Hippos & Giraffes & Zebras, Oh My.

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Last week was bizee bizee. Here are a few things that went down:

• Dr. Calland was here for the week. It was great having him here! He's so insightful/fun/generous/inspiring. I'm lucky to have him as a mentor. We got a lot of work done on my project! We finished processing all the data from the survey, and, this week, I'll be writing abstracts to send to various research symposiums happening this fall. The current list of potential locales includes North Carolina, Florida, AND Trinidad & Tobago. I'm crossing my fingers that someone accepts my abstract. I'm looking at you, Trinidad-&-Tobago-research-symposium-abstract-screening people.

• A few days ago, Oscar (one of the newly-graduated Rwandan medical students) took us to a market so we could buy fruit. Turns out $10 will buy you about 30 lbs. of avacados, sugar cane, bananas, mangos, and passion fruit in Rwanda. I might never leave.

• All of my credit cards and internet accounts think that my identity has been stolen. Apparently, it's weird for people to buy something in America one day and something in Sub-Saharan Africa the next. Google is especially worried about me. Thanks for caring, Google.

• One of my favorite parts about this summer is the time we spend at CHUK (Central Hospital du University du Kigali), the flagship hospital in Rwanda. Healthcare in the U.S. and in Rwanda are soooooooo different. In the mornings I go to the surgery department's morning report to hear the attendings and residents discuss current surgical cases. In the afternoons, I work on research, meet with my collaborators, and/or attend seminars. 

• On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to sit in on mock oral boards for the surgical residents. Dr. Richard, the surgeon giving the mock orals, is a visiting attending from the Harvard-affiliated Mass. Gen. Hospital. She definitely knows her stuff. Dr. Richard appointed me to be the timekeeper while the residents answered questions about hypothetical surgical cases. 

• At one point, there was some confusion about a case. Dr. Richard asked all the residents what the best way to differentiate an upper GI bleed from a lower GI bleed is. None of them knew. Then she turned to me and asked me if I knew. Although I thought I knew the correct answer, turns out, I actually didn't. So much for my moment of glory. FYI, my answer: color of the stool sample. Correct answer: retro-suction with a naso-gastric tube. She smiled and said, "Nice try." haha Thanks. Doubt my future patients will say that. Guess I still have stuff I need to learn.

• This weekend, Dibya, Valentina, Yi, and I decided to take a quick trip to Akagera. For those of you who don't know (as in, 98% of you), Akagera is a national park in eastern Rwanda. It's the only safari park in Rwanda and, even though it doesn't have as many types of animals (i.e. no lions, cheetahs, rhinos etc.) as the bigger parks in east Africa, there is still a lot to see. Highlights included: driving around the savannah in our safari car, staying in a nice little lodge that had baboons walking around the grounds, eating mango and juice and pastries for breakfast, and, most of all, getting a ton of great pictures of the animals. Shout out to mama bear for letting me use her zoom lens.