Lull

Colin here... It seems to happen to every blogger: you hit a stretch when you don't post anything on your blog for a few weeks or months, and then you have to give the obligatory "Sorry for not posting" post to get things rolling again. Well, this is mine.

I had a good excuse for the month of July because I was down in Costa Rica and Panama saving the world one rotten molar at a time. We worked with local doctors in make-shift clinics, usually a church or community center. We had to make-do with limited supplies, rusted instruments, and no x-rays. We were lucky to be lead by a Costa Rican doctor who has become adept at what he called "Jungle Dentistry", meaning he could still provide care even if he was in the middle of the jungle. He certainly taught us pampered Americans a thing or two about improvising, and it was nice to see alternative treatment methods that they don't teach in the states.

At each clinic we set up 3 stations: cleanings, fillings and extractions. We had about 20 students divided into 3 groups, so each day we just rotated through different stations. We always had a line of people waiting for us in the morning, and unfortunately we usually had a line of people still waiting at the end of the day. It was frustrating to turn people away, but there were far too many people who needed treatment than we could handle. The irony is that Costa Rica has more dentists per capita than the US, but a lot of people are just poor to go see them.

Overall, my trip was awesome. I got to give my first injections, extract my first teeth, and place my first fillings. Costa Rica and Panama are beautiful countries and I definitely plan to go back. I especially want to go when we have kids that are about 7 - 10 years old because I think they would really enjoy all the animals that you find in the rain forest.

I titled this post Lull not only because my blogging was in a lull, but also because ever since I returned from my trip I have been in a lull. We had the month of August off as well, so I've been filling my days with the Olympics, cleaning the house, and bike rides. Most people tell me to enjoy this before school starts, but I'm the kind of person who gets bored with too much free time. So, this last week I started back at my research lab at school and I spent one day shadowing at Temple's oral surgery clinic. On Thursday I went in at 6:30 am to watch a bilateral TMJ replacement (the TMJ is the jaw joint, and sometimes disease will cause it to fuse shut, requiring replacement). After waiting around outside the OR for about an hour, the surgeon showed up mad because the patient backed out of the surgery. Apparently she got scared by the consent form that detailed all the possible complications, so she's going to keep drinking her meals through a straw. Free agency doesn't always make sense, I guess...

Right now we are at my sister Laurel's apartment in Boston, watching Argentina vs. the Netherlands in Olympics soccer. We took the bus up from Philly last night because it was way cheaper than driving the green monster. But it was definitely not more convenient. We had to change buses in Manhattan, but our bus leaving Philly was an hour late so we missed our connecting bus. We had to wait for an hour in the rain for another bus, which also left an hour late. Six hours later, we arrived at Laurel's apartment at 2:00 in the morning. Alas, we save about $100 but it took us 12 hours to get here. This was similar to when I was in college and needed to fly from LA to Tampa. I bought the cheapest tickets I could find online, but didn't even notice that it involved 4 legs and about 13 hours. I went from LA to Denver, Denver to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Tampa. I wasted an entire day just to save maybe 50 bucks.

Alright, this post is starting to ramble, so I will wrap it up. School starts next week, which will help to break my lull. It's going to be a busy year, but I would rather be busy than bored, and I'm excited to get back into a groove.

Hasta luego.