Sugar Loaf
From the top of the first hill, we were above the planes landing at Santos Dumont Airport.
Botafogo and part of Copacabana on the far left. Corcovado (Christ) is on the largest hill but is hid by the clouds.
Copacabana from the first hill. Ipanema is over the small hills in the distance.
Sorry about tilting your head. Monkeys at the top of Sugar Loaf

I feel like Chips in my new fake Ray Bans.


Panorama from Sugar Loaf. From left to right: Botafogo, Flamengo, Gloria, Centro, Vasco, and the island is Niteroi.

Corcovado in the background.
Don't think it had the same significance, but nevertheless funny.

Favelas and train station outside of Maracana. Favelas are slums built on hillsides in Brazil. Kinda opposite of the US (rich live on mountains).
Maracana! At the 1954 World Cup between Brazil and Paraguay it held a record 200,000 people but now only holds 99,000.
Fluminense.
Entrance
Fireworks and Flags. Puts WVU football student section to shame.
The field. Fluminense is on the other side. Police don't let them meet before or after the game.
Botafogo cheering section.


Calebs

Gotta watch the videos. I think they were after two Botafogo goals. The picture above is the Botafogo fans exiting and celebrating.




The street fair in Ipanema. Got some cool stuff... not for you Laurel.

Me at the beach on Ipanema.Ipanema Beach from the fort in between Ipanema and Copacabana.
Self Portrait
Calebs. Ipanema in back.
Centro Rio from between Caleb's legs. Quasi Superman?
Caleb sleeping on the Metro. We didn't sleep much in Rio.
Last picture before I left. Caleb waited about 30 more minutes and then caught a taxi. One heck of a trip.

My first autumn birthday (week)

Well alot has happened since last weekend and I've been so busy that it has been very hard to blog. I'm now in Rio trying to write about the past week, and it really hard to remember because I was very busy. Thus, I am going to tell it with " a thousand words" or pictures.

On Monday, Nicole, Nicole's mother and sister, Jiame, and I went to Arracruz which is north of Vitoria. The terrain in this municipality is very different than what I have been used to. It is much wilder. The towns are mostly small fishing communities and the beach are beautiful. The following pictures can describe it better than I ever could.
Check out Jiame's truck. I found sexy suzy's mate. This is pretty much the Brazilian version of my truck with the same interior and a little different and older exterior (its got a 2.8 diesel, I'm envious). I feel home riding around in it!
This was one of Jiame's favorite restaurants in all of Brazil and I can see why. It was in a small fishing community and the fish was so fresh. Amazing place, going down in my book as the best food in Brazil... yet.
This is cacao moqueca. Cacao is a small shark and moqueca is the capixaba traditional dish (people from Espirito Santo). The shrimp was fried but it didn't have any breading. Really great with a little pimenta and limon.
Sunset view from the dock of the restaurant. The pic doesn't do it justice.I don't have a picture of the "pousada" or bungalow we stayed in, but it was beautiful (actually, I don't have any pictures, these are all Nicole's mom from her iPhone). Once we arrived there at night, we sat by the pool and then went out to another restaurant which was also amazing. The rooms were great and had AC! The bed was the best I have slept on since Jiame's sitio or maybe even the states. The only problem was that we ordered way too much food for dinner and so I couldn't sleep because we ate very late and I was stuffed. The picture below is of the natural beach right outside the hotel.

After driving about 5 hours (mostly on a dirt road like WV but with no gravel and huge trucks flying past), we arrived at this pousada in a small crabbing community. Jiame did a study on the economy of this crabbing community so of course he knew everyone (actually, everyone already knows him somehow). We stopped at this pousada and had another moqueca and then hit the road. When we finally got back on the hard road, I commented that the power steering was making a strange noise and Jiame said it was hard to steer. A couple hours later, Jiame stopped at a gas station and said he couldn't drive any farther. The power steering pump was leaking and he was convinced that it couldn't be driven. I tried to persuade him just to add more fluid, but it's his truck (remembered that guys from the Exxon next door would come into Advanced Auto and buy power steering fluid when some college student would come in with a leaking power steering pump but didn't have the money to get it fixed). Long story short, we spent an hour waiting for the mechanic and then he told him to just buy two quarts, and we could make it home.




I turned 22 on the way home somewhere in Arracruz. The next day Nicole told me to show up late to CADEC. When I arrived they had made me moqueca and the kids made me cards. At the end of the day they gave me a pink shirt and made me a cake (I liked the cake a little more than the pink shirt.


One of my assignments was to interview a kid at CADEC. I picked the angel of the class, Stefany. It wasn't too bad with the language barrier, but I've gotten pretty good at talking with children and I was asking simple questions.
This is Nicole's sister, Amanda, helping me paint one of the rooms at CADEC. I've only done one room thus far, but they want me to do the rest of the rooms. Now that I'm about to leave, I finally have more work than I can do.
Some of the CADEC staff with my cake
Cutting my cake with Sirlei. Sirlei is the director of CADEC.My pink shirt.. woot.
I had a "small" birthday party at a restaurant close to my house. Ended up that about 15 people showed up. The only bad part is that b-day boy has to pay for his own party. Thankfully some people helped out.

A few of the people that showed up.

Also, on Saturday night I had my real b-day party at my house. It was kinda expensive because I had to pay for all the food, but I soon figured out that this party wasn't really for me. Even though it was my b-day party, it was really for my parents to be able to invite their parents over. This was the most work I have ever ever ever done for a party. I am really telling the truth when I say that my mom and I worked non-stop from about 8 in the morning till about 7 at night (and we were up till about 1 the night before peeling shrimp). Prior to the party we had to go the supermarket, bakery, and fishing community to all get the freshest and cheapest food. Preparing the food was also very time-consuming. Just think if everything you made for a party had to be made from raw ingredients. For example, it took me about 3 hours to cube acai palmetto hearts, cheese, and ham; then put them on a skewer, then shove the skewers into a pineapple. In America we would have just paid for a cheese platter and called it quits. It was very important to my mom that everything we made was perfect in appearance. I barely had any friends come to the party except for my extended family and a few friends, so I knew we were making way too much food. We are still eating leftovers from my party three days later. It was a very cool experience that I needed, but it was so foreign compared to my birthday in the states. Usually my birthday in the states is a day to relax, but here I worked all day and had to pay for everything. However, my family got me the best gift ever. I have been looking for a Brazilian flag towel for some time and they surprised me with one on my birthday. I love it. I would post Nicole's pictures from my party, but apparently my sister (Gabi) deleted them on purpose. I don't know whats her deal is, but I've always just written it off because she is only 12. Now, I think she really doesn't like me. At least I have rest of the fam. I don't know what I would do without them. I have been very blessed to have such a welcoming family (probably because they are cariocas (people from Rio) and not capixabas (people from Espirtu Santo)). Now that I am in Rio, I can really see the difference. People from Rio are so much more open than capixabas. I hope I become more like cariocas by living with them!

Churrasco

Churrasco is the Brazilian word for barbecue. It consists of cooking marinated meat over an open fire-pit on skewers. It's similar to an American barbeque, but the cuts of meat are huge and they slice off pieces on the outside of the skewer and return the skewer over the fire to cook more. The meat is pretty salty by US standards and they marinate it in garlic and lime. It's awesome. I am telling you all of this because this was my birthday present from my family. My family bought about 20 pounds of chicken, beef and sausage for my churrasco birthday party on the beach. Since it is tradition to throw your own birthday party here (and pay for all of it) this was a really nice thing for them to do. I only had to pay for part of the drinks from the beach bar (turned out being about $25 bucks which is a lot by Brazilian standards- these people love their pop and beer). We stayed on the beach from about 10 until 5 and just sat, talked, and ate under the palm trees. Every now and then I would need a break from Portuguese (Brazilians never need a break from talking), so I would make the excuse that I wanted to go to the ocean to cool off. Grant and Renata were there and since Renata's birthday was yesterday, she bought a cake and celebrated her birthday too. Also, Nicole's mom and little sister came into today and they spent most of the day with us on the beach. They will be here for the next week or so.

After recovering from eating all day, I decided to go on a run. I ran straight for about 65 minutes and I think this was my longest run yet, but slower. Then I went to the station on the beach and did some exercises. I really find comfort in working out because it gives me time to think and listen to English (through music), but I found that listening to Kenny Chesney made really excited to be living at the beach but really sad to be skipping my last semester of college and especially Spring Break. Laurel is in Puerto Rico with her whole fam right now, and I really wish I could have gone. Ticket prices were ridiculous no matter what time I would have booked, so I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I keep telling myself that I'll just do it another year, but I looked on the WVU SOM calendar and I think that only second year med students have a Spring Break. Great! Why am I going to Med School again?

Nicole and her mom wanted me to go out to eat with them at a crab restaurant, but I don't have enough money to keep spending everyday and I was really tired after being on the beach all day. Amanda really wanted to go, but couldn't go by herself so she tried to talk me into going but I've learned enough Portuguese now that I am finally comfortable with saying no. Anyways, she tried to make me feel bad about this but I'm glad that I don't have to do everything that everyone wants me to do now. When I first got here, it was tiring just keeping up with everyone's demands for my time. On a separate note, I feel like I need to start being more efficient with my time so that I can accomplish more. One thing I want to accomplish is relaxing more. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I want to be busier, so that I can relax more. Also, I feel like I need to keep in contact with my friends and family more. I haven't been able to talk to my grandmother once since I've been down here and I feel like I should try to catch up on what's going on with my friends. At first, I didn't want to contact people because it made me sad, but now the end is in sight and I am realizing that I have been removed from these people's lives for over 2 months!

Final Four Baby!

I still can't believe WVU is in the final four! When trying to think of a title for my entry I couldn't think anything more exciting that has in the last week. Actually, I think this is the most exciting thing that has happened while I've been at WVU (except for almost going to the BCS championship if it hadn't been for a certain unmentionable school). Anyways, I am really glad that I bought fast internet because I can watch all the NCAA games down here (probably one reason I haven't been blogging much lately).

Another reason I haven't been blogging much lately is because I have had a change in perspective. At first, I took my assignment to the max and tried to blog everyday and even made up previous days because I found utility in this. I felt that a reason I was down here was to inform friends, family, and WVU of what I was doing here. The only problem is that I spent a lot of time and energy documenting my experience and less time and energy enjoying my experience. I have come to the point in my trip where the end is in sight, and it scares me. It scares me because I feel that I still have a lot to accomplish. As of today, I have only about 5 more weeks in Vila Velha (and 6 days I'll be in Rio) and less than 6 weeks in country. I still have some goals that I have yet to accomplish and none of them really involve blogging, but rather involve learning and personal growth. Don't get me wrong, I am still very dedicated to my academics here, and I am still learning in the classroom. However, most of my learning here has been outside the classroom. I have already learned more in this semester than I ever have in my Bio courses at WVU. I guess its true that "Traveling is the best teacher!"

Back to the game... I kinda put a crimp in everyone's plans last night because I had to be home early to watch the game. I missed the first couple minutes so when I turned it on, we were already down by 6. Kentucky was dominating us in every area, but this didn't last long. After Butler started draining treys in the end of the 1st half, Kentucky just couldn't keep up. Since when did WVU become a three-point team. This team was a type of magical hybrid of John Beilein's three-point and free-throw shooting and Huggins's physical toughness. They played better than I think I have ever seen them play, and I was letting everyone know. It's pretty bad when in Brazil your neighbors look out their windows to see what's going on (especially since they are accustomed to my loud family). Final Four!!!!!!!!! First time since Jerry West and 1959!

On Saturday I woke up late and then went to the beach with my family. When I say I woke up late, it really means that I woke up around 8 (when it starts getting hot in my room) and tried to sleep for the next two hours, but really I just lay there in front of my two fans. At the beach I read my book and just relaxed on the sand. I am tan to the point that I don't need sunscreen anymore for short periods in the sun (still haven't gotten burnt yet- one of my previous goals of this trip). The waves were especially big today, and my went swimming in the shockingly cold water.

The rest of the day, I didn't really do much (besides watch the aforementioned game). I ran my fastest time ever on my normal route and worked out at one of the stations on the beach. I am getting in pretty good shape, but the food down here is certainly not a good diet. Sure, I eat beans and rice for two meals a day, but the fatty meats and sugary drinks ensure that I keep a few pounds on. If I did eat so much sausage and fatty chicken down here, I would be skin and bones by this point.

Bus Culture

Yesterday Nicole told me not to come to CADEC until 9 instead of 8. I thought this was strange, but I showed up late and there was already a party going on. On the last Thursday of every month, CADEC has a party to celebrate the birthdays for the past three months (Jan, Feb, Mar- this time). They wanted me to show up late so that wouldn't have to worry about getting everything ready and I could just enjoy the party. Nicole had bought face paint for the kids, and there was cake and popcorn, but I think the kids were enjoying popping the birthday balloons more than anything else. I decided to trust one of the kids to paint my face because he assured me that he was very good and knew what he was doing- I turned out looking like a gay pirate. Nicole has pictures of this, but I haven't gotten her camera yet so I will post them later. I didn't get to paint today, but I had a lot of fun with the kids, and the food was really great today.

On the bus ride home, someone heard Nicole and I speaking English. We usually try to keep our voices down so that we don't attract too much attention, but we look and sound very different. We ran into two Brazilians that were very interested in what we were doing here. The guy had taken English classes for 5 years, but he could barely string a sentence together (This is common here, I guess they don't really get to practice much, so it is a lot different than my living and learning while immersed in the culture). They were both very friendly and we got to talk with them for the next two buses. One thing that I have noticed while spending time with Nicole is that it really isn't that great for my Portuguese. Since she is so much better, I just feel content to listen while she talks with others. When I am alone and talking with others, I am much more involved in the conversation and much more out-going. I also realized today that the bus has been a large part of my experience here. I like to call it the "bus culture" because it really has enriched my time here and given me a lot of new experiences. Also, I am glad that we do not travel in a van with the other American students because the bus gives me time to interact with Brazilians, time to think, and makes me feel more immersed and integrated into this culture.

On a separate note, I was rocking out to James Taylor on my way to UFES today and I heard "Only a dream in Rio" for the first time. I had probably listened to this song ten times before but thought that it was about Brazil. Some of the lyrics I really connect with and some I still have no idea what the heck he talking about. The lyrics are below:

More than a distant land
Over a shining sea
More than the steaming green
More than the shining eyes

Well they tell me it's only a dream in rio
Nothing could be as sweet as it seems
On this very first day down
They remind me "son have you so soon forgotten
Often as not it's rotten inside
And the mask soon slips away"

Strange taste of a tropical fruit
Romantic language of the portuguese
Melody on a wooden flute
Somba floating in the summer breeze

It's alright you can stay asleep
You can close your eyes
You can trust the people of paradise
To call your keeper
And tender your goodbyes

Oh what a night wonderful one in a million
Frozen fire brazillian stars
Oh holy southern cross
Later on take me way downtown in a tin can;
Can't come down from the bandstand
I'm never thrown for such a loss when they say

Quando a nossa mae acordar
Andareimoz au sol
Quando a nossa mae acordar
Cantara' pelos sertao
Quando a nossa mea acordar
Todos os filios saberao
Todos os filios saberao
E regozilarao

Caught in the rays of the rising sun
On the run from the soldier's gun
Shouting out loud from the angry crowd
The mild the wild and the hungry child
I'll tell you there's more than a dream in rio
I was there on the very day
And my heart came back alive
There was more
More than the singing voices
More than the upturned faces
And more than the shining eyes

But it's more than the shining eye
More than the steaming green
More than the hidden hills
More than the concrete christ
More than a distant land
Over a shining sea
More than a hungry child
More like another time
Born of a million years
More than a million years

A translation of the portuguese:

Quando a nossa mãe acordar
When our mother awakes
Andaremos ao sol
We shall walk in the sun
Quando a nossa mãe acordar
When our mother awakes
Cantará pelo sertão
She shall sing in the wilderness
Quando a nossa mãe acordar
When our mother awakes
Todos os filhos saberão
All her children shall know
Todos os filhos saberão
All her children shall know
E regozijarão
And they shall rejoice

Order of Augusta

Today, I had my Order of Augusta interview. I have been a little worried about this and praying a lot so I didn't get much sleep last night. I woke up around 8:30 to prepare myself for some of the questions that Laurel and I thought of last night. I did my usual morning thing of taking a shower, drinking some coffee and eating a piece of bread and butter, and talking with my mom about whatever I can convey easily in Portuguese. Today, I talked extra long with my mom because it was kinda relaxing before I had to prepare for my interview.

I ironed my shirt last night and debated whether I would even wear pants since they would only see my face. I decided it best to wear pants but not necessary to iron them. It will become apparent why this was a good decision on my part. Before the interview I just kept going over the questions and praying. Soon enough, it was 11:30 and they called. The interview had 4 professors (Dr Atkins- Speech Path, Dr. Klandorff- Animal Science, Dr. Conner- English, and Dr. Stewart- VP of Student Affairs). They started the interview with introductions and then Dr. Stewart asked me about what the Brazilians think about the World Cup being in Brazil and what are their impressions of the coach. From talking with people and especially with my host dad, I knew that everyone was ecstatic about the World Cup, but I also knew my dad didn't like the coach. I thought that this was because he made them play a European style of soccer, so I went with that and Stewart completely agreed- dodged my first bullet. I believe Klandorff spoke next and mentioned that he had talked to "Doc" Blemmings about me. Doc wrote one of my medical school letters of reference because we really connected over common interests in hunting and camping, especially out West. Klandorff asked me about BBB and why I thought it was "genuine" as if other organizations were not. I answered this question by saying that BBB invests in its members (connecting them with research opportunities, etc) and invests in the WVU/Morgantown Community (Stewart St Adopt a Road, Bartlett House, other community service). He liked this answer and replied "good answer." Next was Dr. Aktins. She made the comment that she liked my tie and the colors of my tie (its the same blue and gold tie that I've worn since the beginning of college for all of my important WVU functions). I remember she asked what are my two favorite and most beneficial community service activities. I replied that both of my study abroad trips are my favorite (I wanted to bring them up sometime in the interview and this seemed like a good plug-in). I talked about how these trips have been very difficult but more rewarding than any service I have done while in the states. I talked a lot about this and she replied "good answer." Her next question was a request to see me salsa dance. This is where I was very happy that I decided to wear pants. Without hesitation, I stood up and gave my best acapella salsa dance. I apologized that it wasn't that great and that I needed my girlfriend to keep time for me. When I glanced up, they were all crowded around the screen loving my failed attempt. I don't actually think that Dr. Atkins thought that I would do it. Next was Klandorff again and he asked me about my Portuguese. I think I was a bit too modest here and they might think that I still do not speak much Portuguese (which isn't far from the truth). I was thinking about rattling off something in Portuguese but I wanted them to feel as relaxed as possible with me, and I know personally how hearing something that you don't understand can make you feel very insecure. Next, was Stewart again but I can't remember what he asked me. I know we talked about WVU being in the Sweet Sixteen and he informed me that Bryant had broken his foot. Afterward, I looked on Sportsline and sure enough Bryant broke it in practice and is out for the season. After that Dr. Conner asked me about the recent health care bill. I was very happy that I studied up on this. This was possibly the only current event in America that I was somewhat familiar with and I think I did an alright job fielding his question about how this will effect my future occupation. I tried to sound as bi-partisan as possible, but I used my recent overnight stay in a public hospital here as a reason to believe that this could lead to hospital overpopulation. Also, I threw in that since I am so young, this will be great for me because I will be able to stay on my parents insurance while in Med School until I am 26 click here. I tried to ride the fence as much as possible because I thought in this mixed company establishing a strong argument or opinion could lead to unfamiliar territory and get me in trouble. He also asked me about why I might want to become a orthopedic surgeon and I said because it is the most useful specialization in developing countries when it comes to correcting club foot, cleft palate (I guess this is more plastic surgeon though- glad they didn't pick up on that). He also replied "good answer" at the end. Next, was Klandorff again. I think he felt that he needed to lead the interview with me since we both come from similar disciplines in the sciences. He asked me about the hybridization of Populus tremuloides and Populus grandidentata and I was very happy that he brought my research up. I think I really sounded confident when answering this question (I guess I should be- I studied them for 3 years). He even asked me a theoretical question about what are the implications of hybridization for future populations. Again, I think I did pretty well thanks to Dr. DiFazio's Quantitative and Population Genetics class and from my independent study. I brought up that there was also a third invasive species of Popular present (Populus alba or European Popular) and I said how these hybrids could lead to increased assexual reproduction with more vegetative vigor which would in turn decrease the effective population size and sexually diversity (Sorry to bore you with the details but this was a good 7 minutes of the interview). After that they asked if I had any questions for them and I turn this opportunity to brown-nose. I talked about how I had researched each of their respective publications and how I knew many people who spoke highly of both Atkins, and Stewart (thanks lindsey and tiff!) Also, I commented how I used Klandorff's Animal Phys book with Dr. Vona Davis and I think I might have had him blushing in front of his colleagues ( I think this was a good move- guess we'll wait and see). After that I thanked them and hung up the phone. In total it took about 45 minutes and I felt pretty calm about the whole interview.

Immediately after the interview I started to worry that it possible went to well because they didn't grill me very much. I thought this could be a bad thing because it could mean that they weren't that interested in me and they had already made up their mind. Of course this could also mean that they had already made their mind up in a good way and that they just wanted to confirm their decision with feeling that they had to put me through the wringer. I know, I over analyze things, but this is how my mind works. I mean I guess its not really that big of a deal. Only possibly means a 50k+ scholarship to med school. Who cares, right?

I didn't really worry about the interview as much as I thought I would. I did feel pretty worn out so I talked with my mom and ate lunch to calm myself down. By the time I was ready to leave it was already about 1:30 and I decided to skip CADEC ( I justified this in my mind by the fact that I already volunteered ~9 additional hours at the hospital on Monday night). I went for my first run without taking any shoes of sandals and I ran very fast on the sand because the tide was low and I was able to run in the packed sand. I made it to my normal spot (~3.2 miles I think) in my normal time of 25minutes and returned in only 24 minutes while running on sand! I guess I was feeling pretty stress-free. After returning I swam in the ocean (just about took my iPod in with me) and then did a few leg exercises on the beach. I returned a lot of emails the rest of the day and read more of the Snow Leopard. At about 7:30 I went on another run to my normal spot and ran it in record time. I keep getting faster at this distance and I think I am running ~7 minute miles. I returned home and ate and talked with my host mom. Nicole used my comp to talk to her mom and we all Skyped together. Then I called my parents and again all talked together. I feel kinda bad because I was supposed to talk to both Caleb and to Joe tonight, but I'm glad that Nicole got to speak to her family. I think they are arriving here this Sunday.

Brazilian Health Care

On last Friday and again on Monday night, I have been able to shadow a doctor named Sandro from the Clinic Carmen Lucia. He has been very open with me and very patience while working through language barrier and my ignorance of medicine. On Friday, I shadowed him from 8-12 in the Carmen Lucia Clinic. This clinic is funded by the PCLB Foundation which is owned by the owner of Subway (This is who Daniel Weiss works for). The clinic is very clean and neat and not very crowded. They have one doctor, 4 dentists, and a few dental hygienists. The day that I shadowed Sandro we only had 5 patients and spent a lot of personal time which each. Sandro says that he really enjoys working here because it is rewarding.

The public hospital that I shadowed Sandro in on Monday night was a stark opposite. This hospital is apparently the premier children's hospital in the whole state and people come from pretty far to get the quality of care offered here. However, this hospital is total chaos.

We arrived at 7 at night to begin the 12-hour shift. Immediately as Sandro arrived he had people coming up to him asking to be seen next. Sandro is a very genuine and tries to help everyone he encounters (including me), but he eventually had to push through to get his stack of orders and make it to the physician's room. In this room there were 3 other physicians and only 2 patient tables. All 4 of the doctors work from 7 to 7 but after 1 in the morning only 1 doctor is on at a time. They must bring all of their own personal equipment in a doctor's bag (looks like something a doctor would carry back in colonial times). The hospital has almost all the divisions that you would see in a hospital in the US, but some of the building is in decrepit shape. Also, I think every bed in the whole place was taken. The waiting rooms are really the saddest part. There are people sprawled out everywhere while waiting to see the doctor or waiting to finish their IVs. Some people stay here for up to 3 days with there children in the waiting room because it is hard to get in once you leave, so they just live in the waiting room and sleep. These conditions were so different than what I am familiar with in the US, and with what I expected based on the standard set by Carmen Lucia Clinic. There seemed to be very little order what so ever, and the amount patients was astonishing. I didn't count how many patients we saw that night, but we probably only spent on average 10 minutes with each patient. Also, the paperwork was very time consuming. Multiple forms were needed for each patient similar to in the U.S., but here their were essentially no nurses and the doctors were responsible of ordering all the meds, x-rays, labs, etc. I really don't see how Sandro does this twice a week. I was starting to drag at about 3 in the morning and I don't know how many times I put the stethoscope on backwards.

You have to keep in mind that this was a triage or a kind of "Health Plus" or "Health Works" in the US. There were no emergencies in this department but there were a lot of unstable or "red" children in very close quarters with small babies with a simple cough or "green" patients. Also, the amount of time that these people waited showed extreme dedication to their children, but that amount of time worsened the condition of many of the patients. For example, there was a child there that had severe pneumonia who was not seen for 4 hours. By the time Sandro saw him, he immediately put him into surgery. Right before we left, we visited him and he had already drained over a liter of fluid out of his lung.

Being from "comfortable" America, this seemed like an injustice to me. The quality of health care in the US is so superior to what I experienced here. At one point in the night while watching Sandro scribble furiously, I had a sleepy reflection. Recently, I have not only been trying to stay up on the health care bill, but also trying to figure out what side of the fence I am on. I have my reasons for being both for the bill and against it, but I thought of a new variable that I had never factored in before. How will the hospitals handle the additional influx of 32 million people suddenly having health insurance? It takes at least 7 years to train a doctor once graduated from college, and decades to plan and build new hospitals. Do we have the infrastructure to do this? And it won't be a slow transition. The current bill calls for all people to buy insurance by 2014 or face fines. The insurance companies will no longer be able to discriminate against people based on pre-existing conditions, so how will we cope when this potentially "sicker" demographic suddenly has insurance? I am still trying to find answers about this but I haven't found many news outlets or even blogs that have addressed this question. Any answers?

After we left the hospital at about 3:30, Sandro was hungry so we drove around to find a bit to eat. Of course nothing we open so we just went back to his place and raided the fridge. I slept in the extra bedroom that actually had an operating fan! I slept really well but I had to wake up at 8 because Sandro returned from signing out of the hospital and wanted to eat breakfast with me. After this we took his dog "A Breezy" (Laurel, thought you might laugh at the name) for a walk and then went to the beach. I got back to my house just in time to leave for class. I ended up being 10 minutes late to class because I was so into my book "The Snow Leopard" that I stood in the wrong line and missed the right bus. Jiame was at the class since Daniel and Geli are leaving for the states tomorrow. He took us to Shopping after class and I ate a 30 cm Subway sandwich. So much for not eating American food while abroad, but I guess I already broke my creed with McD's last week. We were late for our Portuguese class and of course our professor was on time. In the second class, we had our first test of the semester. Even though this semester has been very challenging, I guess its been my easiest semester ever in classic academic terms. I mean I've been here over two months and I just took my first test! However, I never really escape education here. Everything is education here and I learn constantly. I'm just glad that the learning is getting easier now!