Happy Friday! This morning I made it up in time to stop down at the hotel breakfast and oh my, was it delicioso. Never had I seen such a wide array of fruits, meats and cheeses from hotel dining… NH Collection is definitely top tier. Today I had the opporunity to stick my hand into the famous Argentine river of Tigre! The Tigre river is known as the gateway river that connects its waters and wetlands which then forms the Parana Delta. The town of Tigre as a whole is known for it’s harbor that was and is still used today for delivering essential products such as fruits, veggies, water and more. We had the amazing opportunity to receive a boat ride on Tigre to a public clinic that the people of Tigre can attend when care is needed.

A tour guide introduced us on the docks and then we were off. I absolutely loved the scenery of the water which warmed the cold breeze. Once arriving to the clinic, we were greeted by multiple dogs living on the property which were beyond the sweetest. The clinic itself was small, but you can see through the organization and decor, they take good care of you. Seeing this facility brings up the topic of primary care. Having such a small building can take only so much traffic and primary care’s role is to reduce the likeliness of urgent, tentitve care for the public clinics. With crowded health facilities, it can take away time, patience, and effexiency when folks are admitted. However, the issue, especially in Tigre, is travel. Tigre relies heavily on its rivers to get to and from, even students arrive to school through the water on bus-like boats. We saw a group of students heading to school who waved at us and warmed my heart greatly. Although because travel is so limited to many, primary care is not common to use for health until needs are dire. Argentina’s hope is to soon reduce this pattern. Another challenge is staffing. Unfortuantely, there lays a stigma of being a primary care physician is letting opportunitve and has bad pay. Argentina would struggle to provide the extrinsic incentive of pay due to funding it’s public hospitals already. Yet, having primary care would reduce future extreme health difficulties because of constant check-ups. The country hopes to work on this further.

After the clinic, we travel back to the dock and had lunch at this amazing restaurant called, Vivanco. The steak I received was out of this world…the food here continues to awe me more and more daily. When lunch was over, we had free time to explore and shop on the dock. Small stores providing plants, handmade kitechn items, jewelry etc. filled the land next to the river. I personally bought matching amethyst necklaces for me and my sister and I cant wait to give it to her. We have a spectacular day ahead of us tomorrow, but until then… hasta luego!