Meia Maratona de Fortaleza

Early this morning I took part in the half-marathon of Fortaleza which proved to be 13.1 long miles on a hot, sunny morning. I have ran a few 5k races and ran track in high school, but this is the longest and most challenging race that I have ever run. I entered the race with the primary goal of finishing the race, and set a time goal of 1:40. Despite the hot weather and fighting a losing battle to stay hydrated, I did complete the race successfully. If not for a few tactical mistakes (starting too fast, not drinking enough water, and not realizing that the middle half of the race would be a series of hills), I likely would have met my time goal. Unfortunately, I slid back through the peloton while trying to recover from dehydration and cramps during the second quarter of the race. I was able to make a late surge but that wasn't quite enough to meet my time goal and I finished the race in 1:47. I was happy to have completed the race under some incredibly hot weather conditions which forced a number of runners to drop out midrace, and look forward to improving the next time I try a distance race. I'd still like to complete a full marathon in the next year or so, but that will definitely require some more training, as today's half-marathon proved quite the test.

Vision Study Commences!

This week, after months of waiting, I finally began my study to investigate the incidence of visual deficits in the community. I've enjoyed working on all of my different projects, but it was especially nice to finally see this project that I designed get started. It has been a long road to get this project designed and through all of the various bureaucratic hurdles, but at last the study has commenced. Following are some photos from the first days of work in the community:

Chris Tests Visual Acuity

Members of the Study Team

Chris and Some of the Children

Chris Tests Visual Acuity

Chris Tests Visual Acuity

Recording Data

Chris Performs the Cover-Uncover Test for Strabismus

Chris Tests Visual Acuity

19 Days

Last night, Chris Brown began the journey back the the US, although he will be stopping to spend 6 days in Florianópolis on his way back. That leaves just Ben and I in Fortaleza, with Ben departing May 4, and I following on May 13. With so little time left, I thought I'd list a few of the things that I will miss about Fortaleza when I depart in less than three weeks...

1. Running by the Ocean... Almost every night, I have the privilege of going for a run along Avenida Beira Mar, with a view of the ocean and the sound of the waves crashing into the shore in the background. I love running on the hills of Charlottesville, but will miss running along Beira Mar with the ocean breeze and wonderful view when I leave Fortaleza.

2. The hammock... Many of you know that I have a hammock in my house which allows me to lay down in the evenings while reading or working or just relaxing, and look out the window at the ocean, listening to the tide coming in during the evening. I've never lived near the beach before, and the view from my hammock is something I will certainly miss...

3. Children in the community... For two of my projects, I have had the chance to head out to some communities near to our laboratory and spend some time working with the children in these communities, testing physical fitness and vision. Those have been some of my best days at work...

4. Friends... This year there have been so many Brazilian friends who have made the transition to living in another culture so much easier. From Neto who helped us settle in from the start to our other friends like Andressa, Ila, Jamilly, João, and so many others... they all have helped make this an incredible year.

5. Travel... I have had the chance to travel quite a bit this year, seeing some of the most incredible sights I have ever seen... from the grandiose Iguaçu Falls to the majestic Parque Nacional Lençóis Maranhenses to the sheer magnitude of the Amazon River, I have been blessed with great opportunities to see Brazil.

I'll probably post some more thoughts on things that I will miss about Brazil in the next two weeks... but even as I think of things that I will miss about Brazil, there are so many reasons that I am excited to be headed back to the U.S. And indeed, in just 19 days, I will arrive back in the US!

Miscellaneous Photos

I'm still waiting to get some photos from a few other friends from both my Ilhéus trip and from Chris Brown's farewell party, but found a few pictures from the last few weeks that I haven't yet posted.

Chris, Nate, Margaret, Alex, and Chris in March
Chris in Ilhéus

Chris, Ben, and Chris on Chris' Last Day at Praia do Futuro

Jamilly, Neto, Bruna at Chris Brown's Farewell Party

Chris Brown Decides to Try the Entire Dessert

Mais Um Mes (One More Month)

April 13th has arrived, meaning that I now have exactly one month remaining in Brazil. It seems weird to be thinking about my time left now in terms of weeks, rather than months, and its hard to believe that my time in Brazil is down to 30 days. Work is rather busy right now, although I've hit yet another snag in trying to start my vision study, one day after scheduling it to begin next Wednesday. Now it looks as though things may be delayed a bit more, and so I'll continue focusing on lab work for the next week.

As I think about leaving Brazil on May 13, I will be happy to get back to the US, but won't necessarily be happy to leave Brazil. While I'm really looking forward to getting back to the US to see family and friends, there are many things that I will miss about Brazil, including the friends who I have made here. I'll probably write a bit about some of the things I'll miss about Brazil later, but for now, I thought the opposite might be more interesting (and timely giving some of the frustrations of the last week). And so without further ado, the top 5 things I won't miss about Brazil...

1. Higher crime... never feeling 100% relaxed given the higher crime in Brazilian cities
2. Long, hot bus rides through narrow, crowded, polluted streets... arriving at work soaked in sweat and exhausted
3. Lack of pedestrian safety... cars speeding up rather than slowing down for pedestrians (or people knocking you into the path of an oncoming car while you're running...)
4. Meetings in Portuguese... feeling exhausted after sitting through a marathon two hour meeting in a foreign language
5. Bureaucracy... The simplest things seem nearly impossible to get done thanks to layer after layer of bureaucracy (see account of my attempts to register with the Federal Police earlier in the blog...)

But despite some frustrations, there will be many things that I will miss greatly about this incredible country that I have called home for the last 9 months. Many great friends, incredible sights, and enjoyable activities will be greatly missed. Living in another culture for a year has been both a challenge and a joy, and I know that I will look back on my time in Brazil fondly in spite of many of the challenges.

There are quite a few people who I'm looking forward to seeing when I get back to the US, and so amidst attending a couple weddings of friends and family, moving back to Charlottesville, and getting started with clinical electives on May 28, I hope to have a chance to catch up with many of the people who I haven't seen in quite a while soon after my return, and there's also a much anticipated soccer game to be played with some friends. Until then, I do hope all of you in the US are doing well, and look forward to seeing many of you in May!

Jericoacoara Photos

A Large Dune

The Main beach at Jeri

Sunset from the Dune

Looking Westward

The Village of Jericoacoara

One of the Main Streets in Jeri

Headed to the Beach

Fishermen

The Beach

Me at Jeri

Ilhéus Photos

I'm still waiting for most of the photos from the conference that were taken by the other students with me in Ilhéus, but below are a few photos from my camera, all from our Friday evening in the city of Ilhéus.


Dr. Reinaldo's Wife, Dr. Reinaldo, Jamilly (Brazilian medical student), Dr. Guerrant (Our PI)
The City of Ilhéus at Sunset

Relaxing Before Dinner

More photos to come from the conference...

TMRC Ilhéus

The weekend before last, I journeyed to Ilhéus, a city in southern Bahia for the 2007 Tropical Medicine Research Center Conference. I learned that I would be presenting at this conference at the very last minute, and so the days leading up to the conference were quite busy in the lab. After a series of flights connecting through Salvador, I arrived in Ilhéus on a Thursday night where we were met at the airport by a shuttle to transport us to the conference. I was traveling with Chris B, Jamilly (a Brazilian medical student), Dr. Guerrant, Dr. Aldo and his life Dr. Noelia, and Dr. Reinaldo and his wife. Since our US PI, Dr. Guerrant, was with us, there was a person waiting at the airport with his name on a sign to meet us and take us to the conference hotel. That's the first time in Brazil that I've arrived at an airport to have someone waiting with transport. It was a relaxing alternative to the usual scramble to find a taxi and to search for a pousada or hotel with a room available.

After a 20 minute drive, we arrived at the "EcoResort" that hosted the conference. We quickly headed to the first conference session which was already underway. The conference was a small conference with about 30-40 attendees which allowed everyone to get to know all of the other participants. We also met up with Tracey, the Salvador Fogarty Fellow who also was attending the conference.

The second day consisted of presentations which focused mostly on Leishmaniasis, as well as a few other miscellaneous presentations including a great talk on study bias and epidemiology. After the presentations concluded in late afternoon, we headed into the town of Ilhéus, and saw a few of the cities most famous sites, including a restaurant where one of Brazil's most famous authors, Jorge Amado, did his writing. Then we headed to a house overlooking the river and ocean from a hill where we were treated to an incredible dinner of shrimp, beef, rice, and many other great foods. Finally we headed back to the conference resort to get some sleep in advance of our presentations.

Saturday morning was the series of talks on diarrheal disease and HIV. I spoke second, following Dr. Guerrant, and I think everyone's talks went pretty well. In the afternoon, after shooting some hoops for the first time in a while, I was invited to play soccer with some Brazilians. I should note that like many pickup soccer games in Brazil, the game was played barefoot. After a couple of hours, I retired to shower with my feet bruised and torn up, but after an incrediblt fun game. Just after my shower, a knock at my door proved to be an invitation to another soccer game, this time wearing shoes with the other conference participants. This proved to be an intense game in which I had a great time, managed to score 3 goals and assist on 3 more to Dr. Reinaldo, although my team ended up losing 10-8. While I've watched a lot of soccer in Brazil, the two games at the conference were the first times that I had stepped on the field to play in quite a while, and while I was tired with some scraped knees and bruised feet, it was quite a fun afternoon.

Sunday, we all headed back to Fortaleza, with a bit of a delay during our connection in Salvador. Chris Brown stayed in the Ilhéus area for a few extra days checking out a nearby surfing location, Itacaré, but now we're all back in Fortaleza sequencing genes, amplifying DNA, and analyzing stool samples... This weekend is another holiday (Easter), and with the lab closed Thursday and Friday, we may finally make our first trip to Jericoacoara Thursday through Saturday. Jericoacoara is known as one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and as the best beach in Ceará. After the weekend, I'll be continuing with sequencing, PCR, and hopefully finally starting my vision study if I receive final approval from the UVA ethical committee this week as expected.

Photos from the TMRC to follow as soon as I get Jamilly and Chris' photos, as I only took a few pictures...