Celebración Gastronómica

Zunt Group @ Jose Antonio's

I've been working on my IRB (the protocol I write and submit for approval so I can start my study) and should be ready to submit it in the next few days. Dr. Zunt, our PI from University of Washington, was here 1.5 weeks ago and we had individual meetings with him and then went out for a wonderful dinner at this awesome Criollo restaurant called Jose Antonio, where the company was awesome, the food amazing, and the pisco sours yummy and strong. Joe is great. I have no idea how he keeps track of all our projects!

Two weeks ago one of the other scholars got us invited to the former Prime Minister/Minister of Finance's (PPK) house for an afternoon in Cieneguilla, which was a lovely day away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Nancy and PPK were welcoming and kind. I still think it's crazy that we spent five hours with them, discussing/learning everything from economics to petting their alpaca and watching a few of their thirteen dogs put on a show...

Through one of our local mentors, Dr. Alarcon, I'm also now plugged into the Hospital del Nino. It's unlike any children's hospital I've ever seen--imagine a crowded old shopping center with chaos in every direction.  This hospital is a public tertiary care center that brings in families from all over Peru. As I stood outside the hospital among crowds of people, children walked out with pathologies I'd never seen. It's the only option for families who need specialized care and can't afford private insurance, and I'm excited to start working there. Definitely not LPCH or even Santa Clara Valley (the hospitals where I've had my pediatric rotations).

Queso Helado - read below

Last Saturday, I spent a morning at the Centro Ann Sullivan del Peru for a health assessment focused on kids with "different abilities." I met a few Peruvian med students and shadowed the interview portion and did some physicals. Many of the kids had Down Syndrome, but there were others where Autism was suspected or who had rare neurological disorders. The most common complaint I heard was language delay. For example, a couple brought in their 2.5 year old twins because their vocabulary was limited to only a few words.  These parents were reassured and their children referred to language therapy. Children with more serious problems were referred to a Neurologist or for genetic testing. The experience that I most remember is that of a mother who brought in her daughter because "she was not growing well." I knew the child had Trisomy, but when mom said her main concern was the child's growth, I assumed she didn't know her baby had Downs. I was wrong...when the end of the interview neared and we asked her if her child had genetic testing, she pulled out a paper confirming the diagnosis. To her, the girl's growth, not the underlying condition, was her main concern. In the last two weeks, I've reconfirmed that Peds patients are way cuter than Medicine ones. However, tomorrow I'm going to the public adult hospital--Hospital dos de Mayo--so I get my Medicine experience in and remember why I love that so much ;)

The Entrance to Mistura

I have to end with why I named this blog Celebración Gastronómica, which is Mistura. Mistura is a 6 day Peruvian food festival that started 3 years ago and was founded by famous Peruvian Chef Gaston Acurio. I think you've figured it out by my previous blogs, but Peruvians are obsessed with their food, and after a month here, I know why. You want to pick a fight? Try arguing with a Peruvian about their cuisine. At Mistura there was everything from traditional food (Pachamanca - Incan method of creating an oven in the land to cook food) to the most delish collection of desserts (toblerone cheesecake, suspiro de maracuya [too sweet for my taste], picarones, arroz con leche, etc). If you had the patience (I wish I did, but there was so much to try), you could wait 2 hours to try Chez Javier Wong's ceviche. I tried at least 6 different food dishes, endless desserts (this cheese ice cream dish form Arequipa was my favorite!), and a few varieties of Pisco.  Best of all, we made some great friends while we were there...Stay tuned for my next update in 2 weeks...I'm heading to Iquitos for a week to explore the low jungle and participate in a 3 day race on the Amazon...mosquitoes be nice to me. Sun, please respond to my sunscreen.