Ahhh.....

Greetings, all! I hope this finds everyone well and rested. I have been running around the country like a crazy person the past week, so forgive me for not updating until now. It looks like you've been kept well up to date by "Marta", however.

My brother left Sunday and went back to TN, thus my last vacation of the year came to an end. [Insert sad face here]. Since we last spoke, Henry and I went to Vina del mar, a seaside city about 1.5 hours away from Santiago. We rented a car in which I nearly had a panic attack driving in the crazy streets of Santiago, but we made it out of the city 1 hour later on nothing but gumption and sheer terror. We probably should have bought a map prior to renting said vehicle- oops, not very Yellow, am I? Alas, we did not crash nor did we get caught for speeding before we could tell which signs were the speed limit signs, AND that they were in Kilometers (120? wooohooo!). Really, Avis should require a driving exam prior to allowing rentals. The car was a tiny go-cart style vehicle that made me feel like I was playing Mario Kart (the Nintendo 64 version, is there another?). I only wished I had turtles (red ones, of course) to throw at cars in my way. Of course, if you fall off the road, there isn't a magic thingie to come pick you back up with a fishing rod and give you a new go-cart.

I started with Marta at Sotero del Rio this week, but I am on the lactantes service and she has moved to the servicio Miscelanio, which is basically like our wards service. I am learning my Chilean Spanish in leaps and bounds, but I still have a lot of trouble understanding the accents. Luckily, Marta has made friends with some Colombianas, and they have an easy to understand accent that makes me feel like I actually DO know Spanish. The ride out to Sotero del Rio is about 45 minutes, so I quiz Marta on her Spanish conjugations of normal verbs. She is really annoyed with all the irregular verbs in Spanish. I hate to tell you all, but English is waaaaay worse with the rules that have 4 million exceptions. Be thankful we already know THIS language.

So, a little about Sotero del Rio- it's like Cooper Green without air conditioning but with nurses who actually give a crap about orders you write. The interns were asking if we thought Sotero del Rio is 3rd world, but I said it was a step above Cooper Green, and they thought I was nuts. We have really interesting patients on the service, from ALTEs to a kid with a chylothorax s/p CV surgery for HLH. It's amazing that their acuity is still so high but the volume is less. The interns definitely have more time to devote to each patient, which is nice.

Marta already told you all about the ins and outs of rounding (not until 12 PM?!?), so I won't belabor those points. Overall, it's been a good 2 days at the hospital, and I am very excited to continue practicing my Medical Spanish. I am also very happy to be enjoying the scenery, both inside the hospital and out (oh man, the Chilean men are muy caliente!). Perhaps Marta and I will have more to tell on that front, but nothing fun so far. Also, the interns that we are "following" were born in 1988, just to make you feel old....barf! (Of course, my apologies to anyone born in 1988.)

Ok all, we miss you muchly, and I'll be back to report in for duty more often now that I'm not blowing my life savings on food, wine, and beachside hotels (until this weekend, that is).

Besos!

Jennifer