Day One: Arrival

Well, I'm finally here. After one cancelled flight, a frantic rebooking on another plane, an unexpected 24-hour stay back in Providence, and a red-eye flight to an alternate city...I am finally here in Santiago, DR. I traveled here with Adam*, a friend and fellow 4th year med student, and already, it's apparent that we're being tested by our abilities to "go with the flow." But to be honest, it hasn't at all been bad so far. As surreal as the past 48 hours seem, I was definitely impressed by how smoothly everything has gone. Even as we passed through airport customs--an experience frequently dreaded by many international travelers--everyone just seemed so amazingly relaxed.

Maybe this is the famous "island mentality" that everyone speaks of. If that's the case, I'm glad I'm here to partake of it in heaps.

So Adam and I arrived at our apartment a little before noon. We were early in fact, and had to await the arrival of the rest of our roommates to let us in. They arrived within a few minutes, and thankfully, we all became fast friends.

And after a fast lunch, we were off to do rounds in the hospital. We were all taken aback at the level of pathology: newly-diagnosed AIDS with Toxoplasmosis, Mesothelioma, a couple of pleural effusions with mysterious relapsing fevers...and the list goes on. What was most challenging about this experience was going back through all the charts to glean as much as possible about the patient's story in Spanish. This, as most people know, is a task that can be daunting in one's native language. But add to this the unfamiliarity of medical terminology, the odd quirks and idiosyncracies of a hospital's charting system, and of course, bad handwriting...and you've got what seems like an overwhelming task.

Hopefully things will get a little less overwhelming as the month goes on...

But all in all, I'm happy. I'm here with a group of awesome people (thus far) who are here to learn and appreciate the culture. Our attending, who was, incidentally, my first-year Doctoring teacher, is awesome. We also have a resident (Heather) staying with us who is Dominican and speaks fluent Spanish. And I'm gradually trying to transition back in to "Adult Medicine Mode" after 3 months of doing Pediatric-related rotations.

It's also our attending's birthday today, and we celebrated in full force with a Dominican-styled dinner: Mojo-marinated chicken, rice and beans, and plantains. And there were lots of "El Presidentes" (apparently the national beer) to go around.

But now...it's off to bed. Will try to post pictures of our apartment tomorrow. There are 6 of us now who live here, and it already feels a bit snug. When the full group arrives, we will be sharing only 1 bathroom between 8 of us. Fun times to come for sure...

* Note: All names have been changed to protect privacy