My time in La Paz was overall an incredible experience. I enjoyed every single rotation that I had, and was never bored in the busy city. However, after 5 weeks, the smell, loudness, altitude and crowdedness of La Paz became generally unpleasant, and I think I speak for our whole group when I say we were more than ready to get out of there. Luckily, we were soon on our way. Early on Friday afternoon Carolyn, Aaron and I arrived at the La Paz airport. We found ...

Although originally I was not signed up for a surgery rotation, I managed to fit it into my 5th week in La Paz, and am incredibly glad that I did. This week was one of the strangest, most exciting, and unbelievable things I have ever done in my life. The first day I showed up by myself because Aaron and Carolyn wanted to stay with Dra. Tejerina one last day. The surgeon, Dr. Galindo (an extremely tall man) showed me to the changing room where I was directed to...

I had heard from the other volunteers that the Pulmonogly (lung-related) rotation was really enjoyable, but didn't exactly understand what about it, until I arrived at the hospital and met Dra. Tejerina. I have truly enjoyed my time with each and every one of the doctors in my rotations, but none compare to this sweet and charismatic person. One of her first patients' mothers told me, "she's not just a good doctor, she's a good person." I could not argue with h...

During our first couple of weekends in Bolivia we went on truly incredible trips. Lake Titicaca and the salt flats were so beautiful and unique. However, both involved a lot of sightseeing and not a lot of adventure. All of us felt that we wanted to do some more physical activity, and a few of us decided to go all out. Perhaps Bolivia's most popular tourist attraction that is world-known is The World's Most Dangerous Road. This 65 km stretch of road was so nam...

This week was my first in the children's hospital in La Paz - Hospital del Nino - and was a drastically different experience than the adolescent clinic. My rotation this week was in the Infectious Diseases department of the hospital and I did not really know what to expect. My supervising doctor was Dr. Velasco who has been working with Family Child Health International for 8 years, and coordinates the hospital program. This man is extremely passionate about th...