I was walking around looking for Claudio, getting stares from the patients (blending into this island is harder than I thought). I was about to walk through the double doors that led into the general medicine wing when I was almost flattened by Claudio sprinting out the other way. He was in a hurry; there were many outpatient surgeries scheduled that day, and Claudio really wanted to see them. Even though he is an internist, he is a surgeon at heart; he's actually leaving for Canada next month where he'll be doing a surgery rotation.
Anyway, we ran down to the outpatient building, and realized that the surgeon wasn't there yet. So we got coffee while we waited, and Claudio told me part of his life story. Can't mention large parts of it in writing, so I'll let that remain a mystery.
After a while, we went back to the outpatient clinic and scrubbed in for the surgery. There were 4 or 5 of them scheduled that day, and they were almost all cyst removals. Claudio was really excited to do them, so he took over after the actual surgeon did the first one. I had two cysts on my chin back in the day, but it was still more gross than I expected it to be. This was the first time I'd seen people use anesthesia...which I guess is a good thing because it shows that Azoreans aren't invincible robots who FEEL NO PAIN after all.
Claudio gave me an up close look at all the surgeries; I was literally standing over his shoulder while he was cutting/suturing. The procedures them selves didn't take that long; maybe about 15-20 mins each. I could really feel the energy coming from Claudio as he worked; he was born to do this. Which I guess is a good thing for the patient.
After the hospital, we didn't do much, except go to a festa. I alluded to these in an earlier post, but in a nutshell, festas are open street parties put on by churches for a few weeks during the summer. Anyone can come to them...they have free food, free wine, and bread. They're a pretty big deal around here...when a meal is about to start, they set off fireworks so people from all over the city can find the street where the festa is being held. And then they flock to find it.
If beef and sausage didn't make up such a big part of the Azorean diet (there are more cows than people here, so the beef here is very very cheap...also very good from what I'v been told), I would literally never have to pay for food for the remainder of the time here; I could go festa hopping for all three meals. Oh well, at least the bread is delicious. Also the wine is a LOT stronger than I expected...I think its home brewed, because it wasn't like any wine I'd tasted before. Not that it was bad; but it really sneaks up on you if you're not careful.
Two more weeks left. Hard to believe I've already been here a month. I definitely want to come back at some point; this place is amazing.
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