Better to have a headache now...

I have not posted for a while because I have been lately focusing on the nitty gritty stuff for my trip to Peru; things like money, plane tickets, passports, and housing…all the little things, of course. It is funny. I truly thought I had it all figured out a few months ago. I had a cheap hotel, I had plane tickets, I (thought I) had my passport, and I had an exact itinerary. Unfortunately, that was all for Bolivia. Now, I have to figure all that out from scratch once again. To be quite honest, it is all a bit frustrating, though I trust that it will all work out in the end. When I complained to my parents recently, my Dad exclaimed “better to have a headache now than a migraine in South America.” He is right; but I am getting really antsy and I just sort of want to fast forward through everything right now until I get there (except for a little pause on my 21st birthday (coming up soon!) haha).

I think this will truly be an incredible experience, in ways I cannot even imagine. For starters, I am really excited about the medicinal focus of my whole thesis. I think that I am expecting this thesis project to not only help me write something great, but to figure out what exactly I want to do once I get into medicine.

I have been considering a lot about studying Public Health before going to medical school so I can not only have a practice in the United States but also work and help out Latin America’s health problems. Having grown up, in part, in Venezuela, I feel tied to that continent and “el pueblo latino.” There is something about “el calor familiar” (the familiar heat) about the people there; every time I go to a party filled with Venezuelans I feel it. People are so nice, welcoming, and warm... Yet, there is so much chaos and suffering at same time. I like to think that it would be grand if I could eventually help alleviate the pain on the medical side. Who knows? We can all have our dreams. Virchow, a famous doctor and historical figure, once said “The physicians are the natural attorneys of the poor, and the social problems should largely be solved by them.” I kind of like that. I guess that is what attracts me to public health. I’ll keep that in the backburner for now.

Interesting anecdote: Virchow is most famous for expressing the fundamental law of epidemiology, which is “If disease is an expression of the individual life under unfavorable conditions, then epidemics must be indicative of mass disturbances of mass life.” Sounds kind of obvious now, but I think it helps us keep a proper perspective on humankind to realize this was a relatively recent realization. It's funny how what is “obvious” is never constant in human history.