They Have a Word for that already...

I took a break from a medical brigade in town this afternoon to hit up a free lunch offer. Who could ever turn one of those down?:) While I was hanging out with a handful of other foreign teachers at Marisol's house (Honduran director-type) we started talking about all sorts of different Copan things. We got onto the topic of drug lords and drug trafficking in the area. One of the ironic things that we got to talking about is how they refer to their trading of drugs. You see....they don't "sell" drugs. What they do is that they exchange the drugs for money. I started thinking....I think that there's a name for exchanging an object for money. It's called selling. Does it make it sound any better to say that you exchange drugs for money instead of saying that you sell them? I'm not really too sure about this one...maybe it's like a public image sort of thing. Don't want people to think that you're doing anything shady, right?

The Earth Shake

I woke up at 2:24am on Wednesday night/Thursday morning and noticed that my bathroom door was swinging funny. Having lived in LA for 10 years (although it was a long time ago) I remember a lot about earthquakes. I quickly realized that I was in an earthquake so I rolled out of bed and then....I just sat there on my hands and knees thinking, “I’m in Honduras. If this is a strong earthquake there are no building codes here and I’m sure I’m in deep trouble. If this isn’t strong, then why am I jumping out of my bed?” About the time that it took for this to go through my head the quake had settled a little then gotten a second wind and was now winding down when I decided to sit on the floor a bit longer cause it was hot that night and the tile was nice and cool.:) The power lines outside my window were going crazy the whole time and I was thinking, “I’m glad my house isn’t made of rubber.” By far the worst part of the whole experience were my neighbors. They all went outside and starting yelling and shouting. “The ground was shaking!” “I was thrown out of my bed!” “I went this way! Then I went that way! What was that?!” And there they sat for another 30 minutes or so just talking in loud voices as if the earthquake happened while nobody was sleeping. The next day they were all asking me if I had been too scared to come outside? Had I freaked out about the quake? Had I felt one before? I just kinda laughed and told them...”I’ve felt a couple...”

Through Painted Deserts

I remember my brother, Jonathan, read the book Blue Like Jazz a couple years back and had an immediate author crush on Donald Miller. Can you blame him? I equally had a major crush on him after reading that book. My brother went on to read Through Painted Deserts, also by Donald Miller. At the time he read it he would tell me constantly, “This book is amazing! It is so fitting to my life. I wish our parents could read this to know what I’m going through, etc.” At the time I chalked it up to transitional stress as he was a recent tenant of California...perhaps it’s my outlook of my less than six weeks I have of being a resident of Copan....but I started reading the book this afternoon on my free time while subbing in second grade and fell in love all over again. It’s like finding a cd of a long lost musician while cleaning out a closet and deciding to give it a listen. The whole premise is about leaving what we know, going somewhere and changing. I hope that my changing in life is not complete but as I come to a close of this “two year evolution” in my life I am struck by this passage of the book:
“I could not have known then that everybody, every person, has to leave, has to change like seasons...Everybody has to change, or they expire. Everybody has to leave, everybody has to leave their home and come back so they can love it again for all new reasons...I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page recurrently. Only the good stories have characters different at the end than they were at the beginning. And the closest thing I can liken life to is a book, the way it stretches out on paper, page after page, as if to trick the mind into thinking it isn’t all happening at once...Everything we were is no more, and what we will become, will become what was.” – Donald Miller

Woody-Whoppers

I have had the joy of yet another batch of visitors here in Copan recently. This time my Spanish prof from college (Viki) and my communications prof (Clella) are both down here with a group of students from George Fox University. I haven’t really been hanging out with the group at all but I see them around town, talk to them a little, and I’ve gotten to hang out a bit with both professors. The other night we went to dinner at a local restaurant (Via Via) and got to talking about the local moto-taxis. Those that have come down here have seen them, they’re also called tuk-tuks or something like that. The whole group went up to La Pintada (a local village) the other day and my professors went up in a moto-taxi. As Clella is telling the story she says, “We went up there in one of those woody-whoppers.” I just kind of stared at her...”what?” I knew what she was talking about but I’d never heard it called a woody-whopper. I just started laughing as I recalled all the times in class that she made up words and talked about “wanging it out there” when talking about a new subject. Her rationale was something along the lines of, “I don’t really know where it came from. Just somewhere down in the depths, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything called that before.” Oh communications professors. What are we ever going to do with them?
In other news, I’m heading back to the US this weekend for a couple days. Those that haven’t heard from me yet, my grandpa passed away about 3 weeks ago. I’m going back to the funeral service which won’t be until Tuesday the 12th of this month. So if you feel so interested as to call my state-side phone Sunday through Tuesday I’ll be there.:) Oh wow....rain storm just started. I’ve heard thunder and seen lightening for the past half hour or so. I was starting to think that it wasn’t going to actually rain....but wow....it’s really raining like crazy...and with this rambling we’re now done....have a good rest of your day/night!

Mi Brigada Favorita

The medical brigade that I have been waiting for nearly a year now has arrived! There's a group from New York University that came down here last year with about 30 dental students and faculty with a few community health/nurse people to tag along for research and record keeping purposes. This brigade is super well organized (at least compared to others) and has a great goal in mind. They are trying to target kids in first and second grade in order to save their permanent teeth that come in. Their vision is really to impact an entire generation of Hondurans and improve their oral health. They have people keeping track of how many children have cavities, decay, etc. on their teeth. They're training local teachers in the school system to apply fluoride to kids in kindergarten through 6th grade and promote tooth brushing, etc.
I got the privilege of being the token translator for them today and I will get another opportunity tomorrow and Sunday as well. Unfortunately I have to teach all of next week and will only get one chance to go to the brigade from Monday to Friday; so I have to take advantage of the opportunity now on the weekend.
In other words...no, I'm not going to become a dentist, a public health specialist person perhaps....or maybe an EMT....or maybe an interpreter...or maybe something different. I always thought when I was younger that by the time I was old and out of college I would have a permanent career path. Here I am two years out of college with very little clue still. I promise that by the time I retire I will have a concrete idea of where my life is headed.:)

La Pascua

In light of today being Easter Sunday I thought that I should go to church for the first time in a couple weeks...don't let my dad know that.:) Instead of the usual service that is around here with a good amount of people it was packed inside the church! There was somewhere around 1,000 people there all crammed inside, standing in the aisles, in between the pews (in front of people), and even out the door because it was so crowded. The only real point of writing this is because the priest said something that I really liked. The exact quote was, "Este es el domingo mas importante de todos los domingos para nosotros. Los otros domingos son un eco de lo que pasa este dia." In more understandable terms for most of you..."This is the most important Sunday of all Sundays for us. The other Sundays are just an eco of what happens on this day." I really liked the thought of this being the end-all be-all of all days. It's really true, this day is what makes Christianity so amazing, Christ arisen, aleluya.:)

Belize

I think that David said it best, "I always thought of Belize as this like American/British Central American paradise where they all speak English..." Well after having visited Belize I can definitely say that I'm not sure what they speak in Belize. I heard English, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin I assume....what do I know about the language?) and at least two other languages that I think were Garifuna and Creole English.
The point of going to Belize was to get our visa renewed for Honduras, and luckily that was accomplished. We have to leave the CA-4 (Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala) every 90 days or we get a fatty fine from the government for overstaying our welcome. The easy way to fix it is to leave the countries for a few days and we're welcomed right back in.:)
The most interesting part of the whole trip was trying to understand the locals speak English and decipher what they were saying to each other when they weren't even trying to speak "real" English. In conclusion, I was really happy to be back in a Spanish speaking country like Guatemala when we arrived there on Monday!

La Temperatura

The temperature this morning was about 93 at 11:30am this morning....it's really hot here...

Remember that Office Episode....?

So I don't know which of you happen to watch the Office, but imagine that 1 hour Super Bowl special from this year. At the start Dwight sets off the fire alarm and chaos breaks loose with people jumping through the ceiling, breaking vending machines, breaking the window and yelling for help, throwing cats into the ceiling, having a heart attack, etc. Well that was school today, the first Friday that was REALLY HOT!
Kids are naturally crazy on a Friday, and naturally crazy when it's hot....bad combination in and of itself. Well this Friday I take out my class (3rd grade) at 7:20 in the morning for a little walk around school looking for geometric shapes. I realize all of the sudden the 6th graders are playing soccer and not in class! One of the other teachers I walk by makes a comment to me but I don't really think anything of it yet. Then at 7:45 I find out the teacher didn't call ANYBODY and just didn't show up at school. Left no lesson plans or anything. So Megan (the director) is busy teaching first grade as that teacher is gone. Linda (another back-up sub) is busy cause she's teaching fourth grade. Norma (Honduran director) is busy cause two Honduran teachers are gone and she's covering for them. So what happens? We close the library and Diana (my counterpart) goes into the classroom with no lesson plans and little idea of what is happening. Now all this passes and life goes on as a normal Friday. Then all of the sudden I see one of my kids walking around at 10am....they have Spanish class from 9:20-10:40 so I ask her, "Maricruz what are you doing?" Her response was ridiculous! "It's...well....the teacher said we no have class now." And sure enough, right behind her come all the other kids in the class just walking around...for 40 minutes! Ok....now I think, this is ridiculous. In that very second all the secondary kids (7th-9th) are all out moving rocks for their final PE exam. Some are just making a pile in the middle of the school, some are raking dirt, some are shoveling gravel into wheel-barrows and taking it who knows where? So I just sit and stare as all these kids are doing nothing for their final exam, then my third graders are walking around aimlessly....then come the 6th graders! The ones without a teacher, they're coming to help move rocks under supervision of the kindergarten teacher while his kids do who knows what?! So we have 3rd and 6th-9th all out on this tiny field moving rocks and walking around aimlessly! What was going on!? Well the kids finally went back to class, we had library (with me), computers, and some art after that and made it through the day semi-normally. I couldn't believe how ridiculous the day was. At least it wasn't like yesterday where I had a kid stuck upside down on the little climbing net. A third grader that couldn't pick himself up from the net! He was stuck by his knees and hit his head on the ground, bawling as a first grade teacher picked him off the ground and a third grade teacher struggled to pull out his leg which was all twisted in the net. The kid cried for 10 or 15 minutes, but he walked back to class in mostly one piece.:)

Viaje a Paraíso (Part II)

It’s now the start of my last full day in Utila and I feel like I’m starting to get back into real life mode and thinking about things like school once again. I’ve now spent 4 full days in Utila and I’ve spent about half the time not being sun burnt.:) So get this....I put sun block all over my back and everything before snorkeling. I go out for like an hour and a half on Wednesday and enjoy my time. When I get back that evening my back feels like it got burnt! When I look at it there are lines going across that aren’t sun burnt. I think, “man, that’s weird...” and start thinking back to after I put the sun block on. I sat like 5 minutes in a wood chair that had horizontal slats! The parts with the wood absorbed all my sun block and I got burnt there! Then yesterday we went snorkeling twice on a little boat excursion so I put sun block on in the morning....then again after our first snorkeling dive....and I still got sun burnt again on the back of my legs! So now being sun burnt on the back of my legs and on my back is making life at night interesting. I’m a definite back sleeper....
Anyways....I’ve decided that snorkeling is now my favorite beach activity next to sand castle building. We go out about 50 meters to the reef and get to see a ton of different sea life. The other day I got to see a “Spotted Eagle Ray” passing about 30 meters below me with a huge tail probably 15 feet long or so. I’m telling you, it’s totally like paying to enter an aquarium, except you get to swim in all the tanks! Yesterday I was swimming through a school of thousands of 6 inch long fish trying to catch one with my hands. Those buggers are fast in the water! It’s fun to extend my hands under water and chase after some of the fish trying to catch them. Of course there’s no way that I could actually reach one of the fish...but it’s still a fun game to play as long as you have the mindset that it’s ok to be defeated by an inferior species.:)

Viaje a Paraíso (Part I)

Well thus far my vacation on Utila has been one of the most relaxing and enjoyable things that I have done in Honduras. I took a series of busses and a ferry on Sunday with David and Cody (we met up with Cody’s mom and brother along the way) and got into Utila late on Sunday evening. On Monday we spent the whole day exploring on bikes, walking around, and just getting our bearings on the island. The most confusing thing on the island is not direction, but what language to speak! I’ve heard that people speak English here, but I have yet to hear people speak real English to each other. I’ve heard Spanish and some crazy almost English but not quite language. Some people don’t speak any English, some people don’t speak any Spanish. I don’t know how people cope on this island! It’s so confusing. I try to stay in English, but then sometimes I have to break out Spanish. For example...
This gentleman is walking down the road while we are sitting in our rented golf cart (to explore the island) and he’s singing a famous Cuban song, “Guantanamera.” He asks us in English if we like the song and we all say yes. Cody and I both know the song quite well and were chuckling that he was singing it. The gentleman then turns to his friend and says in Spanish, “A ellos no les gusta esta canción como son gringos.” Or in other words, “These guys don’t like this song cause they’re gringos.” I got super defensive right away and switched into Spanish semi-yelling, “Bien! Me la sé y me gusta.” (Heck yes! I know it and I like it!) The gentleman was shocked, said something to his friend that I don’t remember and is friend laughed and said, “sí, habla español.”
My other adventure thus far has been snorkeling. I don’t know which of you out there were as blessed (as I was thinking) enough to never have to go snorkeling. I was apprehensive about it all day as everybody wanted to go snorkeling in our group. I’m not the greatest swimmer in the world and I’ve never been a big fan of swimming in oceans. The vastness of it astounds me and intimidates me like few other things. So we get snorkel equipment rented and start to make our way out from in front of our house. it’s a long wade out to the coral part of the ocean and we’re probably about 50 meters from the shore by the time we really hit anything that would be interesting for snorkeling. I’ve never been snorkeling before (and I’ve never even swam with flippers on) and my first reaction while I am in between “snorkels” is to tread water for a while to rest. I was so tired in a matter of minutes and felt like snorkeling was probably the biggest waste of time. All I could think about was how far from the shore I was and how I’ve never been that far out to sea without a boat or life-vest and I couldn’t tread water for more than a couple minutes in those dumb flippers. Well I started to head back to shore and call it quits. Then on my way back I had to put my head back down to figure out the path back through the coral in order to not scrape against it or run into it. Before I knew what was happening I’d gone like a minute straight with snorkeling and I was starting to enjoy seeing the things under the water. Instead of going all the way back I started to practice in the shallow parts to not be so intimidated by the drop off. It goes from about 8 or 10 feet deep to something like 20 or 30 feet deep in a matter of seconds. I started to see all sorts of fish, coral, plants, etc. under the ocean that I’d never seen before! I was one of the last people in our group to come back in as I was enjoying it so much. The whole time all I could think of was “Finding Nemo” as I was thinking about the anemones, algae, schools of fish, stingrays (which I didn’t see), the drop-off, touching the “butt,” and a variety of Nemo things. I’m probably going to have to watch that movie pretty soon....such a classic.:)

Bendito Segundo Grado

This week is a special week for me as I get to spend time with a "one of a kind" class. This week has been spent with a rambunctious group of second graders who are sometimes lovely and sometimes drive me up a wall! We've had two good days and two bad days thus far. Today was a good day which makes writing this post void of any vulgarities. Had I started this post yesterday or Monday, however, it might be a different story. There is one student who drove me completely bonkers yesterday and would never stop talking. He got sent to the office at the end of the day so we could call home and talk to his mom about his behavior. He started bawling and promising to never do it again. Before you feel too touched, he does this frequently. Well we made a deal, we won't call his mom as long as he doesn't get in any trouble what-so-ever Thursday or Friday. Today we came into class and I gently reminded him that with one outburst and we call his mom and he goes home suspended. He just looked at me, smiled, and said, "oh mister!" Well, apparently it worked because today he was like an angel compared to the past couple days!
Then there's another rebel rouser (however that's spelled) who every morning has sat there for 20 minutes doing nothing until saying, "Mister, es que no tengo lapiz." (Mister, I don't have a pencil). I went off on him yesterday and raised my voice perhaps a little bit, "No trajo un lapiz?! Y que suponia ibamos a hacer hoy en la escuela?!" (You didn't bring a pencil?! What did you think we were going to do at school?!) Today he came in and I never once heard him say to me, "No tengo lapiz." So I suppose that's a minor victory right there, the boy has a pencil at school!:)
I could go on for hours about all sorts of stories this week. I just hope that I can have one more good day to finish out the week ahead 3-2 with good days defeating the bad ones. It's like game five of the ALDS in 1995 with Cora on third and Griffey at first....so exciting, who's going to come out on top? The kids or me?:)

El Año Santo

I finally accomplished my goal of over a year in going to Esquipulas! It’s a town/city in Guatemala with a super rich history...let me paint some of the history before I tell my story.:) It’s believed that it was a pilgrimage site long ago, before the first conquistadors arrived in the Americas. Back in the 1500’s a Portuguese wood sculptor donated a sculpture of a black Jesus on the cross. It was put into the church and soon became a pilgrimage site for local Catholics. Time passed and it came to the mid-1700’s when a bishop in Guatemala made a pilgrimage to see the sculpture and went away miraculously healed of a chronic illness. Upon this news the Catholic church decided to build a huge Basilica in Esquipulas and put the statue inside. It quickly converted into a huge pilgrimage site and is often called the “center of Central American faith.”
So this weekend I went with four other friends and we checked out the whole city. There’s a small zoo there that randomly has lions, water buffalos, ostriches, raccoons, crocodiles, and a whole bunch of other random animals. Two highlights of the park were the fact that the ostrich cage had an opening that literally anybody could just walk into and enter the cage. Then over the island that the monkeys live on there’s a zip line that Matt took which is about 100 yards long and costs like $1.15. On Saturday night we went to the Basilica in order to see the statue of Jesus. It was a short line and we spent about a half hour in line. The line on Sundays takes up to several hours to get through. It was a pretty simple statue without knowing the history of it, but I was pretty impressed with it. On Saturday night we went to Pizza Burger Diner for some pizza, which turned out to be the best I’ve had since I was in the States! We went back to the place on Sunday morning for breakfast cause we figured that being such a good restaurant they probably have pancakes also. We got there and they didn’t have them on the menu! So we asked the waitress (which was the same one as the night before), “Hay panqueques?” To which she casually responded, “yeah, we just don’t put them on the menu.” They were amazing! It’s my new favorite restaurant in Central America. I would say that the city has renewed my faith in Guatemala as a decent country. I was under impressed with Lago Atitlán my last trip there, so now I am back “in like” with Guatemala.

Agua Caliente

In celebration of our Director's birthday this coming week we all took a trip to the hot springs this weekend. It was a lot of the foreign staff along with one of the Hondurans, Ffarah (with her husband, uncle, and daughter). It's about an hour drive out to Agua Caliente from Copan on a dirt road and of course the best way to get there is in the back of a pick-up. So we all loaded up into two pick-ups and headed out there for the afternoon. It was sunny as we left Copan but on the road out there it started raining! It was cloudy almost the whole time at the hot spring, luckily the water is, well...hot.
There is a little statue of sorts that the waters comes out of (I'm not sure this is allowed...) and so we climbed up to the top of it to start jumping into the pool. Nelson (Ffarah's husband) did a back flip off of it and all I could muster to compete with that was a cannon ball. So he started to teach me by starting on the side of the pool and jumping backwards. A perfect back flop to start! Now with a red back I tried it again and landed upside down on my head...I had to practice it like 10 times but I finally did a back flip from the side of the pool. With enough confidence mustered up I climbed up on top of this statue about 6 feet tall and did a back flip! Woo! So next time you see me at a swimming pool and you want to see a back flip...just go ahead and ask.:)

Happiness in Seattle

At last my view of baseball in Seattle is repaired. For nine years I have suffered without my favorite player of all time in Seattle...I've been checking every time I get online to see if Junior has signed with anybody yet. Then I see the title I've been waiting for in an e-mail from my parents, "Griffey's back." My heart goes soaring through my chest and suddenly it seems like the last day of school before the summer. This is proof that not all baseball players are complete idiots...that there are still a few decent players in the game. Ok, he's just returning to Seattle for a last tour of his home-team and not curing cancer or anything, but for a person who likes the Seattle Mariners because of one player, this is like life coming full circle. From seeing Griffey Sr. and Jr. hit back-to-back home runs, watching Griffey slide into home beating the freaking Yankees in '95, and watching the entire infield stand between first and second I'll never grow tired of my Griffey memories. So here's to one of the few players with class in the game...who's stayed clean through all the steroid accusations...who inspired me to enjoy playing center field...and who made me proud to bat left-handed.:)

What's wrong with Catholicism?

I had another conversation today that drove me crazy about religion. I was at a medical brigade coordinated by Evangelical churches around here when I got into a conversation with a lady who was in line. She asked me if I went to La Iglesia Renovacion and I said no...she asked which one I went to and I said the Catholic Church. I got the usual treatment from people in this area...she asked me if my parents were both Christian and I said that my dad was actually a pastor, and my mom also is one...her next sentence made me want to punch her in the face! She proceeded to say, "Oh, so you're the only one in your family who doesn't love Jesus?" What am I supposed to say to that one? "Oh, you're right, that guy drives me crazy! Who did he think he was anyway?!" Or do I begin a circular conversation in which I say that I am Christian and do love Jesus (but because she is pre-dispositioned to my Hell-bound living as a "Catholic" she won't change her stance). So I just answered her with, "algo asi (something like that)." The rest of the conversation was short, awkward, and I left shortly there-after.
Now tell me something, is there something that I'm missing? I've grown up believing that the stance of one's Christianity is ultimately up to the individual and God...and we can't judge each other...especially when we just meet. There are of course standards to Christianity such as the early Church Creeds and Biblical standards...but that would be too much to think about for this lady, right?
Now I won't make this whole thing saying how great Catholicism is, of course there are problems that I have with the Church. What church have I ever gone to other than Bedside Baptist that I didn't have at least a small disagreement with? I'm still not too high on this whole asking Saints and the Virgin Mary to intercede for us, but I'm a big fan of the tradition and other things in the church. I don't say that I'm Catholic, but I do go to that church. No church is perfect, but what is the point? Do we go to church for the community? The preaching? The church creed? Personally I'd have to say that the point of church is to form a community of support for spiritual growth and encouragement. The church is a group of Christians that can have a shared experienced worshiping God...does God care if I worship Him in a Catholic, Baptist, Quaker, Reformed, Lutheran, etc. church? I submit that he does not!:) Disagree if you must...but please don't beat me down for it.:)

The Joys of First Grade

I was reading a book to the first graders the other day when I had to use all of my willpower to not just completely bust a gut laughing, yet at the same time cry my eyes out (not from laughing). We're reading a book about this duck on a farm that has to do all the work while the farmer just sits in bed eating candy, reading the newspaper, and growing fatter every day. When we read that part and showed the picture one of the first graders jumps up and points to the picture, "Mi papi es asi!" (My dad is just like that!). Of course Diana (who I work with in the library) is just sitting behind all the kids chuckling to herself...I was stuck in front of all of them trying to keep reading while trying to give the kid this look like, "it's not appropriate to say things like that inside the library."
That was about a week ago, then just yesterday the same class was in the library and I was reading a book called "Abuela" about a grandma who takes her granddaughter to the park. From the park they start to fly and they fly all over the city. At the start I ask the kids, "Do you have any grandmas?" The kids all start shouting and yelling, "Yo tengo uno! (I have one!)" or "Yo tengo dos! (I have two!)" or "Yo tambien! (me too!)"...and then the same kid pipes right up, "Yo tengo doce! (I have twelve!)" I tell you, this kid cracks me up....when we get done reading the story he kicks another kid in the class so I pull him aside to talk with him. I tell him that here at school we don't hit other people, we have to use our words. If somebody is bothering you move away from them, etc...but here at school we never hit anybody. his immediate response was, "Y si estoy lejos de aqui? (and if I'm far away from here?)" Good question I suppose....I told him that even there it was not nice to hit people, but he should talk to his parents about their rules at home. Speaking of children who could be their own blog with their crazy stories and actions....this first grader might be top of the list!:)

Enjoying the Shrink

Last week I had yet another privilege of working on a medical brigade. This one was a little bit different as they brought quite a few of their own translators. Also, there was a psychiatrist that didn't always want a middle schooler being the interpreter, so I got to work with him quite a bit. We got to talk with a lot of different people and cases and I realized for the first time....Copan really needs a psychiatrist!:) I thought that it was fascinating to work with somebody who knew a lot about interacting with people and getting them to open up and talk. It blew me away that this guy from the US was down here getting people to talk for a half hour or an hour about their various problems. I thought that being a psychiatrist would be a fun job....but I imagine that takes a special person to be able to do that. I know I know, we're all special...but I think I'm special for other things, not a psych.:)
I feel like I could start a whole separate blog to be about medical brigades. And guess what I was advised is coming next week and I need to go to at least one day to help out...a medical brigade!:)

The After Brigade Party

The short three day medical brigade ended last night and in order to celebrate we had a big dinner at the house of one of the Rotary members. Everybody who had helped out with the brigade was at the dinner and we had a blast eating, watching parts of the Honduras vs. Panama game (which we lost), telling jokes, and listening/dancing to marimba music. At the party I grouped up with all the medical students who were here from San Pedro. They were almost all right around my age and wanted to “go out on the town” which is a little ironic when you’re in Copan. There’s not much to do...and I never do anything on the weekends but hang out at home. The med students convinced me to go to Las Piscinas with them, which is a club, bar, hang out spot that I had never gone to in the evening. Thank goodness they didn’t want to go into the club, so we just hung out in the bar which has karaoke! This medical brigade was a couple of firsts for me. I was getting in on tooth extractions earlier in the week and now I can add onto that singing karaoke and dancing salsa with a Latina.:) That’s right, I sang La Bamba! I had such a good time and when the night was all finished and I was dropping all of them off at their hotel they all told me to make sure and come visit them in San Pedro. I was already planning a trip there for visiting another friend...now I can visit my medical friends and sing karaoke in San Pedro as well.:)

Another Brigade Day

I was sitting down for my enjoyable lunch on Tuesday at school when Profe Norma comes walking up to me and says, “Mr.....there’s a medical brigade tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday in El Jaral. Since the kids are in exams we can’t send them so we need you to go all three days.” Of course I had to put on the face of, “Oh well...I dunnno, I need to check with Diana. I’m not sure if I can miss school for three days.” But really what I was thinking inside was more like, “WOOOOOOOOO!”
As it worked out I got to take two sixth graders with me to help me out and they did a great job! I started out the day in oral surgery. I didn’t really seek it, it more just fell into my lap. If you know me well then you know how I feel about other people’s blood. My mom tells me, “Zach, you’re going to get married, your wife is going to have a baby, and you’re not going to enjoy it because you will be passed out on the floor.” Well mom, you would have eaten those words today as I was holding kids hands while they got teeth ripped out. It’s so brutal! I had some blood squirt onto my arm several times, had my right thumb almost squeezed off, and got to talk each patient that came in through the operation. The hardest was one girl who couldn’t have been older than 17 years old. She had teeth on both side to pull (and this is all with local anesthesia). The first tooth broke off and the doctor had to dig out a root. Then on the other side he had to pull and pry as well and it took about a half hour to take out two teeth. This girl shed one tear, just one! The doctors were sitting there working and scrapping saying, “This is amazing. I can’t believe that this girl isn’t screaming. I would be bawling at this point. I’m amazed at how much pain this girl can stand because this would be excruciating.” She made it through without any major complications though. We were all quite impressed with her.
The funny point of the day came when I was working with general medicine in the afternoon and a man came in complaining about his diabetes. Then he kind of back tracks and says, “well, I don’t know for sure cause I’ve never gone to a doctor for it. But I’m pretty sure.” Then after some more questioning he back tracks to say, “Well I don’t really know what diabetes is.” Honestly?! I thought you were supposed to have diabetes! Well to be sure the doctor ran a test on him with the little glucometer. This is the funny part, the man is a coffee farmer and works with his hands, and has for the past 50+ years. When I think of tough hands I like to think of my late Grandpa Gordon who had fairly tough hands from construction...well this guy put my grandpa to shame. The doctor made one poke in the finger....nothing....so he tried a poke on the side....a little tiny tiny bit but not enough for the test. Then he poked another finger, nothing....then a fourth time.....nothing. He finally just pulled out the needle from the machine thing and jammed it into the guys finger to draw a drop just barely big enough to run the test. And after all that the guy was completely normal with a 97 blood sugar. As it turned out, apparently somebody confused his back pain/pinched nerve that he had with diabetes. I’m not sure how that one works out, but the doctor got it all figured out in the end.
I think that thus far this has been my favorite medical brigade this year, good stuff.:)