• my brother shrunk one of the t-shirts i got from the galapagos. i am SO SAD
• i'm working as a medical assistant @ an internist/dermatologist and the job comes with nice perks (free laser hair treatment and skin care products. whoot!)
• currently sending secondaries to med schools. goooood tiiimes.
  
• ecuador photos, in case you haven't seen them http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=78891186709209971/l=296865514/g=103144256/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
• and i'm getting hooked on dark chocolate. uh ohhhh...
  

so, funny story.

i got to spend today at the obstetric center at one of the hospitals here. it was a pretty quiet morning (no births) but i got to watch a couple of "ligaduras" (tube-tyings. i forget the proper name for it) and another simple procedure. i was watching the first ligadura and the doctor was poking his finger around the incision he made below the patient´s belly button....and then i fainted! wtf! first time fainting, ever. it definitely wasn´t from seeing blood cuz i´ve seen some crazy operations before and i wasn´t hypoglycemic because abuelita (grandma) insists on stuffing our faces at every meal, but iono. i think it was knowing that the patient received only local anesthesia vs. general anesthesia. i was thinking "omg, she can hear everything that´s going on. what if she can feel what´s going on...." and then i got dizzy and thought "i should leave before i..." and then i fell. and then the nurses rushed over to pull off my mask so i could get more air and they pushed a cart under my legs so the blood could flow toward my head (i guess that´s one thing we learned from HD that actually works) and told me, "respira. respira m´ija." i came to immediately after i fell and said over and over again that i was fine and that i was sorry. uggghhh ¡que verguenza! i was sooo embarrassed. i know fainting in surgeries is pretty common, but still! now they think i´m this gringa who wants to be a doctor who can´t stand the sight of blood or something. sighhh.

well, anyway, i got some coffee and a snack, went back to watch another ligadura and a cleaning of a uterus (lady had an incomplete miscarriage. they had to take out the placenta and whatever else was left in there) and all was fine. man, this is one experience i will never forget. i came home and told the family about my day and now abuelita thinks she´s not feeding me enough. grrrreeeaaat.

i´m in riobamba, ecuador now. my host-family´s great! everyone´s super-welcoming and friendly and helpful. we just started our medical spanish classes last night and we start our preceptorships in the hospitals/clinics tomorrow. 

things are well. food is good. showers are quick! water pressure´s low. and sleep is not so good since my room´s right next to the street and the traffic´s loud.

i still get winded climbing the 4 flights of stairs to the program office. i´m hoping that´s more the altitude and less my being out of shape.

chao!