Deanna

Missing my big girl´s birthday Five years old today.Today is Michaela´s birthday and I am sitting here in Toledo thinking about the day she was born. Since this is what I´m doing today, I will share it with you also. Mike was grilling filets outside on the deck and I was sitting down getting reacy to watch the season premier of Sex and the City. At this point, we were still supposed to have 2 weeks until the baby was due. I went to use the bathroom before the show and my water broke. Instant labor and severe pain. I told Mike we needed to go. Of course, Mike had not packed his bag for the hospital yet so I stood as patiently as a woman could while he ran around looking for a T-shirt, deoderant, ... read more

Ok, Ok, Ok....I have been a bit absent for the last 3 (many 4) days. My bad. There have been some significant computer access issues compounded by the need to complete a research project with the undergraduate students. So, any free time was finding and reading research articles and then creating papers and powerpoints. Since no printer is available, all of this becomes dependent on the live use of the computer. Yikes! It has been a nightmare. So, now that I have clarified my absence, I can tell you what I have been up to. Well, we went to the Don Quiote trail and it really blew. The wise planners of the trip had us on the bus to walk the trail on a day when the temperature we 102 degrees. We drove for approximately 1 ... read more

Don Quiote and the Windmill No giants hereToday, we had some confusion on what we were doing. The morning was used working with our undergraduate partners to finish our presentations. We sat on the salon and finished our work (or as much as we could with 5 people sharing one computer). After lunch we headed outside (it was 102 degrees) and waited for a bus to go to the Don Quiote trail. Mary and I thought it was a 1/2 hour drive, but it ended up to be about 1 3/4 hours to where ever we went. When we got to the town, it was deserted. All the shops, museums, and attractions where closed. Apparently on Monday´s everything is closed in small towns in Spain. So, we find the one bar that is open and have ... read more

Yes, we brought our leftover chinese back to the dorm to eat later so of course, now the microwave is fried. I swear, ever since the Boston students arrived last Wednesday every appliance has gone to hell. First it was the computer that "suddenly crashed" the day after they arrived and now someone tried to make a bag of popcorn that the microwave does not have the power to accomodate. I just know the washing machine will be next, if not the plumbing for the entire city. Michael says all the Boston students do is whine about what they don't have here and then break what we do have. Last night they put in a DVD of "Nip/Tuck" and had the TV on so loud that our students who were doing their homework on the one ... read more

Today, since I didn't have to be up at any particular time, I didn't set an alarm. I woke up at 1:15PM in the afternoon. It felt delicious to wake up naturally; I don't think I have done this in over a year. I layed in bed and read and then washed some personals in the sink in my room. Around 3PM I took a shower and got dressed. Finally, around 4PM Mary and I went out for lunch. The first place we stopped at we sat down at 3:50PM and the waiter would not greet us. Finally, at 4:01 he comes over and asks for our order. We try to order off the daily menu (which is a better deal because it includes drinks and desert) and he sniffs his nose, coughs into his hand, ... read more

Roman ruins and fairytale castles Where is my prince? We took a daytrip to Segovia today to see the Roman aqueduct (still functional, but not in use) and Alcazar castle (whichWalt Disney used as an inspiration for his castle for DisneyLand). We started at the aqueduct and Jaime (our guide) explained the history of the area and the modern lifestyle they enjoyed 2500 years ago. The aqueduct allowed them indoor plumbing and sewage systems. Jaime is a Ph.D. student studying international relations and had wonderful English. Mary and I were lucky enough to have lunch with him and soak up knowledge from him. Except for his amblyomyopia (lazy eye), he was quite attractive - in a Spanish way. Anyway, the highlight of the trip was the castle! It was so beautiful. It was so fun to ... read more

Two Views for the Price of One Good thing Mary brought the binoculars We spent the day hanging out around the residence doing homework and resting. About 6:30PM Mary and I decided to go to Paladora, which was suggested by Claudia, as a place for a great view of the city at night. So we hail a taxi in Zocodover and take an 8 Euro ride to outside the city walls and way up on a hill overlooking the city. We walked out to the patio in the back of the hotel and saw the most gorgeous view of the city. We ordered a couple of beers and tapas and settled in to watch the sunset and see the city light up. Soon we noticed that there were two people sitting on some rocks about 1/4-1/2 ... read more

Flirting in Rome Chocolate Gelato Mary and I had a busy day touring the local primary care clinic in Toledo. We were able to learn more about the distribution of care in Toledo's version of Universal Health Care. What was most striking was the similarities of how the systems work; the amount of time office visits were, who is seen by who, the focus of primary prevention. The differences seemed to mostly on how care is payed for and the organization of care to be closer to the population (and the use of home visits to provide care to those who cannot go to the clinic). It was a wonderful tour and very informative. I need to sit and ponder what I learned and compare it to the information we will get next week when we ... read more

A Tuesday in Toledo No one knows the day I slept in this morning and then laid in bed reading. It was heaven. I bought an extender for my converter yesterday from the grouchiest old man at the hardware store and was able to play my iPOD in my room (to drown out the BONO/U2 from Mary´s room). The extender makes the adaptor so far out from the wall that it needs to be propped up but that´s cool. Getting back to the grouchy hardware guy; this guy thought Mary and I were total idiots. The outlets here are round and recessed. My converter is a rectangle and so the plugs don´t reach the electricity connection. Any hoot, I don´t speak Spanish and left my dictionary in Madrid (damn you Mr. Abdul) and Mary was unfamiliar ... read more

Morning in Toledo Oh, what a beautiful morning! I woke up at 7AM to my Ironman alarm. I padded to the next room and woke up Mary. We got dressed and headed out for water and Coke light. Then back to the residence to meet the group at 9AM. We headed across town to the ESTO offices which are located in the University and had coffee at the campus diner. To our great surpise, they have a full bar and beer tap in the campus diner. I think that would have been a fantastic addition my college experience! We then walked to the other site of the University (everything is very spread out) which is a converted armory. We met the head of the nursing department at Universidad Castilla-LaMancha (UCLM) and saw a presentation of how ... read more