I have been volunteering in a local public hospital in Santiago through one of my classes. The class and service project kind of turned into a joke. But I am grateful that it got me into this hospital. Public hospitals here aren’t the same. Only the people with out money are patients here. The comparison to the privet hospitals is incredible. Learning about a public health system that is drastically different from a privet one has been valuable.
It was really frustrating tying to find a way to help a program that didn’t really need it. It took a while but I finally got over the fact that I wasn’t going to be doing much service here so I should at least get something out of the experience for my self. After a long series of areas and people I stumbled upon brain surgery!! It was so cool. I had scrubs and so I was allowed to just go in and watch. There was a steady flow of students coming in and out of the room the whole time. They were removing a reoccurring tumor and I was right in there. The music play list for that day included some Savage Garden from middle school and shaggy. It was a really relaxed atmosphere; the doctor was singing and dancing. They were really good about explaining what they were doing and stopping so that people could get a good look. I loved it.
Since then I have been back 5 times. I’ve seen tumor removal brain surgery, thoracic surgery where they were putting in a chest tube, and orthopedic surgery. At first I was going by myself but now there is another girl who accompanies me. We are so comfortable there now. Some of the doctors even know us. We show up changed into our scrubs and choose a door. If that one doesn’t seem very interesting we just head out and find another. It is so much fun. There are lots of other students doing the same, so the doctors are use to it. The thing is, we really stick out. Erin, the other girl, is beautiful blond and blue eyed, I am a foot taller than all of the other women there, and we are white. Out of all the students in the room we end up having conversations with the doctors. This has ended up with phone numbers at the end of the surgery, the Dominican way, and jokes about me with the midget anesthesiologist. If we had known how to do stitches we would have been the ones sewing up the guy with the chest tube. Unfortunately I only have experience once on a rat and didn’t have the guts to pretend otherwise. I have no reserves about jumping in there and asking questions, and if I still don’t explain having them try again. I feel like I have found a new home in Santiago.
I’m not doing community service but hey I got to see brain surgery, more than once!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
La Capital
The whole study abroad group went on an excursion to Santo Domingo, the capital and only other city bigger than Santiago. It was another trip that was already paid for. We stayed in a very nice hotel in La Zona Colonial of downtown, ate lots and well.
We didn’t arrive until the evening of Friday so didn’t so much besides a nice dinner all together. We were told semi-formal and probably still were only dressed like Dominicans would dress for a casual dinner or just for out and about during the day.
Saturday we got to know the city a little bit. It is by for the grander city between Santo Domingo and Santiago, it is much much larger, has more history and more of a city feel. I feel like Santiago is kind of like Longview but on a bigger scale. There are a fair number of people but it doesn’t really feel like it. Santiago doesn’t have much to do really, not a lot of sites and so not a lot of tourists. In some sense I really like that. Things are cheaper; it’s not as hard to convince people that you live here. Santo Domingo is more what I was expecting though. It has a big city feel. It is set right on the sea. There not really beach front but there is a long board walk called the Malecon where people hang out. The ocean is the ocean to me. It makes my heart flutter in awe, even if it crashes on destroyed cement barriers. I think it will always be a comfort to me.
So I could go on and on just about the ocean that most people wouldn’t say was that impressive. I’ll just leave it at that we bonded, that coast line and I. We did some shopping first at a young artisan’s shop, then later in the afternoon we went to Marcado Modelo. Marcado Modelo this huge market of souvenirs. They don’t have anything like this in Santiago. It was in large building and the vendors had little areas/stands. They all basically sold the same things, art, jewelry, wood work, cigars. I did some good bargaining but wasn’t really in the mood to deal with the pushy vendors. So I just ventured outside and walked around the city some more. It just has a different feel than Santiago. I guess most cities do. I didn’t stick out as much, but was more clearly treated as a tourist.
Earlier in the morning we went to Los Tres Ojos. A big tourist attraction but it was incredible and then later a little depressing, but incredible. There are these caves that have fresh water in them. There are three lakes tucked away in the corners of this cave. The cave just is a huge hole in the ground. The water was beautiful and clear. There were fish and turtles in them too, completely isolated. We took a rope pull little fiery through one of the caves and came out at another circular pond boarded with 80 foot vertical walls opening up to out side. This one supposedly has a crocodile. As we were there gazing at the beauty someone through a bag of trash into the lake. That is something that I can’t understand. There will always be the people who think it’s cool to destroy property or defy the norms but I believe people here really don’t feel guilty about it. Some people don’t understand how beneficial trashcans are for aesthetics and smell and health. Let alone preserving a treasure like these caves. I could go on a whole rant but there are more exciting things in the weekend.
Saturday night we all got dressed up for a formal dinner in a cave. It was great. Everyone looked so nice. It is always fun to get dressed up for a special occasion. And it was down in a cave!! The first course was piña coladas served in coconuts. While I don’t really like coconut flavoring the meat in fresh coconut is good. So in a fancy dress with my hair done and make up on…I was still Emily. I took the knife and fork and started digging at the coconut to harvest the meat. Our whole end of the table was working on it. It was great. I know I know you can’t take me any where. The funny part was, later after the first bread course, the water brings out two plates of cooked coconut. Just imagine the water going back to the kitchen. “We’ve got a problem these US girls are trying to cut open the coconuts and are making a mess.” Rest of the dinner was pleasant and amazing.
We got back to the hotel pretty late and the lights are on in our room. That’s weird I’m pretty sure we turned them all off. The receptionist soon greets us at the door to tell Erin and me that we had to change rooms, something about the sink. Well the sink had exploded. The bathroom was soaked with water, I mean drenched. The trashcan was full to the brim, water on the mirror above the sink, towels hung up…soaked. My stuff on the other side of the room from the bathroom that was sitting on the floor was wet. Thank goodness that it wasn’t much. All of Erin’s stuff was on the bed and most of mine was on the dresser. The receptionist later told us that they discovered it because water was pouring out from under our door and cascading over the balcony into the lobby of the hotel. Nothing was ruined, the only thing wet was clothing; we thought it was hilarious. There had to have been so much water in that room considering the condition we found it in.
Sunday was more relaxed we had a tour of la Zona Colonial. They have ruins of the first church (that’s the picture above), hospital and university of the new world. It feels so European, so different. I hope that I will have the chance to go back and spend more time in the city. I want to just walk and wonder with my book and my camera. I wish that I had visited before the last month, but at least I still have the opportunity to go back.
We didn’t arrive until the evening of Friday so didn’t so much besides a nice dinner all together. We were told semi-formal and probably still were only dressed like Dominicans would dress for a casual dinner or just for out and about during the day.
Saturday we got to know the city a little bit. It is by for the grander city between Santo Domingo and Santiago, it is much much larger, has more history and more of a city feel. I feel like Santiago is kind of like Longview but on a bigger scale. There are a fair number of people but it doesn’t really feel like it. Santiago doesn’t have much to do really, not a lot of sites and so not a lot of tourists. In some sense I really like that. Things are cheaper; it’s not as hard to convince people that you live here. Santo Domingo is more what I was expecting though. It has a big city feel. It is set right on the sea. There not really beach front but there is a long board walk called the Malecon where people hang out. The ocean is the ocean to me. It makes my heart flutter in awe, even if it crashes on destroyed cement barriers. I think it will always be a comfort to me.
So I could go on and on just about the ocean that most people wouldn’t say was that impressive. I’ll just leave it at that we bonded, that coast line and I. We did some shopping first at a young artisan’s shop, then later in the afternoon we went to Marcado Modelo. Marcado Modelo this huge market of souvenirs. They don’t have anything like this in Santiago. It was in large building and the vendors had little areas/stands. They all basically sold the same things, art, jewelry, wood work, cigars. I did some good bargaining but wasn’t really in the mood to deal with the pushy vendors. So I just ventured outside and walked around the city some more. It just has a different feel than Santiago. I guess most cities do. I didn’t stick out as much, but was more clearly treated as a tourist.
Earlier in the morning we went to Los Tres Ojos. A big tourist attraction but it was incredible and then later a little depressing, but incredible. There are these caves that have fresh water in them. There are three lakes tucked away in the corners of this cave. The cave just is a huge hole in the ground. The water was beautiful and clear. There were fish and turtles in them too, completely isolated. We took a rope pull little fiery through one of the caves and came out at another circular pond boarded with 80 foot vertical walls opening up to out side. This one supposedly has a crocodile. As we were there gazing at the beauty someone through a bag of trash into the lake. That is something that I can’t understand. There will always be the people who think it’s cool to destroy property or defy the norms but I believe people here really don’t feel guilty about it. Some people don’t understand how beneficial trashcans are for aesthetics and smell and health. Let alone preserving a treasure like these caves. I could go on a whole rant but there are more exciting things in the weekend.
Saturday night we all got dressed up for a formal dinner in a cave. It was great. Everyone looked so nice. It is always fun to get dressed up for a special occasion. And it was down in a cave!! The first course was piña coladas served in coconuts. While I don’t really like coconut flavoring the meat in fresh coconut is good. So in a fancy dress with my hair done and make up on…I was still Emily. I took the knife and fork and started digging at the coconut to harvest the meat. Our whole end of the table was working on it. It was great. I know I know you can’t take me any where. The funny part was, later after the first bread course, the water brings out two plates of cooked coconut. Just imagine the water going back to the kitchen. “We’ve got a problem these US girls are trying to cut open the coconuts and are making a mess.” Rest of the dinner was pleasant and amazing.
We got back to the hotel pretty late and the lights are on in our room. That’s weird I’m pretty sure we turned them all off. The receptionist soon greets us at the door to tell Erin and me that we had to change rooms, something about the sink. Well the sink had exploded. The bathroom was soaked with water, I mean drenched. The trashcan was full to the brim, water on the mirror above the sink, towels hung up…soaked. My stuff on the other side of the room from the bathroom that was sitting on the floor was wet. Thank goodness that it wasn’t much. All of Erin’s stuff was on the bed and most of mine was on the dresser. The receptionist later told us that they discovered it because water was pouring out from under our door and cascading over the balcony into the lobby of the hotel. Nothing was ruined, the only thing wet was clothing; we thought it was hilarious. There had to have been so much water in that room considering the condition we found it in.
Sunday was more relaxed we had a tour of la Zona Colonial. They have ruins of the first church (that’s the picture above), hospital and university of the new world. It feels so European, so different. I hope that I will have the chance to go back and spend more time in the city. I want to just walk and wonder with my book and my camera. I wish that I had visited before the last month, but at least I still have the opportunity to go back.
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