Transitions

For eight months, my life has gradually been changing from what was my life in the United States to what is now a new life in Guatemala; radically different, yet with plenty of similarities. Since April, and likely until my third or fourth year in school, my schedule has changed to one where I am blessed with getting up at the same time everyday. It's a big contrast to running non-stop, as I did during my college education followed by MCAT prep. Surrounded by people who live to work, instead of working to live, one is inspired to work, work and work. I can't quite explain what I mean by the former phrase -- maybe you need to live in two countries to really understand it. In Guatemala, people are working nonstop just to get by, as went the argument today, but my point was that poverty drives people to work so hard here (working to live), whereas it's a culture of working in the United States (living to work). Escaping from that, along with anxiously awaiting all other new ideas and attitudes coming my way, encompasses a series of transitions that are really going to test my limits in the next few years.

This blog started as an email I was composing in my head for my father. His (justified) concern over the curriculum at UFM amuses me, as it's been made clear I'll never have to agree with it. I may need to understand the theories of Mises and Hayek; it's even possible I'll be required to argue in their favor. As someone fascinated with argumentative writing, economics and new ideas (the former two only from a distance -- only as much as a molecular biologist can handle), that's okay. It'll be hard to convince me that the Koch brothers, the Heritage Foundation, the Tea Party or anyone else in that arena belongs in politics, though. No mention has been made of these groups, but the connection between them all and the mission of my university are all intimately connected.

Today after class, I officially enrolled in courses for next year. Very exciting...nothing was as exhilarating in this whole process as when I received the email telling me I had been accepted, but each step I get closer to being a physician, the happier I am...each passing day brings me even closer. :) But I digress...

After enrolling in class, I was pretty hungry, so I headed to the library. Contrasting with Free Speech Movement Cafe in Moffit Library at UC Berkeley, I dined at the Bagel Factory inside La Biblioteca Ludvig von Mises (the Ludvig von Mises Library). Instead of attending lectures in Wheeler Hall, home to many Free Speech Movement events and now Occupy Berkeley events, I'll be trekking to the Milton Friedman Auditorium. Toto...we're not in Kansas anymore. I'll leave it to my father to draw the link between the likes of Bancroft, Moffit, and Wheeler with Mises, Hayek and Friedman (give him a week, perhaps a Tea Party talking point, and it'll be there), but, needless to say, it's pretty striking to have gone from a school so liberal as Berkeley to such a conservative school down here.

The other striking characteristic is the demographics in class. High school was upper-middle class rich, white kids from the suburb I grew up in. UC Berkeley was a mix of mostly upper-middle class kids from the suburbs of LA. I then went out to the real world where, between work, my friends and just living in Oakland, my day to day interactions were as diverse as it can get. Upon moving, my interactions were limited to patients more than anyone else -- poor, working families. I have since returned to high school, but even more exaggerated. Not only do they have vehicles, but for many, it means a BMW. They are still accustomed to the "high school life" where there's enough time for plenty of party. At least this is the impression I'm given. We've been lectured constantly this month about how tough medical school will be and, to top it off, our parents are required to come January 5. Yes...parents are required to come, that means YOU Mom and Dad. Granted, the average entry age is roughly 18 instead of 25, but it will be tough adjusting to being babied so much. After conquering UC Berkeley, the MCAT and seven seasons of Golden Girls, I can handle anything.

There's no doubt that with such a big change, the good, the bad and the ugly will come to me. I suppose I'm just hoping the bad and the ugly will at least treat me as an adult. I can't wait to see how the first year goes. Writing essays and participating however I'm required to in rhetoric will be especially interesting. Who's game for proofreading my horrible written Spanish?

first week and a half in class

As my previous blog mentioned, I finally started school last Thursday 11/3! Naturally, it was quite stressful and everybody was speaking Spanish with a different accent than I've become accustomed to. Nonetheless, the first eight days of class have gone great.

Unfortunately, it takes an hour and a half to two hours each way, but it’s possible I'll get a “carrito” to drive to the capital (although that's going to take some courage!). Let's just say that Manhattan looks like a quiet country road compared to here...

While it takes forever to get to the capital, I'm happy to say I'm finally comfortable navigating my way around Guatemala City. It's HUGE, has a HORRIBLE reputation, and is SUPER busy. When you get past that and realize it's just another big city, it suddenly becomes more manageable. The first day I left at 5:30 and the trip was pretty fast, but leaving at 6am, the traffic was crazy. With time, I'll get myself into the groove.

The first day started off with a few of the big wigs talking about school and the most entertaining part was how they really drove in that we're no longer in [the Guatemalan equivalent of] high school – this is the university and it's TOUGH. Apparently about 30-40% of students don't survive the first year. Upon hearing that, I suppose I can agree with the MCAT's tactics a little bit more than I used to (although I still hate it), as it predicts success in the first year of medical school quite well. So instead of screening beforehand here, the class will just shrink a bunch the second year I guess. If I heard correctly, there are only about 1000 graduates from the school which makes 50/year. This year there are about 100 in my class.

This month, I'm only taking a review of math, chemistry, physics, and biology. In the spring, the real classes begin. So far, they’ve all started off well. Chemistry looks like it's going to be especially easy. As for biology, I'll start with the initial arrival of the professor – I could tell her Spanish was a little different and even struggled to understand her at times. When I went up to her after class to ask a couple questions, it turns out she's American, but has been here since she was 12. She went on to explain that most professors are bilingual and I'll be able to answer in English on the tests if I'm not sure how to say it in Spanish...boy I wasn't expecting that kind of special treatment!

We talked quite a bit Thursday and Friday and it appears I'll likely be able to skip chem, physics, and math, but it'll probably be a good idea to take biology even though most of it will be review. Since it's cell bio, they go into detail of some things I somehow skipped at Berkeley. Kind of odd, if you ask me...I read it over today, though, and it doesn't look too bad.

So we'll see how the rest of the month goes, but in any case I'm very excited and know it will turn out well. I'll keep everyone posted on any new updates. :)

Starting School Soon 11/3!

After almost a year and a half of anticipation (and over six months of running around like a chicken with my head cut off), I’ve finally managed to be accepted to medical school. I suppose the anticipation had been building for nearly ten years, since I knew I wanted to be a doctor, but the prospect of doing it in Guatemala has had me going full steam to try to do the impossible since June of last year. November 3 marks my first day of classes at la Universidad de Francisco Marroquin (UFM). It’s a review course, covering things like chemistry, physics, math and biology. Regular classes start in January.

It’s a seven year program, although the first year will be lighter because I’ll be skipping what’s equivalent to pre-med classes in the United States (pending their approval, of course). Naturally, it’s all in Spanish, with the exception of some textbooks and possibly guest lecturers. Volunteering in the public health department has prepared me well, so I’m not worried. (I even scored 100% on the chemistry assessment test, in Spanish, at the other school I was applying to!) As I’m getting to know the school (and the country) more and more, I realize that it will be an extreme challenge for many reasons, based on the politics at UFM. Part of their mission statement is to create Free Societies. I’m still working on being able to define “Free Society” in the first place, but the easiest way to put it is that it’s a utopia for capitalism. Business has so little regulation (none, in fact) that it does whatever it wants. Consumers are allegedly benefiting, pushing prices down, innovation up and everyone is so well off that the need for government assistance is null. In fact, there practically is no government. Out of the seven years I’ll be studying there, six semesters will be devoted to these theories -- Austrian economics -- but to keep it in a positive light (and fortunately, economics already fascinates me), I’m looking at it as a big sociological study where I can people watch. Kind of like the gay evangelical church I did a speaking gig in three years ago (ask me about that, sometime). In any case, I’m very excited to see what you talk about for six semesters when the basis of the theory is that you don’t do anything (i.e. deregulation/free-for-all).

Most likely, I’ll be living in Antigua, about an hour outside of the capital. It’s much safer and cheaper. If the commute is too long, however, I’ll be moving nearer to the school to a teeny tiny room I can afford. For now, it’s an 8-5 kind of schedule, but within the next 3-4 years, I should be starting the 24 hour turns you take in the hospital. As most of you know, my plan is to do family medicine, which is what you graduate in after 7 years, without having to specialize, fortunately. It’s also possible I’ll rotate through an American medical school for a month or three once I start what’s comparable to rotations. Wendy and I are talking about that and it’s likely she’ll come with me.

I’m very ready to start school, as it means I’ll be done that much quicker, but I’m getting VERY nervous. My Spanish is good, but I’m still shy when speaking, so I’m scared of how to make friends there. We’ll see how that goes. I haven’t heard mention of student groups on campus, but I’ll look into that as well. Other like minded, social service oriented folks would be nice to get together with.

As always, I invite everyone to come visit me. I’ll have weekends free and various holidays here and there. Where I stay in Antigua is a great place to stay, as my friend makes great food and doesn’t charge much. Otherwise, there’s a bagillion hotels everywhere.

Here are a few links for your general amusement (I think there are options for English on some of UFM’s website):

• UFM Medical School
• Article about correspondence between one of the Koch brothers and Hayek: Hayek wrote for years about how horrible social security is, yet gladly used Austria’s socialized medicine when he had problems with his gall bladder. Fearing he wouldn’t get such good care in the US, he couldn’t come to work at the Koch brothers’ think tank. They wrote back reminding him his work in Chicago advocating against social security qualified him for it, so “come on down!”
• Random article on Austrian Economics, if I read it correctly it’s saying that the analogy about broken windows (or disasters, in real life) are good because the money goes toward industry for making the window and pays someone to fix it…hooray! Except that money was always there and could have gone to something more productive, otherwise we’d want to destroy the city so someone could make money rebuilding it!
• And on last article I found tearing apart Austrian economics explaining why it's wrong

homecoming

After six months hidden in the jungle enjoying the tranquility and peaceful nights listening only to insects and frogs, then waking up to nothing but green (or trapped in an exhaust filled metropolis they call Guatemala City), I returned to my native Oak-town, where my wonderful former roommate, Bob, let me crash for a few weeks. Attached are a few of the highlights. While I was ecstatic to see friends, there's no doubt two and a half weeks was JUST enough and I'm glad to be back now.

To start, I had a great dinner with Julie, Alice, Keith, Renee, and my parents. We made pizza from scratch -- well almost, TJs dough. Attached are a few shots with Julie, Alice and me. Actually, my Dad took a video of us and I figured out how to take some snapshots from it. :)

My stops also included the bakery in SF who's name I can't remember (but they have fabulous bread and a great restaurant -- perhaps boudin's or something like that) as well as the Cliffhouse with Mom and Dad. This was followed by a visit to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Exploratorium with Bob....TONS of fun. (And how often do you get to drink out of a toilet?) On our way, we saw the biggest cruise ship I've ever seen. The sausages you see there are a creation from my father made with wheat gluten. SUUUUUUUPER tasty. Following that are my dear friends Roxann and Neil...was AWESOME seeing you both. The last one (don't ask why the order got screwed up) was coming into SF. I flew out of Texas mid-afternoon, so I flew over the southwest when it was light outside. A BEAUTIFUL flight. (And speaking of Texas, after landing in Houston, I approached CBP wearing the hat I got on in the picture here which was quite entertaining. I think I confused a lot of people. For my med school interview I stuck with the suit, but ditched the hat.)

update on the power outage

So the power came back on last night after being out for 23 hours. Just enough time for me to charge everything and then it went back out in the middle of the night...we'll see what happens today!

even stranger weather!

Well....yesterday was by FAR the strangest day, weather-wise, I've had so far here. The contrast between the different types of weather combined with getting me so scared I almost peed my pants (I can't do loud noises and the thunder was the worst I've heard last night) was crazy.

We got up about 8am because our niece was set to arrive and we usually help take care of her. By 8am it was already boiling, so we knew it was going to be a hot day. After breakfast, I did some chores where I really worked up a sweat and almost had to go for my inhaler (partly 'cause I had a skype date with Mom) but it was quite a workout and the heat really tires one out.

After a nice chat, it was off to start prepping lunch in the now sweltering heat. By 2 it was about 98 (high was 98.6) and I was dying. The rest of the afternoon was a whole lot of nothing while we recovered from the heat. Then a movie, then the interesting part. As the movie was ending, I realized the room was being lit up as if there were a hundred reporters taking pictures outside. This wasn't too abnormal because it had been happening since hurricane Irene was off the coast of Belize (due east of us).

Normally, on rainy days, it begins at 3pm...for a while, like clockwork -- literally right at 3pm. Since the hurricane, however, the rains waited until about 6:30 or 7, started with lightening (the 100 reporters) then an "aguacero" -- a horrible downpour. The lightening the storm starts with is presumably the storm as it's way off in the distance. There's no thunder, but it's still quite bright. The thunder follows as it gets closer.

Without a doubt, the storm approached and suddenly it was pouring. Naturally, there were clothes outside to take in, so I went running to grab everything I could. After that we sat down to dinner doing our best to have a conversation. In my broken Spanish, everything is already kind of going in and out like a bad cell phone connection, if you will, and I understand 75% or so. Because of the metal/sheet roof, it's impossible to hear anything during a really hard downpour. On top of that, there was a lot of thunder and lightening. It was right out of a movie, as the storm passed over us with lightening striking and the horrible loud thunder clap at the same instant.

Out of all the noise from the storm, we noticed a new one -- something pounding down on the roof that was not rain. Yes indeedy...after suffering the whole day in near-100 degree weather, it was hailing. I couldn't believe it. It did get pretty chilly, so perhaps it's not too surprising, but yes...hail in the jungle.

While the storm was passing over us, the lightening got more and more intense. Every few strikes of lightening, the power went out for a half a second or so (which naturally makes me quite scared...thanks Dad). It continued like this until suddenly one of the brightest flashes of lightening struck and the power didn't come back this time. We sat in darkness for a moment until suddenly I magically pulled my solar-powered flashlight out of my pocket and we had light again. Both Wendy and her mother laughed hysterically because only I would have the flashlight at the ready.

On other nights, I've had to run for the flashlight, which can be quite an adventure even IF I know the house pretty well. The night before last, I was fortunate enough to have the road lit up for me by all the lightening, but last night I was taking no chances, so I held on to my flashlight once the storm started. When it gets dark here...it's REALLY dark.

By this time, it was getting late and Wendy's father, brother and sister hadn't arrived, so we were wondering how wet and when they'd arrive. Finally, her brother arrived -- drenched -- giving us a full report about the horrible condition of all the streets. Sure enough, we walked outside and the street was literally full of water from one side to the other. The side of the house had about 3-4 inches of water (about 2 feet below the level of the floor, though). We lucked out, but houses closer to the lake did indeed get flooded.

There was even so much water that they had to chop open the road to let water flow into the lake. Here they are working on it now.

So here I am, the next morning, after wandering around looking at downed trees and STILL without power. (Of course there's cell reception so I can have internet because at least they have it together.) I'm getting a little worried about the food, mainly cheese and chorizo (again...thanks Dad :P ...and more on the chorizo momentarily), as they could spoil.

To end the story on an exceptionally positive note, while I didn't have a microwave to boil my water for coffee, I DID have a fire this morning, so I got off to a good start and I'd like to ask you, Mom, how do YOU get your coffee when the power goes out? :)

Mmmmm chorizo....here it is in all it's glory. Yesterday, prepping vegetables for a nice healthy stir fry, I looked in the pot that had some socks soaking (or so I thought) but then realized that the "sock" was one long continuous tube....not just a tube, mind you....yes, it was a cow's intestine. It's cleaned, of course, soaking in lime water, then scrubbed down by whoever preps the chorizo. Doing dishes this morning, cleaning the pila, I even had to pick up a piece of it that stayed behind. (I'm still cringing thinking about it.) So while I'm tempted by all the steaks being cooked here, I have a feeling I'll be sticking to my veggies for a while longer...

mating

Screaming children…dirty diapers (or finding your niece in a puddle, as was my luck on Saturday)…getting hit…ruined furniture. Goodnight kisses…hugs good-bye…singing lullabies…learning to talk …playing games. It’s a tough call…something to anxiously look forward to and rush into as fast as possible or something to dread and put off until, well…until that maternal or paternal instinct does whatever it does to make us forget about that first part.

There’s no doubt I’m in the “waiting” camp. Waiting…until I am no longer in school. Waiting…until I have a real job. Waiting…until I won’t pull my hair out regretting having put myself in that position (granted, at the rate I’m going, I won’t need to worry because there will be nothing to pull out).

The sudden urge to express my thoughts on childrearing entered my mind for a few reasons. I finally spent a few hours alone with my niece the other day, which gave me a better taste of what having a child is really like…on second thought one could call it a misconception because it was only a few hours until she was no longer my problem. But I also help take care of her when her cousin is here as well. The two together is much more challenging because the word share is simply not yet part of their vocabulary. Going through the famous “terrible-twos” stage, they demand everything (and unfortunately are accustomed to getting it) and must EACH receive a toy when Min (their name for me, since they can’t say Benjamin) brings back any toys from his travels. I was getting somewhere this weekend, when Wendy and I were playing with them, passing a little man on a skateboard back and forth, but it did not last long, as my niece would throw a tantrum every time her cousin received the toy. Someone remind me what age you’re supposed to start learning how to share!

As many of you know, I’ve begun a personal growth process. The main focus I’ve taken is eliminating negative thinking and behavior (gossiping, even if we try to call it an intelligent discussion between two rational adults about someone we happen to not like being the most important of those behaviors) because in the last year my efforts to minimize these two things have made me so much more happy. An important part of this process, for me, is how we interact with children. Their bonding and love for us is good for ourselves (the limbic system, specifically, according to the latest book I’m working through) as well as for them because unconditional love is what they need more than anything. For exactly this reason, I take notice of everything I see, perhaps in an effort to recognize what not to do as well as things I see here I wouldn’t have imagined in the States that are probably extremely beneficial to a child’s development.

Volunteering in a public health clinic, a big proportion of the patients I see are children under ten. Most of them are the most misbehaved children you can imagine. From what I see, discipline consists of hitting, belittling (calling them dirty instead of acknowledging behavior that could get them sick or is “socially unacceptable,” for example), or the easiest by far to do – permitting the bad behavior and giving in to the children’s demands.

When I see that such negative energy does nothing to help the child, I can’t help but ask myself what the best thing to do is. I’m certainly no expert, I’m in no position to criticize, and I know that bad behavior needs to be corrected, but how to do it? Here was one idea I had. Excellent, theoretically, if I do say so myself…but it didn’t quite work. My nephew likes to run around charging at people with a plastic stool. If he’s not charging full speed ahead with it out front, it’s on top of his head. Either way, it’s very dangerous and every so often, he falls and bangs up his face. I try to keep an eye on it and tell him not to do it, but he’ll just run away. One day, I decided to talk to him about it. Instead of screaming at him, as is the custom here, I grabbed him, putting my arm around his little belly – as is the easiest way to restrain a child, I’ve found, as it’s so much more loving than violently grabbing their wrist – and stopped him. “Why are you running around with that stool on your head?” Laughter. “Anderson, you can’t run around like that because you can fall and hurt yourself! Remember when you fell the other day because you were running around with this?” He seemed to remember and even seemed to be responding that he wanted to fall. Since then, whenever he sees me and notices there is a stool nearby, he picks it up and runs around with it exactly in the manner I don’t want him to do, just because he knows he’ll get me upset. So much for a rational adult conversation with a two year old, trying to explain rationally why he should do something for his OWN safety…

So…I ask…what is the right answer? There are so many traumatic things we can do to children when punishing them in a seemingly harmless way. But, how can a child know the difference between having an accident being called filthy because pee is dirty versus direct insults, leading them to believe THEY are filthy for having wet their pants? Or, what are they supposed to think, being called dirty, just for exploring their bodies…that part of their body is a dirty thing that can’t be touched or shown to anyone ever? I’ll keep practicing, hoping my guinea pigs don’t get too traumatized and that it’s nothing I’ve said that they have to carry into their adult life to work through. And as for me…there’s no doubt I’ll be waiting quite a while before having my own creatures to look after.

updates

Well it's been SIX weeks since I've put anything up here. I suppose it's time for something. To my surprise, things are still going crazy busy, but should calm down in about seven years. As I mentioned to some folks, I had problems adjusting to a completely different diet and even thought I had visitors setting up shop in my tummy. Fortunately, things are settling down and I'm gaining some weight back. Attached are a few photos for your enjoyment, but check back next week because I'm going to try to put something slightly more substantial up when I have a little time to do that.

My mug shot I had to send to the university today so I can take my next test a week from Friday.

It was impossible to get a good shot here, but let me explain. This is VERY important! The little black dot you see to the left of the handle of a spoon is a mosquito. As Wendy kindly pointed out to me, it is either a male, or a female with Gender Identity Disorder because males feed off sugar and females feed of gringos. (As a side note, important to note about this species of mosquito is that it is one of few, if there even are any others, species that are truly monogamous. And why might that be? During copulation, the penis stays behind in the female.)

This is me playing dress up!

Me drinking coconut juice after a very LONG, very TIRING day out on the motorcycle.

A short-lived houseguest that has thankfully gone to the zoo....

Strange Storm Last Night

Greetings all.

Sitting outside last night, all of us, almost at the same time realized there were really strange looking clouds coming our way. We sat in awe for about ten minutes. I took the opportunity to take some pictures since they will also give everyone an idea of what it's like near my house. (I'm yet to take many pictures, don't ask me why.) Below the crazy looking clouds, please take note of the non-stop GREEN and lack of asphalt. :)

We sat staring, noting how pretty (and bizarre) the clouds looked. A brief discussion of the end of the world ensued, but I assured everyone we could rest easy until 2012. Then...I felt the first rain drop. And another. Everyone else felt it as well and all of a sudden, a crazy wind started. I felt like I had been transported to Austurias's Viento Fuerte.

We immediately took off running to bring in all the clothes before the wind sent them off to a land far far away. It was then that I noticed everyone had left poor Wendy's mother chasing the pollitos (chicks, in English, I think) into their coop, so I grabbed a broom and started helping her. Running up down, all around trying to get them in we were. While I REALLY wish I had pictures of the chaos that followed our dumbfounded admiration, these will have to suffice.

If the first four photos serve to demonstrate how beautiful it is here, the last is most certainly to demonstrate how I look after a long day...and this is a day when I DIDN'T go out with Wendy's father, glued to the back of a motorcycle winding through washed out roads and having no padding on my booty.

Enjoy!

latest news

Well...it's been a good five or six weeks since last I put anything up, so I figured it was about time.

-I've continued giving consults on my own as well as with the doctor, where I see TONS of interesting stuff. Yesterday I arrived to yet another community (on the road to Belize, La Maquina, in case you're looking at a map) where another crowd of about a hundred women were waiting with their children. It's so fast paced and we went literally non-stop for five hours. I was so hungry afterward that it didn't occur to me to ask for beans or eggs, so I almost ended up eating COW.

-This morning, I went to a different part of the clinic with the doctor I've been working with to help with gyn exams with the sex workers. (I actually didn't do anything, except learn how to do the exam without a speculum...I'm still trying to figure that one out...) The highlight was a young woman that liked my eyes and mentioned she's always wanted a child with eyes my color. This was after telling me I really should be paying to sit in on these appointments.

-Wendy's sister returned from the capital. I now live with five people, have a hundred million frequent house guests, and there is one bathroom. Oh, and two turkeys just arrived today (no, the animals, my parents are still mentally preparing to make it down here).

-I'm currently studying for my next exams in bio, chem and physics, which is exhausting. Call me a nerd, but Campbell's Biology is probably one of my favorite books out there, but it's a trip reading it in Spanish. Thank goodness for google books, since it's out there for free. Next will be chemistry and physics, which I'm not so sure about. Wish me luck the week of the 20th when I take the tests!

el gringo que pincha

Another interesting day today. Yesterday all about women about to have babies and today just preventing them. I gave about 30 shots of deppo provera then helped with vaccinations. For the most part, everyone spoke Spanish, but there were a few that were obviously struggling, especially understanding me. The highlight of the day was hearing something to the effect of ".....this gringo....." to which I said, "yes....but this gringo isn't deaf." I was told later that most of the women walked out with very sore arms, blaming the gringo. :)

It was quite a clinic, set up assembly line style across the street from the town's school. (Similar to where I went two years ago where all the kids lined up to call me gringo, but much more isolated. Kind of like Rancho Laguna without the million dollar homes kind of isolated, for those of us lucky enough to know where that is.) We arrived and I started off giving injections with an audience of about 30 women with their babies, which slowly dissipated.

Hoy fue tan interesante como ayer. Ayer me ocuparon todas las embarazadas mientras hoy me ocupaba en prevenir los embarazos. La mayoría hablaba español, pero unas luchaban para hacerlo, dandome dificultad pero sin embargo nos comprendimos. Lo divertido del día fue cuando preparaba una inyección y oí algo como "...este gringo..." a que yo respondí, "Sí, pero este gingo no está sordo." Todas se riyeron, tratando de prevenir que las viera. También, la mayoría se iba con dolor del brazo diciendo que el gringo pincha mucho.

Me impresionó la clinica. Se situó en la calle, cerca de la escuela. (Fue similar como cuando visité Zocotzal, pero no había niños gritando gringo lo más fuerte posible. Esta comunidad está mucho más aislado que las que yo he visto y apenas había trafico.) Llegamos por la mañana y yo empecé a dar inyecciones con audiencia de 30 mujeres y sus bebes.

Sentandome tanto en el camión me dolió mucho y ahora estoy feliz estar desansando en casa. Mañana lo haré de nuevo pero en moto.

busy day today

Greetings all...I saw about 60 patients today, the vast majority of which were diagnosed with upper and lower respiratory tract infections and still lots of GU stuff. Also a lot of complications related to varicose veins and not using TEDS (I think?) causing a lot of pain, discomfort and, well, scariness. I also saw four pregnant women that I was able to poke and prod. With one of them, the doctor was able to located the part where maternal and fetal blood mix, so I could listen to that process. And on that note...I listened to the lungs of just about every patient, which is by far the hardest part of this process. Memorizing factoids at Berkeley was doable, but memorizing sounds that change with every patient is something totally different. I'm looking forward to seeing how it progresses, though.

Hoy yo vi 60 pacientes, la mayoria de los cuales tenian infecciones respiratorias (altas y bajas, como neumonia). Tambien habia muchas infecciones unrinarias y complicaciones de las venas varicosa (no pueden comprar medidas). Por la segunda, vinieron con dolor y...pues...cosas feas. Atendi a cuatro embarazadas a quienes meti el tamano del bebe. Con una, pude escuchar la sangre maternal y fetal intercambiando. Y me recuerda...que DIFICIL aprender a reconocer tantos sonidos de los pulmones y el resto del cuerpo. Escuche a la mayoria...tal vez 45 o 50 personas y todavia tengo problemas reconociendo lo necesario. Abajo yo pongo un dibujo demostrando que mis pacientes me van a pensar uno de los medicos que se identifique mas que nadie con los pacientes.

learning to ride a motorcycle

Greetings all....por fin he aprendido a manejar moto! Las fotos se explican si mismas, pero unos detalles que se deben saber: una motocicleta es muy diferente que una bicicleta -- pesa mas, se manaja diferentemente, y los cambios se cambian diferentemente. Fue mucho mas facil que pensaba y ya fui por la calle. Afortunamente no habia carros....solo chuchos. Extranamente, aun no me he caido!

Finally learned how to ride a motorcycle, but a few words to the wise: motorcycles are slightly different than bicycles. The way more, handle differently and the gears are changed much differently. Otherwise, it was much easier than I was expecting and I even made it to the street. No cars, but there was a pack of 6-8 dogs that scared the bajeesus out of me. And strangely, I haven't fallen yet!

Navigating Uncharted Territory In Guatemala City

For Semana Santa, I was mostly in Antigua, watching the festivities involved in all the religious stuff I know nothing about. It started off in the capital taking care of visa stuff (see previous blog) then a few days of relaxation. Relaxation, in the sense of thousand of people crowded into tiny spaces, at least.

Yesterday, however, we decided to get out of the big city and go visit Wendy's sister. For someone that hasn't done it before, it was quite an adventure. Because I had such a difficult time finding anything on the internet and, as usual, got different answers from different people, I thought I'd put in my blog some of what I had gleaned out of the experience.

While I don't know about all the chicken buses, the one we took brought us directly to the transmetro (http://transmetro.muniguate.com/). So far, there are two lines, soon to be more. From Transmetro, you can take it south to the bus terminal -- Centra Sur is listed on the maps, but it is called Cenma by most people. Depending on your Spanish, it can sound like different things, such as Segma, Sema, etc, which is what confused me. Googling it spelled correctly gets a plethora of results. From here, there are chicken buses departing for all different parts of the country. Esquintla, Amatitlan, Primavera/Villa Nueva (where we went), the coast, and others.

Cenma

Going the other direction will get you to Zona 1 on the transmetro. Plaza Barrios will get you to the first class bus terminals that go to Coban, Peten, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico and Plaza Municipal lets you off in near the Palacio de Justicia, for those of you running around authenticating authenticated official documents issued by the government (no redundancy here). Plaza Municipal will also get you on the other transmetro line that can get you down to Zonas, 4, 9, 10 and 13. At one quetzal/ride, it's very cheap and very impressive, given the price.

As someone who had an irrational fear of the capital until this week, I highly recommend exploring on the transmetro (assuming you have destinations and have a least a general idea of your way around and where you're going) because it's a giant city and not ALL bad.

Finally, here's me Joshin' with Jesus my last day in Antigua:

El Ranchero en la Ciudad

Imaginate, vos. Allí estaba, caminando por las calles pensando “¿dónde estaré?” Tan diferente era la capital de Guatemala que el metropolis de San Benito de donde acababa de irme. Sin vendedores en la calle, sin que nadie me dijera “Tikal, Tikal!” yo andaba sin rumbo, buscando algo que comer. Al llegar al restaurante que se llamaba San Martin, me senté a esperar mi cafecito. Despues de viajar por toda la noche, necesitaba mucho más que un café. Afortunatemente, llegó el desayuno chapín que salió solamente cuádruple del precio a que me había acostumbrado.

Despues de comer, yo di una vuelta para explorar el barrio. No solamente me había ido del metropolis en el Petén, sino que la gente y los edificios parecían como los de San Francisco, California. Por Dios estaba confundido. En el centro comercial solo había tiendas de ropa de moda, electrónicos, y cafeterías con menus mostrados por pantallas planas.

Yo arreglé todas mis cosa y me fui para los antecedentes penales. Desde la Zona 10, el edificio donde los encontraría estaba cerca en la Zona 9. Disfrutaba el clima fresco de las montañas. Me encanta el calor, por eso me mudé al Petén en el primer lugar. Sin embargo, me gustaba el calor esa mañana. (Excepto cuando salía del bus sin sospechar que hubiera tanto frio, en ese momento me grité estoy congeládome el trasero ahora...) Tal vez me dio un sentimiento de nostalgia. Perdido en esos pensamientos, caminaba para los documentos para mi visa cuando había un patrullo de policías a la vista. Lo único que me podía decir fue que siempre los policías me habían tratado bien. Bueno, había una un poco chismosa, pero no importa. Si no me molestan, está bien. Pero de repente, sin siquiera hablarme, me señalaron que me pusiera contra la pared con las manos arriba. ¡Pues, ya no eran tan amables como antes! “¿Adónde vas? ¿De dónde sos?” “Pues, soy de los Estados Unidos. Y estoy caminando para conseguir mis antecedentes penales...” “Solo tiene el billetero” dice uno al otro. “Y qué hacés en Guatemala? ¿Vas a trabajar?”

Apenas pude contestar todas las preguntas. No llevaba nada importante y fue obvio que solo me quisieron molestar. Lo siento, muchá, solo me divirtieron con sus tonterías. Cuando me dijo “no problem” me fui caminando rapido, intentando a no reírme todavía.

Despues del primer obstaculo, llegó otro. ¡¿Cómo cruzar estas carreteras?! Wendy me había dicho que contruyen puentes para peatones más que nada para los extranjeros. ¡Ya comprendo por qué! Fue como un juego de “Frogger” (veáse la foto abajo). Creo que había hasta cuatro carriles a la vez. En total, para cruzar esta carreterota, había que cruzar ocho o diez carriles, pero por lo menos había banquetas para tomar un descanso en medio. Y por fin, despues de esta larga excursión, llegué al edificio de antecedentes penales. Yo y otras 150 personas.

A pesar de tanta gente, el proceso iba rapido y salí con mis papeles dentro de media hora. Cuando esperaba, leía que había más tareas para los extranjeros. Despues de recibir este documento oficial, había que autenticarlo. Y despues, había que autenticarlo de nuevo. Sí, dos veces. Lo miré despues de recibirlo y vi que tenía la firma y el suello. Le pregunté al muchacho si estaba bien así y me dijo claro que si y que yo fuera a la corte suprema para autenticarlo de nuevo.

Cuando llegué al palacio de justicia, me dijo que no, no estaba bien. “Mirá pues, tenés que regresar al mismo edificio. Necesitás una firma y un suello original; estos son digitales. Cuando los tengás, regresá pa’ acá.” Bueeeeeno le dije. Regresé adonde acababa de salir y me dieron lo que buscaba. Regresé al palacio de justicia para que mi nuevo amigo me pudiera decir “Lo siento, pero tenés que comprar timbres de diez quetzales.” “¿No hay aquí?” “No, buscalos afuero. Todos los venden.” Y despues de comprarlos, por fin estaba listo para terminar todo esto. Regresé y al darselo, me dijo que estarían listos el día siguiente. “¿CÓMO?” Le dije. Sí. Despues de todo, tuve que esperar otro día.

Por lo menos, hasta entonces, me había acostombrado a andar por la capital y tenía un poco menos miedo. Fui a la oficina de migración para hacer preguntas y empezar a arreglar mis asuntos con ellos. Despues, regresé al apartamento donde me quedaba para el resto de la tarde. Salí solo para cenar, donde gasté más por una cena que se debe gastar por comida para toda la familia por todo el día.

El próximo día, me traveseé a tomar el transmetro bus. Despues de probarlo, me tuve que preguntar que en el diablo estaba haciendo malgastando tanto dinero con los taxistas cuando el sistema de transporta era tan bueno. Regresé para recoger mis documentos y despues visité al médico. Cansadisimo por caminar tanto y sin poder respirar despues de soportar tanto humo en la ciudad por dos días, por fin me encuentro descansando en Antigua, listo para disfrutar de la Semana Santa.

Finally Settled In

Well hello everyone....2 weeks and no news from me...I'm terribly sorry! Since arriving, I have been running around non-stop without a moment to spare to update my blog (only time to call Mom and say I'm still okay). I hope to be taking more pictures in the next few months, but lately I haven't had time to do much of anything except all my day to day stuff that allows zero time for much of anything. (Mainly I'm crazy-busy doing nothing...you kind of have to be here to understand what that's like. I can't describe it, especially after 25 years in the bay area, even if I was in the suburbs for the first 18 years.)

So what HAVE I been up to, you might ask? Well................

I arrived Sunday, 4/3 and rested for two days before leaving for the state of Petén, Guatemala, where I now live, right on the lake (Petén Itzá). I have a few pictures of it in previous blogs from a few different towns around the lake; I'm near the island of Flores, which is where most tourists stay. I have been working in the pharmacy at the local "Centro de Salud" where I give out medicine and explain the dose of each one. There's about 60-80 patients a day between the two of us in there. Weekends I usually help take care of Wendy's niece and nephew. Both are two and it can be very tiring. :)

This week I had to run down to the capital (about an 8 hour trip, which I make as rarely as possible) to get started arranging my visa. It looks like everything will work out and I'll come back down to turn in some paperwork in the next month or so. On the same trip, I'll take the first of three exams I take to get into medical school. The first is a basic exam ensuring I've learned roughly what is learned in high school in the states. Following that is an exam on physics, chemistry and biology. After that, there's a test comparable to the verbal section on the GRE -- completing sentences, analogies, etc. After that, an in-person interview and hopefully I'll start school in January. Naturally, all of this is in Spanish, so I'm reading a lot, but any other advice about how to boost my skills would be appreciated. (ahem...Karen...)

As I said, minimal photos so far, but I'll leave you all with this one. Taken the other day showing my arrival to Guatemala, Ally Action-style. It was so hot that the first one was with my shirt off which seemed fine until I saw it on the computer so here I am -- fully-clothed.

I miss you all and can't wait for you to come visit me!!!!

nuevas noticias

Well hello all....like all normal people, I find comfort in distracting myself from what I need to get done by looking for all those other things I've been meaning to get done that have no deadline. So at last...only 2 months after I got home, I'm going to put up the rest of my pictures from my December trip. The first half are pictures from my trips to the Caribbean side of Guatemala followed by a hike I took with Wendy near the the lake I'll be moving to soon.

Por fin ya tengo más fotos para poner en mi blog. Siempre hay otras cosas más importante que debo de hacer, pero es más fácil joder en la compu. Para mis compañeros en Guatemala, ya nos veremos muy pronto cuando llegue y a mis amigos en Méxcio, nos veremos cuando venga para viajar o salir del paíz por tres días si es necesario.

El Hotelito Perdido:

Livingston:

Lago Petén Itzá: