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!