Bitter sweet memories

Bitter sweet is the best way to describe this journey. I find this blog the hardest to write. How can i sum up this massive life changing experience to a few words. I'll attempt to do my best. Our time at the clinic has slowly came to an end. We have one more day to review some charts and compare notes and document them in Redcap and we will officially be finished.

   The patients have been nothing short of loving, respectful and cooperative to us. Many are just grateful to have the clinic moved from its previous location beside the morgue. It use to smell like formaldehyde and water would leak from the ceiling onto the charts and create a musty smell.

To reinstate HIV is deeply misunderstood here. Some of the patients bring dark colored plastic bags to put their medication in, because they fear others from the outside will see the name of their medications, some go as far as throwing out the box the medication comes in. Below is a picture of what the trashcan looked like daily.




I do wish I could have taken a few picture with some of my favorite patient, but due to the sensitivity of the issue at hand I couldn't.


One of our research mate left for the states early so we decided to have a small party at the clinic to express our gratitude to the clinic, below is our CEDI staff.

For our last outing here in the Dominican Republic we went to El Telefrico in Puerta Plata. Its a place you can travel to by an air transporter and  2500 feet later you sit on top of this beautiful mountain overlooking the sea and its accompanied by a beautiful botanic garden restaurant and giftshop, I think this was the best place we have been to. I have a couple days before I return to the US. THIS WAS AN EXPERIENCE TO REMEMBER

The CaxinGirls: 2 Weeks Left

My room mates and I, The CaxinGirls, have grown very close over the summer and in 2 weeks I'll have to leave them, and Sao Paulo. These are pictures of all the things we love, the things I'll miss doing with them the most.

This is an image of me at one of the largest fairs in Sao Paulo: Embu Das Artes. This is a place that many people come to every weekend. Jewelry, art, clothing, and even plants are all sold here, but don't forget about the food! Shortly after this picture was taken, the other CaxinGirls and I purchased some awesome dip for chips!

 One of the latest images of the CaxinGirls, taking on MASP. MASP is one of the more famous museums of Sao Paulo. The girls and I were able to talk to one of the graduates of the University of São Paulo while in line, and she told us that the Museum frequently changed its art pieces. Here I learned more about the culture of darker skinned Brasilians... As we can see here, Laura is pinching Clorissa's head.. but what am I pinching??

Here's a picture of the girls and some of our lab friends! Because our lab specializes in retinal functionality, these guys are retinal experts, each in his own way. Vitor (left) and Luiz (right) were leading the way to our sushi dinner where we would soon meet the rest of the lab! 

 This is our most frequented restaurant. I used that word because this is how I feel I can best describe the feel of the atmosphere. Yes, the ground is dirt and the building is a tent, but these guys have some of the best pasteis in town! The girls and I come to this fair across from our house every weeked to try new fruits, buy new shirts, and especially marinate in the yummy goodness that is a hot pastel. I love the bustling-restaurant-feel here, but I love the people more!

CHURROS!!! The girls and I absolutely love to sit back and enjoy a good churro. Our favorite place to eat one of these tasty treats is a food truck called CandyCrush. The woman that owns the truck parks at Vila Butantã every weekend and we've seen her ever since we found it. Our current record for buying churros is 4 weekends in a row! I think Clorissa plans to start honing her churro skills after she returns home! Stay tuned for the reunion of the CaxinGirls next season!

Listen to Medicina by Anitta

My favorite part about living in Brazil is the music and art that I am surrounded by all the time. It is very common to find people dancing just wherever they are and the huge murals and street art that can be found all over Curitiba are gorgeous! I have also found that I really love the Brazilian genre of music, funk, and have visited as many art museums as I can find.


I was able to attend a huge concert in São Paulo a week ago and saw some of the current biggest artists. I got to see Zeeba, MC Livinho, Ludmilla, MC Kevinho, Anitta, and several others. This is Ludmilla!

Here is just an incredibly small taste of some of the beautiful street art that I have seen!

This is the Oscar Niemeyer museum in Curitiba. Oscar Niemeyer is a famous architect and has a very distinct style. 

Lastly, I had to include these amazing people. I just recently met them, but they have already made Curitiba feel even more welcoming than it already did. 

We're nearing the end of the road here in Uganda! It's been a busy, workshop-filled summer for our research team this year. We had a total of five workshops—one at the end of June and four in July—with our last one finishing us up last Tuesday. The workshops discussed some socio-cultural influences on health seeking behaviors and some ways healthcare providers can attempt to combat barriers surrounding cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination initiatives in Uganda. The discussions involving a mixture of health workers were very stimulating and interactive throughout the workshops, and I am very excited to be going through the data we have collected from the summer.

As of now, we are spending our last week in Uganda's capitol city, Kampala, just writing up our paper and taking in our last few moments here. It has been nice being able to work from the city, enjoying the views and good food (not that there is anything wrong with beans and rice!) as we work. Everything is made a little easier with a full and happy tummy overlooking some pretty sights! 

We're almost done with our paper with some few more edits; it is hard to believe the summer is already coming to an end. I will definitely miss the some of the people and some of the little quirks I have become accustomed to here in Uganda, but I guess all of us will eventually HAVE to go home.

Tchau Brazil

       While approaching my last week in Brazil I have come to realize how connected I have become with the community around me. Since I walk the same route each morning, I have a brief conversation with the door man who gets excited when he sees me in my Brazil jersey on game days, as well as, the woman who owns the food truck at school and sets my favorite candy to the side for me when her stock is low. I also enjoy seeing new people in the park especially when they break out dancing because they think no one is watching. Now that I think about it, I just realized that Jamila, Laura, and I have become comfortable enough to do the same. Every week we venture further and further out and have some of the best experiences of my life. We have learned to value just sitting in a park for hours on end or randomly encountering interesting people who we will remember forever. We will never forget Jonah, who lets us into the apartment at night, or Tiago the uber driver who helped us explore Foz do Iguaçu and took us bowling. We will never forget Jamila buying poetry in the park that didn’t make sense in English or Portuguese and the feira that is outside our apartment every Saturday morning. In the end, its hard for me to accept that this journey is almost over, and I find myself saying more and more often “When we come back to Brazil…”

My Sunset

These last few weeks is seeing the beginning of the end of our adventures.  At the lab things are starting to really pick up the pace. In the past 2 weeks, I have done parts 1 and 2 of my experiment; which was monitoring gene transcript levels and enzyme activity with RT-PCR and UV-visible spectrometry.  The study is wrapping up quickly, with the last of the data being gathered next week. I have learned so much about oysters whereas before, I couldn’t even tell them apart from rocks.  

On Thursday, we took a quick field trip to Barra da Lagoa and visited an oyster hatchery to collect the oysters that will be used for the experiment next week.  I was shown around the facility and learned about the different methods that they use to grow and cultivate the oysters. They can either be grown to maturity through the tube or tank method.  They also explained the cycle water filtration system they had set up for feeding the young oysters as well as taking filtering out any waste products without losing any small oysters they may have. We collected 3 different types of oysters, 2 native to the Brazilian coast, and 1 foreign species. Then we packed the oysters into containers and drove back to the lab.

Later, I got to explore the other side of Lagoa da Conceҫão.  We decided to go to Praia Molé to enjoy the rare warm weather and this beach was beautiful! The sand was dotted with seashells, the sun was out, the weather was warm, and the waves were out for the surfers.  We relaxed on the beach while some others in our group went surfing; it was interesting since I had never seen surfing in person before. 

Today, I joined my group of friends for a light afternoon hike in Barra da Lagoa, another place I wanted to visit.  The trail had a stunning view of the rocks and the water.  We even got to see the gorgeous sunset behind the mountains.  It makes me sad that my days in Brazil are also coming to their own end soon, but I’ve treasured all the wonderful days spend here and plan to make to most out of every day I have left.

OH the places you’ll go and the people you'll meet!

My time in brazil is quickly winding down and looking back at my time here I realize all the great friends I have mistakenly made. That’s right, mistakenly made. Before a couple weeks ago it was just Brianne, Theresa and I, but about 2 weeks ago we had a visitor join my lab. This visitor’s name is Eva and she is a medical student from Slovenia. Eva is a part of a program that sends medical students from different countries around the world to study professional or research in a country of their choice for 1 month. Eva is amazing and she introduced my roomates and I to the other students in her program. After meeting and connecting with these other students I was naturally ecstatic because not only was I connecting with other wordly like minded people I was also meeting the future physicians of the WORLD. My new friends span from all across Europe as well as Mexico. I didn’t think that in a month’s time period you could get so close to people you just met, but these people that were once strangers to me are now people I have formed such great friendships with and shared amazing experiences with. I realize that this is such a bittersweet moment because I am creating such great bonds with all the students in this program as well as the people in my lab and I am soon leaving them to return to my life. Luckily we live in a world of full of technology so keeping up with them is just a text or facetime away. So let’s meet these new beautiful and amazing souls:

First introducing the lab group! In the front left we have Daniella an undergraduate student who works in my lab. Behind her is Victor another undergraduate student. Behind him is my favorite person ever Carol! She is the master’s student in the lab. Next to me is Carol’s friend Isabeli. Next to her is Charlotte (a medical student from Sweden) and next to her is Eva the medical student from Slovenia that works in my lab. This us before Brazil got knocked out of the world cup.

We love to eat so we decided to get donuts after lunch. Not our healthiest decision, but it was worth every bite. In the center of the picture we have Beatrice (a medical student from Spain).

To the left we have the beautiful Theresa, a very warm Eva, and Melissa (a medical student from Mexico).

In this picture we had reached the end of our hike. From the left front row we have Beatrice, Rolando (medical student from Mexico), Melissa, Diana (medical student from Russia), and  Brianne. The second row from left to right is me, Eva, Pancho (a medical student from Spain), Mariana ( a medical student from Brazil), and Julio (a medical student from Brazil). In the way back is Charlotte and Theresa.

This isn’t everybody, but this is a good portion of the people I have met and bonded with throughout this trip. Until next time! Tchau

Making São Paulo My Home

Public transportation is my best friend, I will definitely miss this a lot in Memphis. People watching and feeling confident as I stand without even holding on the bars.

I have gone to the movies 3 times already because even though you're abroad you shouldn't lose sight of doing normal activities.

Brasil has converted me into a World Cup lover. Here I am with Rhodes friend, Ben, who is also completely an internship in SP. Despite our smiling faces, Brasil was eliminated by Belgium #rip

Here we have Heydi, a Cuban who has been living and working in the lab for 2 years now. It's a relief to speak my native language with her and take a break from translating Portuguese in my mind 24/7. We spent all Saturday together, starting off with a traditional Brasilian lunch of feijoada, then heading over to Sodie Doces for cake and coffee. I got brigadeiro flavor because it is the new love of my life. Then she took me to the hair salon to get a keratin treatment on my hair to make it extra soft and straight... Brasilians really know fashion and style! Finally we ended at a Colombian restaurant next to her house. I LOVED IT!

Showing the level of comfort that my roommates and I have achieved. 3 girls, 1 churro milkshake at our favorite place-- Vila Butantã.

Google Peruvian Hairless Dog

(no seriously, they're so ugly it's kind of cute)

Hey everyone!

In the past two weeks, I've been lucky to have some people I love from back home come visit. It was so much fun showing them around the barrio and introducing them to everyone. Being away from home, even just for two months, can be hard at times. It was really nice seeing some familiar faces and sharing the experience of being in a new place with people!


While my boyfriend was here, we went to Mercado Surquillo which has everything you need in it. Here's an array of fresh produce we stocked up on (from top to bottom, tomate de arbol, lucuma, passion fruit, dragon fruit, ají, and plantains). One of my favorite fruits that I've tried here is lucuma! It has the creamy texture of an avocado but the rich, sweet taste of butterscotch or a maple candy. It tastes incredible in ice cream, milkshakes, or drinks from Peruvian Starbucks.


This is Huaca Pucllana, just your average thousand-some year old ruins in the middle of a beautiful city. This complex was built somewhere between 200 and 700 A.D. by the Lima people. Unlike the Incas, the Lima people did not worship the sun but rather worshipped the sea. I didn't understand that until I put together the fact that, during the winter, the clouds are so dense the sun is rarely visible. Seriously, everyone here (including me) kind of loses their mind when it's sunny.


I mean, can you blame them? It's kind of a gorgeous place.


During these last few weeks, Josh and I are working real hard coding our transcripts, analyzing our data, and typing up a paper. It's been a lot of work, but never before have I been so excited about research!

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

I think that I am made most aware of cultural differences between my home country and my host country during community field work. I always work with a student from the local university while walking door to door to collect data in the community. We walk at a steady pace; though to my partner I am 'always in a rush' or ' walking too fast.' Usually I can attribute this to excitement, I know exactly how little time I have left here and I know that I want it to be spent in a worthwhile way. 

                              

 My field partner this past week, Raymond, is a pro a taking things calmly and in their due time. It’s a trait that he seems to share with many of the people that we work with. And also a trait that I feel the local language lends itself to. Conversations in Tshivenda begin with a greeting that almost feels rehearsed in the way that it flows back and forth between the two speakers. We start with hello, then a greeting that is dependent on the time of the day, which is followed by a question asking how the other person is or how their day has gone. This greeting is a few phrases long and it took me quite a while to get completely comfortable with speaking it in Tshivenda. After the greeting the conversation style turns to a slower pace and becomes more thoughtful.

One aspect of field work that has surprised me is the way that community members respond to our presence. Usually before we are able to say anything or explain why we are there, the person we are talking to has rushed off to get chairs for us to sit or asked a child to retrieve them. No one here speaks more than pleasantries while standing, all other communication has to be done while sitting. It’s a habitual thing that has caused me to look more closely at my own ways of communication with people. (and has also lead to me being called out when my habits don’t exactly align with those around me.)

My time in the field has led to so many wonderful experiences, along with moments of extreme confusion. I feel that I learn the most in those moments just after express that confusion, when I look over to my field partner after we’ve left a house and ask him to ‘Tell me everything that just happened and explain it slowly.’ Allowing myself to pause in these moments and process large chunks of information with my field partner has led our collaboration to be so much more rewarding than it would have been otherwise. It has also reminded me that living in the moment is so much more important than counting them down.