Saturday, August 11, 2012

Final full Day

When we woke up this morning we could all tell that it was going to be a bittersweet day. After working for the past 5 days helping hudreds of patients get the care they needed, we were finally getting a chance to see another side of Nicaragua but at the same time we knew that our time in this country was winding down.

Our first stop on our adventure was the most active volcano in North America having just errupted a mere four months ago. Our guide Lynda mentioned that the area is so special that even NASA uses the terrain as a model for Mars rovers! Climbing to the top of the crater was definitely a moving experience and as we got closer we could feel the heat through our hardhats.

After a quick 2 hour lunch at Papa John's we were off to the artisan market where Nicaragua's finest craftmakers displayed their wares. Our haggling skills were pushed to the test as we bought hammocks, bracelets, and wooden crafts that you might possibly enjoy (especially if you are related to one of our adventurers!).

The most exciting part of our trip today was our boat ride on Lake Nicaragua where we avoided the dreaded freshwater bullsharks and managed to feed some monkeys Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza on the infamous Monkey Island. Afterwards we wandered through the streets of Granada enjoying the slow pace of Central American Life.

When we got on the bus to return to our adopted home, we were tired but are eager to share our stories and experiences with allof you. So if you see us on campus or in town ask!  

Last day in clinics!


We are about to go out to eat at a place called E ski mo... I don’t know how to spell it in Spanish. However, we had a humbling last day of clinics.  When got to the clinic this morning there was already around 50 people waiting for us and we had to turn away people because they were all waiting for the dentist. A little baby who was only 2 months old came to the clinic and had a trachea tube in its throat but the baby was really sick so Dr. Diana sent it straight to the hospital. Also, yesterday an older woman came in and Dr. Diana thought she had bone cancer because there was some type of lump on the top of her mouth. We stopped taking medical patients around 10:30 yet we did not finish until 12.  One of our translator's fathers who is a doctor graciously offered his day off to come help with the clinic.  I thought that was really amazing.  Once we ate lunch, we had to do inventory which was extremely frustrating.  We had to go through all the medicine and count how many of ech type of pill was left.  Once we were done with that, we moved everything out of the clinic and onto the bus to then be unloaded at Jo Ann's house.  After that we went home and got ready for our dinner.  The place we went to was extremely nice.  I got a cheeseburger, fries, and a banana smoothie...suprisingly it was only 8 dollars total.  When we got back from dinner, there were honestly hundreds of flying ants all over Quinta Shalom and in our bedroom. It was really gross.  That was all the adventures of today!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Entertainment Thursday

On this beautiful morning, we arrived at the clinic with our buttercup yellow President's Without Borders t-shirts.  It was a pretty busy day at the clinic today because the power kept turning off.  I personally worked in the dentist area this afternoon and saw some teeth extractions.  All the children love to color and we are running out of room on the boards, where we tape up their masterpieces.  When we finally arrived home around 7pm, our dinner was delicious stir-fry chicken, rice, and tres leches for dessert.  We had some wonderful entertainment tonight.  We had Seth clog dancing and a man singing opera.  However, our favorite entertainment was Lynda's poetry and she handed out prizes! Before we got ready for bed, we made our way down to Pops ice cream shop and met another pittsburgh native.  Well, hopefully our last day of clinic will be successful.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Day 6

Hola! Today was fantastic... and every day seems to be filled with more excitement and bonding within our small group. Although waking up for breakfast at 6:45 AM is becoming more difficult, we somehow find strength to push through our long day. This morning, we had pancakes, fresh pineapple and watermelon, and mini hot dogs (we found out they were NOT sausage). We arrived at the clinic in time to set up all of our equipment, and I personally had the chance to visit the local school. Evan, Allie, and myself (Seth) informed elementary children on the importance of healthy diets, clean water, and facts about Diabetes. Instantly, smiles were brought to our face by the interest of the kids with their participation in exercises and asking us questions. The first class was more than excited to take a photo with us and some children wanted to know if we were Japanese, if Allie was French, and they were even interested in preventing Diabetes. In total, we visited about 11 elementary classrooms. On our way out the kids were eyeing the new soccer ball Allie had, so of course we played with them. Little did we know, these kids didn't even care which team they were on, boundaries of the field, or whether or not they snuck in a few handballs. I'm pretty sure 60 of us were playing soccer at one point. On the sidelines, children wanted numerous pictures with us. After about 20 minutes of recess, we left the clinic with our translator, drenched in sweat. Visiting these children was honestly the best experience so far. Not only did I see God working through us to reach out to these kids, but it was also heartwarming to hear them say "thank you" and "goodbye" in English as we left.

After arriving back at the clinic, I had the chance of working with the dentists. These three dentists are the nicest and most patient people I have ever worked with. throughout the day, they saw a total of 30 patients. Dr. Diana saw 38 patients and our pharmacy team filled 173 prescriptions. Our clinic was filled with more children than we could handle... but we occupied them with coloring and toys. For lunch, we hand mountains of rice, beef with onions, and homemade tortillas. Today was the longest day so far. We did not leave the clinic until 6:30 PM and thought we would miss dinner! ... Yes, we spent 10 1/2 hours in the clinic. Luckily, we made it back to Quinta Shalom for dinner, and the cooks threw us another curve ball with "normal" food. We had delicious fish, potatoes, pasta, and vegetables. A few of us even decided to make a quick trip for ice cream! This evening, we decided to play some card games. We were bored by Uno, and decided to play spoons. Currently we are sitting on the patio relaxing (and sweating), but hoping time slows down so we can enjoy the rest of our week down here.

Adios!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Day 5

Hello! Today was another great day in Nicaragua. Breakfast was at 6:45, and we arrived at the clinic just before 8 o'clock. The clinic was much less chaotic today than it was yesterday. I worked in the dental area and it was so interesting! I was able to participate in cleanings, fillings, and extractions. The three dentists were Nicaraguan women. At first, the language barrier made it somewhat difficult to understand what tools they were asking for to perform certain procedures, but I eventually got the hang of it. We also had a wonderful translator though who is actually studying to be a dentist herself- so that really helped, of course! We saw a total of 32 patients in the dental section of our clinic. The dentists are amazing. They worked so hard! Today we closed the clinic about an hour and 45 minutes after our intended closing time. When we returned to the guesthouse dinner was prepared for us and we all ate it so quickly! Our dinner consisted of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad, banana bread, and bread with butter. The food here is great! After dinner, a group of us walked to the ice cream shop that we can't seem to get enough of! I happen to be obsessed with the ice cream flavor "pasion queque," which we jokingly translate literally as "passion whatwhat." After our ice cream adventure, we walked back to the guesthouse and sat outside chatting about all different kinds of things. We certainly never run out of things to talk about! We even got complemented today by Jo Ann and Dr. Diana for how well we all work together and get along :) Well, that's all for now! Tomorrow is another day of clinics, hopefully it will run as smoothly as today!

-- Chloe :)

Monday, August 6, 2012

First day of Clinics!


Day 4

It was our first day at clinics. It was pretty cool.  I mostly worked in pharmacy - getting prescriptions, finding the medicines in the bottles or boxes, and counting out the pills.  We then had a translator who gave the medicine to the patients and described how to take them in Spanish.  We ate breakfast at 6:45 am and then had our daily devotion led by Amanda.  We arrived at the church around 8 am and the clinic opened at 9.  We closed a little after 4 pm but we did not leave until close to 6 pm because the dental place took longer to do.  Apparently most of the people coming to the clinics will want to see the dentist.  I bet they have never been to a dentist before.  The clinic was a cool experience because it really showed me how fortunate I am to have all the amenities at my beck and call.  After the clinic we came back and had dinner.  Again both lunch and dinner were amazing. It is crazy how amazing the food is here.  I really am surprised. For lunch we had some sort of beef, a lot of rice, some vegetables to put on the rice, some tortillas, and this buttery potato thing.  It was so much food but it was really good. Surprisingly the potato thing was my least favorite and that is weird for me because I love potatoes!  For dinner we had the same vegetable medley we had a couple days ago which was delicious, chicken cordon bleu, and rice.  Isn't it weird the first time I ever ate chicken cordon bleu? It was pretty good. After that a bunch of us, including Dr. Diana went to get ice cream at a place called Pops! I got a sundae with Carmel ice cream and chocolate syrup.  It was really good.  I paid 60 cordobas which is roughly less than 3 dollars! We then went to the local grocery store and it was awesome seeing all the brands we use but in Spanish.  I am now back at Quinta Shalom sitting here with some people just talking about everything.  I'm about to go to bed because breakfast is at 6:45 am.  That is all for now.

Morgan

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Today was another exciting day in Nicaragua.  We started the day with a lovely breakfast prepared by the chefs and then attended mass.  Mass was two hours long and featured a band with a keyboard, drums, multiple singers, and guitars.  It was full of upbeat songs that made it impossible not to clap along and sway to the music.  After mass we returned to the house to change and have another fine meal prepared by the wonderful chefs.  Next we loaded the bus full of the donations we had collected and the supplies necessary to run the clinic (which was in the church we had just attended mass at).  Five hours of grueling work followed as the clinic was assembed and the donations were sorted.  We returned to the house after a long day of work and then went out to eat at a restaraunt called tip tops which turned out to be basically a nicaraguan KFC.  We then organized jobs and activites for tomorrows opeing day and ended the day with a group bonding activity consisting of song and dance led by our own Morgan Baxter.

First Full Day

Today was a big day. It started with breakfast, orientation, and morning devotions. Then we explored the  city of Managua. Joann, the program director, took us to a historic site. After, we ate Nicaraguian cusine for lunch. Then we ziplined over a lake. We finishd exploring the city by shopping at a local market. Overall, the day was wonderful. We can't wait for the clinic days!

Friday, August 3, 2012

We have arrived in Nicaragua safely, and are currently settling into the guest house!! Although everybody's extremely tired from the long day of travel, we're all ready to jump into our weekend tours here and get ready for our clinics for the week!