This morning was pretty nerve-wracking. It's our very first day at the hospital. I didn't know exactly what to wear.. I didn't know if I would get an English-speaking doctor to shadow... I didn't know which hospital (of the two) I would end up at.. I didn't know what the schedule will be once I start... I was just really nervous since I didn't know what to expect, especially because this is my first hospital experience ever. And today, especially, is the first day back from the holidays for the Canarians!
As I was told afterward, things were pretty chaotic because it is the 1st day back, and so some communication was lost during the holiday break... and things like that. Which is why Allen and I didn't actually get to start the core experience today. I was disappointed that we didn't get to start today, as Alyia and Bess have started at the Hospital de Candelaria already in the Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation departments, relatively. The stories they were telling though were all funny, interesting, and somewhat unexpected. So I was a bit disappointed because that didn't happen for me today. But I did hear that we might be able to start tomorrow at the Hospital Universitario in the Gastroenterology department, so I'm looking forward to that. Crossing my fingers and hoping that we can start tomorrow!
But Allen and I got to go to the market and then exploring near the Residencia. The roads seem fairly easy, but honestly, if I were to wander the streets by myself, I would have gotten myself lost in a flash. But the weather was so beautiful! Sunny and warm, but the wind keeps you cool. Definitely a change from the states (which, in Michigan where my cousin lives, was near 0 degrees Fahrenheit).
After that, all of the fellows were taken to the park in Santa Cruz. We had lunch, went around to the little shops, Allen had an eye exam and got contact lenses (which were free, btw. How wicked is that!) and some sporting clothes (Tip #2- do NOT buy sporting clothes from Adidas in downtown Santa Cruz on the island. Talk about overpriced). We also went to this ice-cream shop that had so many interesting and cool flavors of gelato! I tried this Turron Jijona, which the employee said was specifically a Spanish flavor. It was a sweet cookie taste, but probably a bit too sweet for my taste at that moment, so I went with pistachio. It was SO delicious and pretty filling too.
I thought it was so cool how the transaction went. There was a machine that has different options for the size and other treats aside from gelato. Once you select, you just put in the money and a receipt prints out. The person behind the counter takes the receipt and asks for the flavor you want and tadahhh...! I think that's pretty cool since I've never encountered such.
We had dinner at this family restaurant in the "countryside." It was outside the city, but nearby. Strange how the temperature went down about 15 degrees Fahrenheit just by driving up the mountain a bit. I wasn't actually prepared for the colder night temperature in my little sundress, as it was so sunny during the day (Tip #3- always carry a light sweater since the temperature may vary depending on where you are on the island). The restaurant has this feeling of home. I know I do this so much, but I can't help comparing it to my hometown in Viet Nam because the feel of it is so similar! Judging from the title of the post, you can probably guess what we (or most of us) had for dinner. Conejo con mojo. Rabbit with a special sauce. Rabbit. RABBIT.
It's probably seems unacceptable for certain cultures, but I had no problem with it. Afterall, we eat dogs in Viet Nam. Dinner, overall, was so good that I was literally stuffing my face with food. I'm pretty sure I gained a tons of weight already in the past few days, even with all the hiking and walking. Unbelievable. I really should have done a "Before" and "After" photo just to see how big of a difference it would be.
No comments:
Post a Comment