Weekend in San Miguel

Hola :)
I just realized how long it has been since i last wrote one of these - it´s one of those things where you really have nothing to do however you are busy? Busy doing just stuff... ?
Last weekend was a good one (haven´t had a bad one yet). On Friday 4 of us went to listen to jazz music all night in the ritzy part of town, Palermo. It was great - there were these 3 older men just jamming for hours - all without looking at any music sheets. We managed to get a front row spot on a couple of couches and just spent the night drinking wine and eating cheese and olives. Somethings (a lot of times) it is so much more fun to go spend the night at a small relaxed place with a good atmosphere then going dancing where there are a bunch of sweaty bodies touching you. Tempting... i know.
Saturday i took the train (another first) to the town where my friend from Colorado is volunteering for a year. It was so great to see her and we babbled and babbled in English because she kept saying how good it was to speak English for a change. San Miguel, which is an hour by bus, is just one of the hundreds towns stemming off of BA. My friend, Christina, is living in a little ¨casita¨ which was actually built for her the previous year - and she is brave - i don´t think i could live there for a year! It´s a cute little house but is lacking all the comforts of American standards completly. She has to heat water up to take a shower, no stove only a hot plate, and inch thick mattress, and a constant mildew smell because of hot humid it is there. Not to mention the dance club that is a block away from her house (the walls were literally shaking that night and they didnt stop until 5 am) Brave girl!!! :) We met her host family and ate empanadas and talked about the poverty in Buenos Aires. I was so shocked by some of the stories that i heard! They are both non profit lawyers that work in the very poor parts of the city, and they were telling me about babies getting stolen so they could be ´sold´to foregin families looking to adopt, the lack of health care, the list goes on and on! They also mentioned the fact that light colored eyes babies are ´sold´for
almost twice as much... all the stories were so sad to hear. It made me want to be superwomen and fix everything. Later that day Christina took me to the community center where she volunteers witht he kids that live in the ´veesias´or slums. She kind of freaked me out by telling me how dangerous it was there and how taxis wont even go into the veesias.... and here she is walking here everyday by herself! I´ve needless to say have added her to my prayers! but no... we didnt actually go into the veesias - we kind of just looked in and called it good. Christina´s stories were also very sad to hear - about how when it rains the kids cant come to the center because they only have one pair of shoes and it is too muddy, and also about how tough all the kids are - bascially because you have to survive. This weekend has repeatedly made me count my blessings. and.... i love America (i´m not saying we dont have our own problems...) Before i left San Miguel the next day i bought 8 movies.... they are pirated but very legal here :) good quality too...!
This week at the hospital has been really good. I´m still learning a ton and ive seen more surguries and procedures lately. Today actually i got to watch the doctors repeativly stick this 5 inch, thick needle into this poor guys neck because then were looking for a particular place where they would be able to get a direct reading of the venous pressure coming into the heart (from what i understood!) The missed a bunch of times and i kept having to hand them more and more gauze! I guess it is really hard to find. Believe it or not i am actually helping prepare the medication for the patients... no big deal - i have no license or anything....
I think it was tuesday - but a man that was in a coma for weeks woke up! It was so cool, and now he is slowly getting better. I´ve taken it upon myself to be his ´water girl.´He had tubes coming out of him every which way but he is able to suck on guaze that soaked with water. All he ever wants is water... and the nurses say that i can give him as much as i want. I give him a lot... almost every 20 minutes. He is this 87 year old man that is in bad shape and i love the way he looks at me when i give him water and ask if he wants more water and if he is comfortable. When his wife comes she always hugs and kisses me... its hard not to get attached to these people! i cant help it! This couple has been together for 65 years and everyday she comes and just holds his hand and strokes his head... ah! it is so sad but really sweet.

Today marks my 3 week in Argentina... where has the time gone! sometimes it passes SO slowly and other times i realize that oh! its already wednesday!

Side note: I went out to eat with my Argentine friend last night and had a cazuela pot with pumpkin, corn, cheese, and honey... all cooked in a cast iron bowl. Yes... it was good.