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!