Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Beginning a New Routine

Tomorrow I will be starting my Physical Therapy Internship here! I was originally with a different therapist supervisor, but Pamela has switched me to a new clinic because my original therapist does a lot of in-home therapy, and she thought being at a clinic would be a more beneficial learning experience for me. I am going to be interning at the same place my roommate Laura is currently interning, which is very exciting. I went to work with her one day last week and I really liked her clinic and her supervisor. His name is Mati and he is a very good teacher and I think I will learn a lot working with him. He works at the health center in Villa Alemana, which is a smaller city located nearby Viña. I will have to take the metro every day, about a half hour ride, but it will be nice to get out of Viña a little bit and the ride is very scenic. I will be going with Laura these next 3 days, but then she heads back to the states this weekend so I will be taking her spot as his intern.

I am also ending my Spanish classes! Normally the WE interns here have one week of just Spanish, followed by two weeks of both Spanish and interning, followed by however many more weeks of just interning. But Pamela, our director, said I could end my Spanish if I want to because I am at a very advanced level already and the timing kind of conflicts with the hours that Mati works. I really like my teacher and am sad to end classes already, but I am excited to be able to spend all my time at the clinic. I am hoping to still go on the planned field trip with her next week.

Yesterday we went to Valpo in the afternoon and did a Tours for Tips walking tour. It was really fun. Tours for Tips is a group that provides 3 hour walking tours of Santiago and Valparaiso for free, and the guides only receive compensation via tips, so they are very animated and fun. It was neat to see so much of the city and learn a lot of the history behind the buildings, the street art, and the port. I am starting to learn my way around Valpo, and I really really like the city. There are a lot of cool things to do there so I hope to visit more while I am here.

We also met up with another girl from the US this afternoon! She is here on the same program Laura is, but she chose to do a home stay so she is living with a family in Viña but wants to meet some more Americans that are here. She came the same day I did so she has been here about a week as well. She is super nice so hopefully I can do some more activities with her before she leaves. Laura is leaving to go home this weekend, and Grace and I will be getting two new roommates this weekend so there will be 4 of us here in the house! It is so weird to think that a week from now Laura will be gone and someone new will be here. And then Grace will be leaving next weekend so I will be the old veteran roommate of the house. I am finally getting settled into a routine and figuring things out and it will all change! Ha. Oh well. New people, new adventures :)

 I will have to keep you posted on how my first day tomorrow goes! :)

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