everything under the sun

This morning I woke up at 7 AM so that I could get to the hospital by 8. I was so excited to see Dr. Ellie again and see what the day was going to look like. She is super nice and loves to explain things to me, while the other doctors rarely smile. I found out today that the reason there are no nurses working in this external section of the hospital is because they are all on strike. Only the doctors and nurses who are truly passionate about what they do have stayed. They are on strike because they want the government to give them more money. Here in Argentina, doctors and nurses are not paid very well. I find this really weird because they have spent so many years studying and dedicating themselves to helping people and they are getting little in return. This is why the doctors are doing all the work such as taking the temperature of the child and weighing them on the scale.

This morning we saw around 20 patients. I have found that in this hospital, the doctors love to get to know the patients, but they don't spend as much time examining them as they do in the US. Here, medicare is really cheap and the doctors are tending to pass out the antibiotics to solve all the problems. We saw patients who needed check ups, one girl with bronchitis, and many other minor issues. In this specific public hospital, I have realized that if someone has a question, they will look for any opportunity to speak with a doctor. In the hallways, they bombard the doctors and also when there is a door clearly closed, they will enter just to look for a doctor to speak with. I can't blame them because sometimes the wait is really long and they have urgent questions that are needing to be answered. The picture is Dr. Ellie and I in her office. She got so excited when I wanted to take a picture with her that she gave me her e-mail so that I could send it to her later. This is a woman who is passionate about what she does and loves these kids, despite their home or economic situation. For example, a boy came in today who Dr. Ellie has seen since he was a baby and now he is about 6 years old. He brought her a picture of him with Barney and her face lit up as she took the photo and hung it on the board behind her desk. All of the kids feel very comfortable with her and she makes it feel like its not the usual, scary visit to the doctor.

This afternoon, I went to work at the Ronald McDonald House. OH MY GOSH I do not even know where to begin! This is a place where kids with really serious cases come while they are receiving treatment and their families can live there too. It is sort of like a hotel because there is a community kitchen and laundry room, but each family has their own bedroom. It is very important for the volunteers here to always have smiles on their faces and to be silly because the families and kids are going through a lot. Maybe I should try out one of my cheesy jokes? (What is a bird's favorite ring tone?) Ok get ready, its really good, "wing wing, wing wing!" Today was my first day at Ronald McDonald, so it was induction day. I learned what I would be doing there and how everything works. This is where I met some of the nicest people I have met in Argentina. I met Mattias and Yani, both who are students from Argentina and are volunteering at Ronald McDonald. We talked about just everything under the sun. Here were some snippets:

1) Religon: They are both Catholic but do not attend church regularly. They believe that Jesus came to the earth and died so that everyone who believes in Him can go to heaven. They said that there are many things that they don't agree with in the Catholic church, such as confession. They believe that the priest is just another regular man and it is not necessary to confess to him when you can confess your sins directly to Jesus. They told me that Protestant churches do not exist here.

2) Politics: I found more people who are not George Bush fans. They said that the majority of the people in Argentina thought the tragedy of 9/11 was a terrorist attack, but after watching videos of it, they think otherwise. They said that the plane that flew into the buildings caused damage to the top, but there was also an explosion at the bottom, in which they think was a bomb. They believe that George Bush was somehow involved in this and he is the reason that the war in Iraq started. Again, interesting to hear a different perspective.

3) Influence of the Media: Have you ever thought that you might believe certain things because of where you live? For example, In the US we watch the channels that are broadcasted in the US and that helps us form opinions about things. In other countries, it is the same way. I'm not saying all the time, but sometimes I believe that our perspective of the world is a bit narrow because we are only exposed to certain media.

4) Music: Some of Mattias and Yani's favorite music artists are Rihanna, Usher, Adele, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Nicki Minaj. Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom bass?

5) Such a foreigner: They have added to more reasons why I am a foreinger. Apparently there is a way I walk and hold my shoulders that is different than the people here. They said it is more upright than the people here. They also said that my face shape is very different than the people here. Well...I guess I have to give up trying to blend in withe the people in Argentina!

6) Cordoba: They decided that they are going to give me their tour of Cordoba and show me all of the museums and major history spots. I am really excited because they know a lot about this city and want to share! Mattias is still in high school and Yani is about to start her 3rd year of Pharmacy school. She is also studying cooking. (shout out to all my deltas sistahhs out der because we have some new TRI DELTAS in the house! Check out the photo!) Also, they told me to tell my mom and dad that I am with good people and that they are my brothers and sisters in Argentina! So don't worry...ya heard?

All in all, today was a really tiring day and was constantly full of activity, but I came home tonight to a fresh baked cake that my house mom made! It was delicious!

trust

Today was a vacation day for the people in Argentina because of the New Year. Ok, now who wants to move here? Tomorrow I will go back to work at the hospital in the morning and then I will be working at the Ronald McDonald house in the afternoon. I can't wait to see what that is like!

This morning I went with Carolina to go pick up her grandfather and take him to the super market to buy things that he needed. He likes to throw me off with tossing in some Italian words here and there with his spanish. Aye aye aye, I am already having trouble when they are speaking a mile a minute! There have been 2 things that have been a dead give away that I am CLEARLY not from Argentina. #1: As soon

as I open my mouth, they know. (At the market,

all I said was "muchas gracias" and the person quickly responded, "De donde eres?" That means so...where are you from?) #2 My dark blue eyes and really light skin. Most of the people here have brown eyes and much darker skin. There is nothing I can do about my eyes, but I assure you, I'm working on that tan! After we dropped her grandfather off, we went to on of the panederias (bread shops) that her father owns. Carolina takes care of all of the receipts and puts them into the computer. She also manages all the clients of the panederia. It was cool to see how a family buisness is run and all the different jobs everyone does. I tasted una factura (It's like a sweet crescent with cream in the middle) today and fell in love! I do not know how anyone stays skinny here because there are fantastic sweets and bread at every meal! And you know I be helpin myself to some of it!

This afternoon, Carolina, Cecilia and I went to the mountains where there is a river and you can swim. It was absolutely beautiful and it was fun jumping around from rock to rock. During the summer, everyone goes to the country where there are rivers. Activities at the river: swim, tan, drink mate, eat ice-cream, and relax. It was a great afternoon spent under the strong Argentina sun. Afterwards, we met up with some of Carolina's family and they were cooking the typical Argentina meat, Asado. It is super flavorful and delicious to eat with, of course, BREAD!! One the the women had this puppy that was about a big as my hand and weighed less than a pound! Oh my gosh mom and dad I think we need another dog! Por favor! We ended the day driving through San Paz and Carolina was showed me the center. It is a major tourist spot and the street were full of visitors.

Something that the Lord has really been teaching me here in Argentina is the concept of trust. It might be easy to say that you trust in Him, but when I thought about it, my trust level was

probably at 50%. It is a new country and I don't know the people, but I was not putting all my trust in Him and knowing that everything was in His hands. I was nervous walking around and worried about my communication skills. I have begun to think about this verse: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5. Tomorrow I am trusting in the plans that the Lord has for me and am constantly thanking him for this opportunity of a lifetime!

bug spray is my new perfume

FAMILY + FRIENDS + MUSIC = BEST NEW YEARS EVER!

This New years was one of the best holidays that I have ever celebrated. I had no idea that the holiday was such a big event here in Argentina. I went with Carolina and Maria, Alicia's Kids, to their dad's ranch house in the country. This lil fiesta started around 10 PM...as you know dinner is WAY later here. I absolutely loved meeting all 25 members in their family. It is a big reunion where the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all come together to celebrate life and everything that they are thankful for. It is kind of like Thanksgiving in the US. Everyone sat down at a long table and ate together. One of the cousins spoke english looked at me when we got the food, and asked, "Do you recognize anything?" I told him...that would be a negative. He responded, "Don't worry about it, just eat it and don't ask what it is!" well...leeeegooo!

Dinner lasted about the usual, 2 hours, and then all of the kids got fireworks and set them off in the back yard. As I was holding the stick, shooting the fireworks, everyone in the family cheered and was loving each other's company, I was thinking to myself...this is what life is all about! At that moment, I was the happiest I have been on my adventure so far. It has been the coolest experience to be thrown into a family that is completely new and I have been so blessed that they have welcomed me with open arms...actually more because in Argentina everyone greets each other with a kiss on the check. I loved listening to all the stories that the grandmother told, to the experiences some of the cousins are having in college. This is a family that truly loves and cares for one another and you can tell they would do absolutely anything for each other.

When I was talking to one of the english speaking cousins, I got another history lesson. Somehow we began talking about the effects of 9/11 and he told me that it was the

biggest news in Argentina for weeks. He also said, that unfortunately, they have had many terrorist attacks, but it still has yet to be discovered who did them. Again, it has been great hearing different views about the US and the world because it is giving me a better perspective. The party finished off with Carolina and Cecilia dancing a choreographed dance to a Brazilian song. All the family cheered and followed along with the rhythm. Clearly I was out of the loop. But its the effort that counts, right?

Well that dance was only a warm up to what was to come. Carolina and Maria took me with some of their friends to a "disco." The discos are really popular here and local bands play while everyone sings along and dances to the music. At the disco, you would not have to worry if your wearing the right outfit, because leeme tell ya...there was just about everything! Now when it comes to singing the words and dancing, lets just say it was quite obvious I was a foreigner. As I tried to move my mouth like I knew the words and copy the moves of my friends, I still ended up being off beat and and a couple moves behind. However, this is nothing new for me! As the night progressed, I glanced at my watch and it was 4:30 AM...um hello...way past my

bedtime! But, it is typical for everyone to stay up all night and watch the sunrise in the morning! The sunrise was absolutely beautiful and worth waiting to see as it creeped up behind the mountains and the rays graced the beautiful city.

Today, I was back at Carolina and Maria's father's house and got the full tour. The house reminds me of a large Spanish ranch house because their dad has a full garden and lots of animals in the field behind his house. He showed me the garden where they grow all of their fresh vegetables and all the trees where all their fruit is produced. I have never tasted a peach so flavorful! Then we came to the area where he keeps all the animals. He has sheep, goats, chickens and bunnies. They shave the sheep every so often and they collect the eggs everyday. Only one of the goats is friendly and followed me around like a dog. The others did not want to be mi amigo. whatevs. Although, once I had the food in my hands all the goats came running.

One of the best things that I have adapted to in Argentina is the afternoon snack, which usually consists of candy, bread, fruit, and different types of fresh jam. I'm thinking I could get real used to this! And of course, how could I forget the mate! One of the things that I have had to change was my scent. I not longer where my normal perfume, but I have replaced it with bug repellent. After the first 2 days when I had 11 bites on my legs which turned really red and swelled, I realized somethins gotta change! Now, I literally coat myself with the bug repellent every morning.

Cool thangs:

1. Did you know that Argentineans are obsessed with salt? They put it on everything! Love it.

2. I have realized that we need to take life a little bit slower in the US. Here, there is a big empahsis put on spending time with your family at meals and talking about the day. So here's to the new year: Let's take our fast paced society down a notch and spend time with each other!

3. Today, Carolina and Maria's dad prayed at lunch in Spanish. How cool that God knows every language, understands them, and hears every single prayer. Blows my mind!

4. fun fact: Carolina and Maria's half sister, Cecilia is BEYOND obsessed with Justin Beiber! She knows where he lives, his hobbies, and every fact and detail you could think of. #84postershanginginherroom

smiles are contagious

So this morning I was thinking about this verse: ‎"He said to them, "Go intoall the world and preach the Gospel to all creation." Mark 16:15. Then I began to think about Argentina and how cool it is that our
God is in every single country and on every single continent in this world! I decided that today, whether or not I talked to someone, I wanted to show them the love of Jesus, even if it is a smile. Here in Argentina, the culture is very different, as you might expect. The people are friendly, but can be a little rigid and abrupt. When I smiled at some people today, they kind of gave me a look like...whatss up with the forgien girl? I was like "Dontcha know smiles are con

tagious?"

Since today is saturday, I do not work at the hospital. Today for lunch, Alicia was cooking and I looked into the pot on the stove and saw this! (check the photo) I put on bravest face and asked her...um que estas cocinando mama? She said that it was chicken of course and she asked me which part I wanted. I said, "Well what are the parts here that I can choose from?" She said some spanish words that I didn't know but I deffs knew what she was saying "el corazon o el estomago" The only thoughts that were running through my mind were "oh my freaking goodness, come again?" I love trying new things but somethings when it comes to food I'm a little chicken. #cheesypun

One of Alicia's daughters, Caroline, took me on a tour of Cordoba. She knows a lot of hi

story and was able to show me lots of the churches and there was this building dedicated to the invisible children. I know this might be a stretch, but if anyone has ever seen The Official Story, a movie, then you know what I am talking about. All of this occurred during Argentina's Dirty War in the 1970's. This is when there was a lot of unrest in the country and political problems. Many of the children were disappearing and were called "desparecidos." Many people were tortured and taken right off of the streets of the city and never seen again. The picture was taken in front of the building that honors the "desparecidos" and it has their names written all over the walls. Such an sad part of the country's history.

So tonight is one of the biggest holidays in Argentina: NEW YEARS!!! I am so excited that I get to spend this time here. I am going with Alicia's kids to their dad's house to celebrate. Tomorrow we are going to the country and mountains and I can't wait!

the grand ol' USA (well here...not so much)

Last night I went to the Social that the program puts on for the volunteers so that they can all meet each other. I meet people from Australia, Denmark, Belgium, France, and Germany and they all are doing different things in the Projects Abroad program. It was cool to hear all their different accents and there were so many convos going on in different languages. I was like...all ya'll who speak english hollaaa atcha girl! Everyday I am beginning to learn what an impact the US has on the rest of the world. Many of the volunteers asked me what I thought about certain polices Obama has put in place (oh dear goodness) and I have quickly learned that the Argentineans and Europeans that I have met are not George Bush fans. For the social, we went to a Bohemian restaurant where I found loud music, men with pony tails, and lots of great food! At the social, my friend Ziat, who I met yesterday, told me that when he was in the hospital in the morning, he saw a C-section of a girl who is 12 years old. He said the father was there and he was 13 years old. I could hardly believe it!

This morning I went to Casa Cuna. This is a public children's hospital and it is where I will be working until I leave to go back to the US. The hospital used to be an orphanage and was converted into a hospital many years ago. Again, IT IS SO DIFFERENT! There was a dog sleeping in one of the halls, there is no air conditioning, there are no nurses (the doctors do all the work!), and literally anyone can walk through the hospital and go anywhere they want. I didn't see a cool library like I saw yesterday, but I'm on the look out.

I met my supervisor today whom I will be working with for the rest of my time. Her name is Dr. Ellie! She is super nice and wants to teach me a lot. I was with her for an hour today when she got the patients from the waiting room and brought them back to her office to examine them. Today I wore my dark navy scrubs, so I'm afraid I was not one of the cool, hip doctors. (oh well, guess you can't be cool todos los dias) Today I finished at the hospital at 12 PM because it is a holiday...THE NEW YEAR!! In Argentina, it is a really big deal! Everyone goes with their families to have dinner and then celebrates until the morning! That is why they have monday as vacation too!

This afternoon I am off to the city center to hopefully get a new converter for my electronics! Even though this has nothing to do with my blog, I would still like to say I'm cheering hard for all my MAVS here in Argentina! Right now we are just working out the kinks, so watch out NBA, your 2011 champs are going to do it again!

that is WHAT?

hola mis amigos!

Today was my first day at the hospital and you know I was wearing those hot pink scrubs! I got to meet Dr. Mercado and he works at the maternity hospital. In the afternoon I stayed with Dr. Mercado while he did check ups for all the pregnant mothers. One woman was not pregnant, but she came to the doctor because she had stomach pains. Dr. Mercado used a sonogram and determined that she had small kidney stones. NOT GOOD! AHH. I could not get over how different the hospitals are here in comparison to the US.

1. The relationships the doctors have with the patients are very close and relaxed. It is kind of like your coming to see a friend.

2. The hospital is definitely not as clean as the ones in the US, but has a different style

3. The environment is very chill.

While we wearing waiting for the last patient, Dr. Mercado took me to the hospital's library. Before we arrived at the library, I was thinking to myself...I bet this is where all the med students study and read. UM WRONGO...this library was not your typical library, but was full of clear cases with different parts of the body. One of the other volunteers, Ziat, told me that he went to explore the library this morning and it totally freaked him out because it was dark and you would NOT believe the things I saw in these cases. Since its a maternity hospital, every thing in the cases had to do with children. There were preserved fetuses, heads, tumors, just about every organ you can think of, and get ready for this one....a full on abdomen that still had the baby inside! UMM EXCUSE ME? woah. I couldn't believe that I didn't have my camera when I came and saw this, but I will have to go back soon to take pics. It was something I had never seen before and I felt like I was in the middle of a crazy science lab and the mad scientist was about to jump out from behind a corner!

Lemme tell ya:

1) Last night I plugged my computer cord into the electricity converter. It had been charging for 10 minutes when I was started by a loud "pop" and smoke started to come from it. OMG what is my host mom going to think? It started to smell so bad and I quickly removed the flaming hot thing from the wall and put it outside on the patio. lesson #3 the voltages are different for different things. This morning Alicia was so confused about the small, black box on the patio. Lets just say it was a little difficult to explain in spanish...

2) I rode the bus by my self from the hospital back to my house today! This may sound like not a big deal, but WOAH, its tough. There are about 15 different types of buses and you have to get on a certain one at a certain stop. At one point I think the bus had 50 people on it and I was holding onto the railing for dear life because goodness know those bus drivers don't stop for anything!

3. I tried Mate. This is the most popular drink here in Argentina and it is full of floating herbs and juice. Interesting. And everyone around you drinks from the same cup with the same straw. You can literally look anywhere in the city and you will always find dozens of people drinking mate.

4. I learned itsy bitsy spider in spanish! A six year old taught me and even the motions! I love talking with the kids because we are little bit more on the same level in Spanish! Oh well!

5. Tonight the program is having a social gathering, where all the volunteers here get together to meet each other. WAHOOOO

spanish speakin texas gurl

This morning I was woke up frazzled and freaking out because my alarm did not go off! Alicia cooked breakfast for me and then I was off with Ramon and Natalia, who work with Project Abroad. Today was induction day...and sure did I get inducted and fast.

First I learned how to catch the bus that runs all over town. Here are a few tips I learned: (1) You must wave down the bus with your hand or they won't stop (2) Have the bus card (you pay the fee with it) ready because Argentinean people are impatient! (3) Get a seat on the bus when you can because if there is a free one, people will scramble for it!

We took the bus to the Projects Abroad office and there I met all the staff and saw the wall that every volunteer signs when they leave. It was so cool to see that there have been volunteers from literally all over the world! Can't wait to leave me good ol' Texas stamp when I leave! Which, by the way, shout out to all my Texas cowboys and cowgirls out there...here in Argentina, they think that everyone lives on ranches and has huge accents. I guess I added to the stereotype when I kept saying the word "ya'll" and they would laugh.

Then we had lunch at this great Argentinean restaurant and I had a typical dish of steak with blue cheese and we had empanadas! It was delicious! I am starting to learn that the meals here are ALOT longer than the ones we have back in the US. At lunch, Ramon gave me a quick summary of the history of Argentina. They have had great presidents and other that were dictators. Many years ago Argentina used to be the 5th wealthiest country in the world and then they went through a crisis. Now they are on the up and up. When he talked about the US he said that we are the most powerful country in the world. He also talked about how all the movie stars and businesses that he pays attention to are located in the US. I guess this is something that I have never thought about. The fact that the US is truly the land of opportunity and I think sometimes we forget that when we are living there.

After lunch they showed me the beautiful city of Cordoba! Well lesson #2 today was that I clearly wore the wrong shoes. Flip flops = bad idea. Who knew there was going to be so much walking involved and by the end of the day my feet were black from the dirt. One of my favorite things that I saw was the main Catholic church in the city center. It was exquisite and the details put into the painting were flawless. Ramon told me that after the crisis here 10 years ago, people fell away from the Catholic church, but many of the older people in the community still practice it. I also saw many of the universities that are in Cordoba. AND GUESS WHAT...THEY ARE FREE!! Many people from other countries come here just for that reason. So...mom and dad...I guess I'm not coming back to the states!

Tomorrow will be my first day at the hospital. They told me today that I will be working in the hospital in the morning and in the Ronald McDonald House in the afternoons. When I told Ramon that I already had scrubs, he looked at me and asked, "What colors?" I said I had a couple pairs, some pink, navy, gray. He quickly said, "WEAR THE PINK because that was all the cool, hip, and young doctors wear!" Well, who doesn't want to be cool and hip? Guess its going to be pink tomorrow!