Friday
It was quite a full day as well... fun but exhausting. Got up and went to the market to help Iris shop for produce. We get all of our fruits & veggies there pretty much and a few other little things as well. We wandered around a bit and it was pretty fun. I got a little bread and it was delicious! I was willing to risk it for some bread.
The meat section is very.... well, animal-like. Definitely saw all the parts of a cow you can imagine... including the brain. I have dissected just about everything imaginable but seeing animal parts sit out like that was enough to take away any desire to eat that I had while I was there.
A really cool part was the acorn squash...or whatever squash it was. It is absolutely HUGE here and was bigger than a pumpkin. They actually cut sections and weigh them out and sell it that way.... it's that big! Unbelievable. Definitely got some pics of that. So the market was a fun little visit.
After getting home, we relaxed a bit and Ester and I were going to cook again but realized we didn't have time. Most of everyone went to Wallyball but a few of us helped take care of the kids at the Hogares del Amor (homes of love)--the baby orphanage and another one for a little bit older kids-- and we watched them while the "tías" (the aunts or caregivers at the orphanages) got to go to some party to celebrate the anniversary of the orphanages. Charlotte, Emily & I had kids from about 3-12 years old. 14 of them. Needless to say, we all agreed not to have 14 children and certainly not all of the same age range. haha We were there as they finished dinner, got into pajamas & brushed their teeth, watched a short video and then got into bed. I took care of these two little boys Edgar & Miguel who were each about 3 years old and just precious! Miguel was actually just transferred over from the baby orphanage because his sister is at this one. They wanted to sit in my lap and help them change into pajamas and carry them upstairs (at the same time). They even went to bed for me without too much trouble! However, some of the older boys and girls too, were too excited to get to bed. We spent quite a while getting them to bed and I was ready to pass out when they came to pick us up at about 9:15. It was fun taking care of them though and I'd love to go back and see them again!
Saturday's entry will be full of excitement because we took our trip to the jungle that day! Sunday almost equally so because of the fútbol (soccer) game we went to. Needless to say, it was a full weekend! More updates to come!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 15
Thursday
This was pretty good. We went to some area practically in the middle of nowhere and did our little screening/clinic there. We got to take one of the ER docs from the hospital so that we could give some medications and she could write prescriptions. The place we went was a training center of sorts for missionaries. They taught them various things to allow them to enter into other countries that may not accept missionaries otherwise. For example, they are teaching them to be nature guides of some sort, and they use this to share about how important God's creation is and how He has given it to us and how we can take care of it. They had lots of animals, which I also have a couple pics of and it was a neat little place. So we were there for a couple of hours and did the same thing.... most people here seem to be dehydrated and constipated. Saw some kids with scabies and one lady who had lupus. (For House fans: I know! It's never lupus! How could it be? :-)
In the afternoon, I guess it was mostly relaxing or something. I kind of forget now. All the days run together a bit. What I cannot at all forget is the evening event. hehe We had learned from a couple of kids from the youth group about this little skit thing called gospel clown. It's an evangelistic tool and it's really funny to watch. Well, some of us will be doing it July 7th (So you can be praying for this!) and we were teaching the others how to do it, since we will be gone once they do it again. We dressed up in these huge clothes and put on these noses and it was hilarious. It took forever. We also had basically no food and had to wait for Tomás to bring some eggs and milk home. While we practiced, the Canadians (as I call them... it's just easier then saying James & Johan) made pancakes for us and it was delightful. We had a lot of fun and have a lot of practice to do before we get it down....some of the Spanish is a bit difficult. I may explain it later it more detail because it's a cute presentation...but I am just too tired to do that now.
This was pretty good. We went to some area practically in the middle of nowhere and did our little screening/clinic there. We got to take one of the ER docs from the hospital so that we could give some medications and she could write prescriptions. The place we went was a training center of sorts for missionaries. They taught them various things to allow them to enter into other countries that may not accept missionaries otherwise. For example, they are teaching them to be nature guides of some sort, and they use this to share about how important God's creation is and how He has given it to us and how we can take care of it. They had lots of animals, which I also have a couple pics of and it was a neat little place. So we were there for a couple of hours and did the same thing.... most people here seem to be dehydrated and constipated. Saw some kids with scabies and one lady who had lupus. (For House fans: I know! It's never lupus! How could it be? :-)
In the afternoon, I guess it was mostly relaxing or something. I kind of forget now. All the days run together a bit. What I cannot at all forget is the evening event. hehe We had learned from a couple of kids from the youth group about this little skit thing called gospel clown. It's an evangelistic tool and it's really funny to watch. Well, some of us will be doing it July 7th (So you can be praying for this!) and we were teaching the others how to do it, since we will be gone once they do it again. We dressed up in these huge clothes and put on these noses and it was hilarious. It took forever. We also had basically no food and had to wait for Tomás to bring some eggs and milk home. While we practiced, the Canadians (as I call them... it's just easier then saying James & Johan) made pancakes for us and it was delightful. We had a lot of fun and have a lot of practice to do before we get it down....some of the Spanish is a bit difficult. I may explain it later it more detail because it's a cute presentation...but I am just too tired to do that now.
Day 14
Wednesday!
I have had so many fun and fully packed days that I can't really even remember what happened that day! I'll try to keep up better with this because I have some pretty good stories and adventures!
We got up and went to do another screening for kids/adults in this school room or something. I'm not even totally sure what it was. We didn't know how to get there first of all, and by the time we found it, it was nearly 11 o'clock...which we were supposed to be there roughly until noon. We were there until 2 or so and saw probably 30-40 people. It's really hard to try to offer assistance to people when you have nothing to give them... especially when some of the needs are so basic.
I think it was the following day, however, that we found out that we can refer patients to the hospital and if we give their names to the doctors, they will offer free care or for very little money to those who are in serious need of medical care. Unfortunately, it feels like that is the majority here.
Wednesday afternoon was really fun for me too! Since we got back late, we decided not to go to an orphanage or anything in the afternoon. So Ester, Tomás & Iris's 4 year old daughter decided to play cards with me outside, since she saw a group of the others doing the same. After a game of putting down cards that were of the same suit, she decided we should cook. So, we looked on the internet for recipes and we made brownies. She wanted to make a carrot cake too, because last time we made cakes we made a chocolate one and a carrot one. I didn't really want to make a carrot cake, so I convinced her to let us try something else. We ended up making "blondies"which are like vanilla brownies kind of. We had so much fun! Unfortunately, even with the double batch of brownies and the blondies, the brownies were gone by bedtime and the blondies gone by the next day's lunch. However, we had a great time "cooking" and every time she sees me now she asks "Vamos a cocinar?" (Are we going to cook?)
The cutest thing was the rest of the night she followed me around, wanted me to sit by her at dinner, and she even came to brush her teeth when I did. It was just too cute! I managed a picture or two of us with the brownies so I'll be posting those soon as well. Well that's pretty much it for Wednesday.
I have had so many fun and fully packed days that I can't really even remember what happened that day! I'll try to keep up better with this because I have some pretty good stories and adventures!
We got up and went to do another screening for kids/adults in this school room or something. I'm not even totally sure what it was. We didn't know how to get there first of all, and by the time we found it, it was nearly 11 o'clock...which we were supposed to be there roughly until noon. We were there until 2 or so and saw probably 30-40 people. It's really hard to try to offer assistance to people when you have nothing to give them... especially when some of the needs are so basic.
I think it was the following day, however, that we found out that we can refer patients to the hospital and if we give their names to the doctors, they will offer free care or for very little money to those who are in serious need of medical care. Unfortunately, it feels like that is the majority here.
Wednesday afternoon was really fun for me too! Since we got back late, we decided not to go to an orphanage or anything in the afternoon. So Ester, Tomás & Iris's 4 year old daughter decided to play cards with me outside, since she saw a group of the others doing the same. After a game of putting down cards that were of the same suit, she decided we should cook. So, we looked on the internet for recipes and we made brownies. She wanted to make a carrot cake too, because last time we made cakes we made a chocolate one and a carrot one. I didn't really want to make a carrot cake, so I convinced her to let us try something else. We ended up making "blondies"which are like vanilla brownies kind of. We had so much fun! Unfortunately, even with the double batch of brownies and the blondies, the brownies were gone by bedtime and the blondies gone by the next day's lunch. However, we had a great time "cooking" and every time she sees me now she asks "Vamos a cocinar?" (Are we going to cook?)
The cutest thing was the rest of the night she followed me around, wanted me to sit by her at dinner, and she even came to brush her teeth when I did. It was just too cute! I managed a picture or two of us with the brownies so I'll be posting those soon as well. Well that's pretty much it for Wednesday.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 13...
I can hardly believe it's been so long since I last updated! Not a ton of new things to update on, but a few little fun adventures have ocurred along the way.
Monday night we had a breakfast for dinner extravaganza. Not entirely intentional, but it was a lot of fun! A few people went to Wallyball that afternoon, but the rest of us stayed back to rest. I decided to make my first batch of French toast, since we have had a bunch of loaves of bread. Meanwhile, some of the others decided pancakes sounded good too. So one of the guys from Wisconsin, Jeremy, flipped the pancakes and I did the french toast. Everyone had fun helping get it all together and we had at least 5 of us all running around the kitchen. Colleen helped me serve the french toast by sifting some powdered sugar onto the french toast...because everyone knows it's all in the presentation! :-) Colleen was only with us for 4 days, and she is from North Carolina doing some research on different Christian and secular medical missions organizations. She left yesterday and it was weird having someone here for such a short time! We had a great time with her while she was here though.
Tuesday was a fun day! We got up and went to the "Happy House"( Casa de alegría) which was a home for girls who have been abused. We did basically the same thing we did the day before... looking for anything that was out of the ordinary so we could refer to doctors. A lot of them seemed to have eye infections and other things that spread easily among lots of people in close contact with each other. We got some pictures with them at the end and got home in the afternoon, but not too late. So we were supposed to go to the little baby...
Ok, so at this point, I was expecting to have to go somewhere and I meant to hit save and instead hit post. However, I have much much much more to tell but I think I'll break it up into separate posts so each one isn't so long.
As for the rest of Tuesday... we were going to the little baby orphanage again but some of us had to "get sick"to stay back and decorate and prepare for a little surprise celebration for Iris. Tomás was trying to get off work early and then we would get some food started until he got home. He would bring the rest and we'd have it all decorated and surprise Iris when they got back. Well, things didn't go quite as planned unfortunately. Charlotte, Amy & I decorated a bit while a couple friends of Tomás & Iris's came to help. We made some hamburgers and thought we'd get started on cooking them because we were running out of time. However, we had some trouble finding the grill.... we found this little Hibachi grill in the kitchen storage room and so we attempted to light it which was dreadfully unsuccessful. It was absolutely hilarious though. I have some great pictures that I will hopefully be able to upload soon. Facebook is giving me a bit of trouble with it.
Anyway, so Iris and everyone got back before Tomás did so we had decided to just cook the hamburgers on the stove to save time. Tomás eventually arrived and we ended up taknig her outside to sing happy birthday with her cake.... then the guys set off some fireworks. A few they set off from the hospital water tower so they went pretty high. It was cool. Then we made the rest of the food and had dinner. It was a lovely evening! :-)
Monday night we had a breakfast for dinner extravaganza. Not entirely intentional, but it was a lot of fun! A few people went to Wallyball that afternoon, but the rest of us stayed back to rest. I decided to make my first batch of French toast, since we have had a bunch of loaves of bread. Meanwhile, some of the others decided pancakes sounded good too. So one of the guys from Wisconsin, Jeremy, flipped the pancakes and I did the french toast. Everyone had fun helping get it all together and we had at least 5 of us all running around the kitchen. Colleen helped me serve the french toast by sifting some powdered sugar onto the french toast...because everyone knows it's all in the presentation! :-) Colleen was only with us for 4 days, and she is from North Carolina doing some research on different Christian and secular medical missions organizations. She left yesterday and it was weird having someone here for such a short time! We had a great time with her while she was here though.
Tuesday was a fun day! We got up and went to the "Happy House"( Casa de alegría) which was a home for girls who have been abused. We did basically the same thing we did the day before... looking for anything that was out of the ordinary so we could refer to doctors. A lot of them seemed to have eye infections and other things that spread easily among lots of people in close contact with each other. We got some pictures with them at the end and got home in the afternoon, but not too late. So we were supposed to go to the little baby...
Ok, so at this point, I was expecting to have to go somewhere and I meant to hit save and instead hit post. However, I have much much much more to tell but I think I'll break it up into separate posts so each one isn't so long.
As for the rest of Tuesday... we were going to the little baby orphanage again but some of us had to "get sick"to stay back and decorate and prepare for a little surprise celebration for Iris. Tomás was trying to get off work early and then we would get some food started until he got home. He would bring the rest and we'd have it all decorated and surprise Iris when they got back. Well, things didn't go quite as planned unfortunately. Charlotte, Amy & I decorated a bit while a couple friends of Tomás & Iris's came to help. We made some hamburgers and thought we'd get started on cooking them because we were running out of time. However, we had some trouble finding the grill.... we found this little Hibachi grill in the kitchen storage room and so we attempted to light it which was dreadfully unsuccessful. It was absolutely hilarious though. I have some great pictures that I will hopefully be able to upload soon. Facebook is giving me a bit of trouble with it.
Anyway, so Iris and everyone got back before Tomás did so we had decided to just cook the hamburgers on the stove to save time. Tomás eventually arrived and we ended up taknig her outside to sing happy birthday with her cake.... then the guys set off some fireworks. A few they set off from the hospital water tower so they went pretty high. It was cool. Then we made the rest of the food and had dinner. It was a lovely evening! :-)
Monday, June 23, 2008
Day 10, 11, & 12.... Oh how time flies!
I am pretty much in SHOCK when I tell you that I have almost been here for two weeks! The second week has moved much faster than the first and it seems to just get busier and busier or something! So, I'll try to give a quick recap of what has been going on since last time I updated.
To finish day 10.... I got to see the C-section on Friday with a couple of people and it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever! When the nurse was getting the baby all cleaned up, I got to help roll up the sheet he was in so she could lie him down on clean sheets. The parents were so cute! The dad was a little hesitant about picking up his little boy, but we thought it was likely because he wanted to wait until the mom could be a part of it. It was a beautiful thing to see a new life come into the world!! One of the best things I have ever seen in my life, for certain.
As for the rest of Friday, we played Wallyball in the evening, which is Volleyball on a racquetball court. I'm terrible, of course, but it's a lot of fun. When we played, they quickly explained the rules and the one time I led my team to victory (or so I thought) it was shattered by the existence of the ceiling. They failed to mention that if you hit the ceiling as it goes over, you lose the point. Anyway, we had a lot of fun playing and there's a whole new dimension when you have to figure out where it's going as it ricochets off the wall!
We were trying to go to this steakhouse but they had limited room so we ended up walking 7 or 8 blocks to another one. Several of us (who had been in Bolivia more than 4 days) got the salad bar, because you can't really eat raw veggies here. But in nice restaurants, it's ok because they actually prepare it properly. That was fun and then we headed back home with so many people that a couple had to ride on the roof! Yeah, probably not too safe but he drove slowly and it was for a very short amount of time until we could drop some people off. Got home and I think we went to bed. Wow I hardly remember now.
Day 11/Saturday:
Got up and to the market. I did lots of shopping! I got several gifts for family and supporters and I'm nearly done with that. I got a beautiful blanket for about the equivalent of $3 and an oil painting on this black velvet that I was just in love with! We had lunch at "Tuesday"which is like Ruby Tuesday's and I had about the best quesadilla I have ever eaten in my life.
After lunch, which was a pretty late lunch, we went and did Kid Washing in downtown Cochabamba at the Plaza. This was one of the favorite things to do of almost everyone. They had been doing this for 10 years. The have this tent where they would wash the kids. Then, I guess they gave them new clothes. Then they came outside and we combed the girls' hair out and gave them little barrettes and clips to put in their hair. They do this every week and the people there said that God always provides people and the items they need to make it happen. It's crazy to think how big of a deal it is to give kids a bath who normally don't get to have them.
We did that for about 2 hours and then walked to this pizza place to order pizza. We got two huge pizzas that were called the "interminable" size pizza. With all 16 or 18 or however many of us there are now, we still couldn't finish it! I have pictures because I'm pretty sure the diameter of the box was about 1 meter. We had to open both of the front doors just to get them in the house! It was probably the most American meal we have had yet.
Day 11/Sunday:
Got up and went to church. Tomás was preaching and he spoke from Ephesians 1:1. He used just the one verse and really got deep down into it. I enjoyed listening and I am getting more and more out of each conversation/message in Spanish, the more I get practice doing it.
After church we went to lunch and then came back to play soccer & basketball with some of the kids from the youth group. A few of us sat in the shade on my blanket and were cheerleaders for the teams. It was nice and relaxing. Then we went to youth group, where Tomás and Iris are leaders. First we played a bunch of relay games and it was a lot of fun! Then we had some songs and a message by Raul, who had preached last Sunday. He is very passionate about missions and
has a really great heart.
When we got home last night, we had dinner and began discussing the CDI stuff. The CDI has been having some problems, and some of the members of its leadership have quit recently. The lady left in charge didn't feel like she had the ability to decide whether or not we would be able to have us come this week and do the education and physical exams that our group did last week at a CDI in a different location. We prayed about it on Saturday night and when Iris talked to the lady from the CDI on Sunday afternoon, the news was not good. We would not be able to come and we didn't have any place to go for this week, as a result. Iris got some phone numbers for a few other places and managed to arrange somewhere for us to go for today. Then today, she was going to try to make plans for the rest of the week.
All of your prayers for the CDI location and the church that is related to it, as well as all leadership involved would be greatly appreciated. We know that God is having us do other things that may open other doors, but that organization definitely needs prayer to help keep it together. These organizations are providing help with kids' homework, good meals, etc. and so if it falls apart, it will be devastating to the families involved.
Day 12/ Today:
As for today, we went to a home for deaf and mute kids/people. Some of them weren't kids, we realized when we got there. There were about 15-20 and many of them have had colds recently. We told them that we were only students and they just wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything more serious. So we checked them out, each in stations. The girls did vitals and reflexes, then Johan did a history, I did ears, nose, mouth, throat & neck, and James did heart & lungs.
I had one particularly peculiar finding. I looked in this one guy's ear, and I saw something black, like a bug. Turns out he had this little beetle inside of his ear canal. With a little bit of saltwater, a syringe, and a broken tongue depressor, I managed to extract the little guy out of his ear. So that was quite an adventure!
We took longer than expected so we didn't end up going to another place today and will be there tomorrow. It is for girls who are victims of violence, so it will be very sensitive.
Please pray that the rest of this week comes together as we seek other opportunities to minister. Please pray for Iris who has been so wonderfully arranging this. Thanks for your prayers for me as well! Adios!
To finish day 10.... I got to see the C-section on Friday with a couple of people and it was pretty much the most amazing thing ever! When the nurse was getting the baby all cleaned up, I got to help roll up the sheet he was in so she could lie him down on clean sheets. The parents were so cute! The dad was a little hesitant about picking up his little boy, but we thought it was likely because he wanted to wait until the mom could be a part of it. It was a beautiful thing to see a new life come into the world!! One of the best things I have ever seen in my life, for certain.
As for the rest of Friday, we played Wallyball in the evening, which is Volleyball on a racquetball court. I'm terrible, of course, but it's a lot of fun. When we played, they quickly explained the rules and the one time I led my team to victory (or so I thought) it was shattered by the existence of the ceiling. They failed to mention that if you hit the ceiling as it goes over, you lose the point. Anyway, we had a lot of fun playing and there's a whole new dimension when you have to figure out where it's going as it ricochets off the wall!
We were trying to go to this steakhouse but they had limited room so we ended up walking 7 or 8 blocks to another one. Several of us (who had been in Bolivia more than 4 days) got the salad bar, because you can't really eat raw veggies here. But in nice restaurants, it's ok because they actually prepare it properly. That was fun and then we headed back home with so many people that a couple had to ride on the roof! Yeah, probably not too safe but he drove slowly and it was for a very short amount of time until we could drop some people off. Got home and I think we went to bed. Wow I hardly remember now.
Day 11/Saturday:
Got up and to the market. I did lots of shopping! I got several gifts for family and supporters and I'm nearly done with that. I got a beautiful blanket for about the equivalent of $3 and an oil painting on this black velvet that I was just in love with! We had lunch at "Tuesday"which is like Ruby Tuesday's and I had about the best quesadilla I have ever eaten in my life.
After lunch, which was a pretty late lunch, we went and did Kid Washing in downtown Cochabamba at the Plaza. This was one of the favorite things to do of almost everyone. They had been doing this for 10 years. The have this tent where they would wash the kids. Then, I guess they gave them new clothes. Then they came outside and we combed the girls' hair out and gave them little barrettes and clips to put in their hair. They do this every week and the people there said that God always provides people and the items they need to make it happen. It's crazy to think how big of a deal it is to give kids a bath who normally don't get to have them.
We did that for about 2 hours and then walked to this pizza place to order pizza. We got two huge pizzas that were called the "interminable" size pizza. With all 16 or 18 or however many of us there are now, we still couldn't finish it! I have pictures because I'm pretty sure the diameter of the box was about 1 meter. We had to open both of the front doors just to get them in the house! It was probably the most American meal we have had yet.
Day 11/Sunday:
Got up and went to church. Tomás was preaching and he spoke from Ephesians 1:1. He used just the one verse and really got deep down into it. I enjoyed listening and I am getting more and more out of each conversation/message in Spanish, the more I get practice doing it.
After church we went to lunch and then came back to play soccer & basketball with some of the kids from the youth group. A few of us sat in the shade on my blanket and were cheerleaders for the teams. It was nice and relaxing. Then we went to youth group, where Tomás and Iris are leaders. First we played a bunch of relay games and it was a lot of fun! Then we had some songs and a message by Raul, who had preached last Sunday. He is very passionate about missions and
has a really great heart.
When we got home last night, we had dinner and began discussing the CDI stuff. The CDI has been having some problems, and some of the members of its leadership have quit recently. The lady left in charge didn't feel like she had the ability to decide whether or not we would be able to have us come this week and do the education and physical exams that our group did last week at a CDI in a different location. We prayed about it on Saturday night and when Iris talked to the lady from the CDI on Sunday afternoon, the news was not good. We would not be able to come and we didn't have any place to go for this week, as a result. Iris got some phone numbers for a few other places and managed to arrange somewhere for us to go for today. Then today, she was going to try to make plans for the rest of the week.
All of your prayers for the CDI location and the church that is related to it, as well as all leadership involved would be greatly appreciated. We know that God is having us do other things that may open other doors, but that organization definitely needs prayer to help keep it together. These organizations are providing help with kids' homework, good meals, etc. and so if it falls apart, it will be devastating to the families involved.
Day 12/ Today:
As for today, we went to a home for deaf and mute kids/people. Some of them weren't kids, we realized when we got there. There were about 15-20 and many of them have had colds recently. We told them that we were only students and they just wanted to make sure that there wasn't anything more serious. So we checked them out, each in stations. The girls did vitals and reflexes, then Johan did a history, I did ears, nose, mouth, throat & neck, and James did heart & lungs.
I had one particularly peculiar finding. I looked in this one guy's ear, and I saw something black, like a bug. Turns out he had this little beetle inside of his ear canal. With a little bit of saltwater, a syringe, and a broken tongue depressor, I managed to extract the little guy out of his ear. So that was quite an adventure!
We took longer than expected so we didn't end up going to another place today and will be there tomorrow. It is for girls who are victims of violence, so it will be very sensitive.
Please pray that the rest of this week comes together as we seek other opportunities to minister. Please pray for Iris who has been so wonderfully arranging this. Thanks for your prayers for me as well! Adios!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Day 9
Thursday is a very important day to hear about! It was quite possibly, the most exciting and satisfying day yet! :-)
So, at the end of the week for the group doing the health education presentations at the CDIs, they told the people that they would be giving physical exams on Thursday and Friday. They were planning on doing kids one day and adults the other. But Kevin and Jessica were supposed to leave by then, so they decided to do it all in one day....and didn't really know exactly what to expect. It could have been 200 people or 20. They brought along me, Johan & James (the other med students) and Jeremy (as another translator) so we would have more people to get through the exams, if need be. Well, it was a good thing we did!
Yesterday we got there around 9am or so and set up a clinic as best we could. The CDI made up a medical history form and Iris gathered that information from the people. Then, the girls from Wheaton + Leila did vitals in the front room. Kevin, James, Johan & I were in the second room, which was tiny and we split it in half sort of, so we could see two patients at a time. it was crowded when you account for 1 Dr. & 3 med students, 2 translators, 2 patients and sometimes an additional family member. At point is was really challenging, when we had a couple women who only spoke Quechua. So someone who spoke Quechua & Spanish translated to Jessica and she translated it to English! It was really going slowly so at lunch we sort of regrouped. Iris told us that some were upset because we weren't seeing children yet and the organization is sort of made for them. So we decided to see 3 people at a time, 2 adults & 1 child, all in the same room! Pretty crazy! I ended up doing the children physicals and after 2, we realized it was impossible to have 3 sets of doctors/students, translators & patients in the room. So we moved outside and with Leila's help, I got to give physicals to all the children! The healthy ones were easy of course, but the sick ones I passed on to Kevin to take a look at. It was rather frustrating though, because we had no medications... so other than advice like getting a lot of water & rest, even Kevin couldn't really do anything besides telling them to go to the doctor.
I loved checking the kids out though! It was funny to see their faces when I asked if they had a heart and they realized I was joking with them. One little girl was there with her 2 sisters, and she was so cute! She was really smart and kept playing with my stethoscope around my neck. When I finally got to her exam, I let her listen to my heart and lungs. She was so precious! One particular interesting thing about her, is that she had a sixth digit. It was like this little extra pinky size finger that grew out the side of her thumb. It was really interesting! Kevin referred her to the orthopedist at the Hospital of Hope to get it checked out.
Needless to say, when we left around 6:30/7 that night, we were all completely exhausted! It was the most patient contact that I and the other med students had had, just one on one and it was exciting to have that experience!
Finally coming around full circle, having experienced some women's healthcare in the spring and now some pediatric experience, I'm quite certain than family medicine is for me. I just love the variety and all the experience you get. It makes me more and more excited!
In other news, there some other exciting things worth mentioning. Well, first of all, I have gotten the whole flight change all taken care of. I am now staying until July 17th, since the cost of changing my ticket was about equivalent to the cost of staying here for a week. I don't really mind going home a bit earlier to spend more time with my family and relax. I will certainly be sad to leave though! But the REALLY exciting part, is that next Saturday we'll be going to the jungle! We are taking a day trip and will get to see the animals and all sorts of things! I'm super excited about it and will be beginning my malaria medication promptly!
Other than that, things are good. We are trying to get are groups to mesh and be more cohesive. Some of us who have been here feel like the groups are a bit separated. Today some surgeries are going on so everyone is trying to get it on those... a bowel resection & prostatectomy, then a C-section which I'm trying to go for, and then a gastric cancer surgery. On Tuesday I forgot to mention, one of the girls and I saw a circumcision on guy who was probably 16-20...weren't sure how old he was. That was interesting for sure.
Well, it's time for lunch so I better go! More updates to come later! Adios!
So, at the end of the week for the group doing the health education presentations at the CDIs, they told the people that they would be giving physical exams on Thursday and Friday. They were planning on doing kids one day and adults the other. But Kevin and Jessica were supposed to leave by then, so they decided to do it all in one day....and didn't really know exactly what to expect. It could have been 200 people or 20. They brought along me, Johan & James (the other med students) and Jeremy (as another translator) so we would have more people to get through the exams, if need be. Well, it was a good thing we did!
Yesterday we got there around 9am or so and set up a clinic as best we could. The CDI made up a medical history form and Iris gathered that information from the people. Then, the girls from Wheaton + Leila did vitals in the front room. Kevin, James, Johan & I were in the second room, which was tiny and we split it in half sort of, so we could see two patients at a time. it was crowded when you account for 1 Dr. & 3 med students, 2 translators, 2 patients and sometimes an additional family member. At point is was really challenging, when we had a couple women who only spoke Quechua. So someone who spoke Quechua & Spanish translated to Jessica and she translated it to English! It was really going slowly so at lunch we sort of regrouped. Iris told us that some were upset because we weren't seeing children yet and the organization is sort of made for them. So we decided to see 3 people at a time, 2 adults & 1 child, all in the same room! Pretty crazy! I ended up doing the children physicals and after 2, we realized it was impossible to have 3 sets of doctors/students, translators & patients in the room. So we moved outside and with Leila's help, I got to give physicals to all the children! The healthy ones were easy of course, but the sick ones I passed on to Kevin to take a look at. It was rather frustrating though, because we had no medications... so other than advice like getting a lot of water & rest, even Kevin couldn't really do anything besides telling them to go to the doctor.
I loved checking the kids out though! It was funny to see their faces when I asked if they had a heart and they realized I was joking with them. One little girl was there with her 2 sisters, and she was so cute! She was really smart and kept playing with my stethoscope around my neck. When I finally got to her exam, I let her listen to my heart and lungs. She was so precious! One particular interesting thing about her, is that she had a sixth digit. It was like this little extra pinky size finger that grew out the side of her thumb. It was really interesting! Kevin referred her to the orthopedist at the Hospital of Hope to get it checked out.
Needless to say, when we left around 6:30/7 that night, we were all completely exhausted! It was the most patient contact that I and the other med students had had, just one on one and it was exciting to have that experience!
Finally coming around full circle, having experienced some women's healthcare in the spring and now some pediatric experience, I'm quite certain than family medicine is for me. I just love the variety and all the experience you get. It makes me more and more excited!
In other news, there some other exciting things worth mentioning. Well, first of all, I have gotten the whole flight change all taken care of. I am now staying until July 17th, since the cost of changing my ticket was about equivalent to the cost of staying here for a week. I don't really mind going home a bit earlier to spend more time with my family and relax. I will certainly be sad to leave though! But the REALLY exciting part, is that next Saturday we'll be going to the jungle! We are taking a day trip and will get to see the animals and all sorts of things! I'm super excited about it and will be beginning my malaria medication promptly!
Other than that, things are good. We are trying to get are groups to mesh and be more cohesive. Some of us who have been here feel like the groups are a bit separated. Today some surgeries are going on so everyone is trying to get it on those... a bowel resection & prostatectomy, then a C-section which I'm trying to go for, and then a gastric cancer surgery. On Tuesday I forgot to mention, one of the girls and I saw a circumcision on guy who was probably 16-20...weren't sure how old he was. That was interesting for sure.
Well, it's time for lunch so I better go! More updates to come later! Adios!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Day 6, 7, 8
I haven't quite made it on here in a couple days for various reasons. I've been pretty tired lately, we got some more volunteers which means more competition for the computer, and yesterday I tried to get on and the internet wasn't working. So, I have quite a bit of updating to do and I apologize for the lengthiness of it all!
Monday: Two new volunteers arrived in the morning. Johan & James, two guys from Canada who also just finished their first year of medical school. They're really great guys and in a couple weeks, both of their wives are coming too, each of whom are pregnant! So that will be an adventure! :-) I went to the hospital by myself and followed the ER doc. There was an accident that morning and two little boys and their mother were brought in. I think the boys are fine for the most part but the mother I believe had a head injury, and they had a neck brace on her when they wheeled her to the womens' inpatient area. It was hard to tell witht he Spanish I was attempting to pick up. The boys are still in the hospital in a private area because there is no children's ward anywhere in the hospital. That afternoon, Leila (the nursing student & my roommate) and I took coloring books and crayons to Pedro & Jose. Jose was sleeping (he's the younger one, about 6 years old) but Pedro started coloring right away in bed.
After lunch, Iris had me and Kathleen translate for James & Johan, explaining the rules of the house and such. It was quite tiring and Kathleen knows more than I do so she did most of it, but I helped here and there. Not long after, 5 more volunteers arrived. They were supposed to come in at 12:30 but their flight actually came in at 2:50 (some miscommunication, which tends to happen quite a bit here) so we welcomed them here. Four girls Amy, Brianna, Karin & Annie, and one guy, Jeremy, who we were all relieved to find out speaks Spanish! So he has been helping translate for his group. That night we mostly rested and got everyone situated. We had orientation for group #2. Oh yeah, and I, along with several of the Wheaton girls, helped Iris make a chocolate cake & a carrot cake as a surprise for Kevin & Jessica's anniversary. They got back when we were still making them, but we all had a lot of fun eating cake and getting to know each other. By the end of the day, everyone was certainly exhausted!
Tuesday: I have been deemed the leader of the new group of volunteers, which is scary because they expect me to explain to them how things run at the hospital when as of Tuesday, I had been there twice... neither time having been particularly organized. But, we all got there and Emily, one of the volunteer translators helped me give a tour of the hospital and then we found Linda.
At this point, lunch was ready and I stopped typing. I'll try to pick back up where I left off.
Linda did a small devotional with us and an icebreaker of sorts, then we did a little survival Spanish & cultural background. I think it is kind of an ongoing thing, so there will be more of that to come. We were going to try to visit another orphanage but by the time the other group got back from the CDI, they were pretty tired. So we mostly relaxed for the afternoon. I have some great pictures from that day of Ester pretending to be a doctor. It was adorable! Then she decided to be a photographer, which was equally cute.
In the evening, Iris started talking to us about some of the ideas we could come up with for puppet shows or other gospel presentations to the children. We practiced some songs with the puppets and made some evangelistic bracelets as well with different color beads that represent different things ( black-sin, red-Jesus blood, etc.) . We haven't used them yet but I'm sure we will at some point! Completely and utterly exhausted, we ended the evening with devotions. It was nice to all be together with our huge group. It's like a giant family! :-)
Wednesday: Started the morning at the hospital as usual, but they stopped seeing patients at 10. (Now mind you, the doctors arrive at 9am South American time, so there were about 3 patients who came through). We were invited to stay for a presentation, which we thought might be interesting to watch. It was on biohazardous materials and basically.... you put regular trash in black bags, contaminated waste in red bags, needles in sharps containers, etc. Now of course, the whole thing is in Spanish, and is just as boring to listen to as it would be in the US. However, the lady presenting asked that she have complete silence, so none of us could help translate to those who understood little to no Spanish. After an hour and a half, we quietly left one by one. We were still there till 12, so at that point, we didn't really feel bad. So, the patient interaction was limited that day. (Although, the one girl I saw in the pediatrician's office was completely adorable! She would just look over at me and give this big smile. You wouldn't have known at all that she was sick).
The afternoon certainly made up for the morning, though! We went to one orphanage, and the girl who started it is from Texas and told us about it some. She actually helped build the guesthouse where I am staying, and she did fundraising for it for a year to help make it. This is where they kept kids at first (which is why our bathroom has tiny sinks and toilets) and now there are 3 different houses with children. A few of us went with her to where the babies are... the same place we went exactly 1 week before. We got to help feed the babies and up to 3 year olds again. Then we played with them outside for a while.
We got picked up by our group and of course, didn't want to leave. Then we went to the movies! Wednesdays are 2 for 1 so it's even cheaper than usual. It was 21 bolivianos for a ticket, split 2 ways comes out to about $1.50. THEN, I couldn't believe how cheap the concessions were. I definitely bought the biggest popcorn because it was 5Bs which is less than $1. We basically all got a soda, giant popcorn, and candy. (Peanut M&Ms mmmmmmmm. Occasionally, I do miss American food...even if it's junk food). We saw the Narnia movie... 3rd time for me. Yet still just as good! It was fun and it's in a plaza where there is a supermarket so we got a few items and then headed home. It was quite the day! So yeah, I realize that doesn't sound like much of a missions trip....hehe But they said, we need to have fun here too! :-)
So, I'm going to post this and then maybe try to post some pics and I'll start with Thursday's events in a new post.
Monday: Two new volunteers arrived in the morning. Johan & James, two guys from Canada who also just finished their first year of medical school. They're really great guys and in a couple weeks, both of their wives are coming too, each of whom are pregnant! So that will be an adventure! :-) I went to the hospital by myself and followed the ER doc. There was an accident that morning and two little boys and their mother were brought in. I think the boys are fine for the most part but the mother I believe had a head injury, and they had a neck brace on her when they wheeled her to the womens' inpatient area. It was hard to tell witht he Spanish I was attempting to pick up. The boys are still in the hospital in a private area because there is no children's ward anywhere in the hospital. That afternoon, Leila (the nursing student & my roommate) and I took coloring books and crayons to Pedro & Jose. Jose was sleeping (he's the younger one, about 6 years old) but Pedro started coloring right away in bed.
After lunch, Iris had me and Kathleen translate for James & Johan, explaining the rules of the house and such. It was quite tiring and Kathleen knows more than I do so she did most of it, but I helped here and there. Not long after, 5 more volunteers arrived. They were supposed to come in at 12:30 but their flight actually came in at 2:50 (some miscommunication, which tends to happen quite a bit here) so we welcomed them here. Four girls Amy, Brianna, Karin & Annie, and one guy, Jeremy, who we were all relieved to find out speaks Spanish! So he has been helping translate for his group. That night we mostly rested and got everyone situated. We had orientation for group #2. Oh yeah, and I, along with several of the Wheaton girls, helped Iris make a chocolate cake & a carrot cake as a surprise for Kevin & Jessica's anniversary. They got back when we were still making them, but we all had a lot of fun eating cake and getting to know each other. By the end of the day, everyone was certainly exhausted!
Tuesday: I have been deemed the leader of the new group of volunteers, which is scary because they expect me to explain to them how things run at the hospital when as of Tuesday, I had been there twice... neither time having been particularly organized. But, we all got there and Emily, one of the volunteer translators helped me give a tour of the hospital and then we found Linda.
At this point, lunch was ready and I stopped typing. I'll try to pick back up where I left off.
Linda did a small devotional with us and an icebreaker of sorts, then we did a little survival Spanish & cultural background. I think it is kind of an ongoing thing, so there will be more of that to come. We were going to try to visit another orphanage but by the time the other group got back from the CDI, they were pretty tired. So we mostly relaxed for the afternoon. I have some great pictures from that day of Ester pretending to be a doctor. It was adorable! Then she decided to be a photographer, which was equally cute.
In the evening, Iris started talking to us about some of the ideas we could come up with for puppet shows or other gospel presentations to the children. We practiced some songs with the puppets and made some evangelistic bracelets as well with different color beads that represent different things ( black-sin, red-Jesus blood, etc.) . We haven't used them yet but I'm sure we will at some point! Completely and utterly exhausted, we ended the evening with devotions. It was nice to all be together with our huge group. It's like a giant family! :-)
Wednesday: Started the morning at the hospital as usual, but they stopped seeing patients at 10. (Now mind you, the doctors arrive at 9am South American time, so there were about 3 patients who came through). We were invited to stay for a presentation, which we thought might be interesting to watch. It was on biohazardous materials and basically.... you put regular trash in black bags, contaminated waste in red bags, needles in sharps containers, etc. Now of course, the whole thing is in Spanish, and is just as boring to listen to as it would be in the US. However, the lady presenting asked that she have complete silence, so none of us could help translate to those who understood little to no Spanish. After an hour and a half, we quietly left one by one. We were still there till 12, so at that point, we didn't really feel bad. So, the patient interaction was limited that day. (Although, the one girl I saw in the pediatrician's office was completely adorable! She would just look over at me and give this big smile. You wouldn't have known at all that she was sick).
The afternoon certainly made up for the morning, though! We went to one orphanage, and the girl who started it is from Texas and told us about it some. She actually helped build the guesthouse where I am staying, and she did fundraising for it for a year to help make it. This is where they kept kids at first (which is why our bathroom has tiny sinks and toilets) and now there are 3 different houses with children. A few of us went with her to where the babies are... the same place we went exactly 1 week before. We got to help feed the babies and up to 3 year olds again. Then we played with them outside for a while.
We got picked up by our group and of course, didn't want to leave. Then we went to the movies! Wednesdays are 2 for 1 so it's even cheaper than usual. It was 21 bolivianos for a ticket, split 2 ways comes out to about $1.50. THEN, I couldn't believe how cheap the concessions were. I definitely bought the biggest popcorn because it was 5Bs which is less than $1. We basically all got a soda, giant popcorn, and candy. (Peanut M&Ms mmmmmmmm. Occasionally, I do miss American food...even if it's junk food). We saw the Narnia movie... 3rd time for me. Yet still just as good! It was fun and it's in a plaza where there is a supermarket so we got a few items and then headed home. It was quite the day! So yeah, I realize that doesn't sound like much of a missions trip....hehe But they said, we need to have fun here too! :-)
So, I'm going to post this and then maybe try to post some pics and I'll start with Thursday's events in a new post.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Day 5
So today was not all that eventful but a long day nonetheless. But first, I must update on yesterday.
Last night some of the kids from Tomas & Iris's youth group came to teach us this skit that is supposed to be a group of clowns. It was absolutely hilarious! Watching our volunteers try to do it was even funnier! I got some on video and I'm trying to store the files online so I can make it into one video when I get back to the states. It'll be hilarious! After that we were exhausted, but some of the girls learned to do a sort of sign language to music presentation. We'll be wearing all black and have white gloves on, and I guess they have black lights so all you can see is the hand movements. It sounds cool and if we can manage to pull it all together, that should be just lovely! We also had pizza for dinner last night, which was a treat because I could pretty much eat it every day of the week!
Today we went to church. It's almost an hour away, so we left after 9 and got there sometime around 10. First a few songs and then Don Pablo led the Sunday school lesson after the children and kids in the youth group left. We had a paper so I managed to follow along pretty well. First he read from Matthew 20: 26-28 about doing the work of the Father. (I think that was the one.) Then the lesson went into the importance of using your gifts and talents for the church, to help it and others grow. The gifts and talents that God gives us are not for ourselves, but rather for the benefit of others. Also, he went on to say that there are no gifts that are better than others. All are important to the Kingdom of God.
After that there were some more songs, they introduced me as a visitor with the Hospitals of Hope , and then a man came to preach (The father of one of the clown boys). He talked about missions and the importance of not being happy just being where you are, so if you can, to go and to teach other nations. He spoke quite rapidly so it was a little more difficult to stay up with him on the details but I got the main idea.
We left the church and went to lunch at a 5 star hotel! It was about an hour away from the church so by the time we got there it was at least 1:30 and we were all starving! They had a buffet and we ordered the main meat, such as steak, chicken or fish. I got steak but I had some of the fish and would totally get the fish, were I to visit there again!
There was a lake on the way to the hotel (which is in the middle of nowhere, so we were all not sure what to expect and were pleasantly surprise!) and behind the hotel there were some steps built into the side. It was a bit of a mini hike and was especially difficult if you consider that we were mostly all wearing skirts & flip flops, in addition to the challenge of being at a higher altitude here. It was definitely worth it because it was a beautiful view!
Not soon after that, we left the hotel and had a 2+ hour ride back. Finally I got a picture of our primary means of transportation with Don Manuel as our driver. I'll be sure to post it soon! He's such a sweet man and very patient with all of us. I asked him at lunch about the fish he had told me was good here and he ended up ordering it so I could try some. By the time we got home it was almost dark... it gets dark here around 6 I think I heard someone say. Much earlier than I'm used to at home!
Well, not much more to say for now. Tomorrow I'll be at the hospital in the morning so I'm sure I'll have more stories once the time comes! Adios!
Last night some of the kids from Tomas & Iris's youth group came to teach us this skit that is supposed to be a group of clowns. It was absolutely hilarious! Watching our volunteers try to do it was even funnier! I got some on video and I'm trying to store the files online so I can make it into one video when I get back to the states. It'll be hilarious! After that we were exhausted, but some of the girls learned to do a sort of sign language to music presentation. We'll be wearing all black and have white gloves on, and I guess they have black lights so all you can see is the hand movements. It sounds cool and if we can manage to pull it all together, that should be just lovely! We also had pizza for dinner last night, which was a treat because I could pretty much eat it every day of the week!
Today we went to church. It's almost an hour away, so we left after 9 and got there sometime around 10. First a few songs and then Don Pablo led the Sunday school lesson after the children and kids in the youth group left. We had a paper so I managed to follow along pretty well. First he read from Matthew 20: 26-28 about doing the work of the Father. (I think that was the one.) Then the lesson went into the importance of using your gifts and talents for the church, to help it and others grow. The gifts and talents that God gives us are not for ourselves, but rather for the benefit of others. Also, he went on to say that there are no gifts that are better than others. All are important to the Kingdom of God.
After that there were some more songs, they introduced me as a visitor with the Hospitals of Hope , and then a man came to preach (The father of one of the clown boys). He talked about missions and the importance of not being happy just being where you are, so if you can, to go and to teach other nations. He spoke quite rapidly so it was a little more difficult to stay up with him on the details but I got the main idea.
We left the church and went to lunch at a 5 star hotel! It was about an hour away from the church so by the time we got there it was at least 1:30 and we were all starving! They had a buffet and we ordered the main meat, such as steak, chicken or fish. I got steak but I had some of the fish and would totally get the fish, were I to visit there again!
There was a lake on the way to the hotel (which is in the middle of nowhere, so we were all not sure what to expect and were pleasantly surprise!) and behind the hotel there were some steps built into the side. It was a bit of a mini hike and was especially difficult if you consider that we were mostly all wearing skirts & flip flops, in addition to the challenge of being at a higher altitude here. It was definitely worth it because it was a beautiful view!
Not soon after that, we left the hotel and had a 2+ hour ride back. Finally I got a picture of our primary means of transportation with Don Manuel as our driver. I'll be sure to post it soon! He's such a sweet man and very patient with all of us. I asked him at lunch about the fish he had told me was good here and he ended up ordering it so I could try some. By the time we got home it was almost dark... it gets dark here around 6 I think I heard someone say. Much earlier than I'm used to at home!
Well, not much more to say for now. Tomorrow I'll be at the hospital in the morning so I'm sure I'll have more stories once the time comes! Adios!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Day 4
Today was a busy day! We woke up and had pancakes that two of the girls made for all of us for breakfast. Then we went to the market to go shopping. Several of the girls bought blankets, which I will probably do the next time I go, I just didn't see anything that I loved and we were pressed for time. We went to another section and I got a few gifts for friends. Then we went to a jewelry store. The Bolivianita is a stone special to Bolivia that is purple and has yellow in it too. There is a whole legend behind it, but I didn't really understand it because the English translation didn't really make much sense.
After the market, we went to lunch and tried a ton of food. They just kept bringing out more and more! I loved the empanadas (kind of like bread stuffed with cheese, but more puffed up almost like a pastry) and all of the food was delicious. We were all extremely full and had leftovers to bring home, even.
After lunch we went to see the Cristo. It's a statue of Christ, much like the famous one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The one here is actually bigger though. So we took some pictures there and hopefully I'll be able to post them soon.
Our last stop before coming home was going grocery shopping. Like I mentioned before, we have a bunch of new volunteers coming so we had about 3 carts of groceries full. So it was fun packing all of us plus our shopping items & grocery items all in the little van.
We are supposed to learn how to act like clowns today. It was supposed to happen at 3 but things hardly begin on time here...which is fine by me! haha But yes right now Tomas is installing electricity for our shower so we will have hot water! Yay! I have a picture of him making a hole in the wall which is pretty hilarious.
The rest of the evening should be fairly uneventful and tomorrow we have church. It turns out I'm not going to help with the CDI this week because I haven't had a chance to spend time in the hospital yet like the other volunteers. So instead, I'll be with the new ones coming on Monday. Part of the reason I will be doing this is because none of the new volunteers speak Spanish and I know enough to communicate more or less. So I'll be helping to translate between them since otherwise they would be totally lost.
All right, I'm getting some pictures loaded now so adios!
After the market, we went to lunch and tried a ton of food. They just kept bringing out more and more! I loved the empanadas (kind of like bread stuffed with cheese, but more puffed up almost like a pastry) and all of the food was delicious. We were all extremely full and had leftovers to bring home, even.
After lunch we went to see the Cristo. It's a statue of Christ, much like the famous one in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The one here is actually bigger though. So we took some pictures there and hopefully I'll be able to post them soon.
Our last stop before coming home was going grocery shopping. Like I mentioned before, we have a bunch of new volunteers coming so we had about 3 carts of groceries full. So it was fun packing all of us plus our shopping items & grocery items all in the little van.
We are supposed to learn how to act like clowns today. It was supposed to happen at 3 but things hardly begin on time here...which is fine by me! haha But yes right now Tomas is installing electricity for our shower so we will have hot water! Yay! I have a picture of him making a hole in the wall which is pretty hilarious.
The rest of the evening should be fairly uneventful and tomorrow we have church. It turns out I'm not going to help with the CDI this week because I haven't had a chance to spend time in the hospital yet like the other volunteers. So instead, I'll be with the new ones coming on Monday. Part of the reason I will be doing this is because none of the new volunteers speak Spanish and I know enough to communicate more or less. So I'll be helping to translate between them since otherwise they would be totally lost.
All right, I'm getting some pictures loaded now so adios!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 3
Today, I confess, is not too eventful. Got up this morning and went to the airport to get my luggage! That was exciting. Finally I have my belongings and that is a great feeling! Right now there are teachers here forming blockades in traffic because they are underpaid here and are demanding more money. We had to take a detour going and coming from the airport and I saw a bunch of them down the street. There were hundreds! Don Manuel, the same man who picked me up from the airport, took me to get it. He dropped Iris off at the market so she could go shopping and then took me to get my luggage. On our way back, he picked up his wife from the market and then later dropped me off. He is really sweet and was asking about my family. He said that Tomas is teaching him how to use the internet so he can email the volunteers who come to visit. He also asked me to send him some photos of my family and of Florida. He told me he has two sons and one daughter and they are all in school. I believe he said that his son is in college... all of this took place in Spanish, of course, so at times I missed some of the details. He is trying to learn English too, so sometimes he asked me what words were in English, like big and small. The people here are so friendly and kind!
If you have ever been to South America, you will understand what I mean when I say that driving is very different here from the US. I feel like for the most part, anything goes. The same was true in Peru. If you get nervous while riding with a teenager, just come to South America and your fears will be gone! :-) But, I would much rather ride along than attempt to drive in the traffic myself. That would definitely scare me.
After getting my luggage, I got my stuff organized and took a nap. By the time I got situated, it wasn't worth going back to the hospital because I would have just turned right back around in a few minutes. I'm not sure what it was, but since I woke up I have been having a bit of a queasy stomach. I had a bit of lunch and tried to help a little with some posters the girls were working on, but every time I went into the kitchen and smelled food, I felt really nauseous. Since the, I basically took a Pepto Bismol and have been in bed... it's the only way to stay warm anyway. Sadly, I missed out on Wallyball because of it. I know that it sounded familiar, but I have never played. Apparently, they put a volleyball net up in a racquetball court and play. I guess it makes you seem better than you are, which is great because I'm pretty terrible at volleyball. haha So most of my day has been spent in bed. It's a little after 8 now and they left at 4:45, so I'm sure they'll be getting back anytime. In the mean time, I thought I'd update for the day.
Upcoming events: Next week we will start going to present several different health related topics at CDIs. I'm not totally sure what CDI is because I guess it was explained to them before I got here. However, there will be talks on various things such as water & food handling, infant malnutrition, TB, etc. So we will be going to several places and giving these talks in churches and schools, to help educate the people. It's been a challenge coming up with some of the information because it's hard to tell kids to brush their teeth if they can't get access to a toothbrush. We're doing our best to try to provide some of the resources but it will certainly be limited.
Tomorrow we are going to a statue of Christ which is beautiful from a distance and later on we're learning to act like clowns. Well, I guess everyone else is learning because I've pretty much got that down. haha Soon we will be getting more volunteers also. Right now there are about 8 of us and by next week we'll have 20. It will definitely make the guesthouse a busy place! Especially for meals and showers.
Not much else to say so I suppose I will be signing out for now. Adios!
If you have ever been to South America, you will understand what I mean when I say that driving is very different here from the US. I feel like for the most part, anything goes. The same was true in Peru. If you get nervous while riding with a teenager, just come to South America and your fears will be gone! :-) But, I would much rather ride along than attempt to drive in the traffic myself. That would definitely scare me.
After getting my luggage, I got my stuff organized and took a nap. By the time I got situated, it wasn't worth going back to the hospital because I would have just turned right back around in a few minutes. I'm not sure what it was, but since I woke up I have been having a bit of a queasy stomach. I had a bit of lunch and tried to help a little with some posters the girls were working on, but every time I went into the kitchen and smelled food, I felt really nauseous. Since the, I basically took a Pepto Bismol and have been in bed... it's the only way to stay warm anyway. Sadly, I missed out on Wallyball because of it. I know that it sounded familiar, but I have never played. Apparently, they put a volleyball net up in a racquetball court and play. I guess it makes you seem better than you are, which is great because I'm pretty terrible at volleyball. haha So most of my day has been spent in bed. It's a little after 8 now and they left at 4:45, so I'm sure they'll be getting back anytime. In the mean time, I thought I'd update for the day.
Upcoming events: Next week we will start going to present several different health related topics at CDIs. I'm not totally sure what CDI is because I guess it was explained to them before I got here. However, there will be talks on various things such as water & food handling, infant malnutrition, TB, etc. So we will be going to several places and giving these talks in churches and schools, to help educate the people. It's been a challenge coming up with some of the information because it's hard to tell kids to brush their teeth if they can't get access to a toothbrush. We're doing our best to try to provide some of the resources but it will certainly be limited.
Tomorrow we are going to a statue of Christ which is beautiful from a distance and later on we're learning to act like clowns. Well, I guess everyone else is learning because I've pretty much got that down. haha Soon we will be getting more volunteers also. Right now there are about 8 of us and by next week we'll have 20. It will definitely make the guesthouse a busy place! Especially for meals and showers.
Not much else to say so I suppose I will be signing out for now. Adios!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Day 2
I'm not sure I'll even be able to remember and describe all that I want to say about what has gone on since I've been here. I just love it sooooooo very much! But there have been a few ups and downs since I have arrived.
Good news on the luggage situation! It came to the airport tonight and at some point tomorrow I will get to go pick it up with Don Manuel, the really sweet driver who picked me up from the airport. He knows the Hospitals of Hope workers well and drove us to an orphanage today. But before I get to today, I must update on yesterday!
When I arrived I wasn't too exhausted & decided to stay on a normal sleep schedule so I didn't take a nap. A few hours after I was welcomed by many other lovely volunteers, we went to this orphanage together. It's a private orphanage (I believe it was called Hogar del amor--or place of love but not sure) and it only had children under 3 years old! So we got to play with the babies and toddlers who are so very precious! I got to feed a little girl named Sofia her bottle and then I helped finish feeding Erik, who was a twin. He was about 2-3 months old (I forget). We also played with the toddlers and they were fun too. They just love the attention and we were all deeply saddened when told it was time to leave. We were told that we will be returning, which makes me very happy because I didn't take my camera, which I totally regret.
Today was my first day in the hospital... it's actually fairly slow. We got there at 9am and waited for the doctors. I was given a tour by a couple of other volunteers and then I ended up helping some of the other girls take vitals. I'm trying really hard to use my Spanish and get more proficient in that... towards the end I got to observe a pediatrician with a few patients too.
Currently volunteering with me are a couple from Missouri, Jessica who is a Spanish teacher and her husband Kevin who is a second year family medicine resident. My roommate in the guesthouse is Leila and she is a nursing student from Georgia. The other four girls are from Wheaton College, Charlotte, Megan and Amy are pre-medicine students and Katherine is pre-nursing. My host family is Tomás and Iris, and their little girl Ester. Iris is not bilingual so I'm learning a lot of my Spanish through interactions with her. I find that I understand a lot, it's just the speaking I'm trying to get down. Tomás is bilingual and he's usually working in town so we see him in the evenings. Ester is adorable and fully of energy! She was really excited that I was coming and Jessica said she kept calling me Mi cole (mee col in Spanish, which translates to "my cole"). She's a lot of fun to have around and we love to play with her!
Today after we had lunch, we went to another orphanage. This time, it was for boys only, ages 3-18. We introduced ourselves, and then we gave them little toys and played outside with them. Some of them played futbol (soccer) and the rest of us played on the playground with the younger ones. I got to play with Josue who was just precious! He would take my hand and follow me wherever I went. I was taking a picture, and when I moved to take it from a different angle, he picked up his toy, followed me, and sat back down close to me, resuming his play with the toy. I didn't want to leave him there! I have a picture of his unbelievable smile that I will hopefully be able to post soon!
Random funny story: Before we left, one of the volunteer hosts gave us a tour of the building. I saw someone who looked strangely familiar, and then I heard her say his name. (Jimmy) Turns out I had actually gone to high school with him and we talked for a minute, realizing we both now live in Tallahassee. Later on the host mentioned that the next group coming would be from Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, which is where I attended during most of my college years. I couldn't believe it. It truly is a small world!
Tonight we had devotions which was great. Kevin shared Psalm 23 and Iris shared with us a great deal in reflection of that. I really am excited to get to know her better because her faith seems so great and she does so much for us, including making meals and planning our afternoon visits/trips. She has a wonderful heart and I hope to learn a lot from her, both linguistically and spirtually. My favorite part was singing our worship songs in English & Spanish. It's so cool when you can do it in two languages!
Well, it's getting late and I know that I am exhausted. If you read this, you are probably exhausted from reading all this! Sorry I get a little wordy sometimes. But, this tends to happen when one gets excited, right?
I have to say that I love it here and I'm so excited to get to be here for a while. I do have one other logistical situation to take care of that you can be praying for. My plane ticket was mistakenly booked for June 24th rather than July 24th. Everything else in my account is taken care of for 6 weeks, but it costs $240 to change my ticket. I'm trying to figure out how best I can fix this and I'm looking into several options. It may mean that some of that money is taken out of my account for housing/food and may shorten my trip a bit. Or I might just pay the $240 out of pocket. Please pray for guidance and provision... I am not worried but it is something I need to take care of soon.
This is something worth mentioning that I almost forgot: I got to shower today. It's too cold to do it in the morning or evening, so I waited until this afternoon (and once I knew my luggage was coming so I didn't waste my 1 pair of clean clothes from my carryon). I tell you, it's the little things in life. :-) Turns out, it's so cold here most don't shower every day anyway, but it was nice to get the airport grime off of me finally! ;-) Sorry if that was TMI but missions trips tend to be that way.
Blessings be with you! Adios!
Good news on the luggage situation! It came to the airport tonight and at some point tomorrow I will get to go pick it up with Don Manuel, the really sweet driver who picked me up from the airport. He knows the Hospitals of Hope workers well and drove us to an orphanage today. But before I get to today, I must update on yesterday!
When I arrived I wasn't too exhausted & decided to stay on a normal sleep schedule so I didn't take a nap. A few hours after I was welcomed by many other lovely volunteers, we went to this orphanage together. It's a private orphanage (I believe it was called Hogar del amor--or place of love but not sure) and it only had children under 3 years old! So we got to play with the babies and toddlers who are so very precious! I got to feed a little girl named Sofia her bottle and then I helped finish feeding Erik, who was a twin. He was about 2-3 months old (I forget). We also played with the toddlers and they were fun too. They just love the attention and we were all deeply saddened when told it was time to leave. We were told that we will be returning, which makes me very happy because I didn't take my camera, which I totally regret.
Today was my first day in the hospital... it's actually fairly slow. We got there at 9am and waited for the doctors. I was given a tour by a couple of other volunteers and then I ended up helping some of the other girls take vitals. I'm trying really hard to use my Spanish and get more proficient in that... towards the end I got to observe a pediatrician with a few patients too.
Currently volunteering with me are a couple from Missouri, Jessica who is a Spanish teacher and her husband Kevin who is a second year family medicine resident. My roommate in the guesthouse is Leila and she is a nursing student from Georgia. The other four girls are from Wheaton College, Charlotte, Megan and Amy are pre-medicine students and Katherine is pre-nursing. My host family is Tomás and Iris, and their little girl Ester. Iris is not bilingual so I'm learning a lot of my Spanish through interactions with her. I find that I understand a lot, it's just the speaking I'm trying to get down. Tomás is bilingual and he's usually working in town so we see him in the evenings. Ester is adorable and fully of energy! She was really excited that I was coming and Jessica said she kept calling me Mi cole (mee col in Spanish, which translates to "my cole"). She's a lot of fun to have around and we love to play with her!
Today after we had lunch, we went to another orphanage. This time, it was for boys only, ages 3-18. We introduced ourselves, and then we gave them little toys and played outside with them. Some of them played futbol (soccer) and the rest of us played on the playground with the younger ones. I got to play with Josue who was just precious! He would take my hand and follow me wherever I went. I was taking a picture, and when I moved to take it from a different angle, he picked up his toy, followed me, and sat back down close to me, resuming his play with the toy. I didn't want to leave him there! I have a picture of his unbelievable smile that I will hopefully be able to post soon!
Random funny story: Before we left, one of the volunteer hosts gave us a tour of the building. I saw someone who looked strangely familiar, and then I heard her say his name. (Jimmy) Turns out I had actually gone to high school with him and we talked for a minute, realizing we both now live in Tallahassee. Later on the host mentioned that the next group coming would be from Christ Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, which is where I attended during most of my college years. I couldn't believe it. It truly is a small world!
Tonight we had devotions which was great. Kevin shared Psalm 23 and Iris shared with us a great deal in reflection of that. I really am excited to get to know her better because her faith seems so great and she does so much for us, including making meals and planning our afternoon visits/trips. She has a wonderful heart and I hope to learn a lot from her, both linguistically and spirtually. My favorite part was singing our worship songs in English & Spanish. It's so cool when you can do it in two languages!
Well, it's getting late and I know that I am exhausted. If you read this, you are probably exhausted from reading all this! Sorry I get a little wordy sometimes. But, this tends to happen when one gets excited, right?
I have to say that I love it here and I'm so excited to get to be here for a while. I do have one other logistical situation to take care of that you can be praying for. My plane ticket was mistakenly booked for June 24th rather than July 24th. Everything else in my account is taken care of for 6 weeks, but it costs $240 to change my ticket. I'm trying to figure out how best I can fix this and I'm looking into several options. It may mean that some of that money is taken out of my account for housing/food and may shorten my trip a bit. Or I might just pay the $240 out of pocket. Please pray for guidance and provision... I am not worried but it is something I need to take care of soon.
This is something worth mentioning that I almost forgot: I got to shower today. It's too cold to do it in the morning or evening, so I waited until this afternoon (and once I knew my luggage was coming so I didn't waste my 1 pair of clean clothes from my carryon). I tell you, it's the little things in life. :-) Turns out, it's so cold here most don't shower every day anyway, but it was nice to get the airport grime off of me finally! ;-) Sorry if that was TMI but missions trips tend to be that way.
Blessings be with you! Adios!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 1
Made it to Bolivia safe and sound...and unfortunately, luggageless. But I'm not concerned yet. I have had an overwhelming peace about this all along. I stopped in many places along the way.
The best thing I saw on the drive over was a cow sitting in the front yard somewhere. Just chillin. Loved it! ha Well, at 3 they are leaving to play with the little kids and babies in an orphanage. I think I'm going to go along because I figure, might as well get used to sleeping at a normal time, rather than sleeping midday today.
I think I'm going to go move around since my fingers and toes are getting terribly cold and will soon be numb. Slight exaggeration. But my tea is gone so nothing left to warm my hands. I'll be investing in some gloves and a hat at the market, pretty sure.
I think I'm going to be able to post pictures so be on the lookout!
- Miami flight stopped in La Paz, then Santa Cruz where I went
- From there, I bought a flight to Cochabamba which stopped in Sucre, then on to Cochabamba
The best thing I saw on the drive over was a cow sitting in the front yard somewhere. Just chillin. Loved it! ha Well, at 3 they are leaving to play with the little kids and babies in an orphanage. I think I'm going to go along because I figure, might as well get used to sleeping at a normal time, rather than sleeping midday today.
I think I'm going to go move around since my fingers and toes are getting terribly cold and will soon be numb. Slight exaggeration. But my tea is gone so nothing left to warm my hands. I'll be investing in some gloves and a hat at the market, pretty sure.
I think I'm going to be able to post pictures so be on the lookout!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Last post in the US of A
All right, well, I pretty much have all my stuff together. My mom has a dr. appt in Jupiter so we're stopping there on the way to Miami. Then off I go!
The next time I update this I'll be in a different country/hemisphere/continent!
Adios!
The next time I update this I'll be in a different country/hemisphere/continent!
Adios!
A New Beginning
This blog is new for me. I have had one elsewhere, but decided to go ahead and start a new one that is public for people to read while I have a few adventures in Bolivia this summer. It is likely I'll continue updating after I return as well, which is fine.
A little explanation on the name... Well, I realize it's a children's fiction series, but I am convinced that Narnia truly exists. It does in a way. Anyway, that's where my screen name comes from. I started using it after I finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a couple of summers ago and have not come up with anything as creative or symbolic since.
....And there on the field of battle Aslan made him [Edmund] a knight.
"Does he know," whispered Lucy to Susan, "what Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was?"
"Hush! No. Of course not," said Susan.
"Oughtn't he be told?" said Lucy.
"Oh surely not," said Susan. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he."
And I am. Just. Like. Edmund.
A little explanation on the name... Well, I realize it's a children's fiction series, but I am convinced that Narnia truly exists. It does in a way. Anyway, that's where my screen name comes from. I started using it after I finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a couple of summers ago and have not come up with anything as creative or symbolic since.
....And there on the field of battle Aslan made him [Edmund] a knight.
"Does he know," whispered Lucy to Susan, "what Aslan did for him? Does he know what the arrangement with the Witch really was?"
"Hush! No. Of course not," said Susan.
"Oughtn't he be told?" said Lucy.
"Oh surely not," said Susan. "It would be too awful for him. Think how you'd feel if you were he."
And I am. Just. Like. Edmund.
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