Una pequenita amount of enlightenment :)

Dear Solo Lectora,

If you are interested and have some free time - an item no one I know seems to posses these days... Otro libro por tu educacion Latina! Este libro gana el premio de paz Nobel!

I, Rigoberta Menchú - By Rigoberta Menchú, Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, Ann Wright

It's wonderful! And it's even free! Esta Gratis! Who can say no to free?!? ;) Please read and enjoy! por favor, lees y disfrutas! :)

~Alida

A little background...

Hola Mi Unica Lectora!

So before traveling to other countries, Antes a viajando a otros paises, in an attempt to be a little less of American stereotype (o una gringa!), I usually try to read up on the history and culture of wherever I am traveling to... Lonely Planet happens to have a very good and succinct overview of the history of Quito -YAY for Lonely Planet!! :) Gracias Solitario Planeta!

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/ecuador-and-the-galapagos-islands/quito/history

Additionally, and for those of you who are wanting to practice your Spanish reading skillz, Tambien, para ellos quien querer a practicar sus leer de espanol - The local Quito Paper has all of the more recent history in the making ...

El Comercio

And not that this has anything at all to do with Quito - but for anyone interested in reading a wonderful book about Latin (Dominican to be precise) Culture check out The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - best book I've read in a while! :) (con una linka a mi tienda de libros favorita)

Ok - hasta pronto mi amigo!

~Alida

Empezar

Dear solo lector,

This blog, at least to start out with, is going to be a record of my time in Quito Ecuador over the next few months :) I plan to focus on diseases and public health problems, but I imagine a small amount of extraneous commentary will find its way into the narrative as well :)

For now I'm still in the states... but I've been preparing!! (He venido preparando!!)

Here's what I've been doing:

1. Listening to Coffee Break Spanish - which can be downloaded for free from the i-tunes music store!
2. Listening to Medical Spanish with Dr Molly - also can be downloaded for free from the i-tunes music store
3. Going to my Local Spanish Meetup groups (find yours on meetup.com :)
4. And using McGraw Hills Complete Medical Spanish

I've been using a few other resources too, but those are the main ones :)

I've also been reading some enlightening articles on medical student international health initiatives - including the recent JAMA article - Ethical Considerations for Short-term Experiences by Trainees in Global Health" John A. Crump, MB, ChB, DTM&H; Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA,
JAMA. 2008;300(12):1456-1458...

Ok, Eso es todo por hoy! I will keep this blog updated as I continue to prepare, and of course, during my trip!

~Alida