Wednesday
Time to head home! It was a hard day for me, for sure. Got up early to go to the CDIs with everyone so that we could go straight to the airport from there. It was nice to get to say goodbye to all of them... although I forgot to say goodbye one last time to the Wisconsin group who stayed back and went to the hospital. But, they got set up and then I said my goodbyes to everyone at the CDI. Then Iris & Ester came to see me off at the airport. Tomas had called to explain to me that my flight in Santa Cruz went to a different airport, but he would meet us at the airport. I was surprised that he was coming, but excited to get to say goodbye to them!
On the drive to the airport, Iris told me that they had a surprise for me. But then she stopped and said she wouldn't tell me anymore. I definitely fought tears on the ride there and tried to avoid thinking about leaving so we could have some good pictures. :-) We got there and had over an hour to spare, so we wandered around a bit after I got my ticket. We went over to the gift shop and I got a couple things to snack on and some gum for Ester. Tomas called and was unable to get a taxi--it never came. So Iris told me that they had gotten some of my pictures (I left some on their computer for them) and put them in some sort of collage or something for me, as a gift. Just knowing that they had been so thoughtful was so meaningful to me!
When we realized that I needed to go through security to make sure I was ready in time, we took a picture together. I gave them both hugs and Iris sent me off with a Bible verse, which I confess, I only understood half of because I was so distracted by the fact that I was leaving and I would miss their family so very much. I gave Ester a hug and told her I would miss her a lot and she responded "Me too." (in her adorable 4 year old Spanish, of course).
I made it through security and as I stood in line waiting to have my ticket checked and heading onto the plane to find my seat, the tears came little by little...one by one. They continued streaming down and I gave up fighting it. They came pretty uncontrollably anyway. I'm pretty sure the little girl next to me wondered what the heck was wrong with the white girl who kept crying. haha I decided to sleep on the flight so I didn't have to think about how much I would miss their family. Even as I write this, it brings tears to my eyes. That was a really hard day.
I feel like everything that I did that day after that flight deserves a separate post because it is entirely different. So this is the end...for now.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Day 34
Tuesday
Tuesday was my last day in the hospital! We tried to get everyone arranged and situated. Linda helped get some of that organized. I followed the pediatrician again, who also was a wonderful person to learn from. She was good at explaining things so that I understood, so I actually didn't have a translator that day. There weren't very many patients, so we went through a book and she was teaching me about Upper Respiratory Tract Infections. It was pretty cool.
I needed to fill out an evaluation but Linda had forgotten them, so we started doing it verbally. But there was a lot going on, so I ended up just getting paper from her and heading back to the guesthouse to pack. It was rather depressing and one of my hardest things to do while I was there. It seemed like I had just arrived and made the bed... and now I had to get it ready to leave for someone else. It's amazing how 5 weeks flew by!
I got enough stuff together after lunch that I decided to go one last time to the baby orphanage! I got to go there 4 or 5 times while I was there and it was hard to see them all again, knowing it was the last time. This one little girl looks like Dora the Explorer incarnate, so I have no idea what her name is but I call her Dora. Rudy wasn't very happy while I was there, but he's still one of my favorites. And of course, we all loved taking care of the little babies! They are just precious!
We headed back and had devotions, once again, around the campfire. We did praise & worship, had a little presentation from Jeff & Matt about Spiritual Health and how to address it with our patients, and then we had s'mores. We sang a little more and then headed back inside. It was a lovely night and didn't last too late since we had to get up early the next morning.
Tuesday was my last day in the hospital! We tried to get everyone arranged and situated. Linda helped get some of that organized. I followed the pediatrician again, who also was a wonderful person to learn from. She was good at explaining things so that I understood, so I actually didn't have a translator that day. There weren't very many patients, so we went through a book and she was teaching me about Upper Respiratory Tract Infections. It was pretty cool.
I needed to fill out an evaluation but Linda had forgotten them, so we started doing it verbally. But there was a lot going on, so I ended up just getting paper from her and heading back to the guesthouse to pack. It was rather depressing and one of my hardest things to do while I was there. It seemed like I had just arrived and made the bed... and now I had to get it ready to leave for someone else. It's amazing how 5 weeks flew by!
I got enough stuff together after lunch that I decided to go one last time to the baby orphanage! I got to go there 4 or 5 times while I was there and it was hard to see them all again, knowing it was the last time. This one little girl looks like Dora the Explorer incarnate, so I have no idea what her name is but I call her Dora. Rudy wasn't very happy while I was there, but he's still one of my favorites. And of course, we all loved taking care of the little babies! They are just precious!
We headed back and had devotions, once again, around the campfire. We did praise & worship, had a little presentation from Jeff & Matt about Spiritual Health and how to address it with our patients, and then we had s'mores. We sang a little more and then headed back inside. It was a lovely night and didn't last too late since we had to get up early the next morning.
Day 33
Monday
Because it was my last week in Bolivia, I was to be in the hospital. I gave the new volunteers the grand tour of the hospital, and then we tried to figure out where everyone could go to observe patients. Unfortunately, the power was out in the hospital, so we had to wait around a little bit. It did come back on, and I was able to go into the ophthamologist's office again. He is excellent at teaching and I really enjoyed my time with him. He had me check blood pressure for one guy who had diabetes & high blood pressure. I was actually able to communicate with the physicians better than in an average conversation in Spanish, because I am familiar with the medical terms and they are basically the same in Spanish. So, that was an advantage to experiencing that.
Came back for lunch after the morning at the hospital. In the afternoon, we played Wallyball one more time, and my last time. When we got back, the rest of the group had a meeting about going to Tunari... the mountain nearby that can be climbed. Everyone was really excited about it and they went on the Friday after I left. I was sad to have missed it! The rest of the night was pretty relaxing.
Because it was my last week in Bolivia, I was to be in the hospital. I gave the new volunteers the grand tour of the hospital, and then we tried to figure out where everyone could go to observe patients. Unfortunately, the power was out in the hospital, so we had to wait around a little bit. It did come back on, and I was able to go into the ophthamologist's office again. He is excellent at teaching and I really enjoyed my time with him. He had me check blood pressure for one guy who had diabetes & high blood pressure. I was actually able to communicate with the physicians better than in an average conversation in Spanish, because I am familiar with the medical terms and they are basically the same in Spanish. So, that was an advantage to experiencing that.
Came back for lunch after the morning at the hospital. In the afternoon, we played Wallyball one more time, and my last time. When we got back, the rest of the group had a meeting about going to Tunari... the mountain nearby that can be climbed. Everyone was really excited about it and they went on the Friday after I left. I was sad to have missed it! The rest of the night was pretty relaxing.
Day 32
Sunday
Sunday morning we went to church as usual. Then we went to lunch at Sole mio, an Italian place that I had been told was good by Emily and Tim. Tim & his parents came along with us for lunch too! It was delicious! Ava & I split a big veggie pizza that had peppers, asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms and tomato. Mmmmmmmm. Then since we split the food, we had enough for dessert. We each got one, so I got chocolate pudding and she got tiramisu. They were both absolutely amazing. We were so content after eating there. It was a cute little place and fun!
After lunch we crossed the street to go shopping at the supermarket. We were invited to go back to the youth group again, and I thought I would since it was my last time there. A few others went too... the rest decided to work on the CDI stuff for Monday. So they finished shopping and went back to the house, as we left and went to drop of Ester, pick up Misael (spelling?) and head to the church. There weren't nearly as many kids at youth group this time. But we had so much fun! We played a ton of games that were all really fun and nothing I ever played when I was in youth group. The funniest game was definitely the one called "Kiss the doll" and we had to kiss this baby doll and pass the doll to the next person in the circle. We had to remember where we kissed it. Then once we finished doing that. We were told we had to kiss the person next to us in the place where we kissed the baby. All of us who are Americans were in shock, and couldn't believe this was a real youth group game! You could never do that in the States! But it was pretty funny.
After youth group, Matt, Abby & I talked to Raul, the missionary who helps run the youth group with Tomas & Iris. He has an amazing heart for missions and it was very inspiring to listen to him share what he has learned in the past year. He will be moving his family to Panama next year, God willing. It was wonderful to be challenged in such a way. The more he talked about it, the more I could see myself pursuing missions long-term once I am older. Only God knows!
I also got some pictures with some of the people from youth group who I got to know pretty well while I was there. After cleaning things up a bit we headed home.
Sunday morning we went to church as usual. Then we went to lunch at Sole mio, an Italian place that I had been told was good by Emily and Tim. Tim & his parents came along with us for lunch too! It was delicious! Ava & I split a big veggie pizza that had peppers, asparagus, eggplant, mushrooms and tomato. Mmmmmmmm. Then since we split the food, we had enough for dessert. We each got one, so I got chocolate pudding and she got tiramisu. They were both absolutely amazing. We were so content after eating there. It was a cute little place and fun!
After lunch we crossed the street to go shopping at the supermarket. We were invited to go back to the youth group again, and I thought I would since it was my last time there. A few others went too... the rest decided to work on the CDI stuff for Monday. So they finished shopping and went back to the house, as we left and went to drop of Ester, pick up Misael (spelling?) and head to the church. There weren't nearly as many kids at youth group this time. But we had so much fun! We played a ton of games that were all really fun and nothing I ever played when I was in youth group. The funniest game was definitely the one called "Kiss the doll" and we had to kiss this baby doll and pass the doll to the next person in the circle. We had to remember where we kissed it. Then once we finished doing that. We were told we had to kiss the person next to us in the place where we kissed the baby. All of us who are Americans were in shock, and couldn't believe this was a real youth group game! You could never do that in the States! But it was pretty funny.
After youth group, Matt, Abby & I talked to Raul, the missionary who helps run the youth group with Tomas & Iris. He has an amazing heart for missions and it was very inspiring to listen to him share what he has learned in the past year. He will be moving his family to Panama next year, God willing. It was wonderful to be challenged in such a way. The more he talked about it, the more I could see myself pursuing missions long-term once I am older. Only God knows!
I also got some pictures with some of the people from youth group who I got to know pretty well while I was there. After cleaning things up a bit we headed home.
Day 31
Saturday
So Saturday was a day of getting up early and uncertain expectations. We got up and left about 7:30 to ride to where the buses would take us. Rode the buses and arrived at the location of the conference... I'm not even sure exactly what it was. Our bus got there after everyone else's so we rushed out onto the basketball court where we were introduced as the American citizens (and Canadians, and I think one Australian too) to everyone. Raul, a missionary who attends Tomas & Iris's church had organized the whole thing and so he was the emcee for all the games and such in the morning.
We were asked to introduce ourselves and then tell them if we were married or single. We all found that pretty funny. Then we went around and had to meet 10 new people. There was another group there from the States and they were the leader of each team. There were 4 teams. We got separated into each team, so we could be evenly distributed and help them with English. The first thing we had to do was come up with a team name, 
a team cheer, and one of the people in the group had to give a speech to get the team excited. It was hilarious, because out of 4 teams, 3 of us used Queen's hit "We are the Champions", which apparently everyone in Bolivia knows. We then did some other relay races, including a potato sack type race, in which I fell on the cement basketball court. Those war wounds are still healing. :-) The last game was the best, and it was volleyball of sorts. The teams had to use their towels and in pairs, we used a water balloon and had to catch & throw the balloon in the towels. It was really fun! It felt very much like summer camp, but we all had a great time! I have a picture of most of my group.
a team cheer, and one of the people in the group had to give a speech to get the team excited. It was hilarious, because out of 4 teams, 3 of us used Queen's hit "We are the Champions", which apparently everyone in Bolivia knows. We then did some other relay races, including a potato sack type race, in which I fell on the cement basketball court. Those war wounds are still healing. :-) The last game was the best, and it was volleyball of sorts. The teams had to use their towels and in pairs, we used a water balloon and had to catch & throw the balloon in the towels. It was really fun! It felt very much like summer camp, but we all had a great time! I have a picture of most of my group.After the games were over, we had lunch. It was tasty and fun to talk to some people. They were at different levels of English. Some had no problem speaking and some had only been learning for a month or two. Still, when I think back to when I started learning Spanish, I could have maybe been able to say "I'm going to the beach" or "I have a pen" but not much else. So they did a pretty good job and understood quite a bit. After lunch, they announced the winners and passed out gold coin chocolates to everyone. Then some of the kids from the youth group, Tomas & Iris did a drama performance. It was really good. Raul did a gospel presentation as well, to open it up to anyone who was interested. We also did this a bit during our breaks to speak English between the games. It was definitely challenging, because as we shared testimonies, it was hard to know if they really understood or if they just wanted us to believe that they did. This is why when they had the drama that was acted out to music, I thought it was good. Music & drama can be universally understood, which is why I love it.
Once all of that was done, we were able to have some free time and swim in the pool, play outside, or go in the sauna. Many of the people who came forgot to bring a swimsuit, so not too many swam. Iris planned on being in the sauna and so I joined her for most of the afternoon. I talked to a few of the other people there, trying to help them with their English and myself, working a bit on Spanish. I tried taking Ester to the pool but she was too cold to get in. The sauna was unbearably hot for me at times, so I had to walk outside and take a break. I wanted to swim but no one I knew was in yet. Ester wanted to ask about getting a toy or something for the pool, and as I carried her outside to ask, I fell again! With her in my arms! She was fine, but my poor knees barely survived. We sat outside a bit and practiced English parts of the body as a couple other people sat outside and watched to help. I was teaching her the song "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes" to help her learn. It was really fun!
It was a pretty long day, and after feeling completely infused with Eucalyptus from the sauna and overall content from helping others work on their English and getting to know a lot more of the local youth, around 5 it was over and it was time to go home. We piled back onto the buses and rode back to where we were picked up in the morning. That same day, the group from Wisconsin had returned, and 2 new volunteers arrived as well. We were to meet them at the plaza for the Kid Washing one last time (for me). We got there when it was nearly over though, so I walked around with some of the newer volunteers who hadn't been there before. We scoped out the people selling earrings and I found a few more that I loved. For about $1 they had little 4 wheelers for kids and Ester rode one around the plaza and I followed her. It was entertaining except when she hit one lady's basket of baked goods that she was selling. We hung out a bit waiting for the others to arrive and then we went to a restaurant.
Here we had two local dishes, called Silpancho and Pique macho. Both were really good. Then, on the way out, I got some Blackberry ice cream in a cone (for about 80 cents) and it was amazing! It was my favorite purchase of the day. :-) After all of that, we were exhausted and headed home, only to have another pretty full day.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Home!
So, I'm not done updating on the last 5 or so days of my trip yet, but I just wanted to say that I safely made it hoooooooooooooooooooooome!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Day 30
Friday
I got up and went to the market with Iris. Everyone else was either in the hospital or packing to leave that afternoon. We got the fruit & vegetables for everyone, and I purchased some fresh bread for myself and others. We made it back in a taxi in time to have lunch with everyone.
Soon after lunch, James & Jodi, and Johan & Lindsay all left. They were going to do a bit of site seeing for a week or so after James & Johan finished their international elective there. We saw them all off as they left for the airport, and I admit it was very emotional for me. James & Johan had arrived after me and left before me. And once they left, pretty much everyone I was with for my first two or so weeks in Bolivia, were now all gone. I also had the realization coming to me that I would be leaving too. All in all, it was an emotional day.
We did our weekly Friday afternoon Wallyball game which was fun, as usual. Afterwards we came home and had dinner and got ready for Saturday. Just kinda got the heads up on what we'd be doing. The only information we really got, was that it was an evangelistic conference for youth. It was advertised as a place for them to practice their English. We knew that there would be activities for the youth, and then we could go swimming in the pool and there would be a sauna. It was such a broad mix of stuff, we had no clue what to expect! So, we would find that out on Saturday!
I got up and went to the market with Iris. Everyone else was either in the hospital or packing to leave that afternoon. We got the fruit & vegetables for everyone, and I purchased some fresh bread for myself and others. We made it back in a taxi in time to have lunch with everyone.
Soon after lunch, James & Jodi, and Johan & Lindsay all left. They were going to do a bit of site seeing for a week or so after James & Johan finished their international elective there. We saw them all off as they left for the airport, and I admit it was very emotional for me. James & Johan had arrived after me and left before me. And once they left, pretty much everyone I was with for my first two or so weeks in Bolivia, were now all gone. I also had the realization coming to me that I would be leaving too. All in all, it was an emotional day.
We did our weekly Friday afternoon Wallyball game which was fun, as usual. Afterwards we came home and had dinner and got ready for Saturday. Just kinda got the heads up on what we'd be doing. The only information we really got, was that it was an evangelistic conference for youth. It was advertised as a place for them to practice their English. We knew that there would be activities for the youth, and then we could go swimming in the pool and there would be a sauna. It was such a broad mix of stuff, we had no clue what to expect! So, we would find that out on Saturday!
Day 29
Thursday
We spent our second day doing checkups at the church. It was really far away so we left a 8am and got there around 9:30. We had a very full trufi that day because we had 2 extra volunteers come along. They are two 4th year students from the states who deferred their medical school graduation to do some travel/international health systems work. So we had 4 groups of students trying to interview patients but it was still hard to keep u. We were supposed to be there until 11 but stayed until 12. Then we headed towards home.
We did stop at the Cristo, which was my second time going. But I had been there so long, and no one else had, so it was new for everyone else. Plus, we took the cable car things up this time, so it was different in that way. It still wasn't open to go up inside, but such is life.
That evening, I am certain that we did something but I am drawing a blank as to what that was. I suppose if I have forgotten then it is not all that important, however. It was the last night that we had James, Jodi, Johan & Lindsay there, so they were getting ready to leave. Yeah, I guess that's it.
We spent our second day doing checkups at the church. It was really far away so we left a 8am and got there around 9:30. We had a very full trufi that day because we had 2 extra volunteers come along. They are two 4th year students from the states who deferred their medical school graduation to do some travel/international health systems work. So we had 4 groups of students trying to interview patients but it was still hard to keep u. We were supposed to be there until 11 but stayed until 12. Then we headed towards home.
We did stop at the Cristo, which was my second time going. But I had been there so long, and no one else had, so it was new for everyone else. Plus, we took the cable car things up this time, so it was different in that way. It still wasn't open to go up inside, but such is life.
That evening, I am certain that we did something but I am drawing a blank as to what that was. I suppose if I have forgotten then it is not all that important, however. It was the last night that we had James, Jodi, Johan & Lindsay there, so they were getting ready to leave. Yeah, I guess that's it.
Day 28
Wednesday
Wednesday was the beginning of my last week in Bolivia. One of the reasons that it was so difficult is because the Wheaton girls (Amy, Charlotte, Kathleen & Megan) left that morning. We drove to the airport on the way to the CDI that morning and dropped them off. We said our goodbyes and they all want me to visit....I hope I can! At the same time, we picked up two more volunteers! Jeff & Ellen! They are from California and I really enjoyed getting to know them. Jeff is a medical student going into 3rd year at USC and Ellen is working on a Master's (I am pretty sure) in social work. After getting dropped off at the CDI, Don Manuel took our new family members back to the guesthouse!
We didn't see very many patients at the CDI that day. Only about 10. There weren't very many people and those we saw were taking a long time to get to the bottom of what we though might be wrong. The first one we saw had several problems that seem rather generalized and just hard to figure out. Our first woman had a lot of generalized pain and other problems. After a while of digging deeper, she was really stressed. She was very worried because her husband drinks all the time and spends his money on drinking, so she can't afford to pay the bills. We were able to pray with her and encourage her to talk to someone at the church about it, because she had no family around to talk to. So that was another really hard thing to deal with. I unfortunately have forgotten her name, but her story will stay with me. After only 1-2 more patiens in each group, we had to leave.
That night we though it would be fun to try to see Wall-E. It was 2 for 1 Wednesday and thought maybe we'd have a chance. Well, we tried to see the one showing at CineNorte--sold out. We went to CineCenter--sold out. We went back to the other place to see about the later showing and as we got line.... you guessed it. Sold out. We had to get up early the next day, so we decided it would just be better to go home. I watched We Were Soldiers with Matt, Steve, Ester (though she got tired of covering her eyes so she left) and Johan. I hadn't seen it before....it was pretty good. That was the end of that day.
Wednesday was the beginning of my last week in Bolivia. One of the reasons that it was so difficult is because the Wheaton girls (Amy, Charlotte, Kathleen & Megan) left that morning. We drove to the airport on the way to the CDI that morning and dropped them off. We said our goodbyes and they all want me to visit....I hope I can! At the same time, we picked up two more volunteers! Jeff & Ellen! They are from California and I really enjoyed getting to know them. Jeff is a medical student going into 3rd year at USC and Ellen is working on a Master's (I am pretty sure) in social work. After getting dropped off at the CDI, Don Manuel took our new family members back to the guesthouse!
We didn't see very many patients at the CDI that day. Only about 10. There weren't very many people and those we saw were taking a long time to get to the bottom of what we though might be wrong. The first one we saw had several problems that seem rather generalized and just hard to figure out. Our first woman had a lot of generalized pain and other problems. After a while of digging deeper, she was really stressed. She was very worried because her husband drinks all the time and spends his money on drinking, so she can't afford to pay the bills. We were able to pray with her and encourage her to talk to someone at the church about it, because she had no family around to talk to. So that was another really hard thing to deal with. I unfortunately have forgotten her name, but her story will stay with me. After only 1-2 more patiens in each group, we had to leave.
That night we though it would be fun to try to see Wall-E. It was 2 for 1 Wednesday and thought maybe we'd have a chance. Well, we tried to see the one showing at CineNorte--sold out. We went to CineCenter--sold out. We went back to the other place to see about the later showing and as we got line.... you guessed it. Sold out. We had to get up early the next day, so we decided it would just be better to go home. I watched We Were Soldiers with Matt, Steve, Ester (though she got tired of covering her eyes so she left) and Johan. I hadn't seen it before....it was pretty good. That was the end of that day.
Day 27
Tuesday
As for Tuesday, we didn't end up doing Gospel clown again. We didn't know until that morning bu it didn't end up happening. Instead we went to the hospital. It was the last day in the hospital for the Wheaton girls. It ended up being a pretty good day. James & I observed the gastroenterologist and he was doing procedures that day. So we saw 2 ultrasounds, one of which ended up in a pregnancy diagnosis! (Apparently it happens fairly frequently, that a woman comes in complaining of stomach problems and is diagnosed as being pregnant!) So, the poor lady, she said she had a 13 and like a 9 year old or something and she thought she was done having kids. After that we saw an endoscopy which was cool. They do it a little different in Bolivia though (much like every medical procedure) and all they did was numb the throat with some spray.
After that, Linda gave James & I a little presentation on multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis. Then we headed back for some quick lunch, and we went on a hike! Tim was trying to get it together for us and we tried on Sunday but he wasn't feeling well or something. Charlotte had been sick the night before, so she didn't get to go with us, which was really sad since it was her last day there. But Amy, Kat & Megan went, along with me, James, Tim & Linda. It was amazing and I have more wonderful photos from that. I tell you, I am starting a Bolivian postcard business.
When we got back, Kat, Amy & I made 2 more apple pies to enjoy before they left. They begged me to make two, so I let them cut up all the apples and roll out the pie dough. hehe Basically all I did was throw some flour & sugar together. They started calling it Nicole's sweatshop. But hey they wanted to learn to make the pie so I was just teaching them all the techniques. haha Oh and Megan made chocolate chip cookies.
AND, we ended up having our campfire that night and making s'mores. We did our devotions around the campfire and it was definitely my favorite night. After we were done making s'mores and roasting marshmallows, James and Steve continued playing worship songs for a couple hours, until there was no more fire, no more wood, and nothing but hot embers and the voices of those still singing. It was just about my favorite night there and definitely my favorite night for devotions.
As for Tuesday, we didn't end up doing Gospel clown again. We didn't know until that morning bu it didn't end up happening. Instead we went to the hospital. It was the last day in the hospital for the Wheaton girls. It ended up being a pretty good day. James & I observed the gastroenterologist and he was doing procedures that day. So we saw 2 ultrasounds, one of which ended up in a pregnancy diagnosis! (Apparently it happens fairly frequently, that a woman comes in complaining of stomach problems and is diagnosed as being pregnant!) So, the poor lady, she said she had a 13 and like a 9 year old or something and she thought she was done having kids. After that we saw an endoscopy which was cool. They do it a little different in Bolivia though (much like every medical procedure) and all they did was numb the throat with some spray.
After that, Linda gave James & I a little presentation on multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis. Then we headed back for some quick lunch, and we went on a hike! Tim was trying to get it together for us and we tried on Sunday but he wasn't feeling well or something. Charlotte had been sick the night before, so she didn't get to go with us, which was really sad since it was her last day there. But Amy, Kat & Megan went, along with me, James, Tim & Linda. It was amazing and I have more wonderful photos from that. I tell you, I am starting a Bolivian postcard business.
When we got back, Kat, Amy & I made 2 more apple pies to enjoy before they left. They begged me to make two, so I let them cut up all the apples and roll out the pie dough. hehe Basically all I did was throw some flour & sugar together. They started calling it Nicole's sweatshop. But hey they wanted to learn to make the pie so I was just teaching them all the techniques. haha Oh and Megan made chocolate chip cookies.
AND, we ended up having our campfire that night and making s'mores. We did our devotions around the campfire and it was definitely my favorite night. After we were done making s'mores and roasting marshmallows, James and Steve continued playing worship songs for a couple hours, until there was no more fire, no more wood, and nothing but hot embers and the voices of those still singing. It was just about my favorite night there and definitely my favorite night for devotions.
Day 26
Monday
So on Monday morning those of us who had the pleasure of staying up late working on Gospel Clown, got up to go perform. We had big colorful clothing and makeup... the works! So we showed up at the Kinder school (a school for 1-6 year olds) and set everything up. In the beginning we had to come out and dance around and act like clowns, of course. We did cartwheels and it was hilariously fun. Then we performed for the kids and they absolutely loved it! It was all about getting to heaven, and there is quite a bit of slapstick comedy thrown in. They try to use a mattress, a ladder, and Superman's cape to get them to heaven... each of those failing of course. Then there was the Bible clown (me) who came in trying to explain what the Bible says. One of the clowns chases me out each time, until at the end, the others convince him to listen to me. Then we finish and Iris did a gospel presentation for the kids.
They were so cute to watch as she explained to them with a wordless book... with different colors, each representing something like sin, Jesus' blood, our hearts washed white as snow, and growth. My favorite response that day, was when Iris told them that in order to grow in Christ, we should read our Bibles and pray every day. A little boy raised his hand and said "But sometimes we forget." It was so precious! I just loved his honesty! That totally made my day.
After we finished, the teachers thanked us all, gave us sandwiches and lemonade (which was delightful since it was rather warm) and we waited for Don Manuel to come pick us up. After we finished, we all agreed that it was so much fun and we wanted to do it again on Tuesday, before the girls left. Iris said she would look into a couple of opportunities for us.
That afternoon, we played Wallyball again. We wanted to go out to dinner at this really great steak place and so we road the trufi there and were devastatingly disappointed to find that it is not open on Mondays. Unfortunately, many things are closed on Mondays. We learned that it's kind of a "hangover day" from the weekend. Soooo, the group split up and a few went to another steak place and the rest of us had Chinese. I know right? Chinese in Bolivia! We ate it all family style and had the reserved room because there were like 10 of us, and we had a lazy susan on our table. Oh! Funny story about that. So, we got this fried wontons and there was 1 left after everyone had one. So Steve & Matt thought it would be a good idea to spin the lazy Susan until it stopped and wherever the plate stopped, is who would get it. We took everything else off of it and it seemed to be going well until all of a sudden it hit a bottle and started sliding towards our glasses. We decided to stop it at that point. haha It didn't turn out all bad though... they decided that it first flew towards the bottles in front of me so I got to eat it. haha
Chinese was good in Bolivia (especially sweet & sour pork), but not the best and not really any cheaper. I say go for the local food.
So on Monday morning those of us who had the pleasure of staying up late working on Gospel Clown, got up to go perform. We had big colorful clothing and makeup... the works! So we showed up at the Kinder school (a school for 1-6 year olds) and set everything up. In the beginning we had to come out and dance around and act like clowns, of course. We did cartwheels and it was hilariously fun. Then we performed for the kids and they absolutely loved it! It was all about getting to heaven, and there is quite a bit of slapstick comedy thrown in. They try to use a mattress, a ladder, and Superman's cape to get them to heaven... each of those failing of course. Then there was the Bible clown (me) who came in trying to explain what the Bible says. One of the clowns chases me out each time, until at the end, the others convince him to listen to me. Then we finish and Iris did a gospel presentation for the kids.
They were so cute to watch as she explained to them with a wordless book... with different colors, each representing something like sin, Jesus' blood, our hearts washed white as snow, and growth. My favorite response that day, was when Iris told them that in order to grow in Christ, we should read our Bibles and pray every day. A little boy raised his hand and said "But sometimes we forget." It was so precious! I just loved his honesty! That totally made my day.
After we finished, the teachers thanked us all, gave us sandwiches and lemonade (which was delightful since it was rather warm) and we waited for Don Manuel to come pick us up. After we finished, we all agreed that it was so much fun and we wanted to do it again on Tuesday, before the girls left. Iris said she would look into a couple of opportunities for us.
That afternoon, we played Wallyball again. We wanted to go out to dinner at this really great steak place and so we road the trufi there and were devastatingly disappointed to find that it is not open on Mondays. Unfortunately, many things are closed on Mondays. We learned that it's kind of a "hangover day" from the weekend. Soooo, the group split up and a few went to another steak place and the rest of us had Chinese. I know right? Chinese in Bolivia! We ate it all family style and had the reserved room because there were like 10 of us, and we had a lazy susan on our table. Oh! Funny story about that. So, we got this fried wontons and there was 1 left after everyone had one. So Steve & Matt thought it would be a good idea to spin the lazy Susan until it stopped and wherever the plate stopped, is who would get it. We took everything else off of it and it seemed to be going well until all of a sudden it hit a bottle and started sliding towards our glasses. We decided to stop it at that point. haha It didn't turn out all bad though... they decided that it first flew towards the bottles in front of me so I got to eat it. haha
Chinese was good in Bolivia (especially sweet & sour pork), but not the best and not really any cheaper. I say go for the local food.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Day 25
Sunday
Sunday morning we got up and headed to church. We were asked to sing for the service so we had practiced a couple of different songs. We did "You Are Holy"which is a beautiful song that has guys lead and girls echo. Then they sing two separate parts for the chorus. It was just lovely and I hadn't heard the song in years, so I enjoyed reviving it again.
We also sang "Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord"that went into "Awesome God." Humble Thyself is an echo song as well, so we put a bit of a twist on it. We sang the two songs in English, then Spanish, and the third time through, the girls sang English as the guys sang Spanish. It was really neat! I think it's so cool when we can sing songs in English and Spanish because we are singing to and worshipping the same God. When we have nothing in common but our saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it's so beautiful to me how we can still join together from completely different parts of the world and be unified. The church is most beautiful to me in this way.
After church we went to the Cine Norte plaza and got lunch in the food court. Amy, Kat & I shared a spectacular Veggie pizza from Eli's. DELISH. Then we all went shopping at the supermarket IC Norte for the week's groceries.
We got home and a few girls were going running and I went along. It reminded me how terribly out of shape I have gotten, in addition to the challenge of being at an altitude far beyond that of Florida's. After a brief bout of feeling sick, I managed to run on the way back a bit. The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed... and most likely involved the card game of the trip: Dutch Blitz. It also involved rehearsing Gospel Clown until fairly late, which we were to perform Monday morning. More on that to come!
Sunday morning we got up and headed to church. We were asked to sing for the service so we had practiced a couple of different songs. We did "You Are Holy"which is a beautiful song that has guys lead and girls echo. Then they sing two separate parts for the chorus. It was just lovely and I hadn't heard the song in years, so I enjoyed reviving it again.
We also sang "Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord"that went into "Awesome God." Humble Thyself is an echo song as well, so we put a bit of a twist on it. We sang the two songs in English, then Spanish, and the third time through, the girls sang English as the guys sang Spanish. It was really neat! I think it's so cool when we can sing songs in English and Spanish because we are singing to and worshipping the same God. When we have nothing in common but our saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it's so beautiful to me how we can still join together from completely different parts of the world and be unified. The church is most beautiful to me in this way.
After church we went to the Cine Norte plaza and got lunch in the food court. Amy, Kat & I shared a spectacular Veggie pizza from Eli's. DELISH. Then we all went shopping at the supermarket IC Norte for the week's groceries.
We got home and a few girls were going running and I went along. It reminded me how terribly out of shape I have gotten, in addition to the challenge of being at an altitude far beyond that of Florida's. After a brief bout of feeling sick, I managed to run on the way back a bit. The rest of the evening was pretty relaxed... and most likely involved the card game of the trip: Dutch Blitz. It also involved rehearsing Gospel Clown until fairly late, which we were to perform Monday morning. More on that to come!
Day 24
Saturday
Saturday was an adventure for me. Well, I shall get to that. So a few went to teach first aid to some teachers at this private school for 1-6 year olds. The rest of stayed home to sleep in, I mean clean. :-) We cleaned up the house in the morning and then left for the market, called La Cancha.
We all loved to shop in the souvenir section because that's where all the good gifts to take home are. So we wandered around there for a while and I purchased a photo album, which I had been looking for each time I went. I also bought a hammock for about $14 so I was extremely pleased with that purchase. I wandered next door into the musical instrument section to see what kinds of things I could maybe find for my brothers... a unique instrument or something. I found Tomás there and he said the others had already left to go the main part of La Cancha. So he vaguely told me where it was and I started to head over. I then saw the people who had taught first aid. Well, they had just gotten there so it was going to be a while before they were done. I wasn't particularly concerned because before we had separated, they told us that if we get lost, ask where the Plaza Principal is. That's where we were meeting at 4.
So here it is, not quite 3 and I started to wander to where I thought La Cancha was. I decided I was moving in the wrong direction and decided to turn around and go another way. Well, eventually I ended up in the food section of La Cancha, which is nowhere near where I wanted. Or maybe it was and I didn't know. Either way, I was totally lost. So I just kept wandering around looking for something familiar. Of course, everything starts to look the same so it's like this maze and you start backpeddling....I didn't really pay that close attention while I was wandering....first mistake. I wandered off into some places that were still market-related but close to homes. Yeah, I walked A LOT. But I did happen to find this lady selling bread as I walked by on the sidewalk and I decided to buy some. It was amazing and I ended up eating 2 & 1/2 pieces of it. Somehow I ended up getting back to a section that looked quasi familiar. I wandered around a bit, and then as I was walking by a store, I saw Iris. Random! Turns out, she was with the group and they left her too! Of course, she knows her way around so for her it's no big deal. So I ended up just following her around as she shopped until it was time to head to the plaza.
For a second week, we did the Kid Washing in the plaza. Jodi & Lindsey (the pregnant wives) got to wash the babies. We combed out the girls' hair and gave them hair ties and barretts. It was really fun and they loved it! There was a clown there too giving out balloon swords to boys which they used to attack our volunteers. It was hilarious.
Then we went to this really amazing place for dinner. It's called Bufalo Rodizio's and it's a Brazilian steakhouse. If you ever come to Cochabamba you MUST go. Well, I unless you are a vegetarian. You go and they have this buffet and they have all you can eat meat. It costs 54Bs I think, which is less than $8. They had a wonderful buffet and I didn't realize how much meat they just kept bringing it around! Chicken hearts, chicken, various cuts of beef, lamb, pork, etc. I tried to say yes to everything but I couldn't keep up with it all! They just kept bringing more meat. By the time I could eat one piece, they'd ask me for another. The funniest time was when they came around with veal. Tomás was telling us what everything was, and we asked him what this one thing was, and he said baby beef. Upon hearing that I remarked, "Awwwwwwwww" and the guy bringing it around started laughing at me because he knew why I responded that way. Aw is quite universal and it was really funny.
They had this orange drink with some liqueur or something in it, which apparently helps digest and it tasted delightful. It came in a really cute little glass too. haha The dessert was amazing too! They had tres leches, which is one of my favorite desserts. Other than that, I just had some fruit salad because needless to say, we were all very full!
After the all you can eat meat place we were all ready for bed so we headed home and practiced a little for Sunday. They had us sing a couple of songs in church and I'll talk about that more for Sunday's post.
Saturday was an adventure for me. Well, I shall get to that. So a few went to teach first aid to some teachers at this private school for 1-6 year olds. The rest of stayed home to sleep in, I mean clean. :-) We cleaned up the house in the morning and then left for the market, called La Cancha.
We all loved to shop in the souvenir section because that's where all the good gifts to take home are. So we wandered around there for a while and I purchased a photo album, which I had been looking for each time I went. I also bought a hammock for about $14 so I was extremely pleased with that purchase. I wandered next door into the musical instrument section to see what kinds of things I could maybe find for my brothers... a unique instrument or something. I found Tomás there and he said the others had already left to go the main part of La Cancha. So he vaguely told me where it was and I started to head over. I then saw the people who had taught first aid. Well, they had just gotten there so it was going to be a while before they were done. I wasn't particularly concerned because before we had separated, they told us that if we get lost, ask where the Plaza Principal is. That's where we were meeting at 4.
So here it is, not quite 3 and I started to wander to where I thought La Cancha was. I decided I was moving in the wrong direction and decided to turn around and go another way. Well, eventually I ended up in the food section of La Cancha, which is nowhere near where I wanted. Or maybe it was and I didn't know. Either way, I was totally lost. So I just kept wandering around looking for something familiar. Of course, everything starts to look the same so it's like this maze and you start backpeddling....I didn't really pay that close attention while I was wandering....first mistake. I wandered off into some places that were still market-related but close to homes. Yeah, I walked A LOT. But I did happen to find this lady selling bread as I walked by on the sidewalk and I decided to buy some. It was amazing and I ended up eating 2 & 1/2 pieces of it. Somehow I ended up getting back to a section that looked quasi familiar. I wandered around a bit, and then as I was walking by a store, I saw Iris. Random! Turns out, she was with the group and they left her too! Of course, she knows her way around so for her it's no big deal. So I ended up just following her around as she shopped until it was time to head to the plaza.
For a second week, we did the Kid Washing in the plaza. Jodi & Lindsey (the pregnant wives) got to wash the babies. We combed out the girls' hair and gave them hair ties and barretts. It was really fun and they loved it! There was a clown there too giving out balloon swords to boys which they used to attack our volunteers. It was hilarious.
Then we went to this really amazing place for dinner. It's called Bufalo Rodizio's and it's a Brazilian steakhouse. If you ever come to Cochabamba you MUST go. Well, I unless you are a vegetarian. You go and they have this buffet and they have all you can eat meat. It costs 54Bs I think, which is less than $8. They had a wonderful buffet and I didn't realize how much meat they just kept bringing it around! Chicken hearts, chicken, various cuts of beef, lamb, pork, etc. I tried to say yes to everything but I couldn't keep up with it all! They just kept bringing more meat. By the time I could eat one piece, they'd ask me for another. The funniest time was when they came around with veal. Tomás was telling us what everything was, and we asked him what this one thing was, and he said baby beef. Upon hearing that I remarked, "Awwwwwwwww" and the guy bringing it around started laughing at me because he knew why I responded that way. Aw is quite universal and it was really funny.
They had this orange drink with some liqueur or something in it, which apparently helps digest and it tasted delightful. It came in a really cute little glass too. haha The dessert was amazing too! They had tres leches, which is one of my favorite desserts. Other than that, I just had some fruit salad because needless to say, we were all very full!
After the all you can eat meat place we were all ready for bed so we headed home and practiced a little for Sunday. They had us sing a couple of songs in church and I'll talk about that more for Sunday's post.
Day 23
Friday, July 4th!
Friday was an absolutely wonderful and exciting day! Fridays Iris goes to the market in Quillacollo to get fruits and vegetables for the week. Because this is one of my favorite things to do (open air markets, that is) I forfeit my morning at the hospital to help her carry everything. This Friday it was crucial that I go because I needed to search for pie dishes in order to make some Dutch Apple Pie as part of our 4th of July celebration!
We managed to waste a whole lot of time looking around before we even got to the fruit and vegetables. I found pie plates, but Iris wanted to see if we could find them cheaper elsewhere so we took note and left. I had to change money over so I did that. Then a bunch of us stopped on the side of the road for some fresh orange juice from one of the ladies selling it. It was probably about 15 cents each and quite refreshing. Here's a pic of us enjoying it!
We stopped and bought super cheap movies. 4 for 16 bolivianos which is just over $2. Unfortunately, we have been unable to get them into English. One was part of my gift to my dad for Father's Day....sorry Dad. Oh well.
Eventually we headed to the fruits & vegetable area and did our shopping. I bought some dried peaches to make the peach drink they have here. I am hoping to bring some home with me so I can make it for my friends & family when I get back! They look kind of like little brains but they are super sweet and very tasty. We also bought some bread from the same lady we bought it th week before, and you really can't get anything better than fresh bread at the market. Especially when 2 little round loaves cost about the equivalent of 12 cents. Anyway, so we finished our shopping and headed home where we had lunch and then the party prep began!
We made all kinds of excellent creations! I made 2 Dutch Apple pies, which I started making the crust and Iris helped by cutting up tons of apples for me! She actually cut up too many because she was just cutting them up as she watched a movie with Ester. Around the same time, the girls started to get back from the surgery from that afternoon, so they started on other things. Charlotte made this jello salad with whipped cream (which she had to whip with a mixer because cool whip doesn't exist in Bolivia) , jello packets, cream cheese and cut up fruit. Megan and Kat helped make the rice krispie treats...which actually consisted of combining puffed rice with cornflakes...they turned out the almost exact texture of real rice krispie treats. They also put dulce de leche between a layer of 2 rice krispie treats ( they made a quadruple batch) and that was definitely a big hit! We also had hot dogs, hamburgers, macaroni & cheese, deviled eggs, and potato chips. I am pretty sure that none of it tasted like what you would have in the states (except maybe the hamburgers & apple pie) but it was a big hit and we had fun preparing it and celebrating July 4th! We then went outside and set off some fireworks. We did sparklers and even had a few Roman Candles. It was so great!!
We finished off the night by seeing Hancock. Sadly, Iris wasn't feeling well and Tomás decided to stay home to take care of her. We felt bad because he wanted to see it in the first place, but he's a committed husband! Turns out, Linda & her son Tim met us there for the movie so we all watched it together. Sadly, it was a little disappointing. Very entertaining, but not my favorite of all time.
The apple pie was a big hit and the first one was gone that night. Thanks to mother for emailing me the recipe last minute. About 5 people have requested the recipe since! :-)
Day 22
Thursday
Our second day doing the checkups at the CDI here was for adults. James and I work well together and we had Tim (Paul & Linda's son as our translator...which makes up Team Awesome. Johan & Matt worked together with Jonathan (one of the guys from Tomás & Iris's youth group) translating, and Ava has been working with Steve, and her brother Seth translates for them. So we have 3 teams of 2 medical students in order to be as efficient as possible. Many of these people have never seen a physician and especially adults who are in their 40s, 50s, 60s or sometimes even older, they have multiple problems. People seem to age faster because they work so hard and have such challenging lives. Also, they look somewhat older because they are outside in the sun and here they are at a higher altitude which means increased sun exposure.
James, Tim & I had one extremely difficult case. I should have written her name down because my memory is now failing me unfortunately. However, she definitely is a woman who is dire need of prayer. She presented with a UTI & rib pain and was concerned that her ribs were broken. Turns out her husband had kicked her. She said that he did do this frequently. She had gone to theh doctor and gotten medicine previously for the UTI, but it wasn't clearing up and her husband didn't want to pay for her to go to see a doctor or for her medication. It was heartbreaking and as her eyes welled up with tears, I felt mine do the same. We prayed with her, not really knowing what else we could other than encourage her to find someone she talk to about her situation. Like many in similar situations, she didn't want to bother her family members with her problem. Fortunately, we talked to the doctor(a) who has been coming with us and she said that if this lady came to the hospital while she was working, she would make sure her care and medicine didn't cost anything. One of the hardest parts of this is that you don't see them afterwards. Did she get to go to the hospital? I'll never know. All we can do is pray.
As for that evening, I don't remember specifics but it would have been devotion night. We have had more and more people come on this trip who play guitar, so the worship has been that much sweeter. There may be more that I think of later and I'll update at that point but in the mean time... I'll go on to new days.
Our second day doing the checkups at the CDI here was for adults. James and I work well together and we had Tim (Paul & Linda's son as our translator...which makes up Team Awesome. Johan & Matt worked together with Jonathan (one of the guys from Tomás & Iris's youth group) translating, and Ava has been working with Steve, and her brother Seth translates for them. So we have 3 teams of 2 medical students in order to be as efficient as possible. Many of these people have never seen a physician and especially adults who are in their 40s, 50s, 60s or sometimes even older, they have multiple problems. People seem to age faster because they work so hard and have such challenging lives. Also, they look somewhat older because they are outside in the sun and here they are at a higher altitude which means increased sun exposure.
James, Tim & I had one extremely difficult case. I should have written her name down because my memory is now failing me unfortunately. However, she definitely is a woman who is dire need of prayer. She presented with a UTI & rib pain and was concerned that her ribs were broken. Turns out her husband had kicked her. She said that he did do this frequently. She had gone to theh doctor and gotten medicine previously for the UTI, but it wasn't clearing up and her husband didn't want to pay for her to go to see a doctor or for her medication. It was heartbreaking and as her eyes welled up with tears, I felt mine do the same. We prayed with her, not really knowing what else we could other than encourage her to find someone she talk to about her situation. Like many in similar situations, she didn't want to bother her family members with her problem. Fortunately, we talked to the doctor(a) who has been coming with us and she said that if this lady came to the hospital while she was working, she would make sure her care and medicine didn't cost anything. One of the hardest parts of this is that you don't see them afterwards. Did she get to go to the hospital? I'll never know. All we can do is pray.
As for that evening, I don't remember specifics but it would have been devotion night. We have had more and more people come on this trip who play guitar, so the worship has been that much sweeter. There may be more that I think of later and I'll update at that point but in the mean time... I'll go on to new days.
Day 21
This would be Wednesday. It has been over a week since that day actually ocurred so I am drawing a blank. Oh gee. Ok so this would have been our first day doing checkups at the CDI. We did checkups for the children there. The situation has been such that during the days when the doctor can come, we have medicine that we can give out. Or, if not, she can write a prescription. However, she also has to be back at the hospital at like noon. So if we get there at 9:30 or so, by the time we get set up and getting everyone to go through, it's time to leave not long after. It's so hard because we already feel like we are so limited with our knowledge and resources.
We had a couple different things to bandage up, which was a first. We learned the hard way that "Ague oxígenada" is not only oxygenated water, but as we know it, Hydrogen Peroxide. Needless to say, the poor little boy who had his injured finger soaking in the peroxide was quite the trooper.
Nothing jumps out at me from the afternoon, except that we were pretty tired that day. In spite of it, we attempted to go see the 10PM showing of Hancock, because Tomás really wanted to see it. Normally Wednesdays are 2 for 1 but since it was a brand new movie, this wasn't the case. However, after getting to the theater, we found that it was sold out. Then we tried the other theater, which turned out to have tickets. (YaY!) However, upon walking into the theater, we learned that it was dubbed in Spanish. Seeing a movie dubbed in Spanish when you don't understand it is pretty silly. So we managed to get our money back and head home for the night. It was already 11ish anyway at the point so we were all tired and it worked out for the best.
We had a couple different things to bandage up, which was a first. We learned the hard way that "Ague oxígenada" is not only oxygenated water, but as we know it, Hydrogen Peroxide. Needless to say, the poor little boy who had his injured finger soaking in the peroxide was quite the trooper.
Nothing jumps out at me from the afternoon, except that we were pretty tired that day. In spite of it, we attempted to go see the 10PM showing of Hancock, because Tomás really wanted to see it. Normally Wednesdays are 2 for 1 but since it was a brand new movie, this wasn't the case. However, after getting to the theater, we found that it was sold out. Then we tried the other theater, which turned out to have tickets. (YaY!) However, upon walking into the theater, we learned that it was dubbed in Spanish. Seeing a movie dubbed in Spanish when you don't understand it is pretty silly. So we managed to get our money back and head home for the night. It was already 11ish anyway at the point so we were all tired and it worked out for the best.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 20
Tuesday, which was Canada Day
Tuesday morning we went to the CDI to do educational programs for the kids. I wasn't going to go because I was supposed to be in the hospital for the week. However, Iris wanted me to help give out the toothbrushes so I could see the kids who were getting them. So i helped with the little kids, from 3-9 doing crowd control and helping pass out crayons and stay organized. Then, when they went out to play a game, someone asked me to come help with the first aid kit/clinic they had their, to help organize the medicine since I had pharmacy experience. So me and a couple other people spent some time with the one in charge of it and tried to figure out what things they need most. We had to leave as soon as Don Manuel arrived, which was hard since we wanted to do more to help but it was time. Still, the kids and adults enjoyed the presentations and hopefully learned alot.
I'm having trouble recalling the afternoon but it may have been a short bit of relaxation after teaching the children. (We had at least 70, judging from how many crayons we passed out from the box of 96). It was Canada Day, of course, so we were learning all sorts of Canadian facts from the Canadians. It was quite fun. And they say eh? all the time and I'm really trying to pick it up so I'm the only one in Florida who says "eh?" but I don't think it's working. We made pizza for dinner....and now I'm slowly recalling the process of putting my essays online and putting together stuff for the NHSC (Nat'l Health Service Corps) Scholarship that I'm trying to get. Please keep this in your prayers!! It would be a huge blessing to get it, if that's what the Lord would have. If not, I know that my finances will be provided somehow, but I just don't know how... and I don't have to. It's all in His hands.
So anyway, after some of my culinary endeavors coming to fruition, I was put in charge of the pizza. If I can make nothing else, I can make pizza. And the crust was pre-made so it was pretty easy. Some of the others weren't fond of the way it
was made the last time, so we took it upon ourselves to go as American as possible with it. Amy & I returned to our pico de gallo like topping and make some almost salsa to go along with the pizza. The pizza was great (I love pizza! :-) and it was a hit with all. Especially the Canadians because for some reason, there was a bag of little Canadian flags here that someone found. So we stuck a bunch of them in the pizza and grabbed the Canadians. They then proceeded to sing their national anthem. It was really fun. I have also learned that everyone knows a lot more about us than we know about anyone else. All in all, it was a really fun night that most likely ended in playing Dutch Blitz... a new cardgame I have discovered and come to love.
Tuesday evening was really great too. We got together to have devotions and we ended up doing lots of praise & worship songs. I loved it and it was the first time our group really seemed like one big group, unified for the most part. It's amazing how something as simple as worshiping God together can have such a wonderful effect on people. It was definitely one of my favorite nights here so far!
Tuesday morning we went to the CDI to do educational programs for the kids. I wasn't going to go because I was supposed to be in the hospital for the week. However, Iris wanted me to help give out the toothbrushes so I could see the kids who were getting them. So i helped with the little kids, from 3-9 doing crowd control and helping pass out crayons and stay organized. Then, when they went out to play a game, someone asked me to come help with the first aid kit/clinic they had their, to help organize the medicine since I had pharmacy experience. So me and a couple other people spent some time with the one in charge of it and tried to figure out what things they need most. We had to leave as soon as Don Manuel arrived, which was hard since we wanted to do more to help but it was time. Still, the kids and adults enjoyed the presentations and hopefully learned alot.
I'm having trouble recalling the afternoon but it may have been a short bit of relaxation after teaching the children. (We had at least 70, judging from how many crayons we passed out from the box of 96). It was Canada Day, of course, so we were learning all sorts of Canadian facts from the Canadians. It was quite fun. And they say eh? all the time and I'm really trying to pick it up so I'm the only one in Florida who says "eh?" but I don't think it's working. We made pizza for dinner....and now I'm slowly recalling the process of putting my essays online and putting together stuff for the NHSC (Nat'l Health Service Corps) Scholarship that I'm trying to get. Please keep this in your prayers!! It would be a huge blessing to get it, if that's what the Lord would have. If not, I know that my finances will be provided somehow, but I just don't know how... and I don't have to. It's all in His hands.
So anyway, after some of my culinary endeavors coming to fruition, I was put in charge of the pizza. If I can make nothing else, I can make pizza. And the crust was pre-made so it was pretty easy. Some of the others weren't fond of the way it
was made the last time, so we took it upon ourselves to go as American as possible with it. Amy & I returned to our pico de gallo like topping and make some almost salsa to go along with the pizza. The pizza was great (I love pizza! :-) and it was a hit with all. Especially the Canadians because for some reason, there was a bag of little Canadian flags here that someone found. So we stuck a bunch of them in the pizza and grabbed the Canadians. They then proceeded to sing their national anthem. It was really fun. I have also learned that everyone knows a lot more about us than we know about anyone else. All in all, it was a really fun night that most likely ended in playing Dutch Blitz... a new cardgame I have discovered and come to love. Tuesday evening was really great too. We got together to have devotions and we ended up doing lots of praise & worship songs. I loved it and it was the first time our group really seemed like one big group, unified for the most part. It's amazing how something as simple as worshiping God together can have such a wonderful effect on people. It was definitely one of my favorite nights here so far!
Day 19
Monday
Things were a little crazy with the arrangements as to who did what and when, because the group from Wisconsin planned a trip to Perú in the middle of their time here. It was a little tense among the groups here for a while, but it was all worked out in the end. The CDI for the week was going to be put on by the Wisconsin group Mon- Wed and then the rest of Thurs & Fri doing physical exams. But, Monday morning we found out that the kids were on vacation so no one was there Monday. The Wisconsin group stayed up fairly late Sunday night preparing, but it worked out in the end because they had extra time to get it organized.
Meanwhile, I gave Seth & Ava a short tour of the hospital, where we talked to the Pastor for quite some time. He is a jolly fellow and has a passionate love for the Lord and for people which is so very inspiring. After the tour we got to observe the gynecologist with a couple of his patients. After all of his patients, we were told the ophthamologist had 5 patients (which is a lot for this hospital, especially in just a couple of hours) and we observed him. He was really great to learn from because he would ask us questions like "What 3 things do you look for in the back of the eye?"or "What is normal vision or normal pressure of the eye?" We definitely got to learn a lot and it was really nice being able to learn from someone who really tried to teach. Each of his patients had different problems so we got to see several different things within the morning. It was my favorite day at the hospital so far!
Came back and had lunch. We tried to go to this mansion downtown to walk through but Monday is kind of the "day of rest"here, so some of the very nice restaurants and other cultural sites aren't open. We got to wander through the gardens though, and that was quite lovely! I have several pictures of that as well. I am nearly convinced I could open my own Cochabomba postcard company! After that we attempted to go to this taxidermy exhibit of sorts...turns out it's mostly of bugs but it's free and they wanted to charge money since we are Americans (and Canadians). So we decided it wasn't worth it. After that, Iris wanted to take us to these botanical gardens. Well, apparently Iris & Tomás used to go there but the government doesn't really want to keep up with them. So it wasn't quite as green as you would expect botanical gardens to be. However, we noticed while walking through that that definitely didn't stop several couples from going there! :-)
Then we went to the market for a bit because Seth had left his coat on the bus and needed to buy some warm clothing. We American girls are always up for souvenir shopping of course, and I found a key chain holder that I had been wanting to buy since the first day I went to the souvenir place. An exceptionally important thing that was purchased, were 260 toothbrushes! My dad kindly donated $50 towards getting toothbrushes for these kids who needed them. So for 260 toothbrushes, I paid the equivalent of $23. Amazing, huh? After the market, not sure what we did...
I just double checked my journal and I am slightly apalled at myself for having forgot Monday night's dinner! So we got home a bit late and didn't really have a whole bunch of food to choose from, so we decided to get creative. Amy & I were trying to come up with some sort of culinary concoction and decided on some sort of mixture involving cream cheese, bread and quasi-bruschetta. We decided to call it, Bolivian bruschetta. We cut up some tomatoes, onions, garlic & cilantro, and threw in lime juice too. Then we put cream cheese on hot dog buns, which are nothing like hot dog buns back home, more like fresh bread kind of and they taste much better than sliced bread here. We put the bruschetta stuff on top and then put them in the oven (Ava's idea) until warm. It was delicious and Amy, Ava & I were thrilled to eat dinner! All who had the extra were grateful as well. I'm pretty sure after that, we were content and ready for bed.
Things were a little crazy with the arrangements as to who did what and when, because the group from Wisconsin planned a trip to Perú in the middle of their time here. It was a little tense among the groups here for a while, but it was all worked out in the end. The CDI for the week was going to be put on by the Wisconsin group Mon- Wed and then the rest of Thurs & Fri doing physical exams. But, Monday morning we found out that the kids were on vacation so no one was there Monday. The Wisconsin group stayed up fairly late Sunday night preparing, but it worked out in the end because they had extra time to get it organized.
Meanwhile, I gave Seth & Ava a short tour of the hospital, where we talked to the Pastor for quite some time. He is a jolly fellow and has a passionate love for the Lord and for people which is so very inspiring. After the tour we got to observe the gynecologist with a couple of his patients. After all of his patients, we were told the ophthamologist had 5 patients (which is a lot for this hospital, especially in just a couple of hours) and we observed him. He was really great to learn from because he would ask us questions like "What 3 things do you look for in the back of the eye?"or "What is normal vision or normal pressure of the eye?" We definitely got to learn a lot and it was really nice being able to learn from someone who really tried to teach. Each of his patients had different problems so we got to see several different things within the morning. It was my favorite day at the hospital so far!
Came back and had lunch. We tried to go to this mansion downtown to walk through but Monday is kind of the "day of rest"here, so some of the very nice restaurants and other cultural sites aren't open. We got to wander through the gardens though, and that was quite lovely! I have several pictures of that as well. I am nearly convinced I could open my own Cochabomba postcard company! After that we attempted to go to this taxidermy exhibit of sorts...turns out it's mostly of bugs but it's free and they wanted to charge money since we are Americans (and Canadians). So we decided it wasn't worth it. After that, Iris wanted to take us to these botanical gardens. Well, apparently Iris & Tomás used to go there but the government doesn't really want to keep up with them. So it wasn't quite as green as you would expect botanical gardens to be. However, we noticed while walking through that that definitely didn't stop several couples from going there! :-)
Then we went to the market for a bit because Seth had left his coat on the bus and needed to buy some warm clothing. We American girls are always up for souvenir shopping of course, and I found a key chain holder that I had been wanting to buy since the first day I went to the souvenir place. An exceptionally important thing that was purchased, were 260 toothbrushes! My dad kindly donated $50 towards getting toothbrushes for these kids who needed them. So for 260 toothbrushes, I paid the equivalent of $23. Amazing, huh? After the market, not sure what we did...
I just double checked my journal and I am slightly apalled at myself for having forgot Monday night's dinner! So we got home a bit late and didn't really have a whole bunch of food to choose from, so we decided to get creative. Amy & I were trying to come up with some sort of culinary concoction and decided on some sort of mixture involving cream cheese, bread and quasi-bruschetta. We decided to call it, Bolivian bruschetta. We cut up some tomatoes, onions, garlic & cilantro, and threw in lime juice too. Then we put cream cheese on hot dog buns, which are nothing like hot dog buns back home, more like fresh bread kind of and they taste much better than sliced bread here. We put the bruschetta stuff on top and then put them in the oven (Ava's idea) until warm. It was delicious and Amy, Ava & I were thrilled to eat dinner! All who had the extra were grateful as well. I'm pretty sure after that, we were content and ready for bed.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Day 18
Sunday was a really great day too!
Got up and went to church at Dr. Aguilar's church. He's the gastroenterologist at the hospital. It was very nice and everyone was so friendly to us. It was 3 people's birthday that week so they had birthday cake after church to celebrate. That was fun! :-)
We went to lunch with some of the ladies from hospital who work in human resources and other offices. Charlotte, Amy & I split 2 meals and they were both delicious! We ordered cordon bleu and then we were going to try ox tail but they were out. Instead, we got this steak with eggs and cheese and tomatoes and peppers and it was REALLY good. We all felt like it was the best meal we had all week.
After lunch we walked around a bit and a few people went home. Leila left on Sunday night and so she had to go back. It was sad to lose my roommate! There was a soccer game at 4 and so we headed over to buy tickets. It was either 25Bs for regular seats or 35Bs for premium seating that wasn't in the sun. So that translates to either $3.50 or $5. We were ok spending the extra $1.50 to avoid sunlight. :-) So we walked around outside and looked at all the stuff that the venders were selling. They were selling food, cotton candy, drinks, jewelry, and they even had puppies and kittens to adopt! They had this adorable little white puppy that I would have seriously considered purchasing had I thought it in the least feasible. I also was instantly in love with the kittens and can't wait to adopt one (or two) in the fall when I move into my new apartment in Tallahassee! There were two local teams playing, Cochabamba vs. Cochabamba so I was going for Cochabamba. Just kidding. The teams were Aurora vs. Wilsterman.... we picked Aurora because we liked their colors better. Turns out they are the underdog team. It also turns out that Dr. Aguilar is the team doctor for Wilsterman, which we learned after purchasing a bunch of Aurora gear. Oops! But in the end, it worked out because Aurora won! 3-1. It was a really fun game to watch and those of us who chose to go absolutely loved it, because it really felt like we were embracing the culture of the locals.
After the game, we decided to be adventurous and walk around downtown Cochabamba. Emily was with us so we had a quasi native speaker ( she lived here when she was younger for several years but now lives in the US) and Johan & Matt were with us, so I felt safe the whole time. We stopped in the little restaurant just to get a little appetizer and it was so nice! When you walked by the waiters moved out of the way for you! I have never been treated so great in a restaurant! The bathroom even had toilet paper....a commodity you don't often find in public restrooms here. We were going to make our way down and visit a few other restaurants kind of like a progressive dinner, but it started to get a bit late and we didn't want to be inconsiderate to Don Manuel, our wonderful trufi driver.
That night we got back and had 2 more volunteers with us! Ava is a medical student with James & Johan, and her brother Seth came with her, to volunteer as a translator. Ava became my new roommate and she's really funny and just great all around. Seth is an excellent translator and is very helpful to have around! It was a relief to get someone else who actually speaks fluently and translates exactly what is said. So they have been a wonderful addition to our Bolivian family!
Pretty sure that's all for that day... needless to say it was full weekend and by Monday, we were tired!
Got up and went to church at Dr. Aguilar's church. He's the gastroenterologist at the hospital. It was very nice and everyone was so friendly to us. It was 3 people's birthday that week so they had birthday cake after church to celebrate. That was fun! :-)
We went to lunch with some of the ladies from hospital who work in human resources and other offices. Charlotte, Amy & I split 2 meals and they were both delicious! We ordered cordon bleu and then we were going to try ox tail but they were out. Instead, we got this steak with eggs and cheese and tomatoes and peppers and it was REALLY good. We all felt like it was the best meal we had all week.
After lunch we walked around a bit and a few people went home. Leila left on Sunday night and so she had to go back. It was sad to lose my roommate! There was a soccer game at 4 and so we headed over to buy tickets. It was either 25Bs for regular seats or 35Bs for premium seating that wasn't in the sun. So that translates to either $3.50 or $5. We were ok spending the extra $1.50 to avoid sunlight. :-) So we walked around outside and looked at all the stuff that the venders were selling. They were selling food, cotton candy, drinks, jewelry, and they even had puppies and kittens to adopt! They had this adorable little white puppy that I would have seriously considered purchasing had I thought it in the least feasible. I also was instantly in love with the kittens and can't wait to adopt one (or two) in the fall when I move into my new apartment in Tallahassee! There were two local teams playing, Cochabamba vs. Cochabamba so I was going for Cochabamba. Just kidding. The teams were Aurora vs. Wilsterman.... we picked Aurora because we liked their colors better. Turns out they are the underdog team. It also turns out that Dr. Aguilar is the team doctor for Wilsterman, which we learned after purchasing a bunch of Aurora gear. Oops! But in the end, it worked out because Aurora won! 3-1. It was a really fun game to watch and those of us who chose to go absolutely loved it, because it really felt like we were embracing the culture of the locals.
After the game, we decided to be adventurous and walk around downtown Cochabamba. Emily was with us so we had a quasi native speaker ( she lived here when she was younger for several years but now lives in the US) and Johan & Matt were with us, so I felt safe the whole time. We stopped in the little restaurant just to get a little appetizer and it was so nice! When you walked by the waiters moved out of the way for you! I have never been treated so great in a restaurant! The bathroom even had toilet paper....a commodity you don't often find in public restrooms here. We were going to make our way down and visit a few other restaurants kind of like a progressive dinner, but it started to get a bit late and we didn't want to be inconsiderate to Don Manuel, our wonderful trufi driver.
That night we got back and had 2 more volunteers with us! Ava is a medical student with James & Johan, and her brother Seth came with her, to volunteer as a translator. Ava became my new roommate and she's really funny and just great all around. Seth is an excellent translator and is very helpful to have around! It was a relief to get someone else who actually speaks fluently and translates exactly what is said. So they have been a wonderful addition to our Bolivian family!
Pretty sure that's all for that day... needless to say it was full weekend and by Monday, we were tired!
Day 17
I will try my best to start getting caught up with this, but we are leaving soon to head to the market so my post may end abruptly....
Saturday we went to the jungle! It's called Chapare and I got up about 3:50am because we were supposed to leave at 4am. Well, typical South American time, we left sometime before 5am. We took a microbus, which is much bigger & nicer than a trufi but not as big as a greyhound bus or anything. It was beautiful and I have some awesome pictures of it that hopefully I can put up sometime soon. I'm way behind on the picture posting, I know. We stopped to get out and take pictures around 9am and then had breakfast at a restaurant nearby. The breakfast consisted of chicken or beef, soup, rice, noodles and some yuca. Needless to say, nothing like the typical American breakfast and I actually split one with 2 other girls. I had snacked on a bit of trail mix earlier anyway...
From there we walked (some rode the bus but all the guys and Bri & I walked) to the beginning of this nature preserve. The monkeys there were all over the place! They would come up and try to take your stuff. They jumped on the bus almost as soon as we arrived there! I have several pictures of them. :-) After paying to get in, we started to walk back in. It was funny because a monkey was sort of leading us in, as if he was going to be our tour guide. Then it climbed onto Iris's head! They had several different types of monkeys there that we saw. These little yellow ones were really cute and most of us wanted to take one home. After walking our way around the monkey section we walked back to go towards another area. We saw a tejón or Coati (in English) and it's kind of like an anteater in the face and has a bushy tail kind of. I got a couple of pictures of it. I had never even heard of the thing before.
We saw some beautiful birds and I have a picture with them. Then we took a bit of a hike to the top for an amazing view! Apparently there was a puma but I didn't see it. The pictures at the top are like postcards and I can't wait to share them! After a few pictures, we headed back down and then left to eat lunch. We went to another local place where our end of the table had fish, deer and armadillo. I had a little bit of it all and the armadillo was definitely better than I expected. Someone joked that our meal consisted of roadkill. haha But Iris told me they are just all the animals of the jungle.
After lunch we tried to go to this park area but it was for little kids and you had to pay to get in, so instead we went to this little swimming hole area. A couple of the guys went in but the rest of us just sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air and a book. Once everyone was done swimming and such, we all piled into the bus. It was rather humorous as we all sat in the bus eating cereal & milk before we left. We headed back home and got in about 10:30PM so we were all exhausted!
We survived the jungle, malaria (and for the most part bug bite) free! It was really cool to see and I would defintely go back!
Saturday we went to the jungle! It's called Chapare and I got up about 3:50am because we were supposed to leave at 4am. Well, typical South American time, we left sometime before 5am. We took a microbus, which is much bigger & nicer than a trufi but not as big as a greyhound bus or anything. It was beautiful and I have some awesome pictures of it that hopefully I can put up sometime soon. I'm way behind on the picture posting, I know. We stopped to get out and take pictures around 9am and then had breakfast at a restaurant nearby. The breakfast consisted of chicken or beef, soup, rice, noodles and some yuca. Needless to say, nothing like the typical American breakfast and I actually split one with 2 other girls. I had snacked on a bit of trail mix earlier anyway...
From there we walked (some rode the bus but all the guys and Bri & I walked) to the beginning of this nature preserve. The monkeys there were all over the place! They would come up and try to take your stuff. They jumped on the bus almost as soon as we arrived there! I have several pictures of them. :-) After paying to get in, we started to walk back in. It was funny because a monkey was sort of leading us in, as if he was going to be our tour guide. Then it climbed onto Iris's head! They had several different types of monkeys there that we saw. These little yellow ones were really cute and most of us wanted to take one home. After walking our way around the monkey section we walked back to go towards another area. We saw a tejón or Coati (in English) and it's kind of like an anteater in the face and has a bushy tail kind of. I got a couple of pictures of it. I had never even heard of the thing before.
We saw some beautiful birds and I have a picture with them. Then we took a bit of a hike to the top for an amazing view! Apparently there was a puma but I didn't see it. The pictures at the top are like postcards and I can't wait to share them! After a few pictures, we headed back down and then left to eat lunch. We went to another local place where our end of the table had fish, deer and armadillo. I had a little bit of it all and the armadillo was definitely better than I expected. Someone joked that our meal consisted of roadkill. haha But Iris told me they are just all the animals of the jungle.
After lunch we tried to go to this park area but it was for little kids and you had to pay to get in, so instead we went to this little swimming hole area. A couple of the guys went in but the rest of us just sat outside and enjoyed the fresh air and a book. Once everyone was done swimming and such, we all piled into the bus. It was rather humorous as we all sat in the bus eating cereal & milk before we left. We headed back home and got in about 10:30PM so we were all exhausted!
We survived the jungle, malaria (and for the most part bug bite) free! It was really cool to see and I would defintely go back!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 16
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!
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!
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!
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