Yesterday Dr. Iglesias told us that we would be observing surgeries at the hospital today. He also told us that while the OR is the one building at the hospital that does have air conditioning, there is a central control for all of the rooms, so if they are doing a C-section in one room, they have to turn off the A/C in all of the rooms, so that the baby doesn't get hypothermia. I'm sure many of you know that neither of us particularly enjoys surgery under the best of conditions, so the thought of being involved in surgery in a possibly very warm room caused us to approach today with some trepidation. Luckily, there were no C-sections today so the OR was nice and cool and it turned out to be a pretty good ... read more

Today we got up and got ready for work, but Dr. Iglesias called around 8 and told us that he wasn't feeling well so we wouldn't be going to work today. Katie and I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to go to the art gallery, El Arbol de Dios, that is a few blocks away. The gallery is owned by Fernando Llort, who is pretty much the most famous artist in El Salvador. He is most well known for designing the tiles on the front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador and for starting an art school for people in rural villages to encourage self-sustenance. Pretty much any place that sells handicrafts or souvenirs sells knockoffs of his work, so it was pretty exciting to be at his actual gallery and the ... read more

Thursday morning Mr. Iglesias picked us up early and we were on our way to the beach! As I've mentioned, the Holy Week is a big holiday here and pretty much everyone but the police have off this week, so the drive that should have taken about 30 minutes ended up being double that. We didn't mind the drive, though, as the trip was filled with interesting cultural experiences. First, we saw a pickup truck with 3 men in the back accompanied by 3 huge pinatas and we thought about following them to their party (because who doesn't love a good pinata), but in the end decided the beach was a more prudent plan. As we got closer to the beach there were a number of roadside restaurants and vendors selling handmade wooden furniture that looked ... read more

This morning Dr. Iglesias picked us up early and brought his family along so that we could all go to a procession in a town called Izalco near the Immaculate Heart of Mary Orphanage. Since El Salvador is obviously a predominantly Catholic country, during the Holy Week they have processions to celebrate their faith every day. There are men in the town called Nazerenes who wear purple robes and carry the idols in the processions. It is a great honor to be a Nazerene and the privilege is passed on from father to son. We got there before it started and there was a beautiful carpet of flowers and another made from colored sand and what looked like spices. Dr. Iglesias said that this is more of a cultural tradition than Catholic, but that it has ... read more

To celebrate Palm Sunday I made Katie sneak into the pool at the Hilton with me. It was really nice to finally work on our tans, but of course Katie was very nervous and thought that every waiter who came outside was coming to kick us out. Obviously we didn't get kicked out and we had a delicious buffet complete with free champagne, because we are fancy. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and studying at the apartment.... read more