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!