Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Diary of a Doc: Dr. JJ on a Mission...a Medical Mission -- Colombia, Pt 1

In this Diary of a Doc, we catch up with Dr. JJ on a medical mission to Colombia. Unsure exactly what to expect, yet incredibly excited, the group of 18 landed in Colombia this morning and hit the ground running. Headed up by Dr. Carmen Botero (yep...THAT Botero!), the group of doctors, doctors' children (many quite accomplished in their own right) and contributing guests begin their trip in Bogota, absorbing the sites, sounds and culture of the capital city before heading to Medellin, Cali, Cartagena, back to Bogota and home to the U.S.

Here, Part 1 of Dr. JJ's travel diary:

"Funny I was stressing that I had 2 suitcases, Carmen had 12! And 14 huge boxes…needless to say after arriving in Bogota...getting out of the airport involved going through several gauntlets…but so amazing that a couple of the porters knew and recognized Carmen and treated us with ultimate respect.

Ali Namazie, his wife Giselle (an internist), their 2 girls, Don Shaul & Shirley Suda and their 2 boys, a premed Junior from Masters University, Sister Colleen Settles (an ordained minister and Dominican Nun from Kalamazoo, who ROCKS by the way...), Carmen, her son Omar, assistant Consuelo, Howie and Ellen Reinstein, their adorable daughter Mikaela (a special ed teacher in Oakland), and Mark Koenig, Providence international mission expert compose our contingency.

Air quality in Bogota is horrible – from the air it is so green it looks like a massive golf course with Andes Mountains attached…once on the street, no traffic lanes, CROWDED buses, rogue ambulances and scooters, innumerable car repair shops (wonder why?), cows and horses on mere spits of land between lots of cinderblock buildings…and at the height of the city, modern construction, business people looking like they are out of central casting, our hotel, and 18 hungry and tired travelers awaiting our first stop at 10am this am – the State Palace – where we will have a private diplomatic tour...(stay tuned for pics!)

Since the food on the plane was inedible (but oh, the wine was good), off to a quick breakfast and then the days’ tour…..

Kind of cool that the hotel conserves it's resources – you have to put your key in a slot (a slot they don’t tell you about, btw) in order to turn on any lights in the room. For this tired traveler it took a few minutes…but the internet connection is good…and so far so are we…..

Until next post....

Xo, JJ"

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