Weekend

This weekend was pretty chill, just kind of slept in and read for this week. Staying at home is annoying because there's no internet, so I try to stay out as much as I can. I watched the Mexican version of American Idol, it was pretty funny because everyone on the show is a supermodel, so its like you need to be good looking as well as be able to sing. I wish I could post pictures but the bandwidths here really can't handle it that well, but I'll figure out a way...

Day 7

Blog Entry 7: 9/26/08

It was a very touristy day for me. We went to some markets that reflected Oaxacan tradition. The first market was this place that had all these things made out of clay. What's interesting about the clay is that its from the local mountains and when its exposed to fire it turns black, due to some weird chemical properties. We met a pretty famous sculptor of the clay, and he sculpted a water pitcher for us. He's super skillful, I was amazed the his ability to make such a symmetrical pot with unique designs without the use of any tools, he just used the gaps in his fingers. I bought this pot with some artwork on it, I know my dad will go nuts over it, it's definitely his kind of thing.
Afterwards, we went to this market in another city, the name of which I can't remember. To be honest, it wasn't my favorite place because it was pretty much a giant flee market in which we were recommended to stay vigilant over our personal belongings. I'm glad we were there only for an hour, but it was interesting to see that Oaxaca downtown, where I live, is VERY upper-class. The flea market city was reflective of most parts of the state. I guess we don't appreciate what we have until we go see something else. Now I feel as though I live in a mansion here in Oaxaca, which is good because it allows me to appreciate what I have here way more.
We also went to this co-op shopping area, where there was no bargaining allowed and all the prices were set. I was happy because I suck at bargaining, especially in Spanish. Everything there hand-woven, and due to the fact that all the girls in my group were going crazy over everything on sale there, I figured my sister and mom would like bags, so I got them two. It was really quality stuff.
Lastly, we went to a woodcarver's ranch where he had all these wood carvings on display. These wood carvings were amazing, it was this style of art I've never seen before, and I know my dad would've gone nuts over it. It wasn't just the way the wood was carved, but also the way it was painted. He had this peacock which had like 10 different colors on it, and it was carved amazingly well, it cost about 1500 pesos, and I think it would've been definitely worth it.
Finally, the tour was over and we went back home for la comida. I think my pickiness over food finally wore out mi Mama's patience. She basically started saying that I don't like anything and she's always worried about what she could give me because I don't eat meat and I don't like vegetables. She also said that I need to accommodate to Mexican culture, and that I was part of her family, with her customs etc. I knew where she was coming from, and in a sense she's right because I naturally just kind of accept what I want and reject what I don't like, maybe go as far as to view it as stupid. I realized, today, that I guess I'm not used to making sacrifices which, as it turns out, makes life hard for others. She was pretty reasonable about it, so I'll be open to more things while I'm here. I realize it becomes hard for the person who's accommodating me in to their house, if I don't reciprocate the accommodation. I actually really liked the talk, even though she was annoyed, because it was it's just one of those experiences that forced me to become an adult and learn some maturity.
Those were pretty much the highlights of my day. I'll keep everyone posted as learning experiences come up.

Day 6

Blog Entry 6: 9/25/08

Today, was pretty sweet! I had my first surgery observation, and I couldn't wait for it to begin! Me and my housemate ate a banana and ran over to Hospital Carmen in order to get there before 7 A.M., which was when the surgery was scheduled to begin. We got to the clinic before any of the doctors arrived, and were kind of worried that the surgery wouldn't happen while we were there. We were informed that doctors can come in, up to an hour or two late, and it's not really a big deal in the local culture. But, I guess we got lucky today because they were on time. The first doctor we met, Dr.Hector Rodriguez, was this really cool guy, he came in with a motorcycle helmet, and was talking to us in some of the best english I've herd around Oaxaca. He was really relaxed, and wasn't really surprised by us coming to observe, even though he had no clue who we were; my guess is that he's had many international students come and observe before. He really got me good, by telling me that I wasn't allowed to watch the surgery; I almost went into cardiac arrest, luckily he was joking. Looking back it's a really good joke to play on premeds because it's a perfect way to mess with their feelings... It was my first time wearing an operating room head cap and shoe covers, and reflecting back that's a big deal because that's the first time I've ever gotten ready for a surgery, it felt good.
I'll give you what little background information I was able to extract on the surgery, from the limited interaction I had that morning. The surgery, a knee arthroscopy, was taking place on a girl who was around the age of 10-12. She had an inflamed synovial cavity. It was Dr. Tenorio's brother who operated, while the Dr.Rodriguez assisted him. They had to remove inflamed tissue from her knee and drain synovial fluid to reduce inflammation, and to find the cause of her knee problems.
They started off by giving the girl anesthesia through pain killer shots and nitrous oxide (i think that's the gas they use, not sure). They inserted a line into her spinal cord through this metal device, I still need to find out what it was, but the procedure looked painful because the girl was trying to pull it out, even through she had the anesthesia mask on. They also inserted, what I think were painkillers directly into her spinal cord, which also looked super painful. With scissor type tools (I've never seen any of these before), they cut two holes into her knee, one for the optical camera and the other for a surgical tool that looked like a drill. The optical camera functioned to show the location of inflamed tissue within the synovial cavity. The inflamed tissue was red and looked like puffs balls, while normal tissue was white and was relatively flat and layered. The unique surgical drill, actually had a spinning knife inside that would cut and suck the inflamed tissue from the cavity through a tube on the other end of the drill, to the outside of the body. The doctors would then collect and send the tissue to a pathologist for analysis. When the procedure was over, and all the inflamed tissue was removed, they washed out any residual floating tissue in the cavity by passing IV through it, thereafter the surgeon stitched the incisions, and wrapped her leg in a cast. It was an efficient and quick surgery, I loved every minute of the 2 hours I spend in the operating room. I didn't have too much time afterwards to ask questions because the doctors were in a hurry, which is why I didn't understand the function of a few of the procedures, but I'm going to find for sure. What I did find out is that the current hypothesis is that the girl suffers from arthritis, which was weird because she was so young (also something I need to ask about).
What I noticed throughout the experience, is that these doctors operate with SO much ease, it seems like they could do these procedures in their sleep. The surgeon used his tools as if they were extensions of his hands, being extremely fast and precise when cutting and moving his tools inside of the cavity. In fact, the reason the whole surgery took maybe 2 hours was because of how fast he was able to go. I noticed that surgeons need a lot of dexterity with their hands, and I was really impressed with Dr. Tenorio's brother, he didn't break a sweat. This surgery went really well for me, and I really am reaffirmed that I want to be a surgeon. The experience really appealed to me in a deep way, I was excited on so many levels. Surgery seems to be an art-form, and I feel as though I'm meant to be its artist. But I'm still keeping an open mind, I have yet to do my primary care rotations, so I'll see what appeals to my heart more.

Day 5

Blog Entry 5: 09/24/08

I woke up at 6:30 A.M. because my tour of the clinics started at 7:15 today, too early!! Dr. Tenorio showed my group locations of Centro de Salud, Hospital Civil, and C.R.I.T.. Centro de Salud is a primary care clinic focused on providing healthcare to underserved communities within Oaxaca city and the outskirts. We saw about 4 different Centro de Saluds. A big problem with Oaxaca city is that it's growing without city planning, due to people arriving (mostly in the hills) from other parts of the state, and trying to live anywhere they can find space. This makes it hard for the government to provide services because it cannot anticipate the immigration of these people, and therefore provide a proper infrastructure for sanitation and health. Dr. Tenorio pointed out that these people, who've usually arrived from the countryside, live in close proximity to their animals which brings up a variety of other health issues in that community. I found it interesting that in Mexico it's actually the poor that live in these extremely beautiful hills, and the rich that live in the downtown. This is due to the fact that the city itself is too expensive for the poor to move into, so they colonize the hills and areas outside the city, which as I've mentioned before is unregulated by the government in terms of infrastructure. Dr. De La Torre, brought up another interesting point that when it rains in Oaxaca city the runoff from hills can act as a vector for the spread of disease because the dirt and areas of the hills are generally covered with waste from these poor hillside communities that lack proper waste management, and this then floods into the city itself. I found this to be particularly scary being that it's been raining for the past two days now!!! Also, dengue fever is a problem in these communities because the poor never throw away their stuff, instead they collect it, and their stuff becomes a breeding ground for mosquitos. Centro de Salud offers educational programs for local communities explaining the causes of dengue fever and spread of disease due to local living conditions. I really want to get involved with that because it would give me a great opportunity to learn about epidemiology and to teach as well.
On an interesting side note, the Centro de Salud Volcanes, which is my first rotation, has focused on dealing with the prevalence of obesity and diabetes within the Mexican community. Dr. Tenorio explained to us that Mexicans are more prone to diabetes due to their genetics and diet (i.e. Tacos, Tortillas etc.) It was interesting to find out that Mexican women suffer from obesity more then men. Also, Dr. De La Torre said that recently Mexican women have acquired all the same health risk factors (that relate to chronic diseases) as Mexican men, due to the movement of women into careers and lifestyles similar to men. Really interesting stuff.
We were also shown a separate, and large, daycare facility that was provided and fully paid for by Hospital Isste. It kind of bothered me to think that if a country with an economy such as Mexico can provide these free services for hospital employees, why doesn't the U.S. do it, especially considering our country's relative affluence?
We visited C.R.I.T. last. C.R.I.T. is a very well-funded and maintained facility dedicated to the rehabilitation of children. This facility was so modern, large, and maintained, that it makes me wonder again why the U.S. lacks facilities of such calibre, with it's relative affluence. One thing I've noticed in Mexico is that there is a real commitment to providing health care to it's population, even with limited resources, which is something that I have not seen in the U.S.. Anyways, returning to the topic... C.R.I.T is divided up into four divisions, a church, physical rehabilitation center, medical services, and psychological services. If families couldn't afford the fees for their kids, the facility took care of it for them. I really found C.R.I.T. amazing, it was really centered around helping these kids, which direly need it. When I was walking through the facility, I was extremely sad. I was literally horrified at some of the faces I saw on the kids. One kid, you could tell just by looking at his expression, he had given up on life, and this bothered me because he's a KID, not an ADULT. In my entire life, I've only seen kids with hopes and dreams, with brightness on their face, full of innocence and joy. Today, I can't even explain it, for the first I saw a kid as young as 8 literally in depression. This kid communicated his entire condition without words. I can't tell you how much I wanted to help him, how much it hurt me in every way.
Yet, C.R.I.T. is great because they showed us many kids who've received rehabilitation and how much it's improved their lives. There was one kid who was maybe 5 or 6, and he was SO cheerful and friendly. He lost both of his arms, but through rehab, he was able to use his feet, with great skill, to put on his socks and use them to play board games, it was amazing. They also showed us a video of a girl who only had one leg, C.R.I.T. provided her with a prosthetic leg that fits on her leg stub, and taught her how to walk with in their therapy division. They really have helped children here, I was definitely impressed.
After CRIT, we took the bus back home, it takes about 45min. At Bercari, Mi Mama (home-stay mom) gave a presentation on the traditions of Oaxaca to the class, it was pretty interesting. At home, she also noticed that my Spanish proficiency was higher, which made me pretty happy. All in all a good day, can't wait for my official rotations to start. Oh and I was able to sign-up for surgery observation (Hospital Carmen) for tommorow, I'll fill you in manana. Salamz.

Day 4

Blog Entry 4: 9/23/08

So it's day 4, and it seems like the days are starting to go faster... Yikes! Today, I was able to sleep in till 9 because we were expected at Hotel Anturios at 10, which was pretty sweet. I was feeling a bit insecure in the morning, still due to culture shock, but the group activity essentially eliminated it. I really loved the group activity because it did wonders for my emotional state. Nick (CFHI coordinator) asked us to draw a box on a piece of paper where we would list our weaknesses on one side, and strengths on the other. We then discussed our strengths and weaknesses with both our research groups and the entire class. It made me feel like I was on the same page with everyone else. I learned that people, no matter who you think is perfect, have their own vices; knowing that was important for me because I usually get intimidated by automatically assuming people are better than me. Its amazing to see that everyone has their own unique challenges, and that no one is perfect. Personally, my main challenge is that I'm introverted and I prefer to be independent of others in my thinking and activities; it's hard for me to accommodate others into my world. Others either had the same problems, the opposite, or something unique. I think the reason the activity was so successful, at least for me, was because it put everyone on the same page of understanding. We were able to find out who other people were on a deeper level, which usually would take much longer if we were left to our own devices. Knowing each other on this level allowed us to be open, comfortable, and genuine in the way we expressed ourselves. If I were to compare it to any other experience, I would say freshman dorming is somewhat similar, but to a lesser extent of success. I loved it, and whatever insecurities I carried into that room were completely gone, and I felt really comfortable communicating with others. I really like my new familia(other students in the program), they're all really good people. I would do this program 100x over again if it meant forming more of these bonds. An important lesson I learned is that no matter how someone composes oneself, they're human like everyone else.
The activity was intended on introducing us to the concept of forming relationships and understanding between different people. It's main purpose was for us to develop skills that would effectively allow us to form relationships in the medical field. In my opinion, clinical skills aren't the main aspect of being a doctor. What characterizes a great doctor is their ability to form efficient connections with others. Physicians must be able to identify strengths and weaknesses of colleagues and patients in order to use them to his or her advantage. I learned, modern medicine is really community medicine, and it no longer consists of your good old neighborhood doctor that sees only a few people a day; rather, it consists of a team of health professionals that must interact and communicate effectively to successfully deliver proper care to their patients. Doctor's must also be able to make deep relationships because a lot of patients may be uncomfortable revealing whatever issues they have without a strong bond of trust with their physician.
Nick also gave a presentation on "Professionalism". I thought the lecture would be boring because I already knew about being "respectful" and having "good manners" with others in a professional setting. However, I was wrong, professionalism is so much more. In fact, "Profession" itself is a public declaration of a belief or service to a field. From what I interpreted, "Profession" in medicine means taking an oath or a promise to be in the service of others, such as in their quality of life, or health. The "Profression-al" must abide by the technical and ethical standards of the profession. Which I took to mean, that when a doctor has sworn himself in, the entire profession's reputation and dignity rely on a certain method of conduct that he or she must follow; in essence they become a representative of that field. Doctors must exhibit humanism, which consists mainly of respect, empathy, and compassion for medicine. A successful physician must be able to read emotional states, empathize, and have compassion for those he serves.
At 5, I also had my first Spanish class, which was really fun. We learned basic vocabulary and verb conjugation today. Our teacher Arturo is hilarious, and doesn't hold back on any jokes...lol. The 2 hours in class just flew by. He's also teaching us medical Spanish in the next class, which should come in really handy at the clinics. That's pretty much my day for today, there were some other billion things, but I can't write anymore because it's 2 A.M.. Salamz.

Day 3

Blog Entry 3: 9/22/08

Today was Day 3, and the novelty of Oaxaca hit a plateau. I'm still getting used to the local way of life, which is very different from life in the U.S.. What makes it harder is that everything is different, ranging from the language down to the style of buildings and roads. Stylistically, Oaxacan buildings are made of cement and brick and are colored brightly. It's really nice, but after a while you end up missing the buildings, streets, and stores that you're used to at home. Also, it was a harder to socialize and connect with the other students today. I think I'm realizing the full effects of culture shock. I hypothesize that the cure for culture shock is just waiting it out, finding spots such as cafes that you can call your own, and getting close with your host family. But, I'll let you know when I figure it out for sure.
At about 9 A.M. we all met up with Nick Penco at Santo Domingo, our regular meeting point, only to find a very animated, old woman. We later found out that she was our city tour guide. She was carrying a basket of fruit, and lead us to a corner outside of Santo Domingo. At first, I thought she was trying to sell us the fruit, but it turned out she was just introducing us to the local produce. I've never seen these fruits before, and I'm sure they're unique only to Oaxaca; they were full of flavor, and tasted like candy. It was Amazing! She also took us to a church. You realize after walking around Oaxaca even for 10 min, that Catholic churches are central to the culture here, evidenced by the fact that there's one every 4-5 blocks in the city.
After the tour we headed to Hotel Anturios to continue the orientation. Dr. Tenorio, the medical director for the city of Oaxaca, came to talk about what we should expect from the clinics and the type of conduct we should have while rotating. There seems to be a greater emphasis of respect here in Mexico between teachers and students, than we have in the U.S.. One thing I noticed about Dr. Tenorio is that he's very dignified, and I found myself looking up and admiring him, even though I didn't know him that well. As soon as he entered the room, everyone gave him a level of respect I haven't seen for other professors, both in Davis and in this program; he had everyone's undivided attention throughout his entire lecture. I think he gives off that vibe because he has essential qualities you see in a real doctor, such as a genuine interest in serving his community and passion in medicine. Dr. Tenorio is definitely someone I hope to develop strong relationship with this quarter because I know he can teach me a lot about service to my community and the field of medicine.
At 5:30 P.M. Nick lead us to Dr. Tenorio's hospital, Hospital Carmen. After that, we went to Becari Language school to receive our class schedules. Of course, my amazing Spanish skills placed me in the entry level language group... lol, but I don't really mind because all the people in my group are pretty cool.
At 8 P.M., we went to the "Guaelguatza" dance show. The show showcased regional dances from different parts of Oaxaca, it was interesting. In fact, it took over an hour to showcase all the dances, a proof of the many cultures within the state of Oaxaca. What's really interesting is that this one state in Mexico probably has more languages and cultures than an entire country in other parts of the world. That was pretty much my day, I'll keep on posting. Please comment, I love to read comments Gracias. Salamz.

Day 2

This morning, our home-stay mother Sra. Cecilia Ruiz took Nick, my housemate, and I to get breakfast. We stopped at this roadside cart to get tamales, but I found out that tamales are cooked in pork oil, so that wasn't an option for me. Still, it was interesting to see that they cooked meat and certain ingredients inside corn stalks and banana leaves, which gives the meat a distinct flavor. It looked amazing, so I'm hell bent on finding halal forms in the U.S.. On the way, we also bought sweet bread; and I must say, Oaxacan sweet bread is AMAZING!!! It's soft, sweet, and flaky, all at the same time.
After breakfast, Sra. Ruiz walked us to the Becari Language School, where we met up with the rest of the class. From there we walked with Nick Penco (CFHI program administrator) and Dr. Del a Torre (Main UCD program professor) to Hotel Anturios, an upscale hotel in which our orientation took place. In the orientation, we went over logistics, such as the types of hospitals and clinics that will host the rotations and the types of care offered by these institutions. Our student coordinators, Sonia and Rocky, provided us with invaluable knowledge taken from their own clinic experiences. According to what they said, like it's easy to see surgeries and get hands on clinical experience, as long as students demonstrate interest and seriousness. Hopefully, I can learn enough Spanish before my rotations start to convey my interest to preceptors because I'm literally dying to see surgeries and learn clinical procedures first-hand.
We got our cell phones today, which finally allowed me to call my parents. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear from your parents when you're this far away.
One unique benefit of this program, which I notice now, is the ease in which relationships are built with the other students. Everyone just clicks with each other. This benefit is immense because allows the formation bonds between students that will benefit them both on a professional and personal level in the future. In my opinion, the reason it's so easy can be attributed to the fact that we all like medicine and are on the same page in ours lives. The differences in backgrounds and ethnicities doesn't even factor into our interactions. I've never experienced something like this before, but I know that it's essential, not only in becoming a doctor, but a better human being. The social aspect of the program makes the program worth while all on its own, yet the program offers even more! We haven't even started rotations so I can't imagine how much more there is to gain.
After the orientation was over, we all walked to this really classy Mexican in El Zocalo. The food was amazing.
After dinner, we recharged our cell phones minutes (luckily it was a double-day->ask me in person). Me and my house-mate, Nick, explored Oaxaca for a few hours before meeting up with everyone else at Santo Domingo. We found that the city center, or El Zocalo, was the most active area we've seen so far. El Zocalo, is more or a less a large central park surrounded by restaurants. Inside the park itself there was a market as well as public performances. The performances today, consisted of clowns doing random things but it was pretty uninteresting, mostly due to my age. However, there was a live mariachi band playing to tourists at the restaurants, which was really cool. An interesting thing you'll notice in Oaxaca is that everyone is in love, and I'm not exaggerating. It literally seems like everyone is in love, and I'm serious when I say forget Paris, I've been there it's not the city of love in comparison. There are countless couples that are on these like romantic dates, and they are fully into each other, paying no attention to their surroundings. Romanticism definitely characterizes an important part of Oaxacan culture.
Finally, I could enter my first blog entry !!! I was really happy I found an internet cafe. It's called Italiano, and its pretty upscale. I really like it, and it's probably going to serve as a kick it spot for me.
At 9 p.m. all the students met back up at Santo Domingo, a church that serves as a popular meet up area, we went exploring El Zocalo, and it was pretty fun. I'll keep you posted, and count on these posts being this long or longer because the experiences are hard to contain in a few sentences. Salamz.

First Day

I just came into Oaxaca Airport, which is an extremely nice little airport with this kind of Hawaiian touristy feel to it. I noticed the it's very temperate around here, the temperature doesn't fluctuate more than a few degrees from 74-75 degrees regardless of if it's day or night. My home-stays drove me and my housemate, back from the airport. Driving through the city, you notice that Oaxaca is an extremely old city with a rich history. We saw a Catholic ritual for the Virgin Mary, where people walk with a statue of Mary and sing through the streets. All the buildings look old and historic, and the streets are made of brick or stone. The city has a very European feel to it.
My home-stays Sr. Adolfo Ruiz and Sra. Cecilia Ruiz are really nice. Sr. Adolfo is really laid back and has quite the sense of humor, while Sra. Cecilia is this lovely old lady, who treats us as her grandchildren. Unfortunately, I am really limited in my ability to communicate with them, due to my lack of Spanish; if I don't improve, I can see how this could become a point of frustration between me and my home-stays. It's pretty similar to India, in that they don't use carpeting here, and stuff is generally old.
For dinner, I went to this restaurant called VIPS. Ironically, the restaurant is owned by Walmart, which I noticed because there was a Walmart "opinion" phone for people to call to review to food, lol! Also, the restaurant promoted the Walmart credit card. The food was really good, and I didn't get sick at all, which hopefully continues for the rest of the trip. Another really interesting thing I noticed was that there were a lot of nice cars, I saw a BMW 5 series, an Escalade, and a hummer.
I'm really excited, but I do feel the onset of culture shock. For the first time, I felt far away from my family in the U.S., and it's a hard feeling to explain. This experience will definitely make me grow and change as a person by forcing me to live out of my element. I think it will help me become more independent in my thoughts and reasoning. Also, living here will show me the differences between world cultures, which truly is an invaluable experience. Experiences like these will build and tear down preconceived prejudices between people of difference backgrounds and ethnicities. I can see that racism really does stem from ignorance, and that people really need to get out there to learn about other types of people. Anyways I'm out for today I'll keep everyone updates on a daily basis. I'll post pictures in a little bit.

Skype

I just set up Skype, which is a Voice over IP network. It allows me to call phones, send free SMS, and video chat, as long as I have internet access anywhere in the world. Skype video or phone chat is free if both people have it. You can find me on Skype under my real name.  It's cool because I'm not charged long-distance rates for calling people's phones.  Voice over IP is takin ovaaaaaa

Canon Powershot SD1100 IS

For my blogging needs I just ordered a Canon Powershot SD1100 IS. It's coming on Thursday and it should be sweet.

Canon Powershot SD1100 IS

http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-sd1100-is/4505-6501_7-32826179.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Pre Mexico

Well I'm currently in Davis, can't wait for MEXICO!!!!!!!.