Last Day

Here is the view from my desk, where Ana Maria and I sit every afternoon and study. The intersection down below is quite busy, so I have a good view of all the action below.

Holland and I are all packed up and ready to take a shuttle into Antigua in the morning. Although we've already spent a weekend in Antigua, we are planning to spend tomorrow night there before flying out of Guatemala City in the morning. It's supposedly about a 45 minute taxi drive. We are not staying in Guatemala City because it's not particularly safe for tourists and also because we want to take a cooking class in Antigua.

Although Holland kind of dragged me here, I've actually had a really wonderful month and am very sad to leave. I like our host family a lot. I am amazed at how much progress my Spanish has made over the month. Although I took it for two years in high school, it was pretty much non-existent when I got here. Now I can hold a comprehensible (although somewhat labored) conversation. I wish I had more time to learn more....and to get a little more relaxation in! I've wondered many times during residency how much time it would take for me to start feeling like a human being again and now I know: about a month. I've begun to feel like a normal person again for the first time since med school. I can think about non-medical things that I want to do and what I want to do with my life. I can talk without saying negative things! And for that, I am terrifically grateful.