¡Hola a todas de las personas!


I apologize for not writing in a few day and for not getting those darn pictures up for everyone to see! I am finding it difficult to organize and turn the pictures so they are facing the right way when you guys view them!! I either need to stop taking pictures or find an easier and quicker way to get this done!!!


I really haven't done too much the past few days, but for some reason I have been SOOOOO exhausted at the end of my day! Sunday night I went to my intercambio's house. She has such an amazing family!! She has two kids (the ones I talked about in a previous post, Nerea and Aarón) and her husband is a fire fighter in Madrid :) Not to mention, Estrella (the mom) works for the police over here in Toledo! What are the odds of that?!?!? When I told her my dad works for the police in the States, she couldn't believe it!! She told me that she was going to bring me downtown to see where she works and what she does!!! HOW COOL!!! They were the nicest family!! All of them even speak English!! This makes it easier when I can't figure out what to say or how to say it!!! Brittany and I had dinner over there and it was PHENOMENAL!!! It was definitely one of the best dinners that I've had thus far! 


Today I began my internship. I woke up before everyone else in the entire country of Spain at 6:00am! I thought it was funny because when I was getting up, it was only 11pm in the States, at home!!! I had to get up sooooo early this morning because of the public transportation system (buses). I caught the bus at my bus stop at 7:10. As I was pulling into the city of Toledo, I saw the bus I needed to connect to leaving....BUZZ KILL!!! So I waited outside, in the cold (it was cold for here!), for 40 minutes to catch my second bus to the clinic!!! I got to work at about 8:30. Everyone introduced themselves to me and they were all so nice!!! They begin each day with a group meeting. All of the doctors, psychologists, social workers, and nurses get together and disperse the cases/patients for the day. I love when Spanish people ask me what my name is because I ALWAYS get the same response (CAN YOU SPELL THAT FOR ME PLEASE?!?!). So I spell it out and they all pronounce it the same (BROOOOOKE). Then all the ladies always go...OH LIKE BROOKE SHIELDS and I say YES EXACTLY!! 


The meeting ended at about 9-9:10 and then they informed me it was breakfast time. So I sat in the break room with the doctor, 2 psychologists, a nurse, and the social worker. We were here until ten o'clock. The doctor was sooooooooo funny! I couldn't believe she was a doctor. She was about 28 and was wearing gray skinny jeans with black, stiletto boots. This just wasn't what I envisioned a doctor to wear!!   I can't wait to work with her!!! I spent the day working with the social worker. Her main job was to see all of the new patients and get all of their family and addiction history. Then we went and discussed the cases with the psychologists. The psychologists are the next people to see the patients. They then refer them to the doctors, if need be. 


Today I saw 4 patients (yes I was right in the room with them and the social worker). One patient was 3 months younger than I was and has been addicted to drugs since he was 14. His main addictions were marijuana and cocaine. He hasn't used cocaine since he was 18 though, but there were still traces in his blood work (but not enough to have a positive test). There are certain points that the drugs have to be present in the blood for the test to come back positive. If the numbers come back below this point, it means it is in their blood, but has not been used for some time (I just learned that today!!) The next patient was in his mid-forties and was sent to the clinic on recommendation form his doctor for alcohol abuse. This patient just didn't  understand what it wasn't ok to have "a few" beers. The social worker even told him that beer without alcohol is not allowed (because to addicts this is viewed as a "gateway" type drink). The social worker compared addictions to diabetes. They are something that you have to carefully control over time. Everything you do, eat, and drink effects how you act and feel! The third, and worst patient I had was also in his forties. He lives with his mom because he moved to Madrid and that was obviously a failure for him...He was even strung out during this meeting. The social worker said he just keeps going to doctors to get prescription drugs and obviously abuses them. His face was full of red sores from the cocaine and heroine...It was kind of sad to think about actually. The final patient was someone just getting over his alcohol addiction who just comes in every week to talk to someone. I didn't understand much of what this guy said because he spoke REALLY REALLY FAST!!!


After seeing these patients it was lunch time....at about noon. When I walked into the break room 2 of the psychologists were standing at the window smoking (AND I HAAAAAATE SMOKING/SMOKE). When they left, 2 people from the reception desk came in and started smoking....WITHOUT THE WINDOW OPEN....Not only am I going to come home weighing 50 pounds, I will also have lung cancer. The smoke was sooooo unbearable I couldn't breathe. I even got a headache from it....One of the guys had 3 cigs in the 20-25  minutes I was in there.....I believe that the smokers out rule the non-smokers in Spain.....EVERYONE SMOKES here....my clothes smelt sooooooo bad after work it was still making me sick...I needed to change, but then I could still smell it on my skin and my hair. The 8 pounds of lotion and hairspray helped this problem a bit :)


My meals are definitely starting to get better (thank goodness!) I hope I didn't just jinx myself (because I haven't eaten yet)!!!! I think they are finally starting to understand that I don't like seafood! I am getting some excellent cooking and dinner ideas! I think when I get home I am going to have a party so EVERYONE CAN TRY THE THINGS I HAVE TRIED (the good, the bad, and the ugly!!!!) HA HA HA HA!!!


Tomorrow I only have one class so it will be relaxing :) I have to talk to the head of student classes (comparable to the dean) because one of my classes will not transfer back to the States....Leave it to me for this to happen to :) 


I am getting really excited to head to London :) My flight leave VERY early Friday morning so I will be spending the night in Madrid's airport....Not too happy about that, but I just have to think about being in London at the ballet!!! Our hostel we booked is actually a 3 star hotel so that's a good sign :) Hopefully the pictures, description, and reviews are legit and not done by the owners or workers!!!


I have planned a few other trips since the last time I talked to everyone! I have Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago de Compostela (the Spanish Ireland!!), Palma de Mallorca (an island in the Mediterranean), and Lisbon (Portugal) booked. I think I am most excited about Lisbon because it is the week before I come home, it will be warm, and I won't be worrying about school!!! We will also be attending a bull fight so I am excited for this (sorry members of PETA!). 


I hope everyone is enjoying the Packer festivities and parties!!! I miss everyone TONS!!!
Besos (Kisses) and Abrazos (Hugs)
B


P.S. I forgot to mention that I got to wear a white lab coat around work today :) I felt exactly like a doctor!!! I think I could get used to that feeling :) What's a few more years of school?!?!?