Hola, everybody! I'm back! Ready for Part 2?
This was taken Wednesday morning, August 10th, as we made our way to the clinic. The crowds were already tremendous. As we walked along, we waved and shouted "Buenos Dias!" to our patients, who smiled and called back. It was slightly overwhelming to realize that we'd probably be treating all these people (and many more) over the course of the day!
Another me-an-Gwen pic! She got to assist a nurse, Glenda Camper, that day, while I worked in lab.
Our lab team for the day! (L to R) Dorcas, Rachel, Naomi, me and Veronica. Dorcas is an LPN in S. Dakota; Rachel is a senior nursing student at BJU; Naomi is also a senior nursing student at BJU; and Veronica works at a hospital currently and is planning on starting pre-med classes soon.
For this group photo we just grabbed everyone in sight! (L to R, back row) Lucas is a pre-med student at BJU; Pam (in green) is an RN; Savannah is a senior nursing student at BJU. (Front row) Summer is a senior nursing student at BJU (and is going to get married next year--congrats!); Sandy is a volunteer from NYC; and Estevan was our translator.
Here, Veronica is checking our knowledge of reading a urinalysis test. We had a limited number of gloves, so we could only use one per test.
A little girl receiving a breathing treatment. And no, she didn't care for the whole thing in general; I caught her at a resigned moment.
Yes, I am going to explain this photo! That Wednesday, we treated over 800 people once again, and we came back to the hotel ready to shower and eat. Gwendolyn was given this dress by her mother and decided to try it on; she ended up hating it but there wasn't time to change. I decided it was a Kodak moment, but she had different ideas, and this picture is the result. Can you tell we had fun?! P.S. That dress will not be making a reappearance in the States, as it is now residing in the hotel closet in Guatemala. :)
Last day in Retalhuleu! We walked 6 blocks to get to the clinic every day, and this is a small slice of the street scenery.
The number of people waiting in line each morning was staggering! And this is only part of the line for the vision department; there was an entirely different line for medical concerns.
This picture is not for the squeamish! Oh, whoops--you already looked. This patient had a run-in with a barbed wire fence 9 years ago, and the wound was never properly taken care of, resulting in this. She probably needs an amputation; unfortunately, we didn't have any surgeons along on the trip, so that was not an option.
We closed up the clinic at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, since we had to leave for Antigua during the afternoon. It was heartbreaking that we had to turn away hundreds of people who were desperate to receive medical care, but we could have been there for 3 months and still been seeing hundreds of people each day. This is our whole group, plus local church people (who handled the evangelistic part of the clinic) and translators from local schools. Gwendolyn and I are at the very back, against the wall, in our pink and lavender scrubs.
So, after a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Antigua, we arrived at the historic Hotel Candelaria. It was absolutely GORGEOUS! Everything was handmade by local people, from doors to paintings to textiles to tiles.
This was the view from our room door! I didn't take a picture of the courtyard below, but there was a garden with a fountain, as well as a swanky dining area. And above...
...the roof! Yes, the entire roof was a terrace, with lots of tables and chairs and views. Gwendolyn and I spent a lot of time up here over the next day.
Me on roof, looking down meditatively on the courtyard below. Behind me is a dormant volcano--Gwendolyn and I christened it Hat Mountain, because it always wore a little hat of clouds. Don't worry--the last time it erupted was 200 years ago, so I felt pretty safe.
This picture will always make me smile! The whole week, I had been giving Gwendolyn a hard time about the fact that she doesn't like having her picture taken, and she definitely doesn't show any teeth when she smiles. Consequently, she tends to look a little like the Mona Lisa. I was trying to do a lovely photo here, and she was making faces and wouldn't look at the camera. I told her, "You feel pretty, oh so pretty" and some of the ladies in our team started singing the song in 3-part harmony! Which made her laugh, which produced this charming picture.
And then there's this one, which you've already seen. Our buddy Eunice took this on Friday morning, as we were about to set off on a day of sight-seeing in the mountainous town of Antigua.
And this breath-taking mountain is the first place we went! That's some of Antigua behind us, with Hat Mountain looming in the back.
This butterfly totally photo-bombed this picture! There were so many butterflies, though, that it was bound to happen.
I was happy that I reached the top of this mountain without having to once stop and take a break! I thought my lungs were going to burst as we mounted the hundreds of steps that snaked their way up the hill, but we did it! Not sure how old this cross is, but I'm guessing...pretty old. :)
We walked the streets of Antigua for quite a while before going to lunch and then preparing to...shop! Yes, it was time to souvenir-shop our hearts out. :)
This photo does not do the shops of Antigua justice! There are over 200 in the space of just a couple of city blocks, and the tradespeople are very...aggressive. If you stop for more than 3 seconds to look at something, you're probably going to have to buy it. And they barter. I'm not very good at it, so Gwendolyn would give me a hand and shake her head if she thought the shopkeeper would go lower. They always did. :)
That night, after a fabulous meal at the Texas BBQ place I spoke of in the last post (don't get me started!), our whole group trekked out to the town square. We wanted to have a picture with Walter and Peggy Edmondson, with whom we'd really bonded over the course of the trip. Gwendolyn and Walter, especially, were hilarious together, and the couple thought we two were pretty funny as well. We're laughing in this shot because Walter had just told our photographer, "Take your time; I'm holding beautiful women!" which made us all crack up.
And then we came home.
And the adventure ended.
Well, sort of.
Both Gwendolyn and I had a great time on this trip; it really opened up my eyes to the needs that I might encounter in a 3rd world country, and makes me more determined than ever to knock out my last year of school and get to work.
We both would like to go on another trip with MMO sometime. Hopefully, though, I'll blog again before that time comes! ;)
Adios! Thanks for reading!
And then we came home.
And the adventure ended.
Well, sort of.
Both Gwendolyn and I had a great time on this trip; it really opened up my eyes to the needs that I might encounter in a 3rd world country, and makes me more determined than ever to knock out my last year of school and get to work.
We both would like to go on another trip with MMO sometime. Hopefully, though, I'll blog again before that time comes! ;)
Adios! Thanks for reading!