Day 4- Estequilla

Tuesday April 26, 2011

This morning at breakfast we were treating to a nice surprise by our creator. We had heard that we would be able to see the volcanoes from the bed and breakfast we are staying in. So far we have not been so lucky. But, today as we were sitting down to breakfast I went to the window that more or less overlooks the town and could see the volcanoes below the cloud cover. I made this announcement and several of us ran for our cameras. It was really cool. I hope we will be able to see them in all their glory before the week is over.

Today I went to Estequilla with Dr. Andrew Hamilton and Dr. Misha Ghazarian. Our translator was Carla. She did a really good job. I have a picture of the American dentists outside of the clinic and a picture of all three of them inside the mobile van. Carla is a dental student here in Chile so not only was she able to help us with translating in Spanish but she knows the dental terminology as well. She may be able to do some dental work before the end of the week with one of the attendings assisting her.

Estequilla is only about 5 minutes from the cost of Chile although we wouldn’t have known this if David hadn’t told us. After we finished work today we asked our driver if we could go to the coast and he gladly agreed. It was gorgeous. I have never been to the coast where there was no beach only cliffs and rocks. That is what it is like in most of Chile. And the wind was whipping as well. It was cold. David Hughes says that he has been in the water in the middle of the summer and he had to where a wetsuit. So you can imagine what it would feel like now as we are approaching Winter here in the Southern Hemisphere.

But, in spite of that everything is very green. This is due to the 56” of rain this region gets per year. As a matter of fact today was the first day that I have seen significant blue sky since we have been here. Perhaps this was due to being so close to the coast. As we made the hour-drive back to Los Muermos the cloud cover returned and it looked as if we might be in for a good rain shower tonight. We’ll see.

The week is going well. We are hearing good reports from all sites. One pair of dentists was treated to lunch by one of the patients. She brought them a meal prepared from items on her farm (fresh chicken, zucchini, carrots, etc.). Then, this same team who had just treated the principal of the nearby school took them to see the school and gave them a tour. What a neat point of connection for these dentists!