Matters of the Heart

Tonight is my last night in Terceira. Since everyone from Session 1 is gone except me and Rozo, the Residencia seems really empty and lonely. Four people from Session 2 are here now, but it’s just not the same. For my last blog post, I want to write about a ‘Corrida de Toros’- a professional bullfight that we saw two days ago.

I’ve seen bullfights on television before because my Spanish teacher in middle school was very enthusiastic about them and showed us video after video of bulls getting stabbed and eventually killed in fights in Spain. I always felt a little uncomfortable when they killed the bulls because I don’t like seeing animals that have no say in their participation getting hurt in the ring. In Portugal, unlike Spain, they don’t kill the bulls in the arena, so I felt a little better going to this one. There were three professional bullfighters and six bulls. Each bull goes through two phases- a ‘cavaleiro’ in which the fighter stabs the bull on horseback, followed by a ‘pega’ which literally means holding. In the pega, eight or so incredibly brave men nicknamed ‘the suicide team’ enter the ring. You'll see how they earned this name in a second. During this section of the fight, the front man yells at the bull as he takes steps toward it, provoking it into charging at him. He then grabs onto the bull’s head, holding on until the backup men help him to bring the huge animal to a stop.

I think the particular fight that we saw was a once-in-a-lifetime event. One of the bulls was ramming its head against the wall after the fighter left the ring and broke off its horn! It kept on hitting the wall after, probably to put pressure on its wound. The whole crowd was shocked as the herders tried to get the stubborn, hurt bull back into its cage. They first tried to wave him in with the matador as usual. When that didn't work, they tried letting female cows in to herd the bull, then finally got him to move by putting a rope around his neck and pulling. During the last cavaleiro, the horseman suddenly slid off his horse mid-fight and I thought he was going to do a trick on foot! But then I saw the horse collapse behind him. This giant, majestic creature kicked its legs in the air for a few seconds as he had a heart attack, and then lay still. People started jumping into the arena, with the bull still in there, in order to try to revive the horse! A man began jumping on the horses’ chest to perform CPR, which was an odd sight to see, but he couldn’t save it. I admit, I kind of teared up during this whole ordeal. It was incredibly sad to see a heart just give up right in front of my eyes. Now that I’ve seen one bullfight, I don’t think I need to see another for the rest of my life, despite the fact that it was a cool experience overall.

I can’t believe my six weeks have flown by so quickly. I’ve learned so much about myself, the culture of the Azores, and procedures in the hospital. Vanessa, get excited, because I’m about to bring out the cheese. Singer, Laura Hamrick, Laura Rozo, Fei Fei, Chris, Ranjan, Vanessa, Erin, Nicole- you each have a special place in my heart. Thank you for making this such an amazing experience. I’ve made friendships that are not likely to fade anytime soon. I’ve been to caves, hot springs, mountains, beaches, and countless other beautiful natural wonders. Catch you later Azores, it’s been great :)

Signing off,

Aisha Venugopal

Tell the World I'm Coming Home

This is it. I'm sitting in the airport in Lajes in Terceira, waiting to board my flight to Ponta Delgada in an hour. From there its on to Boston, and then to RDU tomorrow morning.

This trip has been beyond amazing. From a professional standpoint, I've seen things at the hospital that have been enormously affirming; I know now for sure that medicine is what I want to do with my life. I can't thank everyone at the hospital enough, Dr. Claudio especially, for everything that they've done for us these past six weeks.

This trip has also been amazing from a culturally. Life in the Azores is completely different from what I'm used to in the States; the living here is easy; the people are very proud of their heritage, and fiercely protective of their traditions. They are some of the nicest people I've ever met; the openness of the Festas and the Sanjonina's festival are testament to that. The raw, breathtaking scenery of the rocky beaches, volcanoes, and rolling hills juxtaposed with the energy of the bullfights and Touradas make this an experience I won't soon forget.

Finally, there are all the people I met on this trip. All of us (Vanessa, Hamrick, Fei Fei, Aisha, Singer, Erin, Nicole, Chris, and Rozo) have become very close over these past six weeks; people I am sure I would not have met otherwise. I'm glad I got to meet them; we've had some awesome memories that have made an awesome trip 1000 times better. Love y'all.

There is a restaurant near our Residencia called 1516, where we ate at least 5 or 6 times. The food there was amazing, but we also kept going back because of our waiter. Pedro is easily the most energetic person I've ever met, and a perfect example of the type of people here. Our first time there, he gave us all nicknames to remember us better (maybe he knew we would all be coming back). I was "The General," because I asked something about the way the Chef prepared a dish. Apparently in Portuguese, Chef means "chief," as in the military rank. Ever since then, he's called me that. Last night we decided to make our last meal at 1516. When Pedro found out we were leaving the next day, he instantly invited us over to his house later that night. He wouldn't get off of work until about 2 am, so we decided to head over there after dinner. We walked around our section of the city talking for a little bit, visiting all the places that have become so familiar to us over the past six weeks. I was feeling a little nostalgic, which is funny given the fact that I didn't even know that the Azores existed before I got here. In six (entirely too short) weeks, this place has clicked with me.

Without a doubt, I'm excited to go back home and seeing my family. In a week, I'll be in India for my cousin's wedding. But I'm also sad to leave this place. I really hope to come back here at some point in the future, whenever that may be. Hopefully I'll have a similar experience next time, though it'll be hard to top this trip.

I love my team.

-Ranjan Banerjee

Parades, Sunrises, and Deer!

This last week has been amazing. Laura already wrote a post about how the city was essentially transformed for Sanjoaninas. There have been parades every night down the main street, and I have been there for all but two. The opening parade was very impressive, with lots of shiny Arabian horses and glittery or traditional outfits. There was also a 5-6 hour long parade last night, with around 30 marchas, or groups of dancers with a marching band accompaniment. The excitement of last night lasted until the morning. After the parade was over, people followed the last marcha, clapping and dancing and very very festive. Then there were tables of free food (sausages, bread, and sardines) placed out in the streets, accompanied by bonfires! We represented UNC and channeled the Franklin Street spirit, of course. :) Pictures coming to a Facebook wall near you!

Since it was around 6 AM when I left the streets, I decided just to stay up and see the sunrise from near Monte Brasil. It was beautiful, even though we didn't see the sun itself. By the time we walked back to the residencia, there were people sweeping the streets, people up for their morning exercise, as well as partiers from the night before, still drinking and hanging out.

Also, we (Chris, Laura H., and I) went hiking on Monte Brasil yesterday afternoon. It was gorgeous and we had a lot of fun climbing everything and taking pictures. On Monte Brasil there are enclosures with different animals, and we petted the deer! Touching a deer's velvety antlers in the gathering dusk on Monte Brasil - that ranks among my favorite moments on this trip :)

Fei Fei

Festas Sanjoaninas-a summary

If you ask me, the first thing I would tell you about Sanjoninas is that the whole thing is somewhat comparable to the State Fair or "Las Ferias de Buga," if you were from Colombia. The point of the comparison is to note that there are several parallels I can draw for you, the reader.

Sanjoaninas consists of a collection of traditional events, food, alcohol, and a happy atmosphere, all on the streets. The city decorates the main streets in Angra so when you are walking at 2am on the street, it feels like 10pm because all the street lights are still shining on you. The main streets are also closed so cars can't go through and pedestrians have it wide. Even then, during the parades, the streets are so crowded that you have to elbow people to get the best view or to get through. But it's all in a friendly way--little children run around, old people seat on folding chairs conservatively, tourists are spottable, street vendors sell sweets and balloons, and I wonder if a bull will come out of nowhere to spice things up. Oh, and then there are the traditional "touradas" that aren't exciting unless someone gets hurt or the bull makes a large crowd run for their lives.

My favorite part of Sanjoninas is being able to walk slowly in the middle of the street, under pretty lights, on cobblestone, and surrounded by old buildings and noise. It's quite the experience!

Hasta la vista!

Laura R.

A little politics shuffled in with all the science and medical stories.

Ahh, here we are, starting the last leg of our trip. I feel so grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in this year's Atlantis Project, stay on this absolutely gorgeous island for the past five weeks, and live (and almost die) with these crazy kids. I'll save the sappy, sad-to-go-home blog post for next week and spend today's post reflecting on my time working in the government.

On Friday, Laura and I ended our work in the city hall. For such an unconventional internship, I really felt like I learned a lot about Portuguese, or at least Angran, politics. Local government officials really seem to care about maintaining their historical traditions, more so than the mainland, which has abandoned such traditions for decades now. Without the persistence of the city hall, I doubt festivals such as Sanjoaninas would still be around. And it says something about the particular governments on Terceira that this is the only island still celebrating long-standing traditions. (As the Azoreans say, there are eight islands and a carnival.) I'm even more surprised that Terceira continues to host these festivals in the face of economic crisis. This year, the city hall has required festival-goers to purchase bracelets if they want to go to the concerts; in past years, the concerts have always been free. After seeing the crowd outside the concert venue last night (the first night of paid concerts), I'm impressed that so many people were willing to pay for the bracelets. It seems like these festivals keep on happening year after year due to both the government's willingness to pay for them and the islanders' demands. It's a beneficial symbiotic relationship the people have with their politicians, something we definitely lack in America.

Over the past five weeks, Laura and I have toured the island in search of abused dogs, outdated billboards, and uncleaned touradas. What we've witnessed in this process has been the project of democracy: a government listening to its citizens (most often when they complain about their neighbors, but it's democratic nonetheless). My goal for the internship was to see how a democracy functions on such a small scale (55,000 residents), without what I thought would be external lobbyist pressure. While I didn't see much outside corporations or governments pressuring the Angran city hall, I will say that democracy seems to run much smoother with a smaller populace. You may be thinking, 'Wait, Singer, there are small city governments in America, too. What makes this so different?' Well, from what I gather, there is less need to comply with national regulations and red tape since the Azores are actually an autonomous region from Portugal. It's easier to follow through on citizen complaints if the population doesn't exceed 25,000 and the complaints don't have to be filed away in national offices somewhere off in the mainland before they can be resolved.

I know next summer when (hopefully!) I'm interning in DC, or even Raleigh, I'll look back on my summer here wishing I could have such a hands-on experience. Everyone we worked with was so happy to answer our questions and talk about their little city. There's a sense of pride here that I want to see when I get back home. I know we're going to miss this place, but fortunately our days in the sun have given us little reminders of our stay on the island in the form of sun tan and freckles.

See you all soon!
Singer

Widened Horizons

The other day, I went to the OR with Chris bright and early in the morning. I changed into my scrubs like a pro this time, and was ready with my shoe coverings, hair net, and mask in record time. There are three main rooms in the surgery ward of the hospital, and Chris went to the general, big surgery room while I went to the more specialized room. The room is shared between orthopedics, ophthalmologists, and other specialty doctors who only come to the OR on certain days to do select surgeries. That day, Dr. Antonio, an ophthalmologist, was doing a few cataract surgeries. I have pretty bad eyesight (thanks Dad :P), so I have been to various eye doctors ever since elementary school. I was never interested in working with the eye, because I when I thought ‘eye doctor’ my brain conjured up an image of my optometrist, someone who does annual examinations and prescribes glasses and contacts- something I knew I didn’t want to do. I never even considered ophthalmology! The two fields, although both dealing with the eye, are very different. Ophthalmology is very hands-on, and I really liked how the surgery was so delicate and focused on a tiny, but extremely complex part of the body.

So, to start out my day in surgery, I saw two cataract surgeries with Dr. Antonio. It was at first a little disconcerting to see needles and scissors sticking out of a human’s eye like a scene out of a gory horror film. However, once I got used to the sight, I became more interested in the multiple layers of the eye, and the precision and skill with which Dr. Antonio handled the instruments. Unfortunately, I was standing in a corner of the room so I could not see the procedure close-up. I had to watch it on a television in the room that projected an image from a camera that magnified the eye. After the first cataract surgery, Dr. Antonio drew a picture for me to point out where exactly he had made the incisions. He also dyed the cataracts blue in the second surgery so that I could see them better, and understand how he removed them and inserted the new lens. I really appreciate the time he took to explain the procedure to me, because not all of the doctors we shadow do this. I think it had an effect on how interested I was in how ophthalmologists work.

The third surgery I saw was with a different surgeon. He did a surgery on a patient with strabismus, meaning her eyes didn’t line up properly, and he had to tighten and loosen muscles on the side of the eye to correct it. Her eyes were divergent, so he cut the muscle on the left side of the left eye, and loosened it. He then sutured the cut with dissolvable thread. I never thought about the actual thread that is used to stitch up the body, but it makes sense that it needs to be somewhat natural. Otherwise, the body would reject it, and that kind of discomfort in the eye has got to be brutal. The tread just disappears as the muscle corrects itself, and the doctors only know if the surgery worked a few days later when they take the eye patch off. For this surgery, there was no camera, so I was literally two feet away from the patient’s face!

I am so glad that I am seeing these different departments of the hospital at this point in my undergraduate career. The surgeries that I saw that day are something that I can see myself doing later in life. Even though I still enjoy and am very interested in pediatrics, my horizons are being widened, and I’m discovering that there is so much more I could do in the medical field.

Aisha

Relaxing Rich...

During my adventures here on Terceira, I have seen many wonderful views and met numerous beautiful people. Working in the hospital during the mornings into the day, then from the day to the evening filling that time with hikes, explorations, and discussions with Azorean people on the street makes for, what ended up being, and exhausting bunch of weeks. As wonderfully fulfilling all these experiences are, the pace of it all can wear a person down. Thus, as important as it is to interact with the locals and learn about their culture, it is equally as important to take some time to neutralize. I did that a couple of days this past week at the local beach where many of the locals find time to relax and enjoy time with each other under the sun.

I've walked past and taken photos of this beach a hundred times already (and I mean that literally). I had yet to pull out a towel, grab some hydration, and just relax. Take a load off, if you will. The beach was replete with locals from a varied age range. Laughter from children and adults was like music to my ears. And observing the enjoyment they were all having in the simple moments they indulged with others, the sand, the water... I began feeling the same thing too. Simple moments.

A hot day, I chose to take a swim and float in the bay well away from the crowd. Lying back, I looked to the sky and in my periphery, the sights of the city structures. So well designed and beautiful. My ears under the water line, I could hear the sounds of people splashing in a muffled sort of way. However, the sounds of the ocean took precedence and was incredibly relaxing. So much so, that I could have easily fallen asleep if not for the occassional splash of salt water across my face. Sure, the water was cold upon entry, but once my body became quickly adjusted to the temperature, I began to differentiate between the warm and cooler currents of the incoming Atlantic waters. I was alone in the middle of the bay, surrounded by the elements of humanity and structure, and peaceful. I was at one with my surroundings.

Floating in the water, and returning to my beach towels that was placed next to my relaxing cohorts who were either reading, watching the sights, or taking a nap, I realized that we were in a precious moment. We were like rich millionaires in a resort town undiscovered by an overwhelming feeling of commercialism prevalent in many resort-like settings. Here, we were rich in culture and opportunity surrounded by locals who were here having the time of their life with simple pleasures. And, for me, it was also a time to not think about school, the hospital, paying bills, or anything else taxing to my mind. At that moment, I was in a glorious place I have connected with spiritually and culturally, and taking time to de-stress and breathe it all in. Yes, I am rich with the many opportunities to partake in all that wonderful place has to offer.

~Christopher