wednesday and thursday in guatemala

Whoops. Just realized I hadn't gotten to a post on Wednesday in Guatemala. Over a month later....
We had such a pleasant night sleep in the hotel. The hot shower felt amazing. We went into the town and ate breakfast- eggs, beans, and tortillas, of course. A few girls weren't feeling the greatest and went to La Medicina to get Azithromycin (generic for Zithromax) to clear up their sinus infections-- $4. Crazy.

The 3rd year girls with Dr. Savoy

All 3rd years with Dr. Savoy

After breakfast we drove into the mountains. We were able to drive about half way up, but then WE CLIMBED A VOLCANO! And, let me tell you, it was tough. I have never claimed to be in the best physical shape on earth, but while going up the mountain, I felt terrible. I tried out ambitious at first attempting to go in the "fast group" As we got going up, we formed a medium speed group. We made it up about 5 minutes behind the speedy group. Not too bad.

The view back towards the town, 1/2 way up, where we left the van

Getting Psyched up!

The view from a little higher. I wish my photography skills were better.

At the top of the the mountain was a freshwater lake. The perfect way to take a break. Cool. Refreshing. Wonderful. We stayed up there for a few hours. Some of the gang played soccer with the locals up there. The locals bring everything up the mountain via horse. There were some road apples along the hike up. :)

AH! The refreshing lake!

The moderate to fast group of ladies

The dock was slimy. It almost took me down. almost.

There was a "lookout" a little higher. Look at this!

From a little higher, the lake looks HUGE

Back towards town again

Volcano? Conquered.

The hike back down was very comical. Loose dirt and rock is difficult to go downhill. I never completely wiped out, though I did almost get trampled by a 5 year old boy on a horse... Not so good. We then went to a little town and ate. I think it was El Salvadorian food- this time the corn tortilla is stuffed. The cheese stuffed ones where my fav. They also had black bean and a meat stuffed tortilla... which was kind of weird.

When we got back to the casita we cleaned off- back to the cold shower- and packed up. Most everyone else was pretty sunburned. Yours truly, however, has learned from her millions of sunburns and has found the BEST suncreen. I didn't even reapply while I was up there. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch. SPF 30. Beautiful. 

We turned in as soon as we were packed as we were leaving for the airport at 6am. I was ready to come back to the states. Steve's flight was at 8, so that's why we were there so early even though our flight didn't leave until noon or so.

Hanging in the Guatemala Airport about to go through security

 We hung out at the airport, purchased breakfast, coffee, and more coffee. I brought a few bags of beans home for me and then a couple of gifts for family. We got on the plane and headed North.

Hey Jessie! We're going to the US!

The flight back was a lot smoother than the ride down there. I was stuck in a row with 2 strangers again, but was able to get some reading done-- Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" -- (as many of you know, she is one of the blogs I follow). ATL was pretty smooth. Customs was uneventful. Milky White, my affectionately named suitcase, had a rough flight and has been retired. We had an excellent meal in the airport- FROZEN YOGURT! Don't worry, I put fruit on it too.
Jessica was waiting for us at the airport, with news of "THE ISLAND IS SAFE!" and brought us back to our apartment, complete with showers and a bed.

It was a very busy week, but was such an awesome experience. It is still pretty surreal to me.

Tuesday.

Tuesday we were up and on the road by 6. Yes. Gross. We packed an overnight bag along with our equipment and headed West. IT WAS POURING RAIN. And in Guatemala, it doesn't sprinkle. It gully washes. We stopped for breakfast along the way.  More beans, eggs and tortillas BUT with magnificent black, unsweetened coffee. Elba had been dumping a ton of sugar in our coffee which is good, but I felt like I should rebrush my teeth after drinking it. We wound up at our location around 9 with a few patients waiting for us.

Buenos Dias, Jessie!

 Tyler. Lauren. Brandon.

 We worked in a church this day. It was HOT in there. There was no air movement whatsoever. But thankfully, because it wasn't too busy, we took some breaks for water and to go outside every so often. I had a patient with "and infection of the cat." Toxo? Si! Yikes. There was a husband and wife/missionary team that was working at the orphanage there helping us translate. At one point, the husband came to help me translate, though I didn't know he didn't know any Spanish. Essentially he said exactly the same thing I said in English, just slower. It was pretty funny. They brought their 4 kids to Guatemala from Vancouver. These kids were soooo cute- blondies with fair skin turned pink from the sun.

Matt, Jessie and Heather distributing glasses

The wise 4th years onlooking

Our wonderful staff doctor consulting with Lauren

Tyler establishing a patient's acuity

Cesar and Maria
Note: Cesar is wearing a Royals "Believe" T-shirt. He's been to KC as well as Nebraska.
He likes the cowboys in Burwell.

The Church

After we were done seeing patients we explored the marketplace. We were on a mission for coffee and a hammock. We found coffee but no hammock. But it was fun to walk through the market. As we were walking through the market I noticed the Syngenta logo. Shout out to Lukey!

Excited to sit and relax for a little bit, we decided to take a quick picture, semi-candid, before jumping in the van to head to.... THE HOTEL. Don't get me wrong, we had it okay at Cesar's casita, but a warm shower sounded delightful.  We stayed in a hotel because it was between the town we were in and the volcano- where we were going.

As we were sitting I also took a picture of the distant skyline of the mountains and trees. Though the cities were pretty rundown and humble, mountains are always breathtaking.

And the boys were being silly, as boys usually are. Here, Brandon is imitating Cesar's snake impression to taunt his dogs.

 Cesar liked his glasses a lot. He busted them out the first day. The little boys in this picture thought they were pretty funny as well.

Then we jumped in the vans and headed out. Tuckered out. with more rain.

After we checked into the hotel, we went to the town for supper. Pizza! We got a Hawaiian. Delicious. The ham was a little weird, but the pineapple was delicious. AND they put maraschino cherries on it, which sounds weird, but seriously, try it. Then the guys played frisbee for a bit and we showered. GLORIOUS. And got to sleep in.

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!

Guatemalan Sunday

I know God says you should keep Holy the Sabbath. We did WORK. We saw close to 400 patients in a little town about 30 minutes from Amberes. When we got there, some of the pastors and their wives were organized people, gave them numbers and exam forms, and helped us get set up. I started the day in the "dark" room doing retinoscopy and ophthalmoscopy: seeing what type of prescription they would need by seeing how the light moves through their pupil and taking a peak in the back of the eye to make sure it is healthy. 

The crowd we had to weave through to get from room to room

Guardian Angel prayer hanging in one of the classrooms of the school we were at.
Pretty sweet, huh?

I was working in there with Jessie, Van and Brandon. It was a little warm for a while, mostly because the sun was beating in.

Van trying to cool off with her Spanish Cheat Sheet

Brandon catching up on Ret

But we ended up backed up in optical so I switched it up and moved over there. Jessie went with me. We gave out a TON of glasses and even more drops. My Spanish improved, but by the end of the day, instead of saying "Puede poner una gota en cada ojo cuando tiene dolor or le arden." (You can put a drop in each eye when they hurt or burn) I caught myself saying, "Puedo poner un gato en cada ano..." (You can put a cat in each year?) It was intellectually exhausting. We were also on our feet on cement block all day which was physically draining as well.

Jessie checking the near acuity with the patient's new reading glasses

This little lady was so sweet. We had a hard time talking with her about her need for a near prescription. I made the mistake of  saying, "Lentes cuando esta leyendo." Glasses for when you are reading. She got a disappointed, saddened look on her face and ashamed said that she couldn't read. MELT. After troubleshooting a little bit, we (myself with the help of a translator) found out that she like to sew previously, but doesn't anymore because she can't thread the needle.
Positive Spin--- These glasses will help you to sew again!! She was thrilled! I asked her to take a picture and found the cutest pair I could and told her she looked beautiful! Doesn't she?

Josh (valued translator) and Jonathan (valued expertise having just finished 3rd year)

Once darkness settled in and we could no longer dispense glasses, the pastors gathered us together behind the school for a little prayer service and ceremony. We started in prayer and then some of the young girls sang for us some of their Spanish Praise and Worship songs.

"Esteban" Steve, our fearless leader and evangelist.

The first group of girls

Abre' nos ojos el Dios

The pastors had some of our team pray over them as they prayed over us

La Bonita Chica! I was smiling at her and tickling her as I walked by all day long so before we left, I got a picture with her.

The pastors' wives had regalitos for us- little gifts! I received a little key chain with a soccer ball on it and a blue and orange threaded bracelet with GUATEMALA on it. They were so hospitable and lovely, but we were EXHAUSTED. 

Saturday in Guatemala

I awoke Saturday morning at 3:00am to shower and finish packing and apt flood prep on the island. We left for the airport at 4 and got there, checked in and went through security. Everything went without a hitch boarding and our flight to Atlanta. We landed in Atlanta in the International terminal because we got in earlier than anticipated, which was good for us as we were departing from the international terminal as well. There was a CARIBOU COFFEE between our two gates-- delicious coffee and blueberry almond 7-grain oatmeal. We had a three hour flight to Guatemala City. Customs went smoothly and we were greeted by Cesar (our Guatemalan coordinator) and Steve (our US/Guatemalan connection), father-in-law of Kristin, our mission coordinator.

The back of the van

Roomies, ready for adventure!

The front of the van

We loaded up our luggage and jumped into the vans and headed to lunch. El Pollo Campero! Fried Chicken, french fries, donuts, and sodas. Welcome to Guatemala! 

We drove about an hour and a half to Amberes, where Cesar lives. We unloaded and relaxed a little. Some of the gals jumped into the van with Cesar to go to the market to pick up a little more fruit and some of the volunteer interpreters from Santa Rosa de Lima. 

the market

The Catholic Church in Sta Rosa de Lima

In the Marketplace

Roxi our Peace Corp Translator

We returned to the Casita for dinner and a game plan pow-wow to discuss strategy. Dinner consisted of frijoles, huevos y tortillas-- beans, hard boiled eggs and tortillas in addition to bananas! Delicious.

Cesar and Elba's yard

We turned in pretty early as breakfast the next morning was at 7:15 and we were pretty shot from the finals week and a day of travel. The casita is a cement hut- a very modest abode. The windows were shuttered and without glass. The showers were a pipe sticking out of the wall with cold water coming out of it. brrrrr The girls had rooms in the casita and the boys slept in tents outside in the yard. The roosters woke us up at 4:00 am so we were still a little wiped out when we got up for our first day seeing patients.