Bolivia!

Hola!  Buen dia!

I can't believe I've been here for three weeks! The weather has continued to be around 70 in the day and 40 at night, so I am still sleeping with three blankets, sweat pants, a sweat shirt, and fuzzy socks :)

On Monday I went to CBA with Katie and Teddy and got to see a nose job.  That was interesting.  It was extremely violent and had a lot of blood.  I have a new fondness for my nose just the way it is :).  After the surgery Katie and I got to shadow the Ultrasound doctor, Doctor Tim, who I have shadowed before.  One woman who came in had a LOT of gall stones in her gall bladder which was really interesting to see on the ultra sound.  We also got to see lots of ultra sounds of babies and this time I could identify the different parts of the baby much better than the last time I was observing him.  In the afternoon I went for a run with a few other volunteers, which up here because of the altitude is more like a fast walk.  Then I had a spanish lesson with an undergrad student from a nearby university which was very helpful!

On Tuesday I went to Casa de Alegria and gave a presentation on diet and exercise.  I gave the presentation in English, and Katie translated it into spanish.  The girls were very attentive and seemed to enjoy the presentation which was good!  Afterwards we played volleyball with them which was very entertaining.  In the afternoon all the volunteers in the house went to help paint/ fix up a house that an organization called "Ninos con valor" are going to use.  The organization provides a daycare service and housing for children who have chronic illnesses such as HIV or AIDS as well children who are abused or whose families don't have the resources to provide for them.

On Wednesday we held a clinic at the same place we gave the breast cancer presentation at.  We saw mostly older kids.  For the first part I was in charge of measuring and weighing the patients.  For the second part of the clinic I got to watch one of the med students give the actual examinations and would occasionally get to help out which was really cool.  In the afternoon Katie, Joy and I went into La Concha, which is the HUGE open air market in Cochabamba, and did some shopping :)  We got a ton of DVDs, including Never say Never, and some souvenirs.  We then went in search of an ice cream place one of the other volunteers recommended.  We didn't find the one she had described, but we found a really good one nearby.  I got coffee ice cream, but it had raisins in it!!  It was actually surprisingly really good :).

Today I went to the hospital and shadowed the gynecologist.  He's really nice, and today he said we could do pap smears!  Unfortunately, we only had four patients, and only one needed a pap smear, so only Katie got to do one.  But I'm going to shadow him again next week so hopefully I can do one then!

I am getting much better at understanding spanish, but my speaking skills are still lacking.  This weekend we are taking a trip to the Salt Flats, I'm still not really sure what they are but I'm excited!!  A lot of volunteers are leaving this coming week so the house is going to feel empty!  Other than that, nothing else is really new.  Continuing to have great experiences!!

Chau!

Emily