For my birthday, I had a nice, relaxed dinner with Hansel and his parents, my Peruvian family. I’d been wanting to cook for them and show Paty and Alex the apartment. It was fun to improvise the meal (was thinking Indian, then decided Italian, and it ended up mostly French), and I was happy to show off my cooking skillz a bit - made a wine-y pork-y onion and garlic and herbs stew that was pretty good! Like any self-respecting French cook, I consumed a good amount of wine as I waited for them to show up - we didn’t end up eating till after 930 - and I spontaneously got the urge to cruise around my neighborhood on my new used skateboard that I’d bought earlier that day. It turns out that skateboarding is just as difficult as I remember from my previous failed attempts as a kid. I played it cool for the passersby when the board didn’t cooperate, got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk, or completely whizzed out from under me. I’d been inspired the day before when Jeff and I stumbled upon a national skateboarding competition at the park just down the street from us. We’d gone to play pick-up soccer and stuck around to watch the impressive contestants’ 360s and board flips onto rail grinds, all to the tune of 90s rap in the background. Left me with the unfounded confidence that it couldn’t be all that hard to simply ride around the neighborhood, but fortunately after a few outings I’ve started to get the hang of it :)
In other news, I’ve been making an effort to make friends outside of the work/medical context. Pierre connected me with a couple Americans living here, and I had fun hanging out with each of them at bars, exchanging impressions of what it’s like to be a foreigner here. Mostly, though, I’ve focused on trying to meet up with Peruvians to get me speaking more Spanish in my free time, so I sent a bunch of messages to potential friends on the website ‘couchsurfing’ that my siblings introduced me to a long time ago and through which I’ve met lots of good people. Despite the inevitable awkwardness of interacting with strangers I don’t quite click with, I did have a couple successful friend dates! For one I played a game of soccer in my neighborhood, a ‘pichanga’ they call it, and for the other we went surfing. After the surf, we strolled around a cool area that was unfamiliar to me, admiring the colorful homes/funky wall art, and we stopped at a delicious pastry shop. It was nice to hit it off with someone new who, like me, didn’t seem interested in clubbing and moreso likes to read and be outside. Ironically, though, my ambitious friendmaking has required a good amount of effort, which has left me feeling a bit sapped and wanting to stay closer to home :p Eventually I’ll strike the balance I’m looking for with not too little but not too much social interaction.
On the work side, Jeff and I have been wanting to do more, so we started going to a different hospital where socios and salud operates called Dos de Mayo, and the infectious disease department has been kind enough to let us sit in on weekly case discussions and rounds. We don’t always, or even often, know exactly what’s going on, but we do our best to participate in the discussions :) It’s fun to be thinking about differential diagnoses again, even if that part of my brain needs a good dusting. At that same hospital we’ve gotten involved in a few projects about the connection between TB and diabetes/atherosclerosis, and about HTLV-1, a mostly harmless virus that sometimes causes lymphoma but not much is known about. At Hipólito with Hansel, we’ve been organizing data about patient characteristics and their chest x-ray findings. We don’t know if much will come of it, but we’re going to find out! We’ve also talked about putting together a formal proposal to the powers that be to access the national TB registry so that we can study adherence on a level larger than the clinical trial we’re involved with. If we get permission, we could have lots of fun analyzing that pre-existing data and we might actually come away with meaningful findings. At this point, though, I have no idea what the logistics are to request access to that kind of protected data.
A few other good things that have happened lately:
-explored a nearby nature preserve last weekend that is a rare oasis of green amidst a mostly dry and dusty landscape. It was a pretty hike with views over much of Lima, the coast, and the mountains to the east.
-went on a pleasant run with Jeff yesterday to see the sun set in the bohemian Barranco neighborhood. We did pass through an uncomfortable stretch where groups of sketchy men beckoned us to join them, but the destination was delightful and after the sun set we had fun walking around the plaza snacking on street food and beers. There is a fried sweet potato dough ring called picarones that is often sold at markets, served with a honey sauce, and they are soooo good.
-the Dos de Mayo hospital is right by a train station, so the commute there is much easier than to Hipólito because we also live right by a train station. And the ride itself is so much smoother without the jolting stop-go traffic (although like the buses the trains are also stuffed to the gills with people)
-it’s getting sunnier and sunnier here as summer is coming up, which makes me excited to venture out to the sandy beaches just south of the city. Apparently some friends might be renting a place along the water so hopefully Jeff and I will get to crash there a few times. But even just laying out on the balcony enjoying a book is plenty pleasant, too :) I just finished the murder mysetery Hansel had recommended, and I was very entertained by the suprise twist at the end, although I did suspect who was ultimately revealed to be the Snowman Killer!
-I’ve been kicking butt at soccer, regularly beating opposing teams by wide margins. Jeff, Hansel, and I have been on fire, scoring tons of goals. It’s been fun having such good chemistry with them on the soccer field :)
In other news, I’ve been making an effort to make friends outside of the work/medical context. Pierre connected me with a couple Americans living here, and I had fun hanging out with each of them at bars, exchanging impressions of what it’s like to be a foreigner here. Mostly, though, I’ve focused on trying to meet up with Peruvians to get me speaking more Spanish in my free time, so I sent a bunch of messages to potential friends on the website ‘couchsurfing’ that my siblings introduced me to a long time ago and through which I’ve met lots of good people. Despite the inevitable awkwardness of interacting with strangers I don’t quite click with, I did have a couple successful friend dates! For one I played a game of soccer in my neighborhood, a ‘pichanga’ they call it, and for the other we went surfing. After the surf, we strolled around a cool area that was unfamiliar to me, admiring the colorful homes/funky wall art, and we stopped at a delicious pastry shop. It was nice to hit it off with someone new who, like me, didn’t seem interested in clubbing and moreso likes to read and be outside. Ironically, though, my ambitious friendmaking has required a good amount of effort, which has left me feeling a bit sapped and wanting to stay closer to home :p Eventually I’ll strike the balance I’m looking for with not too little but not too much social interaction.
On the work side, Jeff and I have been wanting to do more, so we started going to a different hospital where socios and salud operates called Dos de Mayo, and the infectious disease department has been kind enough to let us sit in on weekly case discussions and rounds. We don’t always, or even often, know exactly what’s going on, but we do our best to participate in the discussions :) It’s fun to be thinking about differential diagnoses again, even if that part of my brain needs a good dusting. At that same hospital we’ve gotten involved in a few projects about the connection between TB and diabetes/atherosclerosis, and about HTLV-1, a mostly harmless virus that sometimes causes lymphoma but not much is known about. At Hipólito with Hansel, we’ve been organizing data about patient characteristics and their chest x-ray findings. We don’t know if much will come of it, but we’re going to find out! We’ve also talked about putting together a formal proposal to the powers that be to access the national TB registry so that we can study adherence on a level larger than the clinical trial we’re involved with. If we get permission, we could have lots of fun analyzing that pre-existing data and we might actually come away with meaningful findings. At this point, though, I have no idea what the logistics are to request access to that kind of protected data.
A few other good things that have happened lately:
-explored a nearby nature preserve last weekend that is a rare oasis of green amidst a mostly dry and dusty landscape. It was a pretty hike with views over much of Lima, the coast, and the mountains to the east.
-went on a pleasant run with Jeff yesterday to see the sun set in the bohemian Barranco neighborhood. We did pass through an uncomfortable stretch where groups of sketchy men beckoned us to join them, but the destination was delightful and after the sun set we had fun walking around the plaza snacking on street food and beers. There is a fried sweet potato dough ring called picarones that is often sold at markets, served with a honey sauce, and they are soooo good.
-the Dos de Mayo hospital is right by a train station, so the commute there is much easier than to Hipólito because we also live right by a train station. And the ride itself is so much smoother without the jolting stop-go traffic (although like the buses the trains are also stuffed to the gills with people)
-it’s getting sunnier and sunnier here as summer is coming up, which makes me excited to venture out to the sandy beaches just south of the city. Apparently some friends might be renting a place along the water so hopefully Jeff and I will get to crash there a few times. But even just laying out on the balcony enjoying a book is plenty pleasant, too :) I just finished the murder mysetery Hansel had recommended, and I was very entertained by the suprise twist at the end, although I did suspect who was ultimately revealed to be the Snowman Killer!
-I’ve been kicking butt at soccer, regularly beating opposing teams by wide margins. Jeff, Hansel, and I have been on fire, scoring tons of goals. It’s been fun having such good chemistry with them on the soccer field :)
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