Conquer the Andes: Check!

With the weather becoming progressively colder, my group of new friends and I decided to tackle the Andes sooner rather than later. As we climbed the mountainside of “Cerro pochoco”, we instantaneously knew that our hike would be challenging. Just imagine a group of 15 gringos hiking with ill-soled sneakers, yoga pants and each holding only one-600mL water bottle for a four-hour hike… well prepared I must admit.

A Cloud-less Sky

After two and a half hours of slipping, sliding, and leveraging our bodies over large rock barriers, we had reached our awaited destination, the peak. As you can see in the picture, the neighboring mountaintops appear to be emerging through clouds. Although the reality of the view is slightly different, these perceived “clouds” are actually smog from the cities high level of pollution. More interestingly, while reaching the peak not only had I felt over-whelmed with the beauty of the view, but the cleanliness of the air quality. Ironically, at this moment little had I known that this over-whelming, invigorating feeling would alter for the worst.

Desert Terrain

As we made our way down Cerro pochoco, I nearly cried due to pure terror. The mountain’s terrain was incredibly dry, consisting of only pure sand, cacti and rock formations. Due to the mountain’s uniform appearance, my group and I were unable to distinguish the footpath from the remaining environment. Within thirty minutes of our descent, we had realized that instead of a footpath we had been following a water channel. Like most water channels, this one in particular followed the strict laws of gravity and streamed over the mountain’s steepest slope.

Unfortunately our timing of these events did not correspond well with Mother Nature. The area had not experienced rainfall in weeks and the channel quickly became a dry, soft-sanded trench, a condition that allows a foot to slip down the 300-meter mountainside in just a simple second.  Even more worrisome, while descending our large group had broken up into smaller groups and I only remained with three other women. The four of us were alone, climbing one-by-one, on all fours, backwards, on an 80-degree angle. Needless to say, there was no reason to look downward. With the simple turn of a head, left or right, we were able to observe the mountains base easily.

As our blood pumped with adrenaline several thoughts crossed our minds: (1) Testing the wrong rock would easily dishevel itself from the dry earth and allow our bodies to plummet to the mountain’s foundation; (2) Dusk was approaching in just a few hours; and (3) We were unable to call for help because literally, we had not seen anyone. Was this because the smog was disrupting our view? Or were we too distanced from the path that no other hikers were near?

15 Gringos 

As dozens of thoughts passed through my mind like those mentioned previously, I began to lose support of my upper body. While my muscles tensed for dear life, my right-handed grip loosened as a rock began to break from the earth’s surface. I struggled to find another supportive material when two friends from above screamed, “Rock!” A rock that one of them had been using for support had slipped from the terrain and was trudging down the trench in my direction. As I lifted my head upward in order to respond to their warning, the 7x8” rock rolled past my face, skimming my nose and continued to follow the trench’s base to our next group mate positioned directly below me. This 50 minute trench descent was nothing but terrifying.

Despite the terror experienced during the last leg of our trip, climbing Cerro pochoco was liberating, riveting and eye opening.  Although the view was breath-taking and I am now able to brag that I have climbed the Andes, my favorite memory was this near death experience. Knowing that my life was close to the fine line of "la Vida" and "la Muerte" is an experience likes no other. As I reflect back to this past weekend, I realize that all of those near-death stories are true… the thoughts and reflections of everyone and everything in your life appears all at once with complete clarity. This climb was quite a learning experience.

Por una vida sin drogas.

The charity race (5K or 10K) consisted of over 1500 participants who all supported “A new life without drugs”. As I arrived, I was impressed with how well the event was organized. 

The Champion, Sierra and I

In order to register for our selected events, my friends and I quickly past through each line to receive both our running number and liability waiver. We then enjoyed engaging in the Zumba warm-up as we watched our 5 instructors perform on the large stage. Later, after completing the race, we desperately drank all of the unlimited water and Powerade supplied to us by local contributors. And although I was not too hungry, many people also enjoyed the copious amount of free pasta provided by Sauzo while listening to great music.

Overall, the day went quite well as I spent time with wonderful friends. I especially must brag about one particular individual, the champion of our bracket, Women's 10K ages 20-39. I was happy to witness her success with a time just below 40 minutes; Sierra swept the competition away and placed 1st! 

"After-Race" Picture

A Little Bit of Chilean Culture...

Pablo Neruda, Nobel Prize for Literature (1971), was quite an influential Chilean poet. He was both born and had died in Chile, although throughout his life he lived in several other areas other than his home country. His poetry spoke of many concepts, yet he is most famous for his love poems and political opinions. 

"Your Feet"- Pablo Neruda

But I love your feet 

only because they walked 

upon the earth and upon 

the wind and upon the waters, 

until they found me.

Neruda.

I Am Only Further Inspired

Despite the short time that I have been here, I have already learned an incredible amount through personal observation, academic study and clinical experiences.  Thus far I have concluded that although Chile is quite similar to the U.S. in most ways, it is also vastly different in others.

Thankfully the culture has not been difficult to adjust to.  As I had anticipated, Chile is a great start to a 6-month travel because I have yet to experience culture shock. The academics are also what I had anticipated, I feel that they are quite challenging yet manageable.  Lastly, and the most exciting piece to this first leg of travel... clinical observations, are all absolutely phenomenal.

As I try to live like a true “Chilena” with my homestay; Learn the city & how to interact with its people; Study the Spanish language, human anatomy, medical terminology & the construction of Chilean healthcare; I have been able to derive a common theme:

Culture.

Medicine.

 Healthcare Policy. 

Fortunately, these are the three themes that I had hoped to investigate. I admit I had my doubts, before beginning this trip I wasn't completely confident I would find the information that I was searching for. Although now that I have discovered it, I am only further inspired to aid healthcare. 

I chose to travel these next 6-months in order to observe how culture impacts a society, especially healthcare systems. I am particularly interested in the way that culture impacts and influences a population's general health. Thankfully through this learning experience, I have already begun to form a few conclusions.

My diary of clinical observations.

 

At least to me, it’s interesting to see how each concept (Culture, Medicine, and Healthcare) ties within the other, impacting and influencing the society that Chileans currently posses. During these next few weeks I’ll make sure to document what I have noticed and how these concepts intertwine and influence Chilean health.

Estoy aquí! ("I am here")

Andes Mountains

My eyes were glued to the plane’s windows as it touched down in Santiago.  This grand city is encompassed within the world’s most-renowned mountains, The Andes. Fortunately I have been lucky to arrive between days of rain so that the smog is reduced and the Andes are visible in most areas of the city. Please understand that although we have large landscapes in New England, these mountains are incomparable and truly beautiful.

Slang terms from my brother ("hijo")

During my first few days in Santiago I have met wonderful people between both my homestay family and my fellow “gringo” students. (“Gringo” [men] and “Gringa” [women]; a term to describe people from the areas of both North America & Europe. This term is not something that is disrespectful, but basically is a way to describe a “foreigner”). Within my homestay I live with my “mom”, Sandra, my brother, sister and another student. Not only do I feel extremely comfortable living with my family, but I also feel as if I am part of the family.

Within my homestay I have my own room within a four-bedroom apartment. Like most apartments within the city, my room is large enough for only a twin-sized bed and a small dresser. It is quite small compared to the one that I have in the U.S., but I do love my tiny room. A few living differences that I have noticed between these two countries are…

My Bedroom; Santiago, Chile

(1)Do not flush your toilet paper but place it in the trash. Within most houses/apartments the pipes are too small and as a result, the paper will clog the pipes. 

(2)Take a shower FAST, you’re lucky to get 5 minutes. Heated water is scarce and most families need to use a tank-less water heater. Plus, they like to conserve their resources.

(3)Be prepared to eat a large breakfast as soon as you wake up. Meals are often similar to the U.S. with pizza, pasta and sandwiches. Although their meal-times are different. Breakfast (“desayuno”) is eaten as soon as you awake, 7:00-8:00am, Lunch (“almuerzo”) 1:00-2:00pm and Dinner (“cena”) 8:00-9:00pm.

Overall, everything is going really well. I could speak of the many things that I have learned and seen so far… but this post would be pages and pages long. I’ll post more shortly! 

Valparaiso, Chile

Vina del Mar, Chile