Monday in Guatemala.

Monday we went to Santa Rosa de Lima. We woke up and had breakfast at 7:15, loaded the van and truck and hit the road. We were greeted by a host of people outside the Municipal Hall. It was rumored that over 700 patients were going to be coming. It seemed that there were that many outside, ok maybe slight exaggeration. There was a man with Down's Syndrome that hugged each on of us. I was lucky and got a nice kiss on the ear from him. I set up for a day of Ret and Direct again as Sunday I spent the majority of the day in optical. 

Kristin organized the trip with the help of her husband and father-in-law. She did a lot of translating, case histories and distance VAs. 

Below are the first year guys that came with us. Matt, seen observing, and Brandon, demonstrating EOMs - extra-ocular  motilities, making sure that all of the muscles that are responsible for eye movement.

Mira a la luz.

 There is a joke around Dodge that Uncle Tommy is Hispanic. At least that's what Cher has told us, as he is very dark complected. I had a patient who looked an awful lot like Uncle Tom. Turns out, his name is Tomas AND he is a rancher. Seriously? I told him that he looked just like my uncle and snapped a picture with him.

Lil' Red and Tio Tomas

Just before lunch, I had a sweet old man who came to my station. His complaint was poor vision both distance and near. I found him to need a good bit of minus-- to correct for myopia (nearsightedness) and crazy cataracts. I couldn't really get a good look at his retina so Dr. Savoy told me to ahead and dilate him. While he was dilating, I found a pair of glasses for him.

I was scolded because I was supposed to stop and go upstairs for lunch, but I just couldn't leave him down there by himself as he was almost fully dilated and we just had to take a peek in the back. So I finished up his exam while everyone else went upstairs for lunch. 

A little BIO action- seated, AND in the light. I got better views on him than I did on my first patient in "ideal" exam conditions

While we ate fried chicken with gravy, rice, potato salad, and cola or agua pura-- bottled (safe) water, some of the citizens played the marimba. Awesome. AWE.SOME. Not quite the same as when we played it in marching band.

 After they calmed the marimbas down they presented us with certificates and T-shirts that said, "I went to Santa Rosa de Lima... And I'm coming back." The mayor's wife made the presentation and everyone there was so awesome.

me and Ema

 After lunch it was back to work. We saw 4 albino patients. Microphthalmous (congenitally, one eye is smaller and does not have functioning vision. Cataracts. Excessive CT growth on the cornea because of sun/wind exposure which causes decreased vision. They had some crazy remedies for it-- honey, tea bags, urine and salt in the eyes- gross.

Dr. Savoy getting interviewed for a documentary about the role of mission work in Guatemala (I think)

 Lauren, below, is a southern Baptist version of me. Seriously. She's from small town Arkansas and her Baptist faith is very important to her. Her family is very important AAAAAND she LOVES to bake! On one of our drives back, we discussed baking blogs and our favorite recipes.  We are middle aged women.

After we saw 450 patients or so, we called it a night and got Chinese food. Yes. Chinese. We didn't get back to the casita until 9 or so and then a cold "shower" awaited me. And by shower, I mean wash basin in a shower stall as there wasn't enough water coming out of the pipe to effectively wash my hair. We turned in early and got ready for our big drive the next day and an overnight stay in a hotel with A WATER HEATER!