Exploring the City with Jodi

Today, Jodi and I did not have to go to Hospital de Los Andes because our doctor called off from work.  What did that mean for Jodi and I? First off, we didn't have to wake up at 6am for rotation and we could do some exploring! 

First stop - Museo Nacional d'Arte - housed in the former Palaio de Los Condes de Arana, this building was constructed in 1775 of pink Viacha granite (Lonely Planet, 2010)

Free exhibit in the Museo Nacional d'Arte today - La Luz de la Memoria Arte y Violencia Política.

Here were some of my favorite pieces in the museum:

Una Tarde Roja by Wilson Roman; Aerografía 2012 (en memoria de la masacre en la Calle Harrington 15 de enero de 1981)

Interrogatorio by Edgar Arandia Quiroga; Instalación 1981

Then, we strolled around Plaza Murillo:

Cathedral - built in 1935

Inside the Cathedral

Stained glass window inside the Cathedral

Government building within Plaza Murillo

Plaza Murillo - statue of President Gualberto Villarroel - in 1946, he was dragged from the palace by vigilantes and hanged from a lamppost in the square.  Interestingly enough, don Pedro Domingo Murillo, for whom the plaza was named, met a similar fate in 1810 (Lonely Planet, 2010).

We walked a little further to Calle Jaén - La Paz's finest colonial street:

On Calle Jaén

Then strolled down The Prado to be home in time for lunch:

pic in front of the Simon Bolivar statue

Monument of the Fallen Soldier

One of many beautiful murals that are found throughout the city of La Paz

And you can't forget the zebras - volunteers of La Paz to help people walk across the street.  They call the crosswalk the "zebra" which is why they are dressed in zebra costumes.  They are super friendly and always up to take a picture!

The Theater - Folklore Band Jach'a Mallku

Last night I went to the theater - Teatro Municipal "Alberto Saavdra Pérez" with my host mom, Martha.  I went to go see 25 años de Jach'a Mallku - a Bolivian folklore band that has been recording for 25 years!  It lasted about 2.5 hours with up beat folk songs using folk instruments with dancers dancing traditional Bolvian folk dances such as the Morenada, Caporales, and Kullawada.  The costumes were bright and beautiful.  I couldn't take too many pics because technically they were not allowed, but I did what I could.  Everyone knew th words to the songs and by the end, the entire audience was up on their feet dancing.

Ad in the paper advertising the show

Teatro Municipal Alberto Saavdra Pérez

Host mom Martha and I

Jach'a Mallku - Act I

Jach'a Mallku - Act II

Dancers dancing the Caporales

Here are some video clips of the show (about 10 seconds each) just to give you a taste of the folklore music:

 

Lake Titicaca: Copacabana y Isla del Sol

The CFHI group went to Lake Titicaca this weekend.  We went to Copacabana and stayed overnight at Isla del Sol.  The pictures do not do the views justice, but it's all I have to show.  Enjoy!

Trucha (trout) in Copacabana.  Here, the trout is pink!  So yummy!

Lukas (mama bear) and I at the top of the boat that took us from Copacabana to Isla del Sol.  Had to get the Bolivian flag in the picture of course!

Lukas, Sarah, Me, and Spencer.   It was worth being cold on top of the boat for 1.5 hours to boat over to Isla del Sol because the views were breathtaking!

View of Isla del Sol from the boat.

View of Yumani.

View of Lake Titicaca.

View of Lake Titicaca.  This was about a 30 minute walk up the island from our hostel.

View from a small window (part of the island's ruins) on Isla del Sol.

Sunset.

Dinner at the hostel.  From the left and going clockwise - Shira, Carolyn, Sarah, Sherene (Nena), Ines, Spencer, Becky, Linh, Lukas (Mama Bear), and David.

Woke up Sunday morning to HAIL!!

View of Lake Titicaca on the trek down to the ruins of Isla del Sol (southern side).

View of Isla de la Luna from Isla del Sol.

Aaron and Becky's llamas on the Isla del Sol ruins.

The private boat that took us back to Copacabana.

Catedral de Copacabana.

Lit a candle for my host mom behind the Cathedral (as per her wishes).

End of Week 1 with Dra. Quieroz Tejerina

Here are some highlights from the past three days:

Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Wednesday was my second day rotating with El Hospital de Los Niños.  Carolyn and I decided to go in 2 hours earlier (7am) to help the medical students with their morning duties - they let us take pulse, respiratory rate and blood pressure.  Then we met up with Dra. Quieroz Tejerina around 10am.  Every Wednesday she consults with familes who have children diagnosed with Down Syndrome.  It is an outpatient service that is provided through El Hospital de Los Niños.  Below is Angela, whom we greeted with bubbles and smiles and all she did was return the same!  She came in for a regular check up and she's looking good!  ¡Que linda!

Angela (-:

Wednesday was also the 4th of July and to celebrate, my host mom put on some patriotic music (Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, etc) during our lunch.  I must say that Martha has more of the patriotic bug than I do!  Later, to further celebrate Independence Day, the CFHI group went to Kansas City BBQ on B. Salinas St near Plaza Avaroa & Sanchez Lima St - the ribs were DEE-licious.  I definitely recommend this place. 

Thursday, July 5, 2012
On Thursday, we were back on the floor (Infectologia) with the medical students and residents.  We started rounding on the patients around 9AM:

In this pic, Dra. Quieroz Tejerina is rounding with resident Silvia Fuents Soliz (she's a tought 1st year resident!)

It's a tight space with all the students, residents and doctors, but it happens.  You can see the mother in the back looking out from her room (Alejandra) - her daughter, Marisol, who was in an unfortunate accident in December 2010 has left her paralyzed from the waist down and with partial movement in her upper body.  However, this hospital trip for Marisol was for another reason - she came in with a fever, respiratory issues and other dehabilatating conditions that has kept her in the hospital for the past week.  She has gotten better, but she is still dependent on her nasal canula (2L) to keep a pulse ox of at least 85%.


Thursday was the last day Carolyn and I would be on the floor for Infectologia, so we took a pic with the med students below (who were so kind and helpful with our questions and our rounding assignments):

Sarah (CFHI), Med Student (don't know her name, oops), Sherene (aka Nenañ CFHI), Roxana (Med Student), Me, & Carolyn (CFHI)

Thursday afternoon, I ended up at the Embajado de Estados Unidos because one of the students got their passports stolen on The Prado (and I really wanted to see the innards of the US Embassy).  But, it was a PAIN! It took 30 minutes to talk to someone about the stolen passport, another 30 minutes to clear us to get into the embassy, another 30 minutes to fill out a passport application...then, come to find out, they do not accept credit cards from Puerto Rico!  Let's just say I needed a NAP after the whole US Embassy trip!

Thursday night, Becky, Jodi, Sherene, Carolyn and I went to the Multicine to watch Valiente!  Super super super cute!  Dinner Note: Sherene and I snuck in some fried chicken (so good!) from Pollo Copacabana...highly recommend.  The Bolivians know how to fry their chicken!  Movie Note: The movie was in Spanish with NO SUBTITLES ... BUT I was still able to follow the movie (it also helped that most of the movie had no dialogue, haha).  Another Movie Note: Spiderman was released in La Paz already (with English Subtitles) and Batman is supposedly going to be released the same date as it does in the States!  Can't wait!

Friday, July 6, 2012
Today, Carolyn and I went to the hospital early (7am) again.  The med students had already finished up their vitals, so Carolyn and I went around to chat it up with the parents and patients.  It was a relaxed morning.

Things I want to share that I have seen in El Hospital de Los Niños - charts are updated with TYPEWRITERS:

Intern Hazel  Peña updating charts for the day

You will see typewriters everywhere!  Bed 10 and 11 were my favorites this week - Bruce (6 months) and Tatyana (1 year 3 months).

Me with Bruce... so cute!

Pobresito Tatyana - ella tiene Neumonia Necrosante.  The contraption on her head was to help provide her with Oxygen with the tank next to her (set at 4L).  She was a fiesty one, didn't let anyone touch or be near her except her mama.

At 10am, we finished out the day with Dra. Quieroz Tejerina in outpatient services.  On Fridays, she does normal pediatric outpatient services (for checkups or sick children).  Below is a harness used for hip displasia (common in Bolivia), but if caught early, surgery is not needed:

Alexis (mom didn't want his face in the pic, but he was super cute!)

And of course, I couldn't end my rotation week without a picture with the Doctora herself:

Dra. Quieroz Tejerina and I

To conclude, I've decided that this is MY vacation, so I am foregoing Spanish classes on Friday afternoons.  Today, Sherene, Carolyn, Ines and I went to the market (Calle de Las Brujas - Witches Street) for some shopping.  I needed to buy clothing for below freezing weather because we are going to Uyuni (Salt Flats) next weekend and apparently there is no heating in the Salt hotel we are staying in.

Sherene, Carolyn y Ines at the Mercado (Calle de Las Brujas)

Basílica Menor de San Francisco

My first beer of the trip (not first drink) and a local beer at that!

La Republica Agradecida (6 de agosto de 1825) - Bolivia's Independence day.  Statue on The Prado on our walk home from the market.

It's been a GREAT first week rotation with CFHI and El Hospital de Los Niños.  It's also been a great first week in La Paz as well.  Can't wait for what the next three weeks will have to offer!

Primer Día de Rotaciones

Hoy, fui al hospital a las nueve de la mañana con otros estudiantes en mi grupo.  Caminamos a través del Puente de las Américas:

Cuando llegamos al Hospital del Niño, 

conocimos con el Dr. Velasco y él nos presentó a nuestro (Carolyn y yo -en la foto de abajo) preceptor (Dra. Quieroz) para el día.

La mayoría de nuestros pacientes tienen problemas de respiratorios (por ejemplo - tuberculosis y bronquitis).  After rounding the patients in our unit, Dra. Quieroz nos mostró el resto del hospital.  El unidad más dificil es la unidad de quemados.  El olor era intenso!  Salimos a las once y media y regresé a mi apartamento de Martha.  Martha me hizo almuerzo - milanesas de pollo con col, brocóli, tomates y plátano (que rico!):

Comé rápidamente porque tuve mi clase de español.  Y hoy, la escuela me puso en el nivel básico!  Oops!  Creé que mi pruebas escritas y verbales eran mal ... que triste!

A la mañana, yo voy a ir al hospital más temprano a observar los residentes.  Espero que sera más práctica.

Meeting Gonzalo...and pictures!

Buenos Tardes!

Today is my first official day of the program.  The group met up with Gonzalo (CFHI coordinator in La Paz) this morning en la Plaza Avaroa.  We walked over to his office to go over some logistics for the next 4 weeks (phone, traveling, spanish classes, etc).  We also went over our rotations.  The following is my rotation schedule for the next four weeks:
Week 1: Neumología (Pulmonology - respiratory)
Week 2: Hospital Los Andes (a hospital in El Alto) (General)
Week 3: Nefrología (Nephrology - kidney)
Week 4: Cirugía (Surgery)

Also, I figured out how I would share my pictures! ...with my iPhone, dur!

Ayer (yesterday), Jodi, Becky (yes, there is another Rebecca), and I went to Valle de la luna (no pics of that ... they will be up when I get back from La Paz, but they are gorgeous).  Then, we took a double decker bus (my first ever) around the city of La Paz.  It was a bit scary taking the double decker bus because the bus would hit the low hanging power lines!  However, we ended up at a great lookout point (pics below) that was definitely worth it.

View of La Paz from my room (breathtaking!):

View from Parque Mirador Killi Killi (in this view is Mount Illimani -6438m and the stadium where I saw Bolivar against The Strongest at Estadio Hernando Siles - 3637m):

View from Parque Mirador Killi Killi (city of La Paz):

I'm off to Spanish Class to see where I place and then meeting up with Doctora Uribe to go over rotation logistics.  I can't wait (estoy entusiasmado) for rotations to start tomorrow!