…waiting for the boat to take me to San Cristobol, where the sea-lions apparently outnumber the humans.  These playful, inquisitive and extremely relaxed mammals may just be my favorites in the Galapagos.  I’ve had two close but brief encounters with them, once diving and once snorkeling, and I’m hoping to for another chance.  But I don’t want to get too close to any territorial males! 

Speaking of which, I have to talk about Tortuga bay again.  I just got out there once this week, lamentably, but it was a beautiful day, and although we had a record crowd in my experience (about 20 surfistas and body-boarders) everybody in the lineup was happy to share the waves, or wait for the next one.  This courtesy is unusual in my experience, and very pleasant.  As a body-surfer (no board, often no fins) I always try to get out of everybody’s way, but it’s nice when people are also trying to watch out for you. 

Of course, it doesn’t hurt when you’re their doctor; one of the surfers in the lineup paddled over to say hello and let me know that the stitches I had put in his head a few weeks earlier had helped him heal up nicely. 

Work was a little slow this week; I’m mostly training the nurse in the clinic, Nancy, on how to use the patient tracking chart we’ve developed in Excel.  I’m also learning a lot about pirated software and viruses!  We’ve had several new patients who have come in to check their blood sugar for the first time in months.  Not surprisingly, their levels were well above the normal range.  I’m hoping that Galapagos ICE and Municipal clinic can continue to help all of these patients and manage their illnesses effectively.  The management plan (an 8 page rough draft of my Independent Scholarly Project which must be submitted for graduation) is what we’ve been using and I’m just trying to help make sure that it’s a practical tool for the clinic.   Vamos a ver (we’ll see!).

With a majority of the volunteers on Isabela island this past week, I’ve been teaching exercise and nutrition classes in the evenings.  The first exercise class on Tuesday was a little bit like the Golden Girls meets reality t.v. , but it was a lot of fun. 

 


an apartment with great ambiance



nice place to relax



Ecuavolley = awe-inspiring




?



Well, it's not Valdez

Otherwise, I’m just thinking about what I am going to do with my bike and my guitar and how much peanut butter I will need to get me through until I leave next week.  I miss Carolyn, I miss my friends, I miss being able to drink the tap water and taking internet access for granted.  It seems like a long time since I arrived here.  I’m sitting at the same restaurant where I came when I first landed, and thinking about how my ideas of this place, about medicine and business, and about us humans have been formed, challenged, changed, and shaped again in these past weeks.  It’s been a terrific experience.