Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Quick update from the U.S. (EDF)

El Salvador had their national presidential election on Sunday, and the leftist candidate, Funes won!  

KRF and I had a feeling the right-wing party (ARENA) and their candidate, Avila, would win- that party has been in power for a loooong time (I think 16 or so years), and they had canvassed the entire capital city, and the countryside as well, with ads, slogans, and their colors.

Funes and the leftist party (FMLN) represent change; Funes had been compared to Obama, so I think it is exciting (though we did have many conversations with more conservative El Salvadorians, who I'm sure are disappointed).  Way to take on ARENA!

Last few days in El Salvador (EDF)




Our last few days in El Salvador were busy and memorable- we continued to go out into the community, making home visits with our team.  On our last day we went to the U.S. Embassy with Dra. M to give a presentation (in English!) about our activities in El Salvador.  We don't have any pictures of this talk with us in our suits- security was intense!  We were not allowed to wear watches or bring calculators (a calculator I am usually never without...), cell phones, etc., and we spent a lot of time at the entrance getting appropriate clearance, and going in one at a time into the screening security room.  Only slightly intimidating, goodness!  After that, though, we actually enjoyed ourselves quite a bit- we gave our presentation to 3 embassy officials and had a great, lively discussion with them about health care and medical education systems, and future exchanges between New Orleans and San Salvador.  It was a nice wrap-up of our month!

We also had our last get together with the older persons group- they threw Lic. V a baby shower, and it was a great party!  The room was decked out (as you can see from the pictures), there was a full meal, and lots of party games!  The one pictured is where we all passed around a roll of toilet paper, and each person measured out what they thought the circumference of her belly was; the winner, a man in our group, got it exactly right!  What a lovely group of people.

Santa Ana day





Our last week-photos





Spending time with the family medicine residents!