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1. Everything fine mets loads of nice Carioca´s (locals - to Rio) Been out of hospital, seen Maracana stadium (biggest stadium in Brazil - & possibly world), Settling into Plastic surgery. Portuguese improving.
2. So, I knew things were going a bit better when the guy in charge of my elective started taking the p**s, excellent!! I met with the IFSMA rep (student who is in charge of international student exchanges) who took me shopping and more importantly to the Maracana!!! Awesome - I´m trying to arrange a trip with one of the drs to see a game!! But they all work all the time, so this may be hard! Also bought a sim card - so now can speak to people in Brazil easier (I say easier because this hasn´t quite worked out yet - its wuite hard to do) and the phone is (deliberately) in portuguese, but I´ll sort it. So, I also met lots of the students and generally did the whole socialising bit - which was cool. Needless to say everyone is very friendly here and generous and welcoming just like the uk (!?!?)
The food here is hard to get your head round - i started off as a hobbit would - breakfast (croissant with meat - sounds weird but don´t knock it!) then 11´s - with the strongest sweetest coffee ever, then a massive lunch, then a snack after work - like a pasty! Then a big dinner, oh yeah then a supper... Crazy, next stop my thighs, choo choo!!!! (family guy quote sorry).
So, the elusive Portuguese language - its going better, day by day it feels like i´m able to say and understand more.
(Nick skip this bit) Plastic surgery has been good as well - I saw a fairly large skin graft for a BCC, a blepharoplasty- Andy imagine your worst nightmares and then double them - you should have seen my face! and a keloidectomy. After this I went for a drink with the surgeons which was cool - one of whom wants me to go to the ER with him for a night shift on sunday - Porque Não?! Also met an orthopaedic surgeon - who instisted i went and played football games with him and his mates - which was especially good cos I beat them (Pro evo 6 Nick)!!
So today was outpatients day - I saw follow-ups after surgery, new appointments and my bosses speciality - which is surgery for cleft lip and palate. It was good to see, my boss is renound for this proceedure and had a lot of babies and youngsters come to see him. It was also interesting to see the similarities and differences to the UK, for one they have free dentists here - and readily available (an exageration)!!! But they have speech therapists, and the whole lark - I suppose it shows my ignorance that I was surprised by this.
It was also explained to me how things work here in terms of paying or not paying for health care. For one all the drs here chose to do either general surgery or general medicine straight after qualification, rather than both... then pass exams (after 2 years) and go into a 3 year resident programme (similar regs´in the UK) and then they´re there! They operate (if surgeons after the 1st yr.) So, health care is basically free if you can get to the hospital (not as easy as it may seem)... but they tend to be operated on by the residents rather than the (equivalent to) consultants; unless its a complicated proceedure like cleft lip & palate. The alternative is to pay the public hospital (a lot for most people) to guarantee a consultant does it. The alternative is a very, very, very expensive private hospital.
After that I did a bit more hard core learning of Portuguese... Today - I´m here trying to workout if I got the job I wanted (don´t know yet) because I can´t find the dude in charge - I think he may have gone to Sao Paulo for a day!?!? If that is the chase Eu vou á praia (I´m off to the beech, for the 1st time!)
Então, Bom dia!
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