Ok, so I have two full days left in Trinidad and have not eaten a Roti/Bake and Shark, nor do I have a tan. It’s been a lot of work since I have been here, but it has been an amazing experience. Today was a lecture day, I again gave hours of lectures to the same group of pharmacists. Today we spent 2 hours on adherence, 1 hour on HIV resistance, 1.5 hours on pharmacists role in HIV care, and 1 hour on pediatric HIV. Needless to say, I learned a lot putting these talks together, but I was really happy to hear from the attendees at the end of the day how much they learned during the talks. They asked a ton of really great questions and seem really excited about working on some of the things we have talked about. Some of the pharmacists here are really trying to break into clinical pharmacy activities, the concept of a clinical pharmacist is somewhat of a new one for them, but I think HIV would be a good avenue to use as a model for clinical services. At the end of the program today, I had to hand out fancy certificates that I had signed to the participants. In return they presented me with a certificate of appreciation and thanked me for my visit. I felt verklempt when they gave it to me, because they were so appreciative. Of course I was not considered the “Chief Guest”, like someone I know, but they certainly have treated me very well here.

Yesterday I visited a pharmacy in Sangre Grande. The pharmacy houses the national poison control center and the pharmacists even organize and attend grand rounds. They seem to be very interested in developing clinical pharmacy services there. They also treated me very well, I was invited to the home of the pharmacy director this weekend, they provided me with lunch and plenty to drink, and I was given a huge bag of exotic citrus fruits. I think I might stay here…

Tonight we are going out to “lime” with one of the pharmacists here who is an expert in Trinidad culture. I am not quite sure what it means to lime, but I am sure I will have it figured out by the end of the night. Overall this has been a great experience; I have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful people. Even if I get Dengue, which I feel like I will after the 15+ mosquito bites I have been the victim of, this has been a worthwhile experience.

I just received another bite on my kneecap. It has made my entire knee swollen and hot. I need to go upstairs and put on some deet.