Saturday, February 7, 2009

Feliz Cumpleanos Greg!


Happy Birthday Greg!

Greg started the day with a run along the river in Olavarria and then came home to the apartment to a hearty breakfast of medialunas (croissants) and dulce de leche (sweet toffee flavoured spread- yumm!) and a birthday cake filled with more dulce de leche!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

olavarria - at the hospital

it's been a while since i commented on the experience i'm having at the hospital.

in buenos aires, most people spoke some english, and some spoke very well. i got to do about 10 intubations, i could have put in IVs and art lines - but was put off by the sharps handling here in argentina - OH&S doesnt feature strongly here. i had some great clinical conversations with the anaesthetists and the airway experience was good. a lot of time was just watching though - it's hard to inspire confidence when you don't speak the language, and being a private hospital i think they were a little reluctant to get me too involved.

here in olavarria, my first day was just observing - as the anaesthetist didn't speak any english. people were extremely friendly though, had a good chat with frequent use of gestures, pointing and reference to the spanish - english dictionary with the tecnicians and nurses in the tearoom.

day 2 in olavarria, i met a younger anaesthetist who speaks very good english. he's been to france for residency, and he was very slick clinically. he got me to intubate an 8yo child as soon as i arrived (which was easier than i expected). After that went OK he treated me like a trainee anaesthetist, left to do another case while i took care of a patient having a total hip joint replacement under spinal anaesthesia. he gave me instructions like - give 2l saline fast, then slow it down. if the BP drops, give ephedrine, any big problems call me - kinda scary, but this is really how i will learn best - and it's exactly the experience i was hoping for.

The rest of week 1 : after a difficult day on wednesday where i was with 2 anaesthetists who spoke no english, I've had 2 great days working with the same anaesthetist I was with on my second day. I've done all the intubations, airway management, and use of the anaesthetic machine. The anaesthetist has said, you give the anaesthetic - I'll supervise - perfect! I'll be with him again next week too - should be interesting! Olavarria is a nice enough little town, but the medical experience has been fantastic.

Monday, February 2, 2009

architecture in Buenos Aires

This entry is well overdue ! many of these photos come from the retiro and recolleta barrios (neighborhoods), which are the more ritzy areas. some of these are taken with my iphone because i was out without the good camera, and are just snaps - oh well.

cars, trucks, and buses






OK, so there are many different types of cars, trucks and buses here. some very modern european and american cars ... but there are also plenty of older cars, trucks and buses still in use here - and they have a certain character... see below




Sunday, February 1, 2009

olavarria

well, we arrived yesterday evening. bus trip took 5.5hrs to cover about 350km with quite a few stops. it's a real country town - no tourists here. in fact i'd say we may be the first people who dont speak spanish to stay here.

our apartment is fantastic though, it's got 2 bedrooms, a good sized lounge, a dining room table, a full sized modern kitchen and a nice bathroom. it's enormous for the two of us... iit also has wireless broadband internet, Australia is so far behind Argentina in terms of access to broadband it is just ridiculous. Telstra and the government need to get their act together.

olavarria itself, is a nice enough country town. a few nice looking cafe's and restraunts. some nice old buildings and the odd nice park. but that's about it. their is also a club with swimming pools and some other stuff that we will check out tomorrow. the weather is cooler here, so it's better for running - fantastic as i'm behind schedule getting ready for busselton.

i'm told the anaesthetists speak very little english here, so tomorrow will be interesting ...

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It's carnaval time here in olavarria. Rio it isn't, but it was bigger and more colorful than I expected.













































and more cheeky :-)