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.