Day 78: The Facultad de Medicina

I arrived at the hospital at 08.10 per normal and met Dr. Mazia in the entry hall. He did not say much about his trip except that he was tired (from having arrived last night), and that he was not overly impressed with the city of Toronto in general. It turned out that he was teaching the classes today, so walked up to the room together.

He gave three lectures today, one more than has been the rhythm. They were pretty good, full of information, but he did not talk to loudly and with the open window (due to the desire for a nonexistent breeze on such a humid day) there was a lot of background noise. Still, I understood a fair amount from each lecture.

La Facultad de Medicina

I was pretty burned out after the classes, and there was not practical today, but a fellow student asked me if I wanted to drop by the Facultad de Medicina, which is the central building for medical students in Buenos Aires. There are other private medical schools in Buenos Aires, but the Facultad as it is known, is the major public one.

The building is very large, over 15 stories tall, full of classrooms, a library, a cafeteria, and the biggest jewel of the building is a large lecture hall with operatic theater seating for hundreds of people. Above the lecture platform there is a large painting with a group of men standing in the same room. It was very rich, the seats all a deep red that matched the wooden trim well. I wanted to take a photo, but there was a cardiology lecture in process and I did not want to disrupt.

My 'guide' showed me the library and then I left when she went to the cafeteria to eat something before her class. There are 7 years of medical studies here in Buenos Aires. The first 3 are only in the Facultad building. The 4th through 6th are in different hospitals around the city, and the 7th is more specialized and the location depends more on the individual. Still, all 7 years are in general medical studies; after graduation they study further to specialize. As I think I mentioned before, the students with me are in their 5th year, and some still have other classes in the Facultad. My 'guide' had a Medical Law class this afternoon.

I went home to rest a bit, have a little something to eat, and I wanted to go to the class of Tango at 6.00p, but there was a problem. The subway, only my line (linea B), was closed. No explanation, no indication of when it might reopen. I tried to take the number 24 bus that goes right along the route of the subway that I normally use to go to the classes, but I waited for 20 minutes and the two buses that passed the stop were full of people. So, I returned to the apartment. There was a class at 8.00p as well, so I figured I would attend that one. I left with ample time to make the 10 block walk to the other subway line that runs east-west to the south of the apartment.

The A line is the original, oldest, line. The trains were so quaint, with wooden interiors, real lights with bulbs, and manual doors. The seats were fashioned out of strips of wood and faced each other in groups of four seats (bench style) like actual trains. I got a kick out of the experience. The A line actually dropped me closer to the studio than the B line normally does, so I arrived with time to spare.

The teachers arrived a little bit late, and there was only one other older gentleman there so it was almost a private lesson. I really like these instructors, they are both so friendly, and happy. We laugh a lot, which makes a difference to me.

Anyway, I returned home quite tired from the walk in the humidity and ate dinner with Luke and Betty, some rice and a cheese and apple omelette. Luke had arrived last night late from his weekend trip to Uruguay. There was such a storm last night. Hail pieces the size of softballs came pelting down in some areas. The girl who took me to the Facultad told me that in her house they came in through the roof! There was one 14 year old boy killed by a falling billboard. It was quite a dramatic night. The weather here really changes moment to moment. Today it was humid, but sunny and only partly cloudy.

It is already late, although I am not feeling it having only eaten a little while ago (in true Argentinean fashion), but I am going to start getting ready for bed.

Chao.