¡Hola de Perú!
It's been one month since I've arrived to Peru, and a long overdue update is certainly needed. For those of you who do not know, I am currently taking a year off from medical school to do a year of clinical research through the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. My medical school is one of the host sites for the Doris Duke program and also one of six schools that has two international fellowships. I was fortunate enough to receive one of these fellowships and just started the international component of my year in Lima, Peru!
Before coming to Peru, I was working with my mentor at Columbia on projects in HIV prevention and helped with recruitment of participants for HIV vaccine studies occurring at CUMC. Here, in Lima, I have continued to work on research projects in HIV prevention at a site called Impacta (Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educación). Impacta is an NGO that is a research center and clinic for those with HIV/AIDS and at high-risk for HIV acquisition. It is mostly funded by the NIH, and is one of the sites that is part of the global network of institutions aimed at developing HIV prevention methods.
Impacta is one of few centers in the country designated by the Peruvian government to prescribe antiretroviral medications, and patients can receive their medications and care for free. The center is equipped with two floors of clinic and a full laboratory capable of doing virtually any test in-house that an HIV-positive patient would need, more than what Columbia can say for its HIV patients. It's quite an impressive place, and everyone at the site is equally as impressive and friendly. They have made my transition to the center quite easy and enjoyable.
Lima itself has been beautiful and an incredible place to live. Fortunately, I was able to leave New York at the start of winter and head down south of the equator for the beginning of their summer. One of my American friends down here likes to compare Los Angeles to Lima, which I think is a very good analogy for those who have never visited. Like LA, Lima is a sprawled out city (of approximately 8 million people) on the Pacific coast with warm weather, a ton of Spanish-only speakers, great restaurants, and various, distinct neighborhoods. There are three barrios that most foreigners live in -- Miraflores, Barranco, and San Isidro -- which are comparable to three LA neighborhoods -- Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Brentwood -- respectively. I am living in Miraflores, the most touristy (though not overwhelmingly so), which conveniently has everything I need within blocks from my apartment, including grocery stores, restaurants, the gym, department stores, shopping mall, nightlife, and the beach! Impacta is located in Barranco, and is also only a 20-minute walk from my apartment.
When I first arrived, I moved into a home owned by a Peruvian family who lived in one part of the house and rented out the rest of the nine rooms. The location was perfect and I had my own room and bathroom. I lived with Peruvian and French students, which allowed me ample time to practice my Spanish and make some non-American friends. After a month, however, I decided to move into a real apartment with an American and German both working in Peru. My German roommate has a Peruvian boyfriend (basically my third roommate), and we also mostly speak Spanish at home. Photos of my new apartment are below.
Lima has been named the gastronomical capital of Latin America, and it sure lives up to its name! Some of the best restaurants in the country are within walking distance of my apartment, and many of the others are within walking distance of my work. Peru's unique history and landscape allows it to combine a tremendous variety of ingredients into one meal. Its location on the coast affords fresh and plentiful seafood combined with spices brought from Spain and exotic fruits from the jungle. There is also a significant Japanese and Chinese immigrant population in the country that brought over its own interesting flavors, and Chifa restaurants serving Peruvian-Chinese cuisine can be found every few blocks, which tastes very similar to American-Chinese takeout in the US. Also, the significant Chinese population here makes me look less like a gringo than I had imagined, though I'm sure my thick accent easily gives it way.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I've been up to for the past month. I will periodically send mass e-mails with larger updates every month or so, but will be continuing to blog about my time in Peru (and the rest of Latin America) on medstudentinperu.blogspot.com until I leave in May.
¡Hasta luego!
It's been one month since I've arrived to Peru, and a long overdue update is certainly needed. For those of you who do not know, I am currently taking a year off from medical school to do a year of clinical research through the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. My medical school is one of the host sites for the Doris Duke program and also one of six schools that has two international fellowships. I was fortunate enough to receive one of these fellowships and just started the international component of my year in Lima, Peru!
Before coming to Peru, I was working with my mentor at Columbia on projects in HIV prevention and helped with recruitment of participants for HIV vaccine studies occurring at CUMC. Here, in Lima, I have continued to work on research projects in HIV prevention at a site called Impacta (Asociación Civil Impacta Salud y Educación). Impacta is an NGO that is a research center and clinic for those with HIV/AIDS and at high-risk for HIV acquisition. It is mostly funded by the NIH, and is one of the sites that is part of the global network of institutions aimed at developing HIV prevention methods.
Impacta is one of few centers in the country designated by the Peruvian government to prescribe antiretroviral medications, and patients can receive their medications and care for free. The center is equipped with two floors of clinic and a full laboratory capable of doing virtually any test in-house that an HIV-positive patient would need, more than what Columbia can say for its HIV patients. It's quite an impressive place, and everyone at the site is equally as impressive and friendly. They have made my transition to the center quite easy and enjoyable.
Lima itself has been beautiful and an incredible place to live. Fortunately, I was able to leave New York at the start of winter and head down south of the equator for the beginning of their summer. One of my American friends down here likes to compare Los Angeles to Lima, which I think is a very good analogy for those who have never visited. Like LA, Lima is a sprawled out city (of approximately 8 million people) on the Pacific coast with warm weather, a ton of Spanish-only speakers, great restaurants, and various, distinct neighborhoods. There are three barrios that most foreigners live in -- Miraflores, Barranco, and San Isidro -- which are comparable to three LA neighborhoods -- Santa Monica, Venice Beach, and Brentwood -- respectively. I am living in Miraflores, the most touristy (though not overwhelmingly so), which conveniently has everything I need within blocks from my apartment, including grocery stores, restaurants, the gym, department stores, shopping mall, nightlife, and the beach! Impacta is located in Barranco, and is also only a 20-minute walk from my apartment.
When I first arrived, I moved into a home owned by a Peruvian family who lived in one part of the house and rented out the rest of the nine rooms. The location was perfect and I had my own room and bathroom. I lived with Peruvian and French students, which allowed me ample time to practice my Spanish and make some non-American friends. After a month, however, I decided to move into a real apartment with an American and German both working in Peru. My German roommate has a Peruvian boyfriend (basically my third roommate), and we also mostly speak Spanish at home. Photos of my new apartment are below.
Lima has been named the gastronomical capital of Latin America, and it sure lives up to its name! Some of the best restaurants in the country are within walking distance of my apartment, and many of the others are within walking distance of my work. Peru's unique history and landscape allows it to combine a tremendous variety of ingredients into one meal. Its location on the coast affords fresh and plentiful seafood combined with spices brought from Spain and exotic fruits from the jungle. There is also a significant Japanese and Chinese immigrant population in the country that brought over its own interesting flavors, and Chifa restaurants serving Peruvian-Chinese cuisine can be found every few blocks, which tastes very similar to American-Chinese takeout in the US. Also, the significant Chinese population here makes me look less like a gringo than I had imagined, though I'm sure my thick accent easily gives it way.
Hopefully this gives you an idea of what I've been up to for the past month. I will periodically send mass e-mails with larger updates every month or so, but will be continuing to blog about my time in Peru (and the rest of Latin America) on medstudentinperu.blogspot.com until I leave in May.
¡Hasta luego!
Hey Eric! Great post - your apartment looks awesome! I'm interested in how you like the food. Apparently the only other 'Yokoyama' that works at Google is located in Buenos Aires and I remember studying a bit about immigration from Asia to South America. Thanks again for letting me stay at your apartment last week. See you next year!
ReplyDeletePost more photos Eric!
ReplyDelete