the origin of this book actually started during that year in costa rica. i had always had this fantasy of writing a novel, and i couldn't imagine writing fiction in the way that i write nonfiction, which is piece meal essays, i really needed that time off, so i had this fantasy of going to live in another country, learn spanish, my children would be immersed in the language in another culture and so we worked out this year in costa rica, it was a wonderful year, that's where i actually took up the cello and started working on this novel. i had a wonderful time, wrote 350 pages, but it turned out when i got back, my editor and i read the 350 pages and they were ok but they weren't great, so we decided to tuck it under the bed with the other novels that are gathering prime new york city dust, but one of the themes in the novels that caught my editor's eyes and my eye was immigrants. and i had all these characters from different countries, so we decided to go back to non-fiction and focus on immigrants and the different populations that had come to bellevue a

of being a patient in costa rica. i which is having a baby but there was a chance to see what it was like to be in a vulnerable position when you don't have a command of the language and things are going on around you and in language that you have to concentrate on and gave me an appreciation for what my patients must go through. on a given day and build the there is every language. is speaking which only occasionally are with an interpreter and i wanted to start with the short reading that is an experience that took place on the immigration war. i spend 80% of my time in the clinic and 20% of the time on the inpatient. one month later i was back on the impatient. the united nations does have some flamboyant celebration for quadagno think you jim wisdom bellvue was not an official part of it but because only a few blocks down the road for the u.n. we were the recipients of the fall of. the scene in the hospital was not too dissimilar from what i imagined the general assembly of the united nations to look like. on voic

you know she will be traveling to chile, brazil, costa rica and guatemala. again from february 28 to march march 5th and without further ado i will turn it over to the assistant secretary valenzuela. >> good morning. yes, we are delighted that the secretary will be traveling this week to southern cone and into central america. as you know, last year the secretary did travel to mexico for the oas general assembly. and this travel this year is a continuation of course of our efforts to engage in the countries of the hemisphere on a multiplicity of issues. as you know, president obama and the secretary have pledged greater engagement with the countries of the western hemisphere. we are working on a whole host of bilateral issues with all of the countries in the region. they are grouped into sort of three general baskets. the first basket is what you might call competitiveness and on issues of social equity and social justice. the second basket is issues of public security, which is a major concern for a list of the countries in the region where we are trying to

warning for chile and peru and a less urgent tsunami watch for ecuador, columbia, panama, costa costa rica and antarctica. they say a quake of this size has potential for a destructive tsunami that can strike coast lines near the epicenter. the u.s. west coast tsunami warning center said it didn't expect a tsunami along the west coast of the u.s. or canada, but it is monitoring the situation. the quake -- the u.s. west coast again not worried about it striking here, but they are monitoring the situation. there are reports of blackouts in the capital city of santiago in chile. that's about 200 miles from the epicenter from concepcion which the earthquake struck in the water off the coast of concepcion. we have learned some buildings have collapsed. goodn, that's close to the capital where people say they felt tremors. there are some collapsed buildings. again, this is an 8.8 magnitude. so this is a massive earthquake. so far we have not received reports of injuries, only damage estimates so far of the collapsed buildings. struck about 3:34 local time. joining us by phone is jen ross, she is

be dominated by the tour in chile and she is scheduled to make stops in guatamela, uruguay and costa rica should we believe that things going to get better? >> you weren't aware of the fact that there was a serious acceleration problem with your vehicles until just a few months ago? >> why did it take you almost a year touring this to the attention of regulators? >> and it went on and on. you know what all of the lawmakers grilling toyota's top executive have in common. in they all got campaign dough from the united auto workers union. they were among the more let's say aggressive questioners. what do you make of that? >> conflict of interest. also the lawmakers voted for the bailout of general motors and chrysler. and if the unions don't have -- maintain their power and get more power, maybe to the hurting toyota that means more money going into the pockets of the lawmakers. kind of the vicious cycle we have been talking about recently. >> neil: this situation notwithstanding, it is for u.s. automakers rescue like the gift that keeps giving, right? >> it is an amazing gift to the u.s. au

- paraguay, chile, costa rica and guatemala. >> good morning.e are delighted that the secretary will be traveling this week to the southern cone and then to central america. as you know, last year the secretary did travel to mexico and trinidad and tobago for the oas the general assembly. this traveled this year is a continuation, of course, of our efforts to engage the country's other hemisphere on a whole multiplicity of issues. as you know, president obama and the secretary have pledged great -- greater engagement with the countries of the western hemisphere. we are working on a whole host of bilateral issues with all of the countries in the region. they are grouped in three general basket. the first basket is what you might call competitiveness onç issuesçz] of socialçóqw¿y%@hñl justice. çthe second basket is issues of ç a major concern for most of theç countries in the region. we are trying to look to how we canxdç repackage and rethink te çway inç whichçó we doqw3 our collaborative work with countries int&eç hemisphere on çsuch t

i have zip lined in costa rica and i didn't have to wait. >> i wanted to do it about but i wasn't going line and i wasn't going to wait seven hours. there is always next time. a lost other cool things. we will take a break and be back with more. [ music throughout ] [ male announcer ] achievement: starts small... and dreams big. achievement: makes big moves... ...and takes baby steps. it helps you keep the lights on... ...and it knows when to turn them off. achievement: is all around us. a part of our very lives. at pnc, we help make achievement happen. pnc. for the achiever in us all. >>> coming up, we have the latest on the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit chile. >> the last full weekend of the olympic games comes to an end, but first these messages. ominat. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke.

i have zip lined in costa rica and i didn't have to wait. >> i wanted to do it about but i wasn't going and i wasn't going to wait seven hours. there is always next time. a lost other cool things. we will take a >>> coming up, we have the latest on the 8.8 magnitude earthquake tt hit chile. >> the last full weekend of the olympic games comes to an end, but first these messages. ominat. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal t

-- chinchia of costa rica. wanted to congratulate her on working on climate change. secondly, on february 18, the president will meet with his holiness, the dalai lama. the meeting will take place in the map room here at the white house. the dalai lama is an internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for tibetan rights and the president looks for an engaging and constructive dialogue. >> what about coverage? >> i don't have that. >> [inaudible] >> that is -- the best place that the president felt and the team here felt for the meeting to take place. >> diplomatic considerations. deciding not to have it at the oval office. >> no president has met with the dalai lama in the oval office. i'll turn it over to the doctor who will talk about the economic report that the president will sign in about 20 minutes. >> all right. well, if is a pleasure to be with you all. you have to know that for a chair of the council of economic advisors there's no bigger day than the day that her first economic report of