17 January, 2011

Greater American Adventure...summary

Let me just say, that i would advertise for Pimsler's Portuguese for free!
90 lessons, under 30 mins each and i was on my way!
But don't get it twisted, i was confused as hell! listening to recordings in a controlled environment is nothing compared to being in the field....nothing.
I'd spent years planning for this. literally, and now it's over, been there done that, and I can't even believe it.
From getting "permission" to getting a ticket to getting a visa, everything was a hustle.


Flying from Accra-London-Chicago-Detroit-Washington d.c.-New York-Sao Paulo-Belo Horizonte-Brasilia-New York-Washington d.c. (2 more flights to go)


Michigan was interesting enough, in retrospect i should have taken more advantage of the bus pass and shuttle I had at my disposal. The highlight of the experience (Da Vinci aside) had to have been cutting out a disk of guaze laparascopically. Scrub class, drape class, try not to touch anything class... This contrasts with me holding a live gall bladder laparoscopically in Brazil, scrubbing  without supervision, assisting in surgery on my first day in theatre, palpating necks on my first day. period.
Getting used to the weather was an  issue till the last week; having almost fainted on my first day being scrubbed and gowned...too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry... surviving in 'portuges' on the other hand, was something else! Of course everyone complimented me, but somehow that really doesn't translate to feeling confident in dark alleys :-) and then came the gesticulations.
I had a snazzy spreadsheet going to keep track of my spending, but all the conversion and lack of automatic receipts in Brazil, just sent all that out of the window. It just got too complicated. and that's where the financial problems started. :) No one knows where your money goes in Brazil, but it sure as hell doesn't stay put!
OMG!


So I was adopted by the nicest family ever and had 3 friends living in b.h (Belo Horizonte) 1 of them I knew from Legon. Thank god for Facebook! oh and another friend whom i never go to see, despite a 5 hour layover in his city. I suppose when visiting Brazil, it's best to decide in advance, weather your a tourist or not. Brazil I huuuuuuuge! and being a surgical resident is haaaaaaaaard!


In summary, I managed to visit the 3 top cities in Brazil, 1 historical, 1 college city, took bus trips totalling about 30hours of travel time, ate lunch alone (like an exchange student) re-u-ni-ted with a couple of people, got dissed by a few, sexually harrassed by a few, ignored by many :) missed every single samba show, never went to a rodizio of any kind, never danced salsa...even jokingly...and learnt a heap of lessons.


Did i mention my first subcuticular stitch with monocryl 4-O? that was almost perfect :P

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