Rainy Tuesday

Chuva (rain), and lots of it. Since Sunday it has been off and on, which makes traveling to and from places interesting. This week has started off pretty nice, a lot of meetings to iron out the details of the Tuberculosis trial. I've also attended a conference on a new HIV protocol and a journal review club meeting. I feel more responsibilities coming way which is good and bad. Good in that it keeps me busy, and bad for the same reason. Although I can't stand having nothing to do, so the current situation is definitely preferred.

Just got back from a churrascaria/buffet place with awesome food. Both time I've gone there I ate way too much, but I just can't resist all the tasty options available (one of these, two of those, etc). A meeting is about to start in 10 minutes, some more combing through the protocols of the TB project, hopefully it won't last till 6 again. I'm starting to enter a food coma, maybe I should consider having some of that motor oil that they call coffee here, no I suppose I'm not that desperate. Peace

Weekend Updates

Hey everyone (and by 'everyone' I mean the two or three people who actually read this), welcome to another glimpse into my life here in Vitoria, Brasil. I'll start with the events from last Friday. I spent some time talking to a doctor that is here from the New Jersey Medical School about a Tuberculosis project he is preparing. After about two hours of going over all the specifics I was impressed and eager to lend a hand in this endeavor. The essential goal is a common one in the Infectious Disease world, why are certain strains of TB more virulent than others, specifically what is it about their genetic makeup that gives them an edge in causing disease in humans. Here in Brasil TB is a huge and ongoing problem, especially as resistance rates to antibiotics are on the rise.

The major stumbling point in this study will be in the data gathering portion. The medical care infrastructure here is good, but it's not like the US. Care givers working in the affiliated hospitals of Greater Vitoria have been known to not collect all the data that they should. With a project of this magnitude it is going to be critical to gather all the requisite data from all the patients enrolled, and it must be accurate in order not to screw up the subsequent statistical analysis work. In other words, it will mainly be an issue of quality control. If done properly, this study has the potential to really elucidate some genetic areas of interest in the M. tuberculosis genome that could lead to new, more effective drugs. My goal during the time I'm here is to organize a write up of the pilot study that is about to launch and submit it to a peer reviewed journal. I'm really excited that an opportunity for a deliverable during my time here has finally sprung up.

In other news, on Saturday I went with some of the people from the 'Nucleo' to beach in Vila Velha. I was very impressed with the scene there, far more beautiful than the beaches in Vitoria. There were also some impressive waves that managed to batter me against the ocean floor. The rip tide was quite strong so I had to be careful not to be sucked out to sea. Afterwards we went to a bar and had numerous cervejas (beers) along with a famous brazilian seafood stew, 'moqueca'. It was quite an extravaganza of food and drinks, which lead to a long nap upon my arrival back at the house.

Sunday was very laid back. I was hoping to go to the samba school but plans for that seem to have fallen through. This weeklooks to bring some more exciting developments, I'll let you all know. Peace

Happy Thanksgiving!

My first Thanksgiving away from home with no turkey and pumpkin pie, definitely a shift in tradition. It was a little rough getting up this morning as last night I went out with some people in the lab to watch the Brasil v Uruguay futebol match. Plenty of beers and other alcoholic drinks were provided along with meat and french fries. The game began at 9:45 so as one can imagine it was a late night.

Today I spent some time in the Leshmania lab getting to know the routine there. They are doing experiments to see which drugs are more effective at killing the parasite that is known to cause a lot of problems here in Brazil. I can't begin to explain how difficult it is to learn from people when you can only understand about 75% of what they're saying, I constantly feel like I'm missing important points. Reading over the protocols does help, although these are often in Portuguese as well. It looks like I'll be spending tomorrow and most of next week in the Leshmania lab learning as much as I can; I've also gotten in touch with one of the docs in the research clinic to see about tagging along with him for awhile.

I still have no idea what kind of project I'm going to initiate come next year. I still need to find a few physicians to shadow within the hospital system here, preferably get out and see even more clinics. Keeping myself busy while I'm here is beginning to seem like a surmountable task, as opposed to my first weeks here where I was just feeling like total dead weight. Only a couple weeks till I'm out of here for Christmas, time flies.

Thanks Eve

Well it's Wednesday, and as they say Wednesday's a work day. I just found out that an article I submitted to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology has been accepted, which is quite cool. After painstakingly looking at some gel pictures here I realized how much this lab needs some analytical software to facilitate the process. Apparently they have ordered BioNumerics, essentially the gold standard of comparing/analyzing/cleaning gel pictures. So that will give me something to do once the software gets in, as it's a complex package that requires a lot of time to learn. I've used it a few times before but don't remember it very well.

Wow, I'm boring myself just writing this stuff. Last night it rained hard off and on, which helped to keep the temperature down a little bit but I was still sweating it out. I'm tired of waiting around for my supervisors who seem to hardly ever be here, so after I write this I'm going to head over to the research clinic and see what's going on over there. I'd also like to hang with one of my med school roommates for a day and see what that system is like here in Brazil.

As the title says it is the day before turkey day, here it will be nothing special. Only one more month until Christmas time. I still can't get over this weather this time of year, I mean it's summer here! Nothing like cruising around the beach then going into a shopping center to be surrounded by Christmas decorations. All for now.

Trials of a an extranjeiro

I spent all yesterday morning on a scavenger hunt to gather all the items necessary to register with the federal police department here in Brazil. I needed two color 3x4 photos, notarized copies of my passport and visa, home and business addresses in Vitoria, two tax forms filled out and then paid at a federal bank, and another completed form. It was pretty funny getting the pictures, I went to some place that was for people getting headshots to launch their acting careers or something similar. The dressed me up in a black shirt to match my hair and then put makeup on me, I was like come on I'm just doing this for the visa form.

Next stop was the police station itself, which is a good thirty minute drive from the Nucleo. The passport office was packed, but luckily I was the only foreigner there to register. I got stuck with some incredibly rude, arrogant jerk who 'assisted' me in processing all the forms. Then I got fingerprinted seventeen times like a common criminal before finally getting out of there an hour or so later. It wasn't pretty, but I'm glad to have all that stuff done. Had I not finished all those steps yesterday, they would have begun charging me 80 reais per day, craziness.

So that was yesterday in a nutshell. I've also been talking to people around here about new schemes for identifying mycobacteria species, especially about getting some computer software to assist in this endeavor. The problem is that most of the programs out there are quite expensive, and this lab operates under very limited resources. I'm also going to help one of the guys here with a paper he's writing in English, so we'll see how that turns out. Next week the tentative plans are to work a little in the Leshmania lab. We're about to start a meeting now, must be off.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Invaded

Am I back in the Philippines all of a sudden? After a series of downpours over the past few days suddenly my room started to become overrun with cockroaches on wings. It reminded me of an episode back at the Mapa School that was also triggered by rain. The little buggers were everywhere last night, and as I exterminated them the ants would come out to feast on their remains. Needless to say I was not a happy camper. The problems continue tonight as I write this, as those that escaped my wrath have evolved into an even more disgusting bug and keep popping up. I suppose I could have closed off my windows and sealed my door, but with no AC it's just plain too hot for that to be a viable option.

Enough about the bug problem. The holiday was really laid back, went to the beach and shopping Vitoria a few times. Did some reading, studied Portuguese, medical terminology, watched movies, ate at more self service restaurants. I was hoping to do something a little more adventurous, but there's always future vacations to look forward to. One of my roommates had his girlfriend over while the other has been cramming for a big exam this week, so neither of them really did anything. But in all it was good to kick back and not have to worry about anything. Well, I do still have to sort out this registration with the police business, so I'm sure that will take up all day tomorrow.

This is the first Thanksgiving week in a long time that I won't be at home with my family. Of course, Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Brazil, so there will be no turkey dinners for me. I'll have to make up lost time once Christmas rolls around. Speaking of Christmas and the shopping season, I've learned never to buy any locally made technological items, they never work! Luckily they weren't all that expensive so I'm not too upset. The imported electrical stuff here is insanely expensive, I can't understand why it is this way.

I found a nice spot on the beach over by where Shopping Vitoria is. It is relatively quiet, and has a nice view of all the oil platforms out at sea. There's some pull up bars that I like to use while I'm there, got to keep in shape somehow. Well I'm tired, and I have to arise early tomorrow. I'll be sure to post more updates.

Feriados!

Well it's a holiday here in Brazil, meaning no work today and tomorrow. Tried to make plans for scuba diving which kind of fell through. I think I'll spend most of the time at the beach, maybe even venture out to try and find some surfing. Of course there will be plenty of chilling time in the apartment. My roommates are quite skilled at chilling on days off, they both typically sleep in until early afternoon. I've never been one to sleep in, so I typically get up and do some things, get breakfast, and wait for their arisal. Once they do get up we typically grab lunch at one of the cafes nearby. For the rest of the day I'm typically on my own as they either watch TV, sleep, or work/study. This isn't that big of a problem since I'm becoming more familiar with how to get around, especially with the buses. Today I hit up the beach, got a nice jog, and did some pull ups on the equipment they had set up over there. Afterwards I went over and bought a pair of sunglasses, since the ones I bought here broke (long, embarrassing story). The guys there asked if I spoke English (am I that obvious?). Pretty interesting conversation, it's rare to find people here that can speak some English.

Yesterday I tried to take care of some business with the federal police station (all foreigners are required to register with them). So I had a document that said all I needed was my passport. Alas, when I went there, they kindly informed me of the 5,000 documents I would need to bring them, as well as all the money they needed to be paid. Typical government BS to fill their coffers, it's no wonder the foreign tourism industry here is not booming, it's tough to get a Visa and then they put you through all this hassle once you get here. I'd be interested in finding out how the US handles such matters. I do know that if you are from Iraq, Iran, or N Korea, there is no way you're going to get a visa to the US. My math teacher was kicked out of the country because he was Iranian. Thus I'm not condemning the system here, just analyzing it for comparison's sake.

Right now I'm jamming to some Brazilian country music, some good tunes. Pretty tired today, I must admit I really enjoy sleeping without worrying about waking up early. I'll probably do some reading, play some guitar, then turn in, fan on me full blast of course. I'm quite hungry now, no snack foods at the moment though... I did get some ice cream, although I must say I'm not impressed. Food items this country earns my highest rating for: meats and bread.
Till next time.

Hello?

Arrived at the office around 8:40 this morning, totally abandoned. For the next 30 minutes I was by myself. I don't understand why I was told to get here around 8:30, no one is ever here at that time. Anyway, I don't think much will be going on today, we're not starting the new protocol since most of the people here are busy taking some test on pathology. As for me, it looks like another day of studying up on TB, and wandering around the nucleo seeing if anyone is up to something. I think I'm going to chat with Reynaldo today to talk about some things and maybe arrange some hospital time.

Yesterday we went to lunch at this shopping mall area. The restaurant we went to sucked but everyone seemed to be all riled about it. I tried to order a customized salad off the menu but the waitress could not fathom that I wanted to order such a thing. She was only programmed to except a few orders that most everyone got when they went there, so it took about 10 minutes to get my order through. The rest of the day was slow, I went to the library for a little while, talked to some of the nurses, and left at about 5.

One of my roommates, Gustavo, just arrived. Now they're talking about the prove (test) they are supposed to turn in today. Things are starting to come alive now that it's 10 AM, I guess I'll go check it out.

Office Blues

Well it's Monday here in the Nucleo de Doencas Infecciosas. Pretty much a skeleton crew here right now, I'm never really sure where everyone is around here. The labs seem empty most of the time, and when I'm in the office I'm typically alone. Not a lot going on today, supposedly tomorrow we're starting up a new protocol for the species differentiation of mycobacteria, so that should bring some activity. I've read up on the relevant journal article, seems pretty straightforward. I'll be interested to check out their molecular biology equipment here. I'm sure it's nice, this place is about up to the standards of a moderately-funded lab in the US.

I'm worried about being able to get a project started here in a timely fashion. Still really struggling with the language, and I want to feel like I'm contributing something. I don't want to get in the way but at the same time I'm like, 'hey, give me stuff to do.' But be careful what you wish for, as they say. So little goes on here in a given day, I'd like to venture outside this lab and spend some time in hospitals, clinics, and see more of the country. Maybe I'll talk to Reynaldo and see if this can arranged.

The pace of life here really gets to me, people seem to be in slow motion. The supermarket is the worst, it takes an eternity to get through the lines there. It is the most inefficient system I've ever seen, and no one seems to mind the fact that it takes a good 20 minutes to get through the checkout line. And then there's the public transportation system, ie the onibus. I hate taking the buses, you typically have to wait 30-40 minutes for one to show up. What baffles me is that people will wait this long when their destination is a 15 minutes walk away. And another thing, they eat pizza here with ketchup! For some reason the pizzas here don't have tomato sauce, what is that!?! Just another interesting cultural difference I guess. OK time to maybe find something to do. Currently reading through a huge textbook on TB to get a head start on med school material. Also I've got a book of crosswords. Did I mention I hate crosswords?

Update after hiatus, begin Brazil chronicle

Wow, it's been quite a long hiatus for me. I'll give everyone a quick catch up. I flew back into the states in early August, and after a quick stopover in NYC I headed home to Simpsonville, KY. After spending a week with my family I went back to Durham, NC to finish up some things. From August 10 - September 10 I pretty much just studied for the MCAT and wrapped up a manuscript that I submitted to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology. Then I went back to Simpsonville where I spent the next month finishing up med/business school applications, doing a few interviews, and preparing for my next international trip. Let me just say getting my Visa was a huge hassle, I had to submit every kind of documentation you could imagine, all notarized of course. I got it by FedEx Saturday delivery the day before my flight, talk about cutting it close.

I'm now here in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil. I've been here since October 22 and so far I am enjoying it. The language barrier is tough, it's all Portuguesee, very few people speak English. While I did do some work with Rosetta Stone before coming here, I'd say I was really under prepared for the communication. I'm learning quickly however, as I'm constantly immersed in the language. The weather here is hot, as it's just about to get into the summer time. A nice breeze constantly comes off the ocean which helps keep this place from feeling like an oven. The heat is certainly nothing next to the Philippines. I mean my room has a clean floor, reliable electricity, and a fan! Certainly an upgrade in living conditions.

My purpose is basically to learn as much as possible about the operation of the Infectious Diseases Center that is set up here. At the beginning of next year I hope to initiate a project and have some sort of deliverable by the time I leave in early June. These first couple of weeks have mainly been a lot of orientation, getting to know people, the customs, and the layout of the land. I must say I enjoy the food here, a lot of really good meat and bread. All the people are very friendly, and patient with my struggles to become more comfortable with the language. I've joined a local gym (academia), quite the challenge that was. There are a couple of bread places and a supermarket nearby where I get most of my food items. Right now we are lacking an oven and a microwave, so I pretty much just always get something from around the house.

I'll start posting here fairly regularly from now on to chronicle things, it will be more of a day to day format as before. Thanks for checking it out.