Wow..  a long couple of days – but I am sure not complaining!  Still having a blast – and as they teased me in the operating room, “Cristina, Cristina, Cristina!” I felt more like I belonged – instead of as a student, often lost/ confused.  Even more so – when I found myself irritated on rounds – irritated when the answers were obvious!!  Obvious – that’s certainly making progress..  (Irritated is such an improvement over clueless, I must say..) But the interns are a good bunch, even if they don’t love surgery like I do!

Residents at Mexicali General

The good doc gave me some homework – as we work on a ‘mystery diagnosis’ which I am enjoying.  Of course, it won’t be a mystery as soon as the pathology comes back, but I am surely enjoying the intellectual challenge (and kind of hoping that my preliminary leaps aren’t completely off-base..)  Of course – the doc is so smart – he probably already has it all figured out, and is just checking on the faculties of his student.  (He is secretly brilliant, and just hides it behind his braces and freckles.. Kind of scares me sometimes..)

Deceptively normal looking..

Bumped into Dr. Ramirez and Dr. Perez (the anesthesiologist) this morning, which reminds me that I still need to write about my visits to his operating room last week.  So I haven’t forgotten – expect it in just a couple of days..

It’s nice too when we run into people I know as we round at different hospitals around the city..  But then – as I glance at the calendar and realize that time is passing – I get a little sad.  Just as I am starting to understand things (Spanish, the hospital systems etc..) and I am enjoying it here so much, learning so much, yet time is flying, and before you know it – I will be returning home again (wherever that is!)