Day 72: The Dress Code Violation

Rain. That is what formed the day for me. I woke up and it was sprinkling. I went to school via subway as usual and got to class with a couple of minutes to spare. Today the first class was hereditary ataxia, the second on the group of diseases that all involve demyelination. The sky was very overcast, and with the constant dripping everyone was slightly more sleepy today. For the second class I had a different doctor; now I have had Doctora Salutto and Doctora Santoro, tomorrow there will be a third who I think I know but I am not positive. The second class, for me, was more interesting, Dra. Santoro was a very good presenter, involving the students with questions and examples. She really talked using her own words and did not use the slides as the only information given during the class.

After the classes were over, Dr. Santoro asked me if I would like to shadow one of her subordinate doctors in la guardia, the emergency room. Whenever a patient comes into the emergency room (which is not as much of an 'emergency' room in this hospital since it is an investigational institution) and the patient has an already identified neurological condition, they call a doctor from that department to attend that patient. I saw a woman who had a long-standing history with the hospital, and who currently had the left half of her face paralyzed. Her current complaint, though, was that a week ago she had experienced pain in the paralyzed area as well as in her left ear, accompanied by hearing loss.

The doctor who I followed was a little younger, he was very friendly and down to earth. The only issue with my experience there was that I had not anticipated staying after the classes, and I had worn shorts to the hospital. That is a taboo in any circumstance for a hospital visit, but I figured that if I was just in the classes I could do a load of laundry... Just my luck. I did not want to say "no" to the chance of visiting another part of the hospital, so I donned the customary white coat and withstood the several 'tut-tut's that came my way from a couple of doctors and the head of the emergency room. Needless to say, I picked up my laundry, and I will be wearing jeans tomorrow.

I had a private lesson in Tango today, it was a little less structured, and I am feeling the difficulties of grasping this style of dance. It is hard for me to explain my problem, but I will give it a stab: the dances I have learned previously (ie Salsa, Cha Cha etc.) all have a cyclic pattern in the choreography that is obvious at least at a beginner level. The Tango is much more of a linear dance, not in a rigid sense, but in that the dance is more independant (while not more distant) from the melody/music. There is much more room for creativity and for errors on my part. The instructor gave me a list of 30s and 40s Tango groups (those decades are considered the classic times, some hold the opinion that the music from that time is superior to any other) as well as some modern groups. I am excited to look up the names and hear more of the music; hopefully that will help my process of grasping the Tango.

I can still hear the drizzle outside, and the hiss that the cars make while driving through the wet streets. And although I am tired, I plan to make the trip out to see Paula tonight and watch Mujeres Asesinas a television program that is excellent. It is an Argentinean program about real stories of female murderesses. Quite exciting.

Also exciting is that tomorrow there is only one class before a three-way split into groups for some practical observation.

Chao.