Day 24 & Day 25

We had our last day in Puerto Montt today. Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I got up around 10 so that we could pack our bags and then head out to do some last minute shopping. We found this great strip of shops and were able to find a bunch nifty gifties as we call them. On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the grocery store to get some snacks for the bus ride back to Santiago. Back at the hotel we gathered all our bags and piled on to the bus. Luckily we were not headed to Santiago quite yet. Jaime had arranged for us to go to this tea house in Puerto Varas not far from Puerto Montt for “lunner” (a lunch/dinner). We had quite the meal here consisting of a two types of cake, a platter of bread and an assortment of spreads including salmon, egg salad, jam and others. We were also served coffee and tea. The great thing too was that we were able to go outside and play on the swings, zip-line and pet the llamas and then come back to eat more if we pleased. We spent about two hours here until it was time for our departure. This is where we had to say good-bye to Jaime, which was very sad. I am really going to miss him and all of his silliness. For the first couple hours of the bus ride I did not want to sleep because we were going to be driving all night and so I chatted with Emily instead. Emily and I also watched a couple of episodes of The Office on my computer until the battery died. We made one stop at a gas station for every one to use los banos and after that I took some Tylenol PM to help me sleep. Unfortunately it is really hard to sleep on a cramped bus and so I barely slept the whole ride. We were suppose to be driving for 18 hours, but Juan miraculously got us back to Santiago around 7:30 am, 4 ½ hours earlier than expected. Everyone was very grateful, and on top of that the hotel even let us check in to our rooms. Emily, Kelly, Cynthia and I are sharing a room, so once we all got our things in the room we headed over to get some breakfast and after that it was straight to sleep.
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Wow, I really needed that nap. I woke up and took a shower, which I definitely needed. By the time all four of us were showered we were absolutely starving and heading down to Mamut for some lunch. We all got the chicken sandwich, which was quite a sight to see. Afterwards we went to get some cash from the ATM and stopped in the store to get things to make dinner for the following evening before Cynthia heads back to the states. When we got back to the hotel we met back up with Brandon and Cameron to take Cynthia to the market we had gone to during our first weeks in Santiago. We took the subway both ways, and were very proud of ourselves for being able to find our way around Santiago. When we got back to our hood Cynthia and Kelly went to search out a place for our last group dinner. Emily and I went back to the room to check our email and rest a bit before dinner. For dinner we went to the restaurant where the group had taken their tango lessons, which was fun because there were people dancing while we ate and at the end of the dinner there was even live music. Cynthia and I shared a cesaer salad and a plate of ravioli for dinner, which was very filling and tasted great. After dinner I was too tired to go out so Emily, Cynthia and I went back to the room and went to bed early.

Day 23

Happy Birthday Cynthia!!! Today was also our last day of the program, which was a bit sad, though it was not our last day of doing things as a group by any means. We had to leave at 8 this morning to catch a ferry to a nearby island. The drive to the ferry was a lot longer than we expected and we had to travel across many dirt roads which were fine except that the bus got really dusty, especially on the inside. The ferry was not like the ferries that you see in Seattle either. It was a boat that very few cars can drive on to and then there really is no place for you to get off and go get coffee or anything. We all got off the bus anyway and hung out on the deck, which was nice, but a bit chilly too. The ferry ride was pretty short and then we piled back on the bus to reach our destination in a nearby town where we met up with Dr. Cristian. Our group split in to two, one group staying with Cristian and the other heading further in the island with Jaime on the bus. My group was made up of Emily G, Marijke, Alex, Jaideep, Sarah, Cameron, Brandon, Emily, Kelly, Jaime and me. When we arrived at our destination we were suppose to be attending a community meeting to discuss what they should do with the money that the government has given them to spend on public health programs. Unfortunately when we got there we found that the situation was not as we had imagined, so we were given a sheet of the programs and then asked to return later. The group decided that it would be a good idea to go get some empanadas, so we headed out on the bus in search of empanadas. We were able to find a little stand that sells them; they were heated in a toaster oven and were quite tasty. After our snack we headed back to the hospital where the meeting was being held but instead of going in to the hospital we played on a playground down the street and took pictures in front of the mountains. Jaime decided that it was not necessary for us to go back to the meeting and instead we went back to find the rest of the group. When we met up with every one else we headed over to the school where we saw students doing the quecca, which is the Chilean national dance. All of the students were coming up to us asking us if they could have our email addresses and one girl even asked me and Emily if our hair and eyes were natural. We were set to have a late lunch before we left the island and so Dr. Cristian escorted us to where we were to eat. There were two long tables set up in a room and just outside the door there were chickens, a lamb, a cat and a dog just wandering around. This was a very rural area on the island and it was a great way to experience it by having lunch there. For lunch we were served a huge plate of food that had muscles, chicken, pork, sausages, and two types of potatoes. I am not a huge shell fish eater but I ate three muscles which I am pretty proud of. Alex M. and Sam ate more than 20 muscles each which is quite impressive. After lunch we were served some coffee and then it was back on the bus for our departure back to Puerto Montt. With our luck we were able to catch the first ferry when we arrived at the ferry line and then the drive back to Puerto Montt was a lot shorter than the ride to the ferry. When we got back we set a time to meet to go out for Cynthia’s birthday. Kelly, Emily and I all took showers and set up our room to surprise Cynthia. When we came to borrow the hair dryer we had the lights off and then let her in, turned the lights on and yelled happy birthday while throwing balloons at her. We also had noise blowers so we were making a ton of noise and a couple of people from the program came over to see what was going on. Cynthia was completely surprised and very excited that we had done something special for her on her birthday. The group met in the lobby where we went to a nearby place for drinks and food. The place had a DJ which played songs that we requested and they were all in English which was great for us. After we ate they moved the tables and some of us danced around with other tables surrounding us just watching, but we didn’t care. That night we ended early, or at least some of us did. I was very tired so it was nice to go to bed before 4 am!

Day 22

I slept pretty well last night and didn’t even wake up until almost one in the afternoon, but it was expected since we got back around 4 am or so. Cameron, Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I ended up going back to the same restaurant we had gone the previous day for some food because everything was closed. We really wanted some empanadas but didn’t see any on the menu, which was weird because we had sworn to seeing some the day before. Instead we ordered some French fries and a grande order of what we thought would be empanadas. We were definitely wrong because what they brought out ended up being a huge bowl of French fries with chopped up pieces of hot dog on top. Wow, we sure had a ton of French fries to eat. After we paid for our food we headed over to a nearby mall to browse a bit. There was not too much that interested us and so we went in to the grocery store instead to get some fruit and other goodies. While we were there Cynthia found a little place that had internet and decided to stay to get some work done. Since Cynthia was preoccupied Cameron, Kelly, Emily and I decided to get some dirty work done and headed back in to the store to get Cynthia some birthday goodies. We were able to find an awesome birthday tiara, some balloons, and a feliz cumpleanos sign. From there we headed back to the hotel and hung out a bit before we had a group dinner at 8pm. Cynthia made reservations at a restaurant called Sherlock where I had some chicken tacos that were OK. After dinner the group headed back to the hotel and some people split off to go to the pool hall across the street. I decided I wanted to go back to the room instead and so I took a shower and then just hung out until I wanted to go to sleep.

Day 21

Today was a very lazy day because we were out so late last night. Emily and I woke up earlier than the rest but none of us actually got out of bed until 1 in the afternoon. Emily, Kelly, Cameron, Brandon, Cynthia and I were starving so we got ready and headed out to get some food. I had a vegetarian sandwich that I didn’t know how to eat because it was given to me open face and everything was just falling every where when I tried to eat it. We had a ton of food though and every one got their fill. After we ate Kelly, Emily and I stopped at the internet café to check our email and try to catch up on life. Before dinner I ended up meeting with Gonzalo and we walked down to the pier until we had to head back for my group dinner. Jeanna had made reservations for dinner at a restaurant about 15 minutes or so from where we were staying. The place that we went was just across from the ocean and was kind of like a cabin or in a Disney land pirate ship ride. For dinner I had a chicken with a mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. It seemed that everyone was enjoying their food, but I was anxious to get back to the hotel. We had plans to go out to a local place for karaoke and Gonzalo was going to come along with us. Unfortunately by the time we got to the karaoke bar the karaoke was finished for the night which seemed odd to us, so some people just had some drinks and we hung out for a bit. From there we all went to a local dance club called Kamikaze. It was another late night of dancing but still very fun.

Day 20

Today is our first full day in Puerto Montt. Us girls were a little slow getting up this morning, and we basically missed breakfast which was a bummer. Jaime was ushering us all out the door so that we could make our first meeting with his nephew. Juan took us on the bus to Universidad San Sebastian and it is quite beautiful there. We are so close to the ocean and the city has such a feeling of community about it. At the university we got situation in to a room where we were introduced to the vice head of the university Dr. Gillermo Leory. We also met the medical head of the university Dr. Alejandro Caro. After a photo of the heads and our group Jaime’s cousin gave a presentation on different medical issues in Chile. Afterwards there was a coffee break before a handful of the student presentations.

Jaideep- type II diabetes
Jeanna- Hanta virus
John- Alzheimer’s
Brandon- correlation between mental health and crime

We were not able to complete all the presentations though because Dr. Gladys Caro came in to give a presentation of the family health care in Puerto Montt. After the presentations we were able to have lunch. We were taken down to the building’s cafeteria where I chatted with one medical student who had watched the end of the presentations. His name is Gonzalo and he ended up having lunch with us. The second part of the day we were able to go with Gladys and some sixth year medical students to visit the homes of patients for some check ups. We went two students per medical student and I was with Brandon and Gladys. Out of the three houses we visited we were able to see one patient who was an older lady that has joint problems. She was very welcoming and told me that I was very pretty. We had dinner at the hotel again, but this time we were on the main floor which was a lot less smokey than downstairs. For dinner we had salmon with fried potatoes, and the salmon was very delicious. Our evening was pretty eventful, too. Most people decided that they wanted to go to bed early but a group of us (Brandon, Cameron, Marijke, Cynthia, Kelly, Emily and I) met up with some of the medical students we had met earlier that day. We went with them to a gathering they were having at someone’s house and from there went out to a dance club. It was a blast to be able to hang out with Chileans and dance the night away.

Day 19

This morning we were hoping to go to the hot springs but there was no such luck. Unfortunately for us the spring did not open until 11 and we had plans for a Mapuche style lunch at 12:45 which did not give us enough time. Instead we decided to hang around the ruka and do our own thing. After breakfast Emily, Kelly and I climbed back in our beds and hung out for a bit because it was warmer there. After awhile we decided to go outside and play on the playground for awhile. Cameron and Cynthia came with us and we had a good time laughing and messing around. Right before lunch was served we went over to where one of the farms had a ton of sheep with baby lambies running around. We were sooooo hungry by the time lunch came, we were all relieved. It was suppose to be a traditional Mapuche meal and so we were served Mapuche bread which looks like donught bread and is so delicious. We also had some salad, and then pork with vegetables. Everything was very tasty and I was impressed that I ate it all. After lunch we had some time before leaving for Puerto Montt and so a group of us played some card games. Piling on the bus was once again a complicated situation. This time I sat in the front with Cynthia because there was an extra seat. This drive was a lot shorter than from Santiago to Villarrica, only about 4 hours or so. Everyone was very glad to get to the hotel. Emily, Kelly and I are roomed together... no surprise there, but I love my girls! We had dinner shortly after we arrived downstairs in the pub of the hotel. It was very smokey down there and I could barely finish my food because the smoke was making me feel sick. I took a shower to get all clean but my clothes still smelled really bad. I was very tired that night so I went to sleep early.

Day 18

Today was a great day! I felt very rested when I woke up this morning, which was nice. We had yogurt, bread and cheese for breakfast again. I have to say that I actually really like this kind of breakfast and it reminds me a lot of what European breakfasts are like. Good news though, we didn’t have to push the bus to get it started today. What was sad is that today was the day that Marcela had to leave to go back to Santiago. I am really going to miss her, and we were all sad to see her go. Hopefully we will be able to meet up with her again when we were in Santiago for the Chilean Independence Day celebrations. We dropped Marcela off at the bus stop and then drove about 2 hours to the home of a lady who grows Aloe Vera plants and creates products that she sells to the community. We were invited in to her home where she served us coffee and bread with this delicious honey. After we had our fill we headed out back to the green house where the plants grew. In the green house there were 5 different aloe plants that all had different properties from healing dry skin to properties similar to penicillin. It is the inside of the aloe plant that is used so we were able to touch, apply and even eat the different types of aloe. We also went through the green house that had all different kinds of cacti and other plants. When the tour was finished we headed back inside where we were shown the how to make “crema de ortiga y romero” which is suppose to be a topical product that helps with healing a variety of injuries and soreness. While we waited for lunch we chatted and were given drinks of fermented apple cider as well as a cider sweetened with honey. Eventually some one brought out two guitars and we were entertained with some Chilean songs and even some dance! Then it was our turn to sing, but it was hard to pick a song that every one knew so Taylor and Cameron only played a few songs on guitar and those who knew the words sang along. Lunch was served as a variety of vegetables (spinach, carrots and green beans) as well as a soup with broth, chicken and a little bit of vegetables. For dessert we were served a traditional dessert made up of a grain topped with a wine sauce; it kind of reminded me of a Chilean Crème Brule, but a different taste. After lunch we chatted a bit more, and some of us walked up to the end of the road and back just to stretch our legs before we headed out. Most of us also purchased some of the products that were sold in the community. I bought some Aloe Vera lotion as well as the Crema to see if I can help my tibia out a bit. The plan for afterwards was to go to some hot springs nearby Villarrica so we headed out in that direction. We were able to find where it was but the road we were driving on was a muddy dirt road and we found a road block caused by a truck carrying a load of wood tipping into a ditch. So we waited for a tractor to pull it out and also had some bread and cheese that Jaime had purchased on the way as a snack. They eventually got the truck out, but then we realized that we had one flat tire in the back so Juan had to change the tire. It was very cold while we were waiting but we were able to entertain ourselves by taking some great pictures and just goof around. By the time everything was fixed and ready to go (they even repaired the road while we were there) we decided that it was too late to go to the hot springs so we went back to the ruka. I was not hungry when we got back but dinner was served any way and was delicious. The main course was vegetarian lasagna with spinach, and I was a bit sad that I could not finish it but I was just too full. After dinner we met in small groups to talk about the day so that we could tell Jaime what we thought of the trip so far, and then met with Cynthia individually. Tonight is our last night in the ruka so I must pack my bag a bit because we are headed for Puerto Montt tomorrow.

Day 17

Ugh, getting up this morning was not fun because it was especially cold and I was so warm in my bed. Our breakfast was a bit different this morning because we were served a slice of what tasted like lemon meringue pie, which was too sweet for me that early so I stuck with bread and cheese. We had to push the bus again this morning, but I didn’t participate. We headed to another primary health center this morning but this one was Mapuche based and further away than Villarrica; instead it was in a nearby town called Temuco. We all sat around a fire burning in a hut-like building with straw on used for the roof as one of the administrators of the center talked to us about how the community is working on creating a complementary system for medicine between modern medicine and Mapuche medicine. I was very interested in what he had to say and it was very nice to have the fire to keep us warm. After this mini-presentation we went to the town of Temuco where we stopped by a Mapuche herbal shop. Here we heard more about the different uses for herbs in Mapuche medicine. We were all starving by this time so we went in to a little area where there were all kinds of stands selling Mapuche “nifty gifties” as we like to call them. For lunch I had a fried white fish with French fries, which was pretty good. After lunch we were able to walk around the stands for a bit before we got on the bus to head back to Villarrica. On our way back we stopped at the home of a Mache, who is a Mapuche medicine-man/woman. She told us a little bit about what she does and then performed a typical ritualistic song using drums with two of her neighbors accompanying her. After she was done she told us that she had prayed for us to have a safe rest of our trip as well as for our health. It is always so cool to see another culture’s ways in action. We were even given a little snack of home-made bread with a sauce that seemed to be made up of green onion, parsley, olive oil and water. The whole time we were outside which was a bit chilly, and so after our goodbyes we scrambled back on to the bus. As a group we decided that we wanted to go back to the ruka instead of going to Pucon, another near by town, for some shopping. When we got back we were able to have dinner, which was another soup but very delicious and perfect since it had been another cold day. I took a shower so that I would have time to dry my hair and we had driven on a ton of dirt roads that day so I felt dusty all over. Emily and I went to bed pretty early as well as many of the other people in the group.

Day 16

Waking up this morning was a bit of a surprise because of how exhausted I was last night. I was finally able to observe what was around me, plus it was light out so I could see where we actually were. All the girls had rooms on the third floor of the ruka, the boys on the second and the main floor is where we take our meals. There is a sky-light in the middle of the ceiling and everything is rounded around that, so that from the top floor you can see in to the dining area as well as parts of the second floor. Again I am in a room with Emily, and Kelly but this time we have 2 bunk beds. I am on the bottom bunk of one with no one on top; Kelly is on the bottom of the other with Emily above her. There is one bathroom per two rooms and we are sharing a bathroom with the other Emily. I took a shower this morning which was nice because I really wanted to feel clean after driving in the bus all the previous day. For breakfast we sat at the same long table set for 21 and we had a variety of yogurts to choose from, as well as juice, bread, cheese and ham. There was also instant coffee, and I have to be honest it is not tasting as bad as at the beginning of the trip. As we all filed out to get on the bus we found that Juan could not get the engine to start running so part of the group had to push the bus to turn it around and then again down the hill. Luckily it did start and we were soon on our way. Our first activity of the morning was stopping at a nearby farm where there is a project on Mapuche medicine started by the Catholic University of Chile. We were given a tour of the farm and told about how different herbs are used as medicine in the Mapuche culture. From there we headed to the Villarrica branch of the University and had a tour of the small room that had several cases of Mapuche artifacts. This was a very short stop and we had some time before lunch, so we walked down to the lake to take a look at the volcano and the lake. It was interesting to walk down there because there had been a lot of rain in the area before we arrived and so parts of the streets and park were flooded. After taking some great pictures and skipping rocks in the water we headed back towards the university where we were going to get lunch at a close by cafeteria restaurant. They were expecting us and had a huge table set up just like at the ruka. This was a delicious lunch of salad, empanadas, a quiche-like dish and lemon mousse for dessert. After lunch we piled back on to the bus and headed to a local primary health care center. We were given a tour by Natalia (one of our local contacts) but the center was very busy so we were not able to get a thorough tour. We also went to another community family healthcare center where Natalia works and were given an overview of the process that her patients go through. There were some plans to go shopping afterwards, but every one was pretty ready to head back so we did not stay too long. When we got back to the ruka Jaime, Cameron, Brandon, Kelly, Emily and I went out in the front lawn area where there are all kinds of play-ground apparatuses like a seesaw, swings, monkey bars and other things. Our fun was soon ended because dinner was being served, which consisted of a soup to start and then another quiche-like dish and fruit for dessert. Everything has been really good here so far, probably my favorite meals on the trip in fact. After dinner we had a little bit of down time before we decided to get together and have a little bit of fun for the rest of the evening. This part of the trip has definitely been a good bonding time for the entire group.

Day 15

Last night was great but, this morning was not so great. Getting up was really hard considering it was super early and then at breakfast we found out that the bus had not been repaired from when it had broken down a few nights ago and so we had to wait about another hour or so until the bus came. This bus was a lot smaller and we could barely fit all our luggage and us on there. We also had to say goodbye to Carrie which was a very sad moment but we also picked up Marcela and of course Cynthia and it is always exciting to gain new faces to the group. On the flip side the trip was so uncomfortable because we were so cramped. We did stop for lunch and unfortunately there were not very many options and so I ate McDonald’s… ew! All I can really say is that it was a very very long ride and I was extremely glad after the 11 hours of driving were over. By the time we reached Villarrica I was so tired, but a meal had been prepared for us at our “ruka” (it is a hut-like cabin, kind of like a hostel). The meal was very authentic and delicious, so I was glad that I ate but still passed out when we were finally able to sleep.

Day 14

It was so nice to be able to sleep in this morning. Kelly got up a bit earlier than Emily and I because she needs to get a new visa for her passport so she can exit the country, but the place was closed, which is a total bummer. When Kelly got back Emily and I were getting ready and having breakfast (we had some cereal and milk in our room). Not long after we headed out to the store to get some goodies for the long trip ahead of us the following day and on our way we ran in to Jaime who asked us to buy some cookies and juice for the rest of the group as well. After our stop at the store we headed back to the hotel to drop everything off before going back to the Paris mall area, with Cameron in tow this time, to browse. Kelly ended up buying a watch that said “Hope everyday day is lucky day” which is hilarious considering every thing that she has been through so far with her backpack and the English is not completely correct either. After that we stopped at Doggi’s, which is a place that sells only hotdogs, so that Cameron could get something to eat. I’m sure that it was a good experience for him but there is no way that I would be interested in eating a hot dog with tomatoes, guacamole, mayonnaise and bacon as the toppings, yuck! Back at the hotel Emily, Kelly and I had a quesadilla lunch so that we could finish up our food. At 2pm Emily, Kelly and I met up with Cameron, Brandon, Cynthia (the advisor who will be with us the second half of the trip) and Carrie to head up to Mt. Cristolbal where we could take a gondola ride. To get to the mountain we had to take the subway and then walk a few blocks to the base of the mountain where we took a tram up to the top. All of us were amazed by the view once we got off the tram because we were so high up. Brandon, Cameron, Kelly, Carrie and I walked even higher up to where the statue of the Virgin Mary stood, while Emily and Cynthia stayed below; it was quite the trek but definitely worth it. From there we searched out the gondolas that would take us down the mountain and came across a small restaurant where we had a quick snack. The gondolas only fit 4 people so we split in to two groups: Carrie, Cynthia and Kelly in one, Emily, Cameron, Brandon and I in the one behind them. The ride was pretty long and absolutely a blast because we were just soaring along this wire with an amazing view of the city. When we got the bottom we were just a few blocks away from our hotel so we walked back in time for a little bit of rest before dinner. We had a group dinner at Mamut (the restaurant we ate our first night) to celebrate our last night in Santiago together before the program ends. After dinner Emily, Kelly, Cameron, Alex M and I went out to a local little outside bar for a few drinks. Brandon met up with us there and we decided to head back early while the rest of the group headed to another place. I was really glad to get home to sleep considering we have to leave for Villarrica early in the morning.

Day 13

Today we got to play with kids! My group (the same as Wednesday) went to Josefina Martinez hospital which is a clinic for children with respiratory diseases. When we arrived at the hospital we were given a talk about the hospital and its origins as well as what they do there. After a short tour of the building we split in to two smaller groups. I was in the group that went in to the play room with the children first. There were toys every where and mats for the kids to play on and a TV playing Disney Channel in Spanish. The kids loved having us come and play with them. One boy, Oscar, had a tracheotomy tube and he was so energetic, bossing Brandon all over the place. It was so much fun. When we switched groups my group went to see the different rooms with children who are severe cases and usually remain in their beds. Some of the serious cases we saw had breathing aids, both invasive and noninvasive. All in all there about 25 children in the hospital and we did not even see them all because some are well enough to go to school for the day, but then return afterwards because they need to be constantly monitored by the doctors. After we saw the different rooms we were all able to play with the kids again for a bit before we had a coffee break. Juan picked us up shortly after and we went to pick up the other group. From there we headed back to the hotel and Brandon, Cameron, Emily, Kelly and I went to Pizza Hut because we were starving. We ordered two pizzas and some empanadas to split and it was all delicious. Afterwards I took another nap. That evening we mostly just hung around and watched the Office. The night was pretty uneventful other than that.

Day 12

This morning was a bit different than the rest because we were able to meet with the students of the nursing program at the Catholic University. The group we met with was a part of the student organization for the nursing program and it was very fun to be able to talk with them because it was a more conversational situation than the past presentations have been. While we were talking with them Jaime and Carrie were in a different room talking with Lillian about the plans for the following week in Villarrica. With the nursing students we had very casual conversations about the healthcare systems in both of our countries as well as lighter conversations about college, etc. During this time we were also able to sit in on some presentations made by nursing students on community projects that they had recently completed. These presentations were in Spanish, so I did not understand all of what they were saying but I know that some of the topics were about treating others respect, and caring and keeping of pets. The community projects were completed by nursing students in elementary schools around the community, and so many of the students who were a part of the project had come from school to watch, which was fun, especially since the presentations were skits, and slide shows with pictures and music. Eventually Jaime and Carrie came to gather us and we went back in to the classroom we had been in to have our final lecture of the week. The lecture was by Angela Castellano on medicine within the Mapuche tribes, which was good considering we are leaving for Villarrica on Monday and that is where the majority of the Mapuche population is. Unfortunately this presentation was very long and hard to follow since Jaime did not do a very good job translating for us. We were all glad when the presentation was over, especially since we had the rest of the afternoon off. When we got back I took and nap, yay! That evening we all hopped on the bus and went to Jaime brother, Gabriel’s, house. He is a doctor in a local hospital and wow he had a nice house. When we got there we were greeted with an array of appetizers from chips, crackers, cheese, and pineapple to wine and empanadas. Man oh man the empanadas were delicious! And the red wine was Gabriel’s label! It was a great night… we had so much fun talking with each other in a less academic setting and we also created a dance floor, which was a blast. Once it was time to leave Juan drove us to where most of the group got out to go to a club. Taylor, Sam, Alex J, Emily and I decided that we wanted to head back to the hotel instead because we were very tired. I am definitely glad that we did because we had to get up very early the next morning to go to our last parallel activity.

Day 11

Today was another early day... we had to be on the bus by 7:30 and so that required 2 cups of coffee for me! Luckily we did not have to start out with any presentations today. Instead we broke off in to 2 groups. I was put in to the first group with Brandon, Emily, Cameron, Sarah, Jeanna, Irena, Alex M, Carrie and Alecia. We stayed at the Sotero de Rio hopsital with Jeanette who is nurse, usually for children and maternity areas. The other group went with Sandra to Josefina Martinez hospital where our group will be going on Friday when we switch activities. Jeannette took our nearly formed group through the kidney patient ward where we were able to see both the infant and adult wings of the building. In the adult wing we were able to walk through the rooms where people were receiving dialysis, which was very interesting. The rooms were very warm and people were covered with blankets to keep their blood flowing smoothly as the machines filtered out toxins from their blood. From there we headed to the maternity ward where we again split in to two smaller groups. My group turned in to Sarah, Emily, Brandon, Cameron and me, and we were the first group to see the maternity ward with Pilar Espinoza while the other went with Jeanette to the ER and the medical ward. Our group was taken on to the first floor of the maternity ward where we had to put our bags down, wash our hands and put on apron scrubs before we could go in to where the babies were. We went in to several different rooms where there were small babies in incubators. The rooms were split up depending on the conditions of the babies such as premis with illness, severely underweight premis, premis with severe conditions, and there were also normal weight babies as well. I loved seeing all the babies but some of them were soooooo tiny that they probably could have fit in my hands like a little puppy. One of the babies we saw was born from a mother who wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. She was addicted to drugs, which caused birth defects in him like dislocated ankles and knees and malformations of his face. The poor little guy was so sweet looking... I just wanted to hold him! There could have been a chance for us to see the birthing of a baby as well, but we had no such luck today. I was not too disappointed though. We met up with the rest of our group in the administrative room of the maternity ward and gave them our scrubs so they could prep to see the babies as well. Then we headed with Jeanette to the ER where she told us that we would be able to watch a procedure. The ER was absolutely nothing like in the states. The rooms had multiple patients in them, and almost all with out a curtain divider. It was also a very small area, not as large as I had expected for an ER. We were taken in to a room for ER patients who needed intensive care and were told that the procedure we were to watch would be a woman receiving a jugular IV. Wow, it was intense. I was very excited to see it because I am definitely interested in things like that. The woman was very old and frightened... she kept saying to the nurses "please don't kill me" (very sad, I know). The needle that they had to stick in to her neck was huge, but I was not grossed out or anything... In fact it wasn't until we started to leave the room that I felt dizzy. Luckily, I was able to read the signs and sat down before I fainted. Brandon, on the other hand was not so lucky and we had to carry him to a bench so that he could recover. It was a very intense situation, and I never would have known that would happen to me. I'm just glad that Emily was there to sit with me. Thanks Em! After Brandon was OK to stand again we headed to the cafeteria for a snack and waited for the rest of our smaller group to join us. Then we had to wait for the other group to pick us up and take us to our next destination. The day had already been quite an adventure, but there was more to come. We had a 3 hour break before the next part of our class so Juan drove us to a near by mall where we were able to wander around, get food or do whatever. Emily and I bought me a scarf that I could wear because it is suppose to be colder down South and boy was it cold in Santiago today! While at the mall Emily also ate our usual packed lunch of PB&J, pringles, apple slices and we even had a cookie. At 3:30 we met back on the bus and Juan drove us to the Pontifica Universidad Catolica de Chile where we would be having our presenation of the day. There we met up with Kelly who had been running around getting her passport sorted out. She was also able to buy a new backpack, yay Kelly! The presentation this afternoon was several short ones about the different public health projects that are currently being implimented in Chile. Emily and my favorites were the ones on "The Initiative for HIV/AIDS Prevention." After the presentation Juan drove us home and I made burritos for dinner. We had some steak left over from a sandwhich Emily ate that we heated up with rice, beans, cheese and avocado. It was delicccciiiiooous. A bunch of people went out to take tango lessons but Emily and I stayed in. I don't think that learning a complicated new dance would be the best idea for my knee and Emily is pretty tired. As a matter of fact I think I might go get ready for bed and watch some TV with her right now. Hope all is well with every one back in the states!!!

Day 10

Today was a pretty good day. Definitely better than yesterday because we weren't bombarded with presentations, which was a relief. The bus departed at 8 this morning, but Kelly and Carrie weren't on it because they had plans to get Kelly's backpack/passport situation figured out. We met at Sotero de Rio for a discussion with Cristian Anuch who was talking to us about outpatient day It was interesting to find out the difference between the two and even more exciting was that we got to see the two places afterwards. After the discussion we split in to two groups and I was in the group that went o the short stay facility first, while the other group went to the day treatement center. We were able to walk through the center, look at the rooms, and then were able to talk with the patients. They asked us a lot of questions like why were were interested in the Chilean health care system and what the U.S. system was like. It was very interesting to have that kind of interaction with patients who have mental conditions because they were so normal, and asked very intelligent questions, which is not the stimga that patients with those conditions usually have. From there we headed to the day treatment facilitiy on the other side of the hospital. this facility is for patients who come form 9-4 every day to participate in workshops and be treated by the day. We did not get to talk to the patients in this facility because they were doing a group activity but it was still interesting to walk around and hear about how the facility works. While our group was waiting for the other group to finish their tour Emily and I had our lunch of PB&J sanwhiches, apples slices, pringles, and chocolate cookies. Once the other group arrived we all went back to the bus and Juan drove us back to the University campus where every one else was able to get their lunch in the cafeteria. Cameron, Brandon, Emily, the other Emily and I had already eaten so we played cards until Lisette (one of the nurses who was working with us this week) took us on a tour of the campus. After the tour we still had an hour left of our break so we played more cards. Our final presenation of the day was by Margarita Bernales and it was on the Psychiatry and Mental Health Reform of Chile. This was one of the better presenations because Margarita added interactive questions for us so we wouldn't get sleepy ;) After the presentation we hopped back on the bus and headed back to our hotel. For dinner Brandon made us Chicken fettachini alfredo and I made cheesey bread. Tonight we will probably watch more of The Office. We are just that cool.

Day 9

I definitely did not want to get out of bed this morning. It's weird to look outside and have it be dark when my brain is a bit in summer mode... it is technically still summer for me. Breakfast was the same old same old except there was some little omelet triangles that looked like they were egg and ham. I didn't have any of that though... just my usual. During breakfast Jaime came up to Kelly and said "Kelly, I'm sorry for your loss" like her dog had died or something. It was pretty funny actually, and we all laughed about it. Kelly was not able to go to the consulate this morning because it was labor day and they were closed so her and Carrie planned on going the following day. Juan drove us out the main campus of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile where we picked up Lillian Ferrer who had organized our program for the week as well as the following week in Villarrica. From there we drove to the hospital Sotero de Rio, which is the hospital associated with the university. There we had a welcoming and then a presentation by Dr. Julia Acuna about Training of Psychiatists in Chile. For lunch we went to the cafeteria in the hopsital and got various foods. I had a turkey and avacado sanwhich, which was pretty good. Following lunch we had a presenation on Borderline Personality Disorder by Dr. Cecilia Brown then a presentation by Dr. Juan Jose Trebilcock on Suicide in Chile suring 2000-2005 and the final presenation was by Dr. Rocio Lora on Psychiatric Prgrams. After all these presenations we were soooooooo tired of listening to people talk. Luckily we were changing locations and went to visit a Rehabilitation Day Care center for people with psychiatric disorders. There we learned about what the centers do and were able to interact with the patients while they were doing their group activities. Kelly even played ping-pong with one of the patients. After that we headed back "home". Again, it was a day to go to the store and it was our little posse, as well as some other members of the group. For dinner I made gnocchi with 4-cheese sauce and Cameron also brought a pizza, but my gnocchi was waaaay better. I'm going to be early tonight because I'm super tired.

Day 8

Man oh man did today feel like a long day! But, we did finally get a day to sleep in which was very nice. We had originally planned on leaving at 11:30 for Vina del Mar (a beach town about an hour away from Santiago), but some people had partied a little too hard the night before so we ended up leaving a bit later, around 1. From the hotel we headed to the subway where we took the train to the bus terminal and caught the next bus that would take us to Vina del Mar. The bus ride ended up taking about 2 hours which was a bummer because that didn't leave us much time to hang out on the beach, etc. Once we got in to the town we were immediately attacked by the tour guide people asking us if we would like a map and tours. We ended up nabbing a free map and skipped out on the tours. We wandered the streets, noticing that not much was open because it was Sunday and eventually found the ocean and the nicer part of the town. The group was hungry by then so we found a restaurant that sounded like it had good food. They sat us on the roof which was neat because we could see the beach and ocean from there. It was a bit chilly since day was turning in to evening but it was still nice. Kelly and I split a pizza, which was perfect since it was huge and it was also quite tasty. Everyone's food looked excellent and no one had any complaints. The group split up from there because some people wanted to explore the beach and others wanted to shop the markets. Cameron, Kelly, Emily and I (that day Brandon decided to stay behind and rest) walked down to the beach and followed the shore up to a little boardwalk market where there were all kinds of tents that had people selling goods. We also saw people playing music, having puppet shows and there were even those trampalins where you're strapped in to a harness and then jump to do flips and things. The sun started to set so we decided that it was time to head back, so we made our way to the bus terminal. On the way we were able to see the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean, and the sky was a beautiful mixture of pinks, oranges and reds. I was glad to be heading back though because it was really getting chilly. When we had bought out tickets to go to Vina del Mar they gave us a discounted group price for a round trip ticket and so we figured that we could just get on a bus, but since there were seat assignments we had to get off the bus we were on and get new tickets with seat assignments. This caused us to have to wait for the next bus, which came about 40 minutes later. The day started to get really long right here. The four of us were sitting on a bench, waiting for the next bus to arrive when Kelly asked out loud "where is my backpack?" Unforunately someone had swipped her backpack when she wasn't looking! It was a total bummer. We ended up missing our next bus just hoping that it might show up, and finally we got on the next bus with the rest of the group when they showed up, Kelly with out a backpack. The bus ride was even longer that time than on the way there, and then once we finally got off the subway and were walking back we realized that we were walking the wrong way. So, we turned around and eventually made it back to the hotel. Kelly and I went to talk to Jaime but he wasn't back yet, so we talked to Carrie (our other instructor) and decided it would be best to take care of everything in the morning. I went to bed pretty soon after that. Phew, it was a looooooooooooong chaotic day. Poor Kelly :(

Day 7

Emily and I didn't end up going out with Kelly, Brandon and Cameron last night because we were way too tired. We just read for a bit and then slept instead. We had to get up way early in the morning anyway because today we went to the ANDES! Woot, woot! It was a really awesome day actually. Juan picked the group up bright and early at 8... this was our first outing without Jaime, but I must say it was very successful. A lot of people were very tired because they had been partying a bit the night before, so they fell asleep on the bus ride up. Emily and I were absolutely amazed by everything we saw. It was so crazy to be driving up through the mountains and go from green rolling hills with cacti, rivers and wild horses into snowy mountains. It was gorgeous. Once we got to the top we all piled off the bus, and all the skiers/snowboarders got their gear on. I was super excited to play in the snow and it was not even THAT cold up there, which was nice because I hadn't prepared for super cold weather. Brandon, Kelly, Emily and I waited for Cameron to get his snowboard gear on before we walked over to the lodge. Brandon knows how to snowboard too but he didn't want to re-injure his wrist that was healing and us girls just flat out did not know how to snowboard. There were good times to be had in the lodge, however. After getting settled into a table we got ourselves some hot chocolate and watched a couple episodes of The Office. (I'm sure by now you see that there's a trend in our recreational activities.) Kelly's computer eventually died and we were all pretty tired so we were just kind of hanging out, trying to see if we could see anyone from our group coming, or falling, down the mountain. Brandon and I both fell asleep for a little bit, me not nearly as long as him. When I woke up I found Emily and Kelly playing hangman so I joined in. People from our group came in and out, meeting up with us and asking us to hold their things for them. We eventually found Cameron and he joined us, as well as Jaideep, Alex M, Sam and the other Emily for lunch at a place that Juan reccommended to us. It was just down the road a little from where the bus was parked, and looked like a little house that had been converted in to a restaurant. We all had a choice of either steak or pork and we all got steak. With my steak I ordered potatoes and they were mashed which was great because I love mashed potatoes. The only thing that I didn't like about the meal was that it was a bit salty for my liking. After lunch Brandon, Emily, Kelly and I had snow playing time. We searched out the prefect place to make a snowman. It was so much fun!!! We kept fall knee deep in to the snow because it was really soft in some places, but luckily most of the time we were able to stay on top so we didn't get too wet or cold. Emily and Brandon made the base of the snow man, I made the middle, and Kelly made the head. Then we all contributed to making the snow blob in to a man by using almonds for the eyes, a bottle cap we found for a nose, sticks we found for a mouth and arms, Emily's scarf and my hat to complete it all! We won't lie... it was an awesome looking snowman. Of course playing in the snow would not be complete without snowball fights and those occured on several different occassions throughout the play time, including Brandon and Kelly throwing snowballs at just Emily while she rolled the base of the snowman and I took pictures of it all. ha! We love you Emi! We were also cool enough to make snow angels. We went two at a time, me and Emily, Brandon and Kelly so that the other two could take pictures. It was great fun, except our bums got a bit wet. Lucky for us being smart, Kelly, Emily and I brought extra pants to change in to. We also all had our gloves that we had bought when every one got fitted for their equipment at Juan's shop so our hands stayed warm. After our playing we went back to the lodge for another round of hot chocolate and The Office until it was time to leave. The ride back was just as beautiful as the ride up and once again Brandon, Kelly and Cameron fell asleep. Silly kids. When we got back from the mountains Kelly and Emily worked out and then that night we just made quesadillas and went up to the hot tub, which was really nice. It's on the very top of the building so you can see all the city lights, which was very cool. That night we all went out as a group, which was really fun. The only thing was that everyone goes out really late here so we didn't get back until 3 am! At the first place we went as a group I got a mango sour. It was happy hour (at 11 pm) and so we got 2 for 1 on all our drinks. From there, Brandon, Cameron, Kelly, Emily and I broke off from the group with Taylor and we went to another bar where there was a guy singing and we had another round of drinks. After that we decided to go back to the hotel where we just hung out for a bit. It was a very late night, but we had fun and it was a great ending to a fabulous day!

Day 6

Yay! I'm finally all caught up on my posting. Sorry it has taken me so long to update. We are just so tired by the end of the day that I can't seem get it together. Also, we only have one internet cord so the three of us have to take turns using the computer.

Today we were able to sleep in until 8:30, woot woot! It was very nice to be able to sleep in. At breakfast we were waiting for every one to come out but for some reason less than half of the group came to breakfast. After getting on the bus we found out it was because they had all gone to Starbucks. Juan drove us to the Salud Publica where we found Solana waiting for us and had our first presentation on Maternal and Chile Health Issues in Chile by Dr. Francisco Mardones. The talk was full of statistics but it was still very interesting. After that we had a short coffee break and then it was time for the first round of student presentations. I was lucky enough to present today and was the fourth person. It was interesting to hear a bit about the topic that my group members wrote their papers on.

Alex M and Sarah- HIV/AIDS
Taylor- Drug Courts
Allison- Sex education
Alex J- Obesity
Kelly- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

After the student presentations we had lunch. Emily, Kelly, Brandon, Cameron and I found a little cafe called Cafe Utopia and we all had the salmon. It was the best salmon we had ever had! With my salmon I had salad and yellow rice. It was really delicious and nice to have some fish. Juan picked us up when we had finished eating to take us to his shop where we could pick out our equipment for the snow. Tomorrow we're going up into the Andes Mountains and while some people are snow boarding and skiing Kelly, Emily, Brandon and I are going to make snow men and have snow ball fights. While we were waiting to get out gloves (we thought it necessary to purchase some gloves so our hands don't freeze off) I got pooped on by a pigeon. It was really disgusting but luckily Irena had some baby wipes so I was able to clean off my arms where the poop landed. From Juan's shop he took us back to the market so that we could shop around. There were so many things to look at! Kelly, Emily and I got these really awesome leather bracelets, and we're calling them friendship bracelets. Two hours later Juan picked us back up to take us to the hotel. Brandon and I went inside to start making dinner while Kelly, Emily and Cameron went to the store, once again. Brandon did a fabulous job making pasta with pesto and chicken, and Emily made cheesey bread. Yay cheesey bread! Again, we watched The Office. We are thinking about going out for some drinks in a little bit. It should be good times!

Day 5

We didn't have to get up as early in the morning, which was nice. Again, breakfast was the same, but I opted out on the coffee this time. It was warmer than the day before and I was grateful because I felt cold all day We spent all of today in Puente Alto, starting at the family health center and then meeting up with some community health care workers who took us around on a tour through the area. We were able to see two "primary care" facilities that help people get jobs, housing, etc. These facilities are geared for lower class people, and also have doctors who provide medical services. All day I felt like we kept getting on and off the bus! We also took a tour through the "ghettos" of Puente Alto. It was really interesting to see how the lower class people live. All the houses are small and placed really closely together. Some are nicer than others but most of them look really grundgey and there was graffiti all over every thing. There were dogs all over the streets, which was sad because a lot of them were very cute and we wanted to take them home. After all the touring the group was starved so we found a restaurant near some winery areas. it was a very long lunch and we had all the guests speakers we had picked up along the way in Puente Alto, Solana who had come with us for the trip and even Juan ate with us! It was a fun lunch, though. Emily and I got some empanadas and fruit because we had sandwiches on the bus so we weren't super hungry. After lunch we had the long drive back to Santiago where we met up with Jaime at the Salud Publica. Jaime and Solana took us a few blocks from the center to a local market where there are lots of stands that had good little gift ideas. We did not take the time to buy anything because the plan was to go back tomorrow to shop. From the market we went to a local art museum and they were nice enough to let us in for free because it was late and they were about to close up. Even though I wanted to, I didn't walk through the museum because I was really tired and starting to not feel very well. Back at the hotel we had left overs from the previous night and, of course, watched more of The Office. Emily and I went to bed early, but Kelly and Cameron went out with Jaime. They had a ton of funny stories for us in the morning.

Best quote of the day:
"Jaime, I thought you were only having one drink."
-Me
"No, no, one per minute."
-Jaime, at lunch

Day 4

Man oh man! We had to get up at 6 this morning! It was pretty rough... but not so bad. Breakfast was the same as it was the previous day and I tried to make some coffee again. To be honest, the coffee is just really really bad. I even put milk and hot chocolate mix in for the faux mocha action, but it just does not work for me; I'll probably pass tomorrow. This morning was a lot busier in the breakfast nook, probably because it was earlier than the day before and so people were up and eating before they headed to work. Juan took us to the University of Chile today instead of the Catholic University which was definitely a huge contrast. The University of Chile is a public university and so there is not as much funding. As we were walking through the halls today we could feel the chill of the cool and cloudy day and the facilities of the hospital were in kind of poor condition. It looked a bit like a rural hospital or something you would see in a movie with a hospital from a developing nation. The hall ways were a bit run down with tile floors that were chipped and paint was peeling from the ceiling. As we walked through the hospital every one was looking at us, probably wondering what we were doing there. We were told, however, that a new hospital was being built and should be done by year 2009 or 2010, and every one was very excited about it. We met for our first presentation in one of the classrooms that was in the hospital. Today was focused on mental health and the first presentation was given by a college of Jaime's, Dr. Toro. Dr. Toro's presentation talked about psychiatric reform, the levels of establishment and general psychiatric care. Next we went to a different wing of the hospital to a small women's day to day treatment center for patients recovering from substance abuse and have minor mental disorders; Olga Devia gave us a tour around the facility. During the tour we also went to the wing of the hospital where people are admitted for treatment and we even got to see some patients. After the tour we went back to the classroom we had been in before for a second presentation by Caroline Leighton who talked about depression. Solana met up with us at the end of the presentation and took us to a strip of restaurants so that we could have lunch. Emily, Kelly and I had brought PB&Js again so we ate those while Cameron and Brandon ordered food at a restaurant we chose at random. The restaurant was awesome because they were playing this one television channel that played random 30 second blurps of some really great American pop songs that are great to dance to. We were suppose to meet up with the group on the corner of a street after we ate at 2:15, but when we got there no one was there and so we had thought that everyone had left us. Fortunately, they hadn't and Jaime, Solana and Carrie showed up a few minutes after 2:15. Juan picked us up on the corner and drove us about an hour outside of Santiago to Puente Alto where we visited a Family Health Center. Thomas Leisewitz met up with us there and gave a presentation on family health centers, but we couldn't see the power point because the projector wasn't working for some reason. After the presentation we split in to two groups for a tour of the center; Thomas was my group leader. He showed us the different wings of the facility and we even got to see in side the minor operating room, and we were let into the room when a dentist was cleaning the teeth of a patient. I think she was a bit embarrassed but it was kind of cool to see what the room look like; it was very similar to a dentist office that you would see in the states. After the tour we headed back on the bus to go back to Santiago. When we got off the bus Kelly, Emily, Brandon, Cameron and I went to the store again in the "Paris" mall to pick up some more food. For dinner us girls made burritos. We had some rice, black refried beans, cheese, tortillas, chips and salsa. It was all very delicious, and we also made some drinks. The boys (Brandon and Cameron) came over and we watched more of The Office, and that was about all for the night.

We did have some excellent quotes today :)

"I definitely want to get some chicks."
-Emily... she meant chips. She wanted to buy some at the store.
"Those are cheap here too."
-Brandon's response to Emily

During Caroline's presentation Jaime asks if electric shock therapy works and when she said yes Jaime's response was "Oh, I'll have to try that."

When walking throug the Family Center, Thomas showed us the minor surgery room and Kelly asks "What qualifies as a minor surgery?"
Jaime says "It's like cutting off one finger instead of five... it's like taking the pinky instead of the thumb."

Good day.

Day 3

This morning we had to be in class a bit earlier than the day before. Getting up at 7 was not too bad since I have been getting up for work all summer, but we were still a bit exhausted from all of the traveling. Breakfast was the same buffet as before and I had a open faced egg, ham and cheese sandwich, an assortment (oranges, kiwi and apples) of fruit, cereal with strawberry yogurt, and a faux mocha. Emily, Kelly and I were excited to see Juan and when we were walking to get on the bus Kelly tripped. She was afraid that Juan had seen her, but she's so graceful it was really no big deal. Juan drove us to the Catholic University of Santiago where we met up with Dr. Jorge Jimenez, Jaime and Solana. Dr. Jimenez gave us a presentation on "Talking Politics and Health Reform- Reflections from Chile," which gave us some background information about the health reform in Chile and how the health policies of Chile have changed over the years. Afterwards Jaime took us over to the other part of the campus where we were to meet in a seminary room in the medical school part of the campus. This building was surrounded by the hospital, the law school and the school of biological sciences. We did not go into the other buildings but Jaime took us on a small tour of the area and it was very interesting to see all the religious statues and different courtyards with trees and other plants spread throughout the campus. After the mini-tour we waited in the seminar room for Dr. Jorge Jimenez to meet with us and answer some questions about his previous presentations. I really wanted to ask a question about Chile's involvement in public and global health programs especially in regards to the HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB epidemics, but Jaime kept asking questions for himself and so I was the last of the questions. By that time every one was hungry so we took a break for lunch. From the medical school we walked to a near by cafe where Jaime used to eat when he went to school in the area. When we arrived they took us down stairs to sit in a room with no windows and mirrors on the wall. It was a bit odd since there was no one else down there but we think it was because our group is so large. Jaime did not want to sit with us because he felt claustrophobic and wanted to sit by a window to watch the people walking by. Also, Emily, Kelly and I were the only ones of the girls who stayed. So it was us and the boys for lunch, though we had brought PB&J sandwiches to eat; we ordered some papas fritas (french fries) so not to be too awkward. Most of the boys got sandwiches as well. Cameron got a steak sandwich and it came with a ton of guacamole, which was interesting to see but looked quite tasty. After we ate we headed to the Salud Publica building where had our next set of presentations. One was by Paola Bedregal and the second was Paola Metilena. Both of them had similar presentations about Burden of Disease in Chile, so by the time the second Paola went we were all tired and ready to head back. Juan picked us up where he had dropped us off that morning and took us back to the hotel. That night Emily, Kelly and I made dinner for ourselves and Brandon and Cameron. With our limited utensils we were able to make farfelle pasta with tomato sauce and cheesy bread. We also had some wine with dinner (2 bottles of white, 1 red), and while we ate we watched The Office. The plan is to catch me and Emily up through Season 3 so that we can watch season 4 and then watch season 5 when it starts back up this fall. Jaideep and Alex also came to watch a few episodes with us, but they did not stay for too long. After watching quite a few episodes we decided to head to bed because we knew that the next morning we had to get up quite early.

Day 1 and 2

Dinner last night was a blast! We went to a little place just down the street from our building. It was like a Chilean Red Robin, so we did not actually get any authentic Chilean food. I was super hungry but could not decide what I wanted, so I ended up getting a pasta dish. It actually wasn’t that great. It was spaghetti-like pasta with chicken and a cream sauce; it also came with a piece of garlic bread that WAS good. While we were there is was happy hour so almost every one at the table got margaritas at the price of 2 for 1. It was really fun to be with the whole group, getting to know each other. The only problem is that it is pretty hard to talk with every one when we are all sitting at a huge table. After dinner a cake was brought out for Taylor because it was his 20^th birthday. We all sang happy birthday in Spanish and then the waitress shoved the cake (lightly) into Taylor’s face. It was awesome! From there we all went back to our building and most of us got together in one of the boys’ apartments and drank some wine and chatted. Emily and I were pretty tired though, so we didn’t stay too long. It was nice to climb in to bed and get a good night’s sleep.

This morning Kelly came in and woke Emily and me up so that we could all get ready for the day. We headed over to the lobby where breakfast was being served and found a buffet of food. On my plate I put some scrambled eggs, a slice of havarti cheese, a slice of ham, a mandarin orange, apple slices, a piece of toast and then I also had a bowl of cereal with yogurt. It was quite the display. After breakfast we got on the bus to head to our first day of class. The bus dropped us off and we made our way to a building that was a part of the University of Santiago’s Public Health department. There we met up with Dr. Gonzalo Vallvida who took us to the main building of the public health department which is attached to the hospital, and he took us to a classroom where we would be having our classes for the next couple of days. Our first presentation was made by Dr. Jorge Jimenez on “Health Policy and Health System in Chile.” It was very interesting and a great introduction in to the Chilean health system. Following the first presentation we were pointed in the direction of a close by cafeteria that is associated with the University. When we first arrived the place was practically empty, but it quickly filled up. There were a few choices, and I chose the ravioli with tomato sauce, a salad and roll. For drinks there were only soft drinks and an orange drink that looks like TANG, so I was unable to have anything to drink because all I really wanted was some water. After eating we took a walk to a local park that was absolutely huge. It looked like a large ruin because there were several layers of the park that you reached by stone staircases. The group climbed all the way to the top, which was a round tower-like platform and we could see the whole city and the Andes Mountains. There were two very nice security guys who agreed to take a photo of the group, which we were all grateful for. From there we headed back to the hospital to attend our second presentation of the day. Dr. Maria Romero gave us a presentation on “The Health Situation in Chile,” which was just as interesting as the previous presentation. After we had finished class Juan (the bus driver) picked us up where he dropped us off and drove us back to the hotel. Cameron, Brandon, Kelly, Emily and I went straight to the grocery store from there to pick up some necessities. The grocery store was located on the bottom of a near by mall. Emily and I were extremely excited to get some big jugs of water so that we could re-hydrate ourselves. As we were heading back to our apartments we ran in to the rest of the group who were heading out to dinner. They waited for us and we adventured to a restaurant a few blocks away that reminded me of a little cabana restaurant. Emily and I were so hungry we were getting cranky so it was nice to know that we were going to get some food. The restaurant was apparently known to have authentic Chilean food, but I ended up getting a pizza that was quite delicious. It was served on a large cutting board and has a bit of a flat bread crust. No one else seemed to find anything authentically Chilean either, except we did get a round of pisco sours. I do have to say that the waitress was great; she definitely got all in to our group and was excited about helping us, which was really nice. The most exciting part of the evening was how the power went out in the restaurant, twice. Luckily it was not for too long and we had candles lit at our table so we weren’t in complete darkness. After dinner we went back to the hotel and since then Kelly, Emily and I have just been hanging out in our apartment, catching up on emails and watching The Office.

Great quotes of the day (hopefully the short context blurb will suffice):

“Know what, I think we’re kind of lost.”

-Jaime during our first outing in the city, trying to find the University. Jaime leaves us standing in the shade to go figure out where we are… good work Jaime.

“Act like air in space; find all the crevices.”

-Jaime trying to get us to spread out in a tiny room that we had just entered.

“In Spanish you get last names all the way to Adam and Eve.”

-Jaime telling us his full last name

“The morning after pill… or evening after.”

-Jaime during discussion about contraception for women.

“Good, cuz I need to soak my white self.”

-Brandon in regards to Jaime reserving hot tub time at the hotel.

Traveling and Day 1

We have finally arrived at our destination after a very long journey. Emily and I stayed at her grandma’s house on Friday night so that we could get to the airport easily in the morning. We were at the airport by 8:20 Saturday morning, and were able to get our bags checked and through security in no time. Then, we waited. The first leg of our trip was from Seattle to LA which went by quickly enough. At the LA airport we were transported by bus to the correct terminal. By that time we were starving so we scoped out some food in the form of a pre-made deli sandwich (a baguette with turkey, brie and granny apple slices) and we also could not resist going to Burger King to fulfill our French fry craving. The next leg of the trip was from LA to Dallas, where we started to get exhausted. There was a movie on this flight, but Emily and I opted out on watching it and read magazines and did sudoku instead. Unfortunately, once we got to Dallas, there was some slight delay with our plane not getting catered so there was a 15 minute delay to our boarding. On the flip side, we did run in to one of our group members Jeanna. Emily and I had thought that everyone else was on the same flights to Santiago, so it was quite the surprise to see her. So far on our flights we had only been serviced with beverages and tiny packages of nuts and fearing that we would not be able to eat for the next 9 hours and 30 minutes (our estimated flight time to Santiago) Emily and I ran into a little airport store to get some snacks. Emily and I were seated together, and Jeanna was closer to the front of the plane so that was the last time we saw her before we arrived in Chile. Once we were on the plane we found out that we would be served dinner and then later on breakfast as well. We were quite excited by that, and hoping to get some good sleep we popped some Tylenol PM. Let me tell you, those things can instantly knock you out! Emily and I could barely get through our dinner of pasta with chicken, a roll, and salad because we were so groggy. And poor Emily’s seat would not recline so it took forever to get comfortable. My seat did recline but my knee was starting to swell up from all the altitude and I just could not figure out what to do with my head so that my neck didn’t hurt. I woke up off and on, each time feeling about as equally exhausted as the last, until finally the sun started to rise (on the left side of the plane, and we were seated on the right). For breakfast we were served a croissant with jam, raspberry yogurt and orange juice and it was actually quite tasty. As our flight was approaching Santiago we were not able to land because of some rising and falling fog. Instead we were circling around the area for about another 40 minutes before we were actually able to descend to the airport. Finally, we had made it. We made our way to pay the $131 fee for entering the country (yup, that’s how I spent the first of my money in Chile) and found Jeanna again. The three of us were very happy to find that our bags had made it safely and proceeded to easily make it through immigration and customs. As we were exiting the customs area we were bombarded with Chilean men asking us if we needed a bus or a taxi. I was so confused looking around at everything and then Jaime (our instructor) came out of no where and grabbed my arm saying “Hola senorita!” We were so relieved to know that the group was still there waiting for us. Emily and I were especially glad to be reunited with Kelly (our accomplice). After making sure that every one was there and had their luggage we waited for Jaime to get our bus and then we all piled on. It’s definitely going to be a party bus with its rainbow flag on the side and people ready to get their fun on. J The bus driver, Juan, drove us through the city to our hotel. It was really exciting for me to see soccer fields every where and almost every single one occupied too. I’m bummed that I will not be able to play with the locals, though. Emily, Kelly and I are sharing a room, and it is a lot different than what we expected but quaint nonetheless. The “apartment” has a tiny kitchen with barstools, a living area, two bedrooms (one double, one single) and two bathrooms. The area of the apartment isn’t very big, but it will be perfect for our two week adventure in Santiago. We even have a balcony, though it doesn’t look out onto anything other than some graveled roof area. After dragging our luggage into the room we quickly discovered the TV and the channels that it had to offer in English. We then proceeded to watch Jurassic Park, well, at least I attempted to. Apparently I slept for a really long time, but I was exhausted so it was really nice. When I woke up Emily was watching John Tucker Must Die, so I finished that with her and Kelly joined when she woke up from her nap. We then decided to go explore a bit, trying to find out where we can get some internet. Luckily I did bring an internet cord so we now can connect to the internet in our apartment. There is also a little internet room in the lobby building, which is actually disconnected from the actually apartment and rooms building. The internet is ridiculously slow, however. The lobby building is also where we will be having breakfast each morning. After getting a quick email in to the parents, Emily, Kelly, and I decided to take a walk around the block to get our bearings. We found a couple of bars and restaurants and will hopefully be able to venture out a little more with Jaime by our side. When we got back we stopped by one of the boys’ rooms and Cameron told us they had found a Subway and a little market. There will definitely be some grocery shopping going on later. The group is meeting up later for dinner, and until then us girlies plan on freshening up and relaxing after our long journey.

Until next time!

~A

Sorry for the delay!

We have had some rough times with internet and I have not been able to get my blog up and running. I have, however, been writing every day and will now post the past two days so that you can all see what I have been up to.

Pre-depature

Hello, hello!

I am taking off tomorrow morning and could not be more excited. Please feel free to email me to keep me updated on your lives!

lishagurl3@yahoo.com

More to come...

The First Blog

Hello all!

In preparation for my trip to Chile (in addition to my procrastination of studying for my statistics final) I have decided to create a blog. I am hoping that this will be a fabulous way to connect me with you throughout my travels down in good ole South America. Hey! I may even post something over the summer just to update you on my life. Any who... for those who don't know I will be departing Seattle on August 23rd and returning September 20th so make sure to check back during those dates!

I also have another trip stewing, which will involve my return to the lower Americas. I will not disclose too much more information in hopes to not jinx it.

Take care!