El Fin: Jill´s Final Thoughts

To recap...spent a few days in Mendoza after Bariloche, did the wine tour and the hang out at a hostel with other travelers thing, and then made it to Buenos Aires on Sunday, did some shopping (oops), went to Uruguay for the day to have lunch (passport stamp whore, I know) and have packed and I´m ready to go! Ta da! I leave Argentina tonight! I´m a little nervous about saying bye to my last bout of freedom, and I´m a bit unhappy that once I return to the states, that´s it for my international travels for some time. But, it´s time...it´s really flippin time. So overall, I am happy to be returning. I have already begun the biding for a sublet in NY for June and July, and so life is commencing already. So, I have a 9 pm flight out tonight from Buenos Aires...and I only have to make 5 connections, hit 7 airports in 6 different countries, transfer my bags three times and fly on three different airlines to return to Seattle. WHAT?! Yeah, in the spirit of economy and keeping my original itinerary, which was quite manic and unplanned, I am flying from Buenos Aires via Santiago to Lima, with a cool 5 hour layover from 1 am to 6 am, then via Panama City to Mexico City, then on to LA and then to Seattle. So, while from Zambia it only took me 2 12 hour plane rides, from Argentina, I will take 6 planes and 30 hours. Eh. Maybe they´ll have some good movies. And then...that´s it...finally it. When the whole tumor episode happened last August, I was pretty pissed off, and many people, all with good intentions and warm thoughts, told me that maybe this happened for a reason, and that they were sure something good will come out of it. Well, several good things came out it, I got to experience things and places that I would never have been able to experience, or at least not for many years. But if I had to do it over, I would rather have had no tumor, and I would rather have started medical school. I don´t think it happened for a reason, or so that something else could happen during this year. Life is a bunch of silly coincidences. And this year has only confirmed for me the school of thought that shit happens, and it happens for no reason at all usually. Its not the ¨why¨that is important, but rather how you deal with it that is. (write that down, that´s profound.) This year has only confirmed for me that I desire to be a doctor, I love traveling the world, but also that I crave a permanent address. It has taught me what kind of traveling I´m cut out to do, and what kind I am not. I have had no earth shattering revelations. I´ve learned that very, very little shocks me anymore. I´ve learned that my health, and my passport, are my two most valuable possesions at the moment. I often think back to Zambia (as this year has also made me miss Africa a lot) and sometimes I am shocked that I did not become critically ill with pheo symptoms or a hypertensive crisis. I didn´t tell the folks just how many times I was sick, with what I deemed minor stuff related to the food or the climate. But now that I am actually healthy, and I can see what a difference it is to last year, it´s truly amazing. Traveling healthy sure beats traveling with a pheo. So, this extra year is almost over. And actually it has passed very very quickly. And it was, all in all, fantastic. But, to understate it all, I am ready for medical school. Vamos! As always, thanks to my faithful readers for following along. And if this is the first post you are reading...well, you´re a little late. Much love everyone!

Buenisimo!

That´s Argentine for wonderful! Or some exaggerated variation of the word `good.´ Am currently in Bariloche, the heart of what is known as the lake district. Turns out in addition to some beautiful mountains and forrests, there are a bunch of lakes! Go figure. I am heading out tonight on an overnight bus to Mendoza, the wine region of Argentina. With the large exception of the discovery of a parasitic larva hitching a ride in my shoulder for the past month since Peru (long and disgusting story, but all is ok now), the past few days have been relaxing and very nice. I had a fantastic hike yesterday, bonded with my hiking boots a bit more, up to a lodge a few hours up a mountain that was supposed to be open but wasn´t, which was just fine with me, because I was the only human soul on the mountain all day. The last bit of hiking was in several inches of snow. It was so nice! And the views were amazing. The area is made all the more beautiful at the moment because the fall colors are changing and vibrant, as you can see from the photo. The weather could not have been clearer, only slightly chilly but beautiful after the rains and snows of southern Chile and Argentina. The day before I did a short hike with an extremely talkative Israeli girl to a lookout which provided similar breathtaking views of mountains and lakes. Bariloche borders the Andes and Chile, and has very dramatic scenary all around. Ski season here starts up in July, but right now is the perfect time as there are no crowds and it is still sunny and clear, although cold. Anyway, not much more to report. T minus one week. Much love.

Best Sight from an airplane

Well, today I flew over the Perito Moreno Glacier that I had seen about two weeks ago. It was spectacular, and has beat out my other two spectacular sights from an airplane (Victoria Falls and Greenland) as number one best sight as seen from an airplane. Sorry that you have to turn your head to the side to see one of them but I couldn´t rotate it. Am currently killing time til my bus to Bariloche tonight, and I am happy to report that it isn´t snowing and is considerably warmer in Comodoro Rivadavia. Enjoy the photos!

just a taste...

I have 45 seconds left of the computer, so this is all you get for now...but isn´t it beautiful!!

Hello from the bottom of the world!

Yup, I made it. I don´t know why but I have a small obsession with reaching the far ends of continents, so here I am in Ushuaia, Argentina (although, officially, there is a tiny town across the Beagle Channel in Chile that is slightly further south called Puerto Williams, but you wouldn´t have known that had I not told you). Anyway, apparently, when I arrived late on monday night, so did winter. The first significant snow of the year followed my buses from Puerto Natales, Chile all the way to Ushuaia, making a 12 hour journey about 15 hours. About half of the whole journey was through blizzard conditions, with compact ice and snow on the roadways (as the WSDOT would say) and the last bit down to Ushuaia was the worst bit of winter driving I have experienced possibly ever (definitely rivals the trip from Spokane to Seattle after Thanksgiving last year). We were sliding all over the place. But we made it. So, Ushuaia is bordered by the mountains that represent the end of the Andes to the north and the Beagle channel to the south. The mountains are covered with snow, and the town was as well until yesterday when some rains and warmish weather washed it away. So it´s cold and beautiful. My next move is heading up north, as I can really not go any further south (btw, Antarctica is only 1000 km south of here, but the overpriced cruises have stopped running for the season). I decided that with incoming snow and storms, I didn´t really want to spend 40+ hours again on buses, so I have a flight to Comodoro, then a bus to Bariloche, my next stop. That´s saturday, so I have a few days to kill enjoying the mountains here in Ushuaia. Today I went on a boat tour through the Beagle channel to ooh and aah at the seals, sea lions, and mountains. Tomorrow hopefully going to do some hiking in the Tierra Del Fuego National Park (hopefully I say because it will depend upon how much snow is covering the trails...again, a little underprepared for hiking in snow, but whatever). I have one pair of long underwear, and it is my best friend at the moment. But as long as there are mountains with snow I am usually happy. And that´s that! Maybe some pictures mas tarde.

snow pictures

Just a few photos to make you wish you were here, even though it is as cold as it looks.

Chilly in Chile

Sorry, couldn´t resist the ridiculously obvious pun of a title. However this post could have the alternate titles of "I heart snow capped mountains" or "Misadventures of backpacking with random travelers with British accents." Have had a full and exciting, if cold, several days. Stuck now in Puerto Natales, Chile for 2 days until the next bus out to Ushuaia, the southern most city in the world, the true bottom of the world. Lets recap the week, shall we: I last left you in Argentina, at El Calafate, before doing a day at the Perrito Moreno Glacier. Well, the day was spectacular, the glacier was pretty darn big and beautiful and it was very cool to sit and watch and wait for huge chunks to fall off, sounding like thunder and making tiny tidal waves. It was a very cool glacier. The next day I caught a bus to Puerto Natales, Chile (current location). After happening upon a hostal, a british guy (who´s name turned out to be Jack...ha!) also turned up and was looking for someone to backpack the 4.5 day W circuit in the Torres Del Paine national park nearby, which is really the only thing to do in this area and is quite spectacular. So after debating (I had been wanting to do some hiking and/backpacking but am quite ill prepared for such things in freezing temperatures at the moment) I decided well why not, we rented the equipment, bought a whole load of pasta, and set off in the morning. We hit the trail with a couple of Kiwi guys, who were quite loud and crazy but very fun, and did the first walk to the camp at the base of the Torres, these large rock towers for which the park is famous for. We were fortunate to see them on really what was the last clear day, and even then there was some misty clouds covering the tops. And it did snow while I was up there as well, and the wind nearly bowled me over while I was trying to take my pictures. The weather was cold, at night frigid (the season for such things ended about 2 weeks ago and with good reason...) but I had rented a stellar sleeping bag so I was alright. The next day brought buckets and buckets of rain, which didn´t let up, so after one more night, we actually all called it quits and came back to town on the third day. All the other vistas (the french valley, the grey glacier) were covered by clouds and not visible. And I guess we were wimps. Whatever. It was fun while it lasted and definitely something I want to come back to do in nicer weather. So we all came back to the hostal last night, along with two british girls who I had met and a guy from Holland, and had a grand old night being loud and obnoxious last night. whoops. Met tons and tons of travelers and backpackers, most with british accents. I seem to have stumbled onto the beaten backpacker track in patagonia, which is ok but in high season would be too crowded for my tastes (you either get too many people or bad weather, these are the choices we make). The vistas and the mountains, when clear, in the park were spectacular, and made me smile, like mountains do. And it was very nice to have a group of people to shoot the shit with. Most are doing the whole continent in anywhere from 3 to 12 months. But Chile likes to screw tourists and backpackers over by charging ridiculously high rates for pretty much everything....it´s very very expensive here. But they didn´t charge me the $100 penalty for being an American at the border, so I gotta hand them that. In other news (I say that a lot, huh) and as most of you know...while I am having a fabulous "time of you life" time doing the whole "experiencing the world" thing, I am growing weary and tired of moving around and of buses and it all just goes back to everything...so with 2 weeks left on this proverbial road, I am excited to come home, which makes me a little bit mad to admit, but sometimes it´s just time I guess. As for pictures, maybe later, but I am having problems with my ipod as a storage device so I am anxious to sort that out first. Anyway, that´s all folks.

12 hours by train, 34 hours by bus later...

and I have landed in El Calafate, the town that acts as a base for exploring the Moreno Glacier, which I am going to do manana, for a nice tourist price. The town is cute, like a budding Colorado ski resort town without snow. To get here was a freakin mission, and outside of town you can´t believe you will end up in a place with heaters and Pepsi, but the world never ceases to amaze. Speaking of getting here, I want to applaud the Argentine bus system; the buses are comfy and when they say 5 minutes, they actually mean it. No livestock on these buses. Two thumbs up. So, officially I am in Patagonia...which is sort of a little travel dream of mine realized. Of course, most of Patagonia is flat, bleak, colorless, and boring, and hopefully the past 2 days have covered most of this part. There are some mountains here, with snow, and heading south and west promises more snow capped mountains. So my anticipation rises. Other than that, I have been on a bus/train for the entire weekend so I actually have very little to report. Much love from the almost bottom of the world...

Next year in......Buenos Aires?

Well, its Passover again. I know, that´s exactly what you were thinking. Last year I found myself at a seder table in Cape Town, and last night I found myself at a seder table in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires...so far it appears to be a land where potable, hot water flows from the taps and espresso machines abound. I showed up early to a Chabad house last night to try to smile my way with broken Spanish into the seder without a ticket...the ortho rabbis just had to look my direction to make me feel guilty, but a nice family with three teenage girls invited me to their table, and the oldest daughter practiced her english with me, and tried to convince me to visit the biggest disco here in BA. I didn´t tell her that I forgot my heels (read: I dont own heels) so maybe next time. Anyway, it was a huge seder, mostly because there was a group of some 60+ young Israelis who appear to just be traveling for some months, so it was a boisterous, multi-lingual evening. Also met some fellow American travelers who just showed up for the seder too. It was lovely. As for BA, it´s a big, very European city, so European in fact that it's a bit pretentious, but that also has to do with the Argentinian stereotype I think. But there is nothing nicer than a hot shower. Well, maybe chocolate. And then another hot shower. How indulgent. Yesterday I walked around after not sleeping hardly at all on my 3:30 am flight from Lima to here, and ended up in the very fancy shopping mall. I didn´t go into any of the stores for fear that I would have one of those "which way does this go, is this a shirt or a skirt, I think the price tag has too many zeros..." moments. If Peru is the $12 fake Lacoste shirt (which Peruans seem to really like), then Argentina appears to be the $80 real thing. And now, in my fanciest outfit (black t shirt and less baggy jeans) I am going to hit the streets of Buenos Aires until I hang out with a friend here tonight, a guy from my spanish classes in Mexico. I think that all was an overshare of very little information. But whatever.

spot the llama!

I don´t know why I didn´t think of wasting my time in Tarapoto usefully and finishing off my Soles at the internet cafe waiting for pictures to upload earlier, but here I am now, hopefully uploading some pics for you to enjoy! and yes, there is a llama finger puppet in the majority of the photos...it was one of my themes for the week, and a 2 Sole impulse purchase after a bottle of wine from a rather cute kid on the street in Cuzco...those darn kids get me every time. The llama rather enjoyed being photographed in the grand vistas, as you can see. In other update news, I am happy to report that I am still alive after a helluva transport ride from Yurimaguas to Tarapoto, over jungle mountains at night on a road that is under construction (hence only travel at night was possible) . And by under construction I think they meant being constructed. It was an exciting, crowded journey of 3.5 hours, complete with a setting sun over banana trees, a rockin´80s mix tape, a driver with a death wish passing every vehichle he could find, cocaine check points, hairpin turns causing me to clutch the "oh shit" bar often, and mini waterfalls that flowed over the dirt road. One would think this would make the road prone to wash out...yes, one would think. Anyway, it made me long for Zambian transport and made me smile too, because its nice to know that crazy drivers and dangerous roads are a travel constant. Although it was good I had elected to eat dinner after said trip. Apparently the internet has decided that those are enough pictures for you, so it will have to suffice. Much love

Tourism = soap in the bathrooms

Where is Jill? Still in Peru, if it´s even possible. I just hopped off the 3 day boat trip this morning from Iquitos, and have landed in the most boring and unexciting town of Yurimaguas. Much has happened the past 2 weeks, and I will hopefully entertain you with a few tales. As always, in flipped and reversed order. The three day boat ride was wonderful, relaxing, and just what I needed at the moment. For 3 nights and 2 days and 1 morning I swayed in a hammock, looking at the jungle scenary go by, one palm lined km at a time. It was just me and my ipod, my new best friend for a few weeks, and we relaxed to the point of exhaustion. Before that I had returned to Iquitos for 1 day from Lima after Steve left. Said goodbye to some friends, the internet guys, and their sister who sold me cookies, and the Salazars, and finally left Iquitos. Our week in Cuzco was great, if filled with a few too many travel foibles. Basically, we learned that when there is too much tourism infrastructure, we fail as travelers. And yes, I realize I´m a big fat tourist, but I prefer the term vagabond. Cuzco was lovely and cold, which was welcoming after weeks at the equator. We navigated our way through the maze of tourist infrastructure that leads one to the ever anticipated Machu Picchu over a few days (by the way, all necessary components of this maze are owned by different, usually foreign (the trains are owned by the brits!) companies who have made all schedules just conflicting enough to require you to spend extra money and make me mad), and only had to take 5 repeat bus trips up to MP and buy new return train ticket on the only available more expensive "vistadome" train (which I highly resented and was not worth the small extra charge) once. But all in all, it was humorous and well worth it, if for no other reason than to cross MP off the proverbial list. But it is the most highly touristy thing I have done in years, quite possibly ever. So, while it was beautiful and impressive, once is enough. We did a little bit of hiking and generally enjoyed the spectacular scenary (which you will not be able to enjoy because these computers are entirely too slow for me to post pictures. track me down in May). After being told that we would need at least a day or two to adjust to the altitude, we didn´t over book our week. Well, we had no ill effects at all from the altitude. I did notice that I got winded hiking considerably faster than I should have, which was likely altitude, or me being lamely out of shape. But other than that, nothing. So, if any of you are doubting a trip to MP because it´s too far off the beaten track, it´s too high, or there won´t be soap in the bathrooms, trust me, you have nothing to worry about. (You can even stay at the fancy hotel AT MP, which costs mearly $1000 a room a night.) Another note: apparently Peruanas think that the national dish of gringos everywhere is pizza. In Aquas Calientes, the town at the base of MP that exists entirely on the basis of toursim, every other store is a restuarant that hawks a pizza deal at you as you walk by. But, again, the scenary is beautiful, and the site was really quite impressive, and as humorous as all the elder hostelers were, it was a great week. Now, I have a few days to kill here in Yurimaguas and then in Tarapoto (which I apparently have to take a bus or taxi to, 3 hours away, at night because during the day the road is blocked by police or something...i will have to investigate this more) and fly to Lima (AGAIN) on sunday night and have a red eye from Lima to Buenos Aires. And then I´m sure there will be another update somewhere down the road. Much love

Babies, jungles, and the open river/road that lies ahead

An update, and answer to the question "Jill, what the hell are you doing next?" The past week has been fantastic and eye opening in several ways. I made the decision that this week, the week we are currently in, will be my last here in Iquitos for a variety of reasons. Telling this to Dr. Salazar gained me entrance into some other wards of the hospital so that I could have a more complete view of things "before I left." So, last week I spent a few days with the neonates in the neonatal ICU. This refreshed my view of medicine, doctors, and hospital workings in general, as it was nice to get out of the surgical ward and of awaiting the impending doom of the doctor. Not really. Anyway, I hung out with a very nice intern who let me do lots of stuff, and who really took charge and tried to teach me practical things, like physical examination of neonates. The babies were too cute and too small, mostly a lot of pnemonia and infection, sepsis, etc. I also had a sorta eye opening day where I watched two surgeries of two very different types: a full skin to skin cesearian section and the amputation of a diabetic elderly woman´s leg. A few weeks ago I felt like I had successfully overcome the awe struck feeling and fear of passing out in surgery. But this day, with these two surgeris, brought it back. I mean, seeing an entire human baby being pulled out of a woman´s uterus and, to be cliche, witnessing it´s first breaths, in just a matter of seconds, well, lets just say I was glad I have to wear scrub masks so that everyone else in the room doesn´t see how wide my mouth gaps open. Which is another thing, working on controlling some of those first emotions and impressions... And the amputation of the leg that for all intents and purposes had ceased to continue living as a part of this woman´s body. One minute it was attached and the next the lucky intern in front of me was holding a human leg. Again, glad the scrub mask was in place. Dr. Salazar had timed this surgery for he had a meeting to get to: it took 35 minutes. Anyway, I was forced to reflect a little bit on this dichotomous day. Today I moved onto pediatrics, which has rooms and rooms full of everything and anything. I´ve seen a little boy recovering from surgery after an alligator bite, a likely malignant tumor that has, over the course of 4 years, swelled a boy´s foot to at least 3 times it´s original size (and treatment for this only really can be found in Lima), a hermaphrodite at 3 months old (wow!), a 2 year old girl with HIV, and a baby boy that appeared to have some genetic syndrome which will likely continue to go undiagnosed. Of course there is enough skin infection, pnemonia, and TB to keep one busy for a lifetime as well. The 2 year old girl with HIV shocked me, and I was a little bit surprised at myself. Remembering back to Zambia, I had never seen a child in this state of such chronic malnutrition and illness. Of course I didn´t spend any time with actual patients in Zambia, but babies born HIV positive often don´t make it to 2 yrs anyway. This child had legs and arms literally made up of only bone and skin, a swollen tummy, and oral thrush; three months ago she weighed 10 kilos and now only 5, at 2 years old she had the appearance of maybe 6 months old. I will stop. All of that said, I really did enjoy pediatrics and neonatology, fields that I hope will continue to interest me in the future. Besides the patients, I am gaining more and more insight into what works, what doesn´t, what´s missing, etc. in this regional hospital in Iquitos. I´m seeing how utterly vital patient-physician relations are and how easy they are to dismiss. As always, I´m seeing the effects of lack of enough or misused money in "government funded" health care. While a considerably large hospital that serves as the regional center for most rural cases and the poorest Peruvians, and as many things as I have seen done here, much is lacking. You know me, I could go on forever, so we´ll move on. This weekend I went to the jungle, aka la selva. It was peaceful and relaxing, we went on walks and canoe rides, I had my own guide and met some cool travelers, went fishing (or rather I just fed the fish), read in the hammock, got a terrible sunburn (I know, we´re at the equator...blah blah blah) and too many mosquito bites, but it was all worth it. I am now finding how many mosquito bites I actually did receive, and it´s almost comical (ah...it reminds me of Zambia). Sleeping under the mosquito net gave me a strange sense of familiar comfort. My favorite part was seeing sloths high in the trees. I vaguely remembered doing a project on the sloth in like 5th grade, reporting on their laziness and 2 or 3 toes, what kind of leaves they eat and what not, so it was fun to see them and hark back to elementary school. Also saw a yellow anaconda, or part of one, while on a night canoe ride...no alligators which I was ok with. Tarantulas too, and lots and lots of birds. There was a 6 month old monkey and a young parrot as pets at the lodge, which I told my guide was really not keeping with eco tourism. The monkey tried unsuccessfully many times to nurse from me, but was adorable nonetheless. Having spent too much time with Dr. Salazar, getting away was fantastic, and necessary, as I realized while on the boat out of Iquitos, sometimes you need to just hitch a fast boat heading up the Amazon with your favorite song on replay to be reminded that life is pretty freakin awesome. And now, what´s next? Well, this is my last week in Iquitos. Next week, my very good friend Steve has decided that a week with me Peru is worth a few sleepless nights on a few planes, so we are meeting in Lima and heading down to Cuzco to snap some photos of Machu Picchu before it falls down the side of the mountain and generally have a relaxing time. Then, I will likely return to Iquitos (as I have already purchased this plane ticket) for one day to catch a river boat to one of the "nearest" major towns approximately 3 days away. From there either some buses through cocaine country and down the coast or a flight to Lima, before taking off for Buenos Aires. (An aside: a gram of cocaine here in Peru will cost you about 8 soles, or just under $3, and that´s not even as cheap as Colombia, no wonder its a lucrative trade.) If I sound vague, its because I am, I still don´t know exactly what´s going on, nor have I purchased said international flight to Buenos Aires. This week I have some decisions to make. This earlier than originally anticipated departure from Iquitos is based upon many many reasons, and I grow more sure of it each day. Estimated time of arrival in the States is early May, NY by end of May, and that´s that. My life as I know it will be over, and medical school will begin. Sorry for the long winded entry, but ya know, whatever. Much love.

photos...finally

Here are a few photos...on the way to the butterfly farm, at the butterfly farm with Jr., the monkey on my shoulder, this morning in Belen, the poorest area of Iquitos nicknamed "Venecia (ie Venice) de Peru" beacuse of the floating houses lifted up on stilts and the ´river canals´ie: when the river is high it covers the roads and streets, but the river is pretty low at the moment. We also went to the market in Belen this morning, which is huge and has anything and everything you never wanted to buy in an open air market. Watched a great surgery on Friday where a 8 cm tumor was removed from outside an man´s orbital cavity, and it had alreay eaten away his eye. It had been growing for at least 8 months or so, and he lives in the jungle, some 2 or 3 weeks away from Iquitos by regular boat. Stuff you would never see in the states, so it´s quite interesting.

Refrigerators on motocars, border crossings, and subdural hematomas...

So, the other day I saw a refrigerator and a rocking chair on the back of a motocar. They can make anything work with transport. On the subject of transport, since therea re very few cars, everyone either drives a moto (motorbike, motorcycle, motorscooter) or takes motocars (half a motorcycle witha 2 wheeled covered bench on back) the streets are a constant busy buzz. Whenever crossing the street you risk your life. And NOBODY wears a helmut. Not for the lack of them because they are in some stores. The only helmuts I have seen are worn by government officials. Coincidentally, as Dr. S is the only neurosurgeon in town, every other surgery and most head injury patients I´ve seen are the result of moto accidents. Seems like an obvious spot for an easy solution if you ask me. The other day we saw, on two different occassions, families of FIVE on a two seater moto...mom, dad, and three kids, one not more than 5 months old I would guess, hanging on for dear life...ridiculous. One news worthy case we saw last week was an emergency surgery Dr. S went in for at 12 at night...a little Colombian girl of 3 years had one leg amputated after being shot by what at first was thought to be Colombian insurgentes but was later revealed as Colombian military practicing their firing, at the Peruvian-Colombian border. She was helicoptered to Iquitos in the middle of the night. Her leg was shot and a piece of bone completely shot off, so that when she arrived, only some muscle and skin was holding her leg together. Originally, I thought that the 3 day boat journey up the river to the 3 way border of Peru, Brazil, and Colombia would be a fun journey, but now, and after talking to Dr. S and hearing about the drug trade in the Colombian border town of Leticia, I think I´ll reconsider... Over the weekend I went with my peruvian friend José to a butterfly farm and rescue center for animals...it was great, and hopefully the pictures turn out alright.... This week has been subdural hematoma week, with two surgeries and some great pictures, which I will refrain from posting here. One hematoma (patient is a sweet 79 yr old man) was caused by a falling coconut to the head, so I guess not all head injuries are from motocar accidents. In other news, I am seriously considering cutting my time abroad short, and returning in May to move to New York in time to do the summer session of public health courses for the 2 months prior to the start of medical school. I am tired of feeling illegit, of knowing nothing, of wandering. I love traveling but I´m a little bit lonely and I need something greater to be working towards. And I have just hit that point where I am not ok not knowing things, ie medicine, anymore. For the better part of 3 years I have been preparing, applying, and waiting for medical school (and I only had to apply once!). I mean, medical school itself is only 4 years. And unfortunately, not even traveling at the moment can take my mind off of that want. And one year from now, after hours upon hours in the library I will prolly look back at this and think that I was such an idiot, wasting away my last chance at international travel for quite some time. And part of me now thinks that, but I just need to feel like I´m moving towards something in my life, and right now I don´t, so by getting a few more MPH classes under my belt, I will be a little further along with that degree. Yeah, so anyway, that´s the tentative plan. As usual, the pictures are taking too long to upload and I gotta go to kick boxing with Mrs. Salazar (yeah, it´s pretty funny). I have a great picture of a monkey sitting on my shoulder...so I will try to upload them later!

perhaps a moment of clarification...

If you will allow me just a moment to clarify some previous comments, because we all know Jill can get a little excited some times and her words come out faster than intended (thanks mom). About the hospital that the evangelists built...like I think I said, it is a VERY nice thing, its beautiful and functional and new and great. And I hope it gets used appropriately, and I hope it will get used for generations. Afterall, it is worth a lot of money, and that is its intent. My problems with the establishment are a few, I will confess that not all details are known to me: I am pretty sure (info from the doc) that it was built on unpurchased state land, so they basically went behind the governments back. Likewise, they have just finished construction and only now are figuring out that there are licensure laws for physicians here, meaning that their army of American doctors who want to come work cannot come work until they figure out how to covered or licensed in Peru. To me, this would be a good detail to work out before the 5 year construction finished. Also, if there is one thing I have learned the hard way about, its development work by foreigners in places of need: coming in with fancy medical supplies, indeed building your own hospital to administer health care, can sometimes give the opinion to local citizens that their facilities are substandard, and that this is what they need becuase this is what the Americans brought. Now, dont get me wrong, the area is poor, but the medicine I have seen thus far in Iquitos (an hour away from the hospital) is not substandard medicine at all (not up to some american standards perhaps but not substandard). However, at times, these foreign built hospitals come in and they are required and necessary and serve a great purpose. But hopefully, these hospitals also provide employment for people in the area, as usually poverty is accompanied by unemployment (stop me if I´m wrong...). I hope this hospital can do the same. Also, a big fancy hospital requires expenses, and supplies and costs and continued staff and, I imagine, a sizable budget to run. I have no information on their future budget planning, so all I can say is that I hope this hospital will be sustained well into the future. Additionally, I hope they did some preliminary research into what kind of health problems they will serve...as it has been my experience previously and my observations thus far here, only guessing, that health problems arising from poverty (malnutrition, infectious disease associated with poor living conditions, cholera, teen/unwanted pregnancy, etc) are primary, and we know how to deal with those (or theorhetically so). So, I guess what I am saying is that I wish them the best of luck. Of course, I think the swimming pool is an excessive luxury and I have no stomach for evangelists who proselytize, but those are my own problems. In other news....I am having a tough time with my spanish...and while I dont have the time to vent at this moment about the difficulties in not knowing enough spanish, not knowing enough medicine, having to follow a less than kind surgeon who thinks I should know more of both (I should), I´m going to pretend at the moment that given a few more weeks, I will see improvement. Oh, one quick entertaining fact about my spanish: In Mexico, to order a Coke at a restaurant, you asked for a "Coca." Here in Peru, where the drug trade is rampant, asking for a "Coca" in a restaurant gives you wide eyes and surprised looks, because "Coca" here refers to the ever available and cheap cocaine. Whoops. Ok, now I have to go read up on hydrocephalus...my homework for tonight motivated by fear of the doc. All in all, things are still pretty good, if a bit overwhelming and frustrating. but what´s new. much love

pics

The Salazar´s cabin, a street scene in Iquitos with a handful of motocars, and two views of the Rio Amazonas, one with the floating neighborhood of Belen in the far distance, where reed houses float on the river when the water is high and are supported by beams, the poorest area of Iquitos.

stupid americans and other tales

Asi, muchas cosas. Last week was a decent start, and this week I am already feeling a bit overwhelmed. But we had a nice weekend at the river with the Salazar family, celebrating the doctor´s birthday. I am wishing my spanish was significantly better, but I got an invitation and met up with one of my taxi driver´s daughter, who is a university student needing help with English in exchange for help with my Spanish. I met up with her yesterday, and we practiced and talked in each language for an hour, and we are meeting again tomorrow, so at least I have that opportunity for practice. As for the weekend: the Salazar´s have a little rustic-ish cabin in a little town/village on the Nanay river about an hour outside of town, an hour on dirt roads though. Better than Zam dirt roads, more forgiving because the dirt is more like clay, but nonetheless a good jostle of a motocar ride. The cabin is open air, and I slept in a hammock and it was all very peaceful and nice, but they still have a pretty functional kitchen and full bathroom. The whole thing was apparently build by the doctor himself. So, there were people and festivities and 2 cakes and swimming in the river and general good times. We went to the cabin on friday to show the plastic surgeon before he left that night, and then returned again on saturday for the weekend. But just down the road from the cabin is a very long and tall and new and fancy brick wall, enclosing a compound that has just been completed. It´s a hostpial (well, one of the some 10 or 12 buildings is a hostpial) and we went and met the woman who has just headed up this project. What kind of project, you ask? Well, it is all privately funded by this woman and her husband, apparently. They are American, southern christian evangelists, and apparently god told them to move to the Peruvian Amazon, take all their retirement money and some potentially dodgy life insurance money (rumors from the locals who work there), and build a multi-million dollar hospital and school compound complete with pastor´s quarters, hotel-like accomodations for visitors and a very nice swimming pool all in god´s glory. Hmm. ok, if god said so. Here´s the thing: they have built a beautiful, expensive, complete hospital (small but beautiful) that rivals some hospitals in the states, complete with brand new x ray machines, ob-gyn rooms, surgery facilities, dental facilities, a fully stocked pharmacy and surgical supplies....and it has yet to be officially opened for work because they have no doctors, nurses, staff for the hospital. you might think that the husband or wife were a doc or a nurse, but they arn´t...they´re in business (clearly). And now they are fulfilling the wishes of evangelical rich christians who don´t do any research on such projects, the needs of their patient population or the sustainability of their actions, but think that picking up and moving to the amazon, building a beautiful medical facility to save the people while also building a huge brick wall to keep them out is the answer. They have a boat (they were going to have 2 but went over budget) like a three story steamboat, for cruzing the river up and down to save people. Stupid americans. Anyway, it´s kinda ridiculous but I hope it gets used apropriately and can be sustained for a very long time. I mean, don´t get me wrong, it´s a nice thing, to build a hospital (and swimming pool). Anyway, on saturday, we were relaxing by the river, and a kid apparently was walking toward the hospital, down the road, after just getting injured...he had a good 4-5 inch gash in the top of his head from falling somewhere. So, the doc and his son took him to the new fancy hospital, I met them there, and with the evangelist´s sutures and sterile gloves, stitched him up and bandaged a broken finger. But clearly, had the doc not been vacationing this weekend at his cabin...there would have been plenty of supplies but no one to administer them. Stupid americans...anyway, moving on. What else...oh, last week, when the subject of the surgeries was plastics, one afternoon we had a huge pig to practice taking skin grafts on. And then, that night, we ate it. Yup, even I. Gross. As for surgeries this week, yesterday I saw a VP shunt and part of a C-section...I just wish I knew more about the surgeries themselves, because between my lack of medical knowledge and my lack of spanish, I´m feeling a bit lost these days. But I will get there eventually. pictures...are taking to long to upload now, so you´ll just have to wait... thats all!

Iquitos, Peru. Holy shit!!

I´m here! And it´s hot! And I have too many things I want to say! But before I get into the details, I just have to say I´m fine, and utterly enchanted by Iquitos. Even though I´m sweating proverbial body parts off, it´s lovely, and not as hot as I actually anticipated. Ok, I´ll try to calm myself and recap some things... Yesterday was a 13 hour day of travels...3 planes, 4 airports, and new friends. I know every country has the nicest and friendliest people, more so than the last country, but I swear its truer here. I already have friends all over the country. On the first flight I talked with a Peruvian girl who was on my next flight, and we ran through the airport together on our 10 minute connection in Panama City, and then she asked if I wanted to have coffee in Lima, but I had to decline for time and connecting flights. And she talked to me in Spanish so I guess my spanish isn´t that terrible. On the second flight I made a German friend, who works in the German embassy (friends in high places no doubt) in Lima and gave me all his contact info for next time I´m in Lima...and on the flight to Iquitos I met another Peruvian friend and got contacts. And all the airport officials are so nice and complementary...they seem to get lost in my eyes (that´s a joke). Mzungu, Gringa, or just the nice eyes, I don´t know what it is, but I like it. Ok...arrived in Iquitos last night, and hopped aboard a motocar, read: three wheeled buggy contraption run by a motorcycle out front. They are everywhere. And since it was hot, the open air motocar provided decent air con. I was immediately enchanted with Iquitos, and I don´t know exactly what it was. I had this weird feeling that it was like every place I´ve ever been to yet so completely different at the same time...I know that makes no sense, just go with me here. Anyway, after becoming friends with the taxi driver, who told me whenever I need to get somewhere in town, he´s my guy, we arrived at the house, I was greeted by Dr. Salazar, and all the pleasantries of first encounters...had dinner with a whole bunch of people, the doctor, his wife, 2 sons (26 and 22, a doctor and a vet student with a masters in bio...lots of science here), one girlfriend, the docs partner, his 20 something year old wife (a 40+ year difference...) and their 3 month old baby, and a visiting plastic surgeon from Toronto who is here for the week giving talks on burn protocol and skin grafting. Oh, the family also has a 1 yr old beagle named Felipe, a yorkie, a mini schnauzer who just had puppies and there are still 3 left here at the house, a siamese cat, and 7 parakeets...yup, it´s awesome. Most of dinner and conversation was in English, so I wasn´t lost. Had a little heart to heart with Dr. Salazar on what my "training" here will entail, and then off to another restless nights sleep (hence I need a nap). Ok, now for the crazy part. Today we headed to the hospital, and after a talk on skin grafting by aforementioned Canadian doctor, Dr. Salazar, essentially owning this, the largest, hospital in Iquitos, being the only neurosurgeon in Iquitos and the cheif of surgery at this hospital and being the most senior staff (33+ yrs) at the hospital, said, hey, welcome to Iquitos, come on in to surgery. So, I was camera woman for a skin graft surgery on a little girl about 8 years old, who had already had one grafting done on both thighs and today they grafted skin onto her entire torso and part of her arm...I would guess it was about 40% of her body that was burned. And there I was, a little freaked out inside but I held it in...after all this was my first surgery where I was awake. The plastic surgeon from Canada was essentially teaching a few students and demonstrating to other docs how to do grafts of this nature, and I was taking photos for him. At first, all I could do was think about my surgery and picture myself on the table...with my incision wide open, my head draped, and a whole bunch of masked physicians surrounding me...then I eventually got over it, got over the fact that it was a little kid, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I was awe-struck and wide-eyed. And I´m glad that surgery was not my first choice of profession. And I´m glad this surgery today was only a skin graft and not something more bloody. But I have a feeling, I´ll see plenty here. These first two weeks I´m with Dr. Salazar in surgeries. What a way to be introduced to the whole thing, eh? Anyway, I´m exhausted and sweaty, so it´s nap time. PHEW!

Why there are so many benches in public places in Mexico, and other riddles

Yes, there appear to be an ample number of benches on which to recline in various parks and all of the zocalos (dead centers of towns, where evey day is a kind of carnival of street vendors selling foods and balloons) everywhere I´ve been so far in Mexico, and I think I figured out why. Everyone here is in love with their significant other, and people like to lounge, recline, embrace on these public benches for the world to see, which is sweet I suppose. If you´re into all that public display of affection stuff. Anyway, that´s my theory on why there are so many benches here. In other shocking news, there was snow over the long weekend in Mexico City, which, may I remind you all, is less than an hour north of Cuernavaca and is where I will hopefully be flying out from in only a few days time. In the north of Mexico, there has been snow and "frigid" cold for some time now...it´s been a very strange winter all over. Yes, its my last week in Cuernavaca, and in Mexico, as next monday I fly to Peru. I´m very excited. But first a few recaps: Last week my class, along with my very cool teacher, went to the Luchas Libres. For those of you who have seen "Nacho Libre" with Jack Black, yes, they still exist in Mexico. Luchas Libres are these theatrical fights, like WWF but much more theatrical and quite funny. Anyway, when I heard that there was one on thurday night last week, I was all over that. So a few kids from my class and our teacher went, and the first of four fights was pretty funny, but after that they got a bit repetitive. But, they wear those funny masks and do all sorts of silly things, so it was a good time. And I bought my brother a little gift (it should be, hopefully, on it´s way home). Over the weekend, I went to Tepoztlan, which is the little town I went to the first weekend with my host family, but this time I went back solo to do a little hike up to a pyramid. It was a nice hike and a beautiful, if a little hazy, view from the top. Sunday I laid low and watched part of the superbowl...Monday I went to a little silver mining town called Taxco, and did the whole gringa shopping for cheap silver jewelry for an hour or so, and just relaxed and enjoyed the town in general. It´s built into the side of a pretty decent sized hill and is very cute and quaint. Um, what else...there´s a Mexico vs US soccer game on tonight that I think I will try to catch with some folks, and probably root for Mexico (when in Rome...). Other than that, I just am trying to remember how I fit all my things in my one backpack to get myself here...this weekend I´ll have two nights in Mex City to do some stuff before heading out on monday. Thats all for now....

lets try these photos one more time...

Let´s see, from top to bottom, we have the bumper boats of Xochimilco, the pyramide of the sun, me on the pyramide of the moon with the pyramid of the sun to the left, and just a few of Robert Brady´s masks (that pic is for dad). Enjoy!

La vida libre

Ready...go! I had to wait a week to accumulate enough to form a full entry here. Things have picked up, going well. I´ve met some cool people to hold cool conversations with, ranging in age from 19 to 42. The sorority girls who were on the same trips with me this past weekend were ridiculously annoying. I´m sure I was somewhat annoying as a 20 year old, but I highly doubt I was capable of that level of annoyance. I´m really enjoying the Spanish and my classes, and I´m growing increasingly anxious/excited about my language skills for Peru. I have my flights to Peru booked, so I´m way excited about that...I leave Mexico on Feb 12 at 6 am and get into Iquitos at 7 pm, with a stopover in Panama city as well as Lima. I can get halfway around the world in 12 hours...it seems strange that it will take me that long just to hop over the equator. But regardless, my return flight, open to change if anyone wants to come and travel with me at the end of May/beginning of June (shameless plea for travel companion) is June 10. But I hope I have reason to delay that date. Ok, in flipped and reversed order of events (ie going backwards): Yesterday I went to Mexico City with a group from the school, and went to the Frida Kahlo museum, and the Dolores Olmedo Patiño museum and to Xochimilco, an area with waterways and canals that hark back to the days when Mexico City was an island. The two museums were amazing, mostly artwork of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, and the Frida Kahlo museum is in the house she grew up in and lived in most of her life (la casa azul). Mom and Dad - definitely something you should do on your next trip here. The Dolores Olmedo museum was in this woman´s , Dolores Olmedo, house, which was a veritable mansion, and she had collected tons of art, a lot of Diego Rivera´s and Frida Kahlo´s work, and was a very wealthy socialite, so her house/museum was very cool as well. At Xochimilco, we took a boat ride (see pics tomorrow...), were serendaded by floating mariachi bands and played bumper boats with the many other boats in the canals. On Saturday, I went to the pyramides of Teotihuacán. (check out that typing skill with the accents, btw). Had it been about 10 degrees warmer, and had there been no rain, and had there been no annoying sorority girls, it would have been a better day, but seeing the ruins was very cool, and climbing the two biggest pyramids (el sol y la luna) was fun, and provided a beautiful view from the top, complete with Mexico City smog. But for some reason, from Curenavaca to Teotihuacán, the temperature dropped and the rain came, and being in Mexico, I did not really expect it, so I was a little bit cold until I climbed the pyramides. Moving on. Saturday night I met up with some of the folks from the trip who attend another language school, for dinner, and I was by far the youngest person there, by at least 10-15 years. It´s sorta funny how I have more to talk about with these folks than with the other 20 somethings on the trip. Anyway, we went for dinner and saw some dancing in the town center (el zocalo, one in every town) before dinner. There were these older couples dancing, and the best way I can describe it is it was something from PBS. If the dancers from the Lawrence Welk Show had aged naturally and moved to Mexico, this is what they would be doing with their Saturday nights. It was kinda adorable. One couple was pretty cut-throat, though, you could tell they took this very seriously. Friday night I went out for very rich Italian food with a guy from my classes and enjoyed some good banter about the problems of the globe. He has traveled very extensively, so I enjoyed the conversation. Last week, a few "notable" events: I went with my host mom and we had massages for 60 pesos. With the current exchange rate, that´s roughly $6. Not $60, $6. The massages were by massage students, so they offer these really cheap massages in order to get their hours of practice in, so I´ve had better massages, but still, it was delightful. I went to an arte museum here in Cuernavaca. The museum is of Robert Brady´s art collection, and is in his beautiful old house here. Robert Brady was an independently wealthy art collector who was American but lived in Cuernavaca and traveled the world collecting art, everything from african tribal masks to frida kahlo paintings, and stuff from all over Africa, South America, Mexico, some European stuff, Indonesia, etc. It was awesome, especially since its rumored that Mr. Brady was a very "flamboyant" man, so the way he displayed his art reflected that. No wall had barely an inch of open, unoccupied space, and the whole house was painted in very bright and vibrant colors. His global mask collection was awesome, something that Dad would definitely appreciate (see pics)! The weekend before that was Acapulco. Acapulco was hot and sunny and empirically beautiful, but as I recall, very very touristy, so touristy that apparently the local economy requires two Wal-Marts, a Costco, and a Sam´s club to sustain it. It was a beach weekend, so I enjoyed being lazy and laying in the shade on the beach, as I don´t need to be any darker at the moment. I´m not the discoteque-going, tequilla-drinking gringa that usually enjoys the sort of places that Acapulco offers, so I had a relatively quiet weekend. The beaches were beautiful and the water warm, tho, so it was nice. And I think that catches everyone up. PICTURES: Jill on her balcony in Acapulco All sorts of strangely awesome art at the Robert Brady Museum I´m having trouble adding other pictures, and I´m not sure if those above will come out very well...I will try and add pics from this past weekend tomorrow or later today...enjoy

Donde esta el Wal-Mart?

It´s only been a few days, but before I head off for a weekend in Acapulco (barf), here are a few points on life thus far: Wal-Mart: Yep, it´s here. Saw one in Mexico City, and there´s one here in Cuernavaca too. Along with Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King (the one in Mexico City was 2 stories!), etc. The American boys staying at my house have frequented these establishments many times...they don´t travel much I think. Seeing as I don´t remember the last time I was in a McDonald´s in the States, I think I´ll stay away from the one here. Food: well, it is mexican food, lots of chiles, which are pretty hot, turns out, and lots of quesadillas, tortillas, rice, beans, etc. Molletes are pretty good, it´s bread, with beans, cheese, and salsa on it. Of the stuff I haven´t partaken in yet, it´s mostly market stuff, like parts of pigs and cows, cactus leaves, bugs (Zam style, nice and crispy), fried fish, and lots of other things fried in oil. Meals are a bit different, with breakfast in the morning, then the biggest meal, la comida, at like 2:30, then sometimes a small snack-ish meal at like 8:30 or so. Sometimes there is no late meal though. The afternoon meal, among other things, has a soup course, which I noticed, contains a chicken leg or wing only for Victor, the patriarch of the family. It is a very patriarchical society...more on that later. Driving: I was thinking to myself that it seems every time I get into a car in a new country I find myself thinking that they are crazier drivers than the last country I was in. But now it´s just that I think the rest of the world is a little crazy and American´s are really defensive and obediant. Either way, you have to be crazy to drive a car here. The streets are tiny, the city is very hilly, and there are minimal traffic signs and reglations. Two lane roads turn into 1 or 3 lane roads quickly... what center line?? The streets wind in and out, between buildings, up and down hills. Driving with my host dad, Victor, makes me feel like I´m going to throw up, driving with my host mom, Avi, makes me feel like I´m going to die. It´s a toss up, so I just sit in the back seat and wait til it´s over. All in all, it´s more entertaining than frightening, although I can´t believe I haven´t seen an accident yet. Which takes me to... Host family: The mom is Avi (pronounced Abi), the dad is Victor, they have three kids in their late 20s, but only two of them live at home, Victor (Jr.) and Veronica, both are very nice but work a lot. They are a very nice, accommodating family, with a lovely home. They have a cat named Picho, and the only reason I mention Picho is because he´s crazy...they call him Picho loco because he has a very strange habit of sucking on his rear foot. Very strange. But as I found out last night Picho is a Mayan word for "baby," so it is fitting. Cross-cultural learnings: The other night at the later meal, we had a conversation about the acceptance of homosexuality in Mexico, and my very offensive and ignorant fellow Americans were obviously not representative of my opinions...As Mexican culture is very concentrated around "machismo" and is a very patriarchical society, homosexuality is not really accepted, but it is present, but mostly hidden. Obviously, in the bigger cities like Mexico City there is a bigger homosexual presence in public. But still, it is less accepted and respected than in the big cities in the States. Noises in the night: Actually, there are noises all the time (obviously), but the night seems to bring more and louder noises...particularly fireworks-like explosions in the the churches. As each day honors a different saint, each church has a different party for each saint, so it appears that the churches are partying all the time, and by partying I mean lighting loud but apparently harmless explosions in honor of the saints. Hmm...these explosions combined with sirens set the many, MANY dogs to barking. Although I´m 98% certain I did hear actual gunshots, within a very close proximity to the house, the other night...fantastic. Tomorrow I´m off to Acapulco for the weekend...yeah, life´s pretty tough.

Fotos!

In order, hopefully: Palacio del Cortez in the center of town, a view of the mountains from the main road in Tepotzlan, a Cuernavaca street scene with the standard chaos, and an old church (sorry, I´m crappy with stories about churches, there are a lot of old churches).

La primera dia

Day 1, so far so good. I have like two minutes to update as they shuffle you around from classes from 8 am to 2 pm with only a few 10 minute breaks. Anyway, things are going well, I´m remembering more and more Spanish, so that´s good. There are a lot of obnoxious 20 year old college students, but eh. In fact, there are three guys who are staying with the same host family, they were in Acapulco this weekend and returned last night. The are 20, have only had 2 weeks of Spanish so they only speak English to me, and have one more week. I think they enjoy being able to drink in public more than anything else, as almost all of their stories have started out with "well, we were going to do this, but we were too shitfaced to wake up." Fantastic boys. I did go out for a beer with them last night, and it was nice to get out and see some of El Centro. The best way I can describe these guys is, if you´ve seen the movie Borat, they are only slightly less offensive and just as ignorant as the southern frat boys in the Winnibego that Borat hitched a ride with...so yeah. They are from Pennsylvania, but sound like the just walked out of the backwoods of Mississippi. They have tried to warn me of things like people starring and whistling and other such encounters of traveling, and I thought "uh, yeah, I´ve been there...no worries." In fact, it´s refreshing to feel like I actually fit in, thanks to the tan I got in Hawaii. Anyway, yesterday, I went to Teopatzlan (I know I butchered the spelling of that) with the host family, a small town about 45 minutes away, with a huge market. We walked around el mercado, toured la iglesia, (in three days I have already seen many churches...) and bought some food at the market. Among many food, there were pig skins for sale, along with most other body parts, whole or partial chickens (any part you want), cactus leaves (are they called leaves??), chiles, grasshoppers...your standard market fare, I think. The bell just rang (can we say structured???) so I have to go to my last class - health care vocabulario. I´ll post pictures when I can!

No hablo espanol

So it´s a darn good thing I´m here I guess. My spanish es horrible. I am here, arrived without problem. It´s so weird to be in a time zone only 2 hours different. It´s warm and sunny and beautiful, and if I said I missed the snow at home no one would believe me, but I do, a little bit. I just finished up with orientation at the school, and now I´m waiting for my ride back to the house. My host family is very nice, the house is beautiful, accomodations wonderful. They don´t speak english at all so yesterday I was forced to remember bits and pieces of high school spanish, which was humorous at times and usually grammatically incorrect. But that´s why I´m here. I´m still a bit tired and out of it, although I got nearly 10 hours of sleep last night. The next post will be newsier, more upbeat, and hopefully dotted with pictures. But that´s all for now.

New Year, New Continent

However, I'm afraid this is the last year that that mantra, "new year, new continent," will be applicable. Counting down the last 28 or so hours before departing. Big red (my backpack) is just about all packed up. And then I realized that many of you may not know exactly where I'm going (assuming many of you are reading this)! Blasphemy! On friday I'm heading out of Spokane on a one way ticket to Mexico City. From there I'll go to Cuernavaca, Mexico, to attend an International Linguistics Universidad for about a month...meaning I'll be learning Spanish, hopefully. I'm actually taking "Spanish for Medical Professional Dummies" so that should be kinda cool, if I'm not in over my head. All in all, my goal is to become quasi-proficient in Spanish, for the next stage of the trip. Which is Peru. Iquitos, Peru, where I will be volunteering and doing whatever in hospital with a Peruvian physician. Hopefully I'll learn enough Spanish to be able to pretend to know what's going on. And the greater goal is to learn enough Spanish to survive New York next year. If it still seems kinda vague to you, it is. I only checked two days ago what the visa requirements were for Peru. All I need is a plane ticket out of Peru. So really, the only requirement in life for me right now is to book a round trip ticket into and out of Peru at some point in the next month or so. I feel like that is do-able. Much easier than next year. Iquitos is only about 4 degrees south of the equator, on the Amazon River. So it's a darn good thing I had that pheo (sweat-inducing tumor) removed last year, cause it's gonna be hot! And with a fresh layer of snow here in Spokane and only 4 days on the mountain this year, it's a bitter sweet departure, but ultimately more sweet than bitter. Next time I hope to post en Espanol!