Greg and Ryan

Greg and Ryan just arrived from Ottawa, Canada. They are here for the usual exposure trips to the third world reminiscent of the Belgians and Germans I encountered when doing internship and residency.

I could not remember the name of the German whom I worked with during internship. All I remember was the night we went out in Malate for drinks at the former trece mundo on the terrace with the sampayan decked with clothes then later on forcing him to eat fried pig ears which of course remained undeclared until he ate two morsels of lard dripping fried meat. He was the descendant of the owner of the apartment where Jose Rizal stayed in Hiedelberg. And his prized posession when he left was a barong tagalog which he said was better looking than the one the mayor of Hiedelberg owns.

I only encountered Justin twice during my first year of residency. He is english and as I gathered from the friend who was his constant confidant he would frequent a shady folk restaurant on the outskirts of Ermita and had a fascination with the unanos of the Hobbit House.

The Belgians were very lovely people. At that time the contestant representing Belgium for the Ms. Universe was the favorite among the locals. I gave them a lecture on infectious disease and the whole time they were saying amazing. They learned how to put iv lines which was an amazing procedure for them. I gathered later that there wasn't much admissions in Belgian hospitals except for trauma and appendicitis. At that time smoky mountain in Tondo was a big thing like a cultural icon which the Belgians would never dare miss to visit. So on three separate ocassions, they asked permission from me to visit the site. I readily agreed wondering all the time why.

The lady from Malawi was a missionary working for an overseas hospital. She wanted to see what practices she can adopt for the hospital in Malawi. She only lasted for three days, I guess she opted to rest befor going back to a more depressing place than the Philippines.

The American was a bit easier to deal with because she is married to a Filipino and just wanted to see how things work in a Pediatric ward in the Philippines. I guess she was testing the waters if she could work here. Cordial, sweet and easy to get along with. She never demanded for attention but wroked things out on her own.