yesterday i went to my first latin american soccer game. the sport usually bores me but being in the stands is something else. the teams were, liga, the quito team and one of the best in south america versus boca junior, a team from argentina. the stands were open seating and where we ended up, general north high, was where they were putting all the boca fans. they did this by asking what team you were for and directing you in once direction or the other. in between the two sides was a buffer zone ten feet wide at least, police lining it by standing on every other large step in full riot gear.

this was the occassion where i learned lots of very creative curses in spanish directed at the other team or the refs that me and my american friends would repeat to each other and translate and laugh. the guy friends yelled just as insulting words in english.

ther were lots of team chants that the audience would arrupt into, but none of us caught any of the words. the only chant we could sing along to was the most basic and most familiar, "ole, ole ole ole..."


things that interest me these days:

sumak kawsay-buen vivir-good living

political graffiti: "Uribe fascista y narcoterrorista"-"Uribe (prez of colombia) is a fascist and a narcoterrorist" "¿mineras: seguro que tenemos futuro?"-"miners: are we sure we have a future?"

Juan Leon Mera

medicine


the doctor i work with at my community service is slowly convincing indirectly to want a career in medicine. he was doing so indirectly by saying it's the most rewarding job, it's universal, it can be done anywhere, you really help, etc. today he asked me a few questions like how i handle seeing blood and whatnot and afterwords said, matter of factly, "you are qualified for medicine." and inside i went"yes!"

the doctor is a bit of a diva. he doesn't remember my name even though we talk for at least an hour after seeing patients everytime i go. today when i walked into the office he said, in english, "give me a pen" and after the second it took to process this was english and understand through his accent, i got him his pen.

after seeing the first patient he told me to take the blood pressure of the next guy and walked out the door. i did so (135/76) but the doctor didn't return for 20 minutes. he drove off apparently, picked up his daughter from who know where, returned and gave the kid to someone who works there to take care of her.

every single time he explains something to the patient he acts patronizing but not in a way that i dislike and asks, "do you understand?" and usually the patient is too intimidated to respond with words. sometimes they nod, sometimes they do nothing but the doctor continues anyway, not actually paying attention to the response.