Monday, July 23, 2012
It’s the home stretch! This time next week I will be back
home again. It’s hard to believe nearly
two months have passed, but looking back on some of my first blog entries, it does
seem like ages ago that I was as inexperienced at being in a foreign country.
It certainly feels like I’ve gained something. Sure, language and experience traveling are
obvious, but there’s more I can’t quite put my finger on.
It being the last week, it’s crunch time for all the EWH paperwork. To be reimbursed for our expenses (which is
rather a big deal for me; I am VERY broke right now) we must complete a set of
forms and other requirements, including submitting photos and a presentation
for this weekend’s conference. Our
evening hours are no longer primarily relaxation hours. And, accordingly, I won’t be getting into as
nitty-gritty detail about my week as is usual for my last few blog posts.
We went to work Wednesday intending to leave for León in
the afternoon. Our trip through Managua
would give us opportunity to look for a replacement motor for our latest
incubator’s fan, but after a quick conversation with Marvin, we realized we’d
need to do our shopping on the way there, and before the Revolution traffic
started getting ridiculous. We left Boaco
at 11:00, and spent $20 on a taxi to get to Marvin’s suggested medical
replacement store. They didn’t have what
we needed, and didn’t seem quite on top of everything, so we left empty-handed.
We headed to León, and then to Poneloya, the beach town,
and stayed at the Surfing Turtle Lodge.
A beach/horseback riding day ensued, and both the Managua and Chinandega
groups stayed unexpectedly. The bonfire
that night was quite special ;) The next day we spent as tourists in León; the
Cathedral was absolutely gorgeous, and the town was quite nice. We found a supermarket with peanutbutter, but
they didn’t have my brand, so I decided we could wait another week for the good
stuff. We saw The Amazing Spiderman (El
Sorprendente Hombre-Araña) in the theater, and there was only one word for it:
sorprendente :D I like that we Americans
and Nicaraguans can get together for an activity like that. And it cost only
$3.
The next day we did the legendary volcano-boarding. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It was an hour’s bumpy truck ride out to the
volcano Cerro Negro, the most active of a specific type of volcano in all of
history. It’s basically a conical heap
of black rocks. We hiked up the rocky
side with our wooden boards and slid on our butts down the smooth, sandy
side. The view from the top was
spectacular; no pictures or words to describe how vast everything was, from the
peak of a giant black hill within sight of 3 other active volcanos (some still
smoking). Boarding down at first seemed
downright terrifying; the slope looked far too steep. But on the way down too much concentration
was required to be afraid, and quite a bit of exhilaration was present,
too. I didn’t realize that your feet
were supposed to be in the air on either side of the board on the entire way
down, and the only reason to drop them was to break. I lost my groove halfway down and just ended
up flailing most of the way down, kicking volcano pebbles up into my face, hair,
and generally every crevice on my body.
I came in with an acceptable speed of 39kph, though I was sure I was
going faster in the beginning. Other
people were hilarious. Hilda, Tracy and
Bam’s host cousin, lost her board half-way down and rolled/butt-scooted the
remaining distance. Nathan fell off his board at least 3 times, each time
involving some kind of tumble. Brian
looked to be doing okay until he lost his board completely; it continued down
the volcano without him, and he went running/falling/flipping after it (trying
to run downhill on volcano pebbles is difficult, you know), and finally managed
to catch up to his board in the last 50 yards, skidding in at about 10kph. Friz was our winner at 62kph, but paid with a
very skint-up back. Think road rash the
size of your palm. Blood everywhere. But
he still says it was worth it…
While in León I bought, on a whim, a small 6” personal
fan with the thought of adapting it for the infant incubator. Good thing I thought to do that, since a
doctor came in and wondered where his incubator was, and it would have been
terrible to tell him that we broke it and hadn’t a solution in mind… Today Kate and I took the new fan apart,
extracted the necessary pieces, and put them in the incubator. The only problem is that it cannot be powered
the same way the DC motor was, so we left the original plug outside the
incubator. Now the thing needs two power cords to function. It was either that or have a broken incubator
until the correct replacement can be found.
We’d have liked to ask someone’s opinion, but most of our staff seems to
be on vacation for the patron saint’s festivals that are rather ongoing for the
next few days…
Last night Kate and I went out and experienced these festivities
by buying food and chatting with random locals.
I enjoyed a pastel con queso, French fries with mayonnaise, ketchup, and
parmesan, and a rice & bean empanada with repollo (cabbage) on top. There was a music group playing pop songs
that both Kate and I knew, food and beer vendors, clowns in funky clothes,
painted faces, and with balloons for kids, and game/gambling tents. There’s a parade that runs around the town all
day with a kind of marching mariachi band and a likeness of San Francisco. Our
little town has so much character :)
This week we’ll be conducting a needs-assessment
survey/interview. John, the other
on-the-ground coordinator, who came in for a surprise visit today, reckons we
should have done this in our second week, but understands that we really didn’t
have any instruction to do so. We didn’t
even know we had to do it until last Tuesday, and with the holidays it became
rather tight in the schedule to get done at all. Maybe in future years of the program they’ll
get it done. As I see it, the form is
good for assessing needs that can best be addressed from back in the US. The only downside I see is that it might not
give people a chance to get back to us with things they think of later relating
to the interview. They should actually
train us on what to do in our hospitals during our first month for optimized
effectiveness. As it is, I’m sure we’ve
been plenty helpful; we just might not be providing EWH with as much
information as it wants. I know they’re
trying to help many people, but I find it just as important to help those who
are right in front of me who are asking for it.
In all likelihood the next time I will be writing will be
once I’m back at home. I’ll do major
wrap-up stuff, big overall impressions and advice for future participants and
the like. Maybe my sister will be nice
enough to interview me. If I can, I’ll
write during the week this week, but likely I’ll be busy with last-minute forms
or trying to say goodbye to my friends of two months, half of whom I’m not
likely to see again. This weekend is
bound to be bittersweet.
Well, Central America, it’s been fun. I’ve learned more Spanish. I’ve learned what it is to live with less of
my customary American comfort. I’ve been
a tourist. I’ve been a backpacker. I’ve been a worker in a hospital. I’ve been a student. I’ve been an adoptive daughter. I’ve seen the world through different
eyes. In many ways I’ve done more than I’d
expected I’d ever do here. And now I’m
ready to come home and be at ease again.
You can only live on the run for so long. And I’m done now. Just in time :)
And we are SO ready to have you back, sweetie!!! What a fantastic last entry <3 Get ready to be pampered to the max!!!
ReplyDeleteLove you & see you VERY soon <3 <3 <3 Ma
You are a beautiful writer. I have very much enjoyed your blog. See you soon!
ReplyDeleteLove, Auntie