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I got to Tarija on August 19, in the afternoon, after three days of flying. We were greeted at the airport with hugs from the program coordinators Dra. Karina Gamarra and, her husband, Fabricio Uribe. They were so nice as they gave us more information and drove us to meet with our host family. My roommate, Olayinka, and I met our host mom, Lila, as she invited us into her home to stay for the duration of our study abroad. Lila only spoke Spanish which was a good thing because that meant we could practice our Spanish even more. She kindly showed us our rooms and gave us the rest of the day to catch up on our sleep.
The next day, we had a meeting over dinner with the coordinators to give more information about the program including our general schedule: clinical rotations, Spanish classes, transportation, what to wear, and who we were shadowing. The meeting was within walking distance, so we had to map it to the location. I usually use "Apple Maps", but it wasn't cutting it; I had to download "Google Maps" which I don't usually use. I continued to use it throughout the duration of my stay to get around Tarija. In terms of communication, I mainly used "WhatsApp" since it's the predominant form of communicating. Lastly, I also downloaded translation apps to help with my Spanish. The more I learned about the program and what we were going to do, I started to become more excited. After we were done with the meeting, we had Dra. Karina and Fabricio drive us to a store that was open to help us buy a gift; it was our host mom's birthday and we wanted to surprise her. While shopping around, I had some social anxiety because I felt like I was getting stared at because I was only speaking English. Luckily, Dra. Karina was there to communicate with the cashier for me. In that moment, I realized that I needed to learn how to communicate for myself.
The day after, we began our regular schedule. We started our clinical rotations from 8am-12pm, went back home for lunch (which was always so good!), had Spanish class from 3-5pm, and, afterwards, we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. Olayinka and I were on the same rotations, and our first rotation was in the primary clinic shadowing Dra. Mayda Sanchez at the Centro de salud Nestor Paz clinic. The clinic was far and across a river, so we had to take a taxi which I was nervous about due to the communication aspect; but, it actually worked out! We got to practice our Spanish and even got to the clinic on time. I was definitely overthinking it which made me dread it more. I thought, "What if they don't understand me and we get lost?". But, after doing it, it wasn't that bad! I learned that I was only scared because it was a new experience. Now, I know not to let fear stop me from experiencing new things.
As the days went on, I got to experience more of Tarija; especially, in my clinical rotations and Spanish classes. Throughout shadowing, I was worried that the language barrier would make it impossible for me to understand the patient and doctor. I had to get resourceful, so I used a translator app to make out the conversations. If I was lost (which was often), I would just ask Dra. Mayda questions to clarify what was going on. At this point, I was trying to connect what I learned from Spanish class and self-studying to help me understand what was being said. In the times I got frustrated, I had to remember to give myself some grace while learning a new language. The primary clinic had a wide range of patients of different age groups which was cool to see. I was fortunate to see various patients become vulnerable with doctors about their concerns as they trusted them with the well-being of their health. I had so much fun at this clinic, and my favorite part was shadowing the nurses as we went into the villages to give vaccination shots to children who couldn't travel to the clinics; we also gave nutritional supplements to the children and adults. As I got to travel to the villages, I started to notice how different the villages looked compared to being in the city. The city seemed to be more developed in terms of architecture. One thing that stayed the same were the dogs everywhere! Overall, the first week in Tarija was definitely an adjustment period for me to get comfortable with a new environment and language.
