First Week of Spanish Lessons and First Week in Hospital del Nino!

Wow, speaking only in Spanish for two straight hours is taxing on my brain! After every Spanish class, I feel mentally exhausted, but also a sense of accomplishment. My Spanish teacher, Cynthia, is nice but very strict when it comes to the rule of “No Ingles!” Although the topics we cover in class are pretty basic, such as when to use Usted vs. Tu and how to congujate verbs in the past, not using any English is challenging!

However, compared to rounding in the hospital, Spanish class is a breeze! I completed my first week in Hospital del Nino with the pediatric nephrologist and let me tell you, medical Spanish is a whole other animal!!

When I first arrive in the hospital in the mornings, I attend rounds with all the doctors, nurses, residents, a nutritionist, and a social worker. Rounds in Bolivia consist of a crowd of the aforementioned people, walking from bed to bed discussing the progress and treatment plans of the patients in the unit. In addition, the resident pushes a little table on wheels and types the notes dictated by the attending physician on a typewriter (!!!). This is similar to rounds in the U.S., however in Bolivia, there is no such thing as patient privacy – not even curtains separate beds to provide the illusion of privacy. Here, everyone in the unit can hear every detail of every other patient.

In addition, this past week was the 37^th anniversary of Hospital del Nino, so I attended a special conference covering numerous lectures on various pediatric health issues. It was hard for me to follow the discussions as they spoke very quickly and used complicated medical terminology. I’m trying to remain optimistic that this will become easier with time, but unfortunately, I’m starting to realize that four weeks is not enough time to really get a handle on Spanish.