Football aside...

Aside from catching football matches in the evenings, I am actually getting work done in the laboratory in Fortaleza. A few of my projects will involve molecular testing using PCR to detect certain organisms that cause diarrhea (Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Enteroaggregative E Coli) and I have spent some time during the last week trying to get one of these tests functioning properly. I still need to work out some problems with the protocol, but work is progressing well in that area. In addition, I have been working to translate background, protocols, and IRB (Institutional Review Board) documents for the vision study that I would like to pilot later in the year. Finally, it seems that our study of physical fitness in children in the community may actually commence next week.

In other news, we were able to check out some apartments in nicer parts of the city (read: closer to the ocean) and may soon be moving to another location. This Sunday will be election day across Brazil with Presidential elections and other state and local elections. Interestingly, in Brazil all adults are required to vote in the election. In two weeks, our fellow Fogarty Fellow Tracey (Fogarty Fellow - Salvador, Brasil) will be visiting Fortaleza, and we hope to travel to some of the beaches of Ceará that we have not yet visited. That weekend will be yet another holiday weekend, with two more holidays to follow in November.

Regarding my schedule for the remainder of the year, I will be returning to the US briefly in late December and early January for Christmas and to obtain necessary supplies for my vision study, as well as to begin to set up my schedule and plans for the fourth year of medical school. I´ll then return to Brasil for the last 5 months of my fellowship, beginning my vision study and continuing other projects. At some point in that five months, I plan to spend a week of my vacation in the Amazon. I'll ultimately leave Fortaleza sometime in mid-late May. What I'll do from there is still up in the air, as I plan to either begin fourth year of medical school on May 28, June 11 or June 25. I plan to do a little traveling in South America on the way home. I'd like to at least spend a few days in Argentina, and a week in Peru, and if I elect to start fourth year in June, I'd also like to add in stops in Chile, Bolivia, and/or Ecuador. Starting fourth year in May would technically be a month early, but that would allow me time to do one extra rotation early, and so I may consider doing so to allow me more time to experience ophthalmology prior to making a final decision regarding the field to which I will apply for residency. I'll figure out those elements of my schedule over the next few months.