Morning on the water in Tigre.
Another great day in the country of Argentina! This morning for breakfast, I tried one of the sandwiches and made a parfait. Elise inspired me with the yogurt and I loved it. Also there is this really good fruit that is sliced and looks like the grapefruit, but is more of a yellow color. Almost like an orange, but not quite. I will try and update the blog later with what it is. I was very excited for today’s trip ever since our first meeting in Pittsburgh back in March. We took a boat to Tigre, a county about an hour outside of Buenos Aires. This was a very different perspective of Argentina due to the geographical obstacles. I was very excited to see the differences and similarities to the larger city.
Ben, me, Elise, and Maria (L-R) on the boat!
Lynnea was very prepared and gave everyone headsets to use during the boat tour. Nurse Emilse spoke about the area and what it has to offer, but since the engine was so loud, the headpieces came in handy. I did feel like a real FBI agent, so I made sure to be extra engaged throughout the ride.
Maria and I as FBI agents!!!
From the beginning, I realized that the main obstacle in Tigre was the water. The water levels in the river really dictated if someone could travel, because they could be too high or too low. The children in the area have a boat as a school bus and it went past us on our tour. Talk about a cool commute to school. We saw that the houses along the water were very nice, but Emilse said that the wealthy homes are along the water and as you progress into the land, the poorer communities reside there. Some of the disparities that Emilse highlighted include the access to transportation, gas money to use a boat if someone owns one, access to fresh water, and transportation. I think it was important to highlight the difficulty with water. Emilse said, “It is weird because even though we are surrounded by water, people lack access to it. You can’t drink the water from the river.” As we went past the residences, big water jugs were placed on the piers to be filled with water to drink and cook with.
The school boat (instead of bus, get it?).
We toured a public clinic along the river and it was eye opening. There was a doctor, nurses, a medical student, and an administrative assistant. I was happy to see that the administrative assistance was highlighted for her importance because she is the one who keeps the records and sends out data to record proper statistics. They stated, “Everything has to be organized here or it doesn’t work.” Primary care plays such an important role in our health. It is used as preventative measures to try and reduce further health complications. In my mind, primary care is the link between everyday health and advanced treatment. However, within Argentina, there is a ginormous lack of primary care. This causes many problems to arise because people are waiting until they are extremely sick to seek treatment or attending specialized hospitals for minimal treatment. By increasing primary care facilities, this reduces costs within the hospitals and allows them to focus on higher level treatment. The primary care facilities can be equipped with the right resources to treat patients without trying to overuse technology. However many physicians do not want to go into primary care due to status and decreased payment. It is a shame because the need is almost greater for primary care than specialities.
The public clinic in Tigre that we visited.
Within this exact clinic in Tigre, it is the only healthcare access in the large territory. Everyone uses the public clinic because there is no private option. Even those who can afford private coverage, need to take the boat out of the area to the closest private hospital. There is a single ambulance for this clinic, which is a boat. We got to see the boat and it has two drivers with special licenses. Typically, they are firefighters with extra training. One problem was that there was only one ambulance for the entire area. If the boat is out on an emergency and another one occurs, they just try their best to treat both situations. Lack of funding and ability to purchase more equipment leaves the clinic to use what it can.
Me on the ambulance boat.
Elise and I enjoying ourselves outside of the clinic.
After the clinic, we went to the mainland and ate at a restaurant called Vivanco. I had a delicious steak with french fries. The best part was we received ice-cream on top of a brownie. I was very happy to say the least. We went around to the little shops and bought little things for our friends and family. Some friends and I tried an Argentina’s Starbucks and I got my regular iced chai latte with oak milk. It was good, but I think I might like the American version more. Tomorrow we will be going to the ranch, so it should be another fabulous day in Argentina. Thank you Grant and Lynnea!
Vivanco, the restaurant we ate lunch at.
A preserved famous house on the river that is now a museum.