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…”