Tag Archives: writing

Birthday in Boyaca, part 1

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Been catching up on my writing.. Haven’t written as much as I would like to recently but for good reasons.. After a difficult year – last year, I had vowed to enjoy myself and embrace life again. I’ve always been someone with “ganas a vivir” and I had lost that joyful spirit. This year, I have been doing my best to reclaim that spirit and my sense of who I am. One of the things that had really hurt me last year when I turned 50 – in the midst of all this turmoil was the lack of celebration. Not of me, per se, but the celebration of life, of living, of exploring, of the great privilege of being able to experience joy, wonder, pleasure and laughter.. I have that back – and I am going to hold on to it fiercely.. Whether that means embracing my “epoca de estupidezes, boadas y locuras” by doing all the things I want to – putting myself and my wants first for a while, or just by lighting fireworks – and being true to my redneck rural roots, then that’s what I am going to do.

For my birthday, we decided to take a three day trip through Boyaca. it’s nothing life shattering, but Boyaca is one of my favorite states in Colombia. It’s green, green, green and the rolling hills remind me of my beloved Virginias.. Most of the places we went, I have been to before – but this time, it wasn;t on a tour bus. It was the two of us trying to re-connect and remember the love and friendship we had before it all went so very, very wrong. It’s not a reconciliation, because some things can’t be undone – but it’s a re-definition of our relationship. Maybe it seems weird that we would go on this journey together after everything – but my life isn’t tradicional in any sense of the word, anyway. I mean, I am an American living in Colombia, so my life isn’t going to look like most people’s anyway.

We work together, we lunch together most afternoons. I bring special supplements back in my suitcase when I come back home from my trips back to the USA, and I accompany him to most of his medical appointments. I am the one that interprets what the doctors say into something resembling common dialect for the family. I sit with him during the long chemotherapy sessions and I like to think that we have developed a deep friendship. I am probably deluding myself, but that’s how it is.

So we set off from Pacho for our first destination: Raquiria.

Raquiria is a tourist town known for it’s ceramics and craft work. Raquiria is one of my favorite places for silly reasons, I suppose. It’s a town filled with light and color, so it’s a place I like to photograph.

We stayed at a cute little airbnb, and he indulged me in one of my pet hobbies – portrait photography. I love taking photographs of just about anything, nature, architecture, events, but taking photographs of people is what I really really love. I love the challenge of trying to capture the essence of the person in a still photograph. Years ago, he used to patiently sit and pose for hours while I practiced. He was one of my favorite models. Today, he indulges me for 30 minutes. It’s just the start of a great day.

This is my favorite of all the photos.. He looks a little older than the Andres I know, but he looks good.

Here’s one of me..

We drove thru Sudamarchan – so of course, we stopped for the famous sausages..

Villa de Leyva

On our way to Villa de Leyva, he stopped the car suddenly at a dusty looking road, with a big grin on his face. Soon, I had one too! Go-karts!

We started out clean – he drove – carefully avoiding mud and small puddles after recent rains.. But of course, as soon as he turned over the wheel to me – into every puddle I could find! Very quickly, the go-kart was covered in filth, and so were we! It was a lot of fun..

Villa de Leyva is one of those heritage towns – a colonial Spanish town with a large central plaza.. People don’t come to Villa de Leyva for Go-Karts.. They go there for the history and the charm. So we did those things too.. There was a wedding at the church in the central plaza, with the bride arriving in a horse drawn carriage.

This is going to be a two part post – with all the pictures and such.. Next post – Mongui (home of the soccer ball).

Hello, my long lost friends..

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Dear, dear friends and readers.. The last we talked – life had gotten a little messy..

I was in a dark place. I am sure that most of you remember, as I vomited all my pain and sorrow here. I ended up compiling all those painful, tortured writings into a personal diary of heartbreak and betrayal (now available here) as I made my way back to the surface.. It was devastating, a truly devastating and destructive experience..

But I’m like the unsinkable Molly Brown, I can’t stay down for long.. I am so fortunate to have an unbreakable, resilient spirit that always whispers, “You’ll be fine,” in my ears just when I need it. So, I’m back and doing okay. I bought a new motorcycle, got a new tattoo and I am making my way out in the world again.

People are going to hurt my feelings and do terrible things. That doesn’t reflect on me. But if I let these experiences change who I am, that does. So I won’t become hard or bitter – and I will certainly be hurt again. In the meantime, I am practicing riding my motorcycle – so I can start planning some new motorcycle trips around Colombia. (I had previously written about a motorcycle trip to Muzo, Colombia – but since it was during all of this drama – and involved some painful incidents, I deleted it.) I wish I hadn’t. Despite the unfortunate circumstances of the trip – the ride was breathtakingly beautiful – and challenging because the “road” is little more than a rock studded trail..

I’ve been spending more time out at Finca Ecklandia.. That’s the name of the finca that I am building up in the mountains.. Every time I go, the scenery takes my breath away..

I didn’t think that at 50 years of age, I’d ever post a picture of me in a swimsuit again – but anyway..

In the meantime, some random and wonderful things have happened too.. I had to work in the United States for a week – and as we were in line to board the flight – I recognized someone in the line. It was just after Avianca upgraded me to first-class.. So I ended up sitting only a few seats away from someone I have long desired to meet.

Of course, I didn’t want to be rude or gauche so I didn’t say anything other than a greeting as I took my seat.. But my delightful seatmate wouldn’t let my obvious fandom go – so when we were leaving, she took a picture of me with President Juan Manuel Santos..

He was delightful, charming and extremely gracious as I babbled to him, like a complete fool. I don’t care what folks think about him or his presidency – I’ve always been a fan.

So, I still struggle some days. This week was kind of rough for several reasons. But I am making my way – and I haven’t given up on my dreams – even if some of the biggest ones, like getting my citizenship was delayed. (I had hoped to get it this spring – but due to these particular circumstances, I am now not eligible for several years – and that’s one of the things that hurts the most out of all of this.) People will be selfish, hateful, and cruel but I will just keep on being me.

Days of Summer

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A cautionary tale for my on-line friends in another botched surgery case in Florida.

Let the buyer beware:

In the most recent case, four individuals have been arrested for impersonating surgeons and operating an unlicensed surgery clinic. According to the media reports, only one of the four people charged is a licensed physician, nurse or other trained healthcare provider – but that didn’t stop them from performing major operations such as liposuction and abdominoplasty procedures on their unknowing patients.  While Dr. William Marrocco* was the doctor on record for the clinic – patients report that he wasn’t the one operating!

scalpel

Unlike many of the ‘chop shops” we’ve written about that take place in garages, motels and private ‘parties’, in this scenario, unwary consumers were duped by a savvy group of criminals who had owned and operated the “Health and Beauty Cosmetic Surgery” clinic in downtown West Palm Beach.

*The good doctor Marrocco remains a legally licensed doctor in the state of Florida – though interestingly enough – he does not have prescriptive privileges.  One the Florida Department of Health website, Dr. Marrocco (whose secondary address corresponds with the clinic address) reports active licenses in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana and Nebraska.

But let’s check it out… so I did my own preliminary online search –

Virginia: No records found.  No active or past licensees (expired in the last five years) found.  So he may have had one – but not recently.

Pennsylvania: William Charles Marrocco held a license in Pennsylvania for a brief two-year period between 1998 to 2000. This includes his period of medical residency training at Temple University Hospital.

Michigan: Three expired licenses – one for student status (resident) and one as a pharmacist.

Indiana: Dr. Marrocco was a licensed plastic surgeon in the state of Indiana from 2000 to 2011 and has a notation “reinstatement pending‘.  Maybe Dr. Marracco is planning on heading back to Indiana – where his license remains unblemished – despite the scandal surrounding the 2003  death of his wife after he performed liposuction on her).  License # 01052282A

Nebraska:  Expired, license #2909, educational license permit (training) affiliated with Indiana University

Jorge Nayib Alarcon Zambrano – (one of the individuals charged) is listed as a member of the Colombian Society of Plastic Surgeons – from Cali, Colombia.  So he may be a trained surgeon, just not a very good one (and not licensed in the United States).

Licensing isn’t everything..

Kind of goes to show some of the pitfalls of relying on licensing boards for consumer protection.  Dr. William Marrocco was a licensed plastic surgeon, but that’s little consolation for many patients at that West Palm Beach clinic.

In fairness to Dr. William Marrocco, Jorge Alarcon and the other individuals in the case – they have been charged with multiple counts, but have not been convicted of any crime.  Until that time, they remain innocent until proven guilty.

Apologies to my loyal readers for the long lapse in posts but my plate has been pretty full.  But I will be finishing my latest assignment in a few weeks and starting a couple of new projects for the summer months.

airplane3

I applied for and received a new assignment from Examiner.com to expand my focus to include more than just health topics.  Now I will be able to write more articles focusing on life and culture in Latin America.

Colombia Moda 2014

To kick-start my new assignment, I have applied to attend Colombia Moda 2014.

(official image from Colombia Moda / Inexmoda)

As many of you already know, I was able to attend last year – and got a fascinating glimpse into the fashion industry and the future of both fashion and consumerism.

Last year’s speakers were promoting the concept of “re-shoring” and changing from the traditional ‘seasonal’ lines and collections to an ongoing, evolving fashion line with new designs and items being designed, developed and sold to the public in shorter mini cycles.

dsigners

This year – I’ll be able to cover all of this – along with interviews with individual designers, fashion lines and the Colombian fashion and textile industry.  (Last year, my articles were focused on the role between fashion and plastic surgery).

Fashion is so intrinsic to Colombian life, and many parts of Latin America, so I am really excited about it.  It plays such an important role in the economic, social and an even personal lives of many Colombians.

sew

I won’t have an assistant this year – but I am getting a new lens for the event (I will be journalist/ photographer for the event).

After Colombia Moda, I will be flipping back and forth between writing about culture and my ‘usual’ medicine and health storylines.

I will be staying in Colombia for several weeks as well as covering the Latin American Association of Thoracics (ALAT) conference at the end of July.   It’s one of the biggest international conferences in thoracic medicine/ surgery with many of the legends of thoracic surgery planning to be in attendance.

Sponsors del Congreso ALAT 2014

In August, I’ll be heading across the globe to interview the head of an innovative surgical program.

I’ll be checking in along the way – and posting photos, interviews and articles as I go.