Thursday Dec. 12

           Sitting in the same hostel where I started out my trip, in Antigua.  It was a pretty uneventful ride from Pana but it always surprises me how sick I get in the back of the buses riding through the mountain roads. Last night we had our farewell dinner as a family and I really enjoyed having everyone at the table one last time. We opened up the Christmas gifts that my parents and the Sunday school class had provided the money for. The previous day I went into Pana and raided the 3 Q store for presents, mainly for the three boys and Lidia (Alicia's younger sister age 7).  Yes, the 3 Q store. Everything in there was less than fifty cents U.S.  Everything. I also found another story that had more of the expensive things and in all with around 100 dollars I was able to buy gifts for 8 people.

            After we had finished supper, I went and got the gifts. I had told the kids about the "regallos" during dinner, so they ate super fast in order to hasten the gift giving. I started with Hardeth the youngest, and worked my way around the kids. Probably the happiest was Lidia. I don't think she was expecting any gifts, and we were able to buy her 5 or 6 things, one of which included a play cook set. She was always playing "casa" so I figured she needed some proper kitchen attire. We were also able to get gifts for Carlos, Alicia and Maria (Abuella/ Grandma). I wasn't sure what exactly they would like but Alicia's brother Mario said they each would like a pair of Church shoes. We spent about 60 dollars total on the shoes, which isn't much by U.S. standards but for Guatemala that is the upper echelon of pricing. After they each opened their gifts I could tell they really enjoyed them. At first I thought shoes were a weird gift to give someone who you don't know really well but after thinking a little more they seemed like great gifts.  The shoes were something that the parents weren't going to spend money on but they really did need/want them. By the look on their faces, it seemed they appreciated the gifts.  I gave Mario my small Osprey bag that I brought from the states. He had said he wanted me to send him one when I got back home but I don't think you can buy anything like it any more.  He really appreciated it and he had it going to work when I saw him this morning. I wasn't sure what to get Vanessa, I've never shopped for a 14 year old girl. I found a nice wallet/ ID carrier in one of the stores. I put in 200 Q in the main pocket and wrapped it. When she opened it she didn't look inside immediately so I told her to check it. When she did, she looked up at me and thanked me without pulling out the money or showing anyone.....

            All the gifts were given out after about 30 minutes and while the adults attended the church service in the living room all the kids, including the ones who came for church, were confined to the kitchen playing with the cars, balls, action figures, helicopters, watches, fake tattoos and coloring books.  I would like to make it clear that I spoke with Carlos earlier that week about wanting to buy gifts for the kids. He said that was fine other him and he appreciated it. I also asked him if he would rather give the presents to the children on Christmas and not let them know they were from other people. He insisted we give them while I was there and he wanted his family to know that people are kind and generous to them and so they should make sure to be kind and share with the people who have even less than they do. The children stayed up way past there normal bedtime playing with all the jugetas and it made me happy to see how much fun they were having.

            I woke up early this morning to clean my room and say my goodbyes. I went to the clinic to thank all of the workers and Dr. Craig and I promised of a return someday with the letters M.D. behind my name. I sat and had a last little meal with Alicia and the kids before I went to catch the boat to Pana. I was a little disappointed that Abuella and Lidia weren't there to say good bye as they had given me a few little gifts and I wanted to thank them again for everything (including the great cooking). I waited for a few minutes on a tuk tuk because I didn't want to carry all of my stuff down to the dock, but after a while I decided I better walk. Juan followed me for the first fifty yards calling my name every few seconds and waving when I looked back. He will probably look a lot different next time I see him.

            I made it to the dock without too much of a struggle carrying all of my things. I stopped in the hostel and chatted with the workers and friends I had made there, realizing that send offs and goodbyes must not be a rare occasion at a place where people are always coming and going. Just as I was about to leave to head for the dock I see an older woman with a blue head dressing looking into the hostel. It was Abuella! Her and Lidia had come down looking for me to tell me goodbye. I walked outside to meet her and she gave me a big hug. She wasn't letting go and in looked down to see her wiping her face from tears. It was a moment I'm not going to forget. I couldn't help but stand there and bear hug Abuella, thank her for everything, and wish her a Merry Christmas. Lidia followed it up and it made me happy to see her before I left and to say a proper goodbye.

            Carlos happened to be going to Pana too so we caught the same boat. We talked for the first half of the 20 min ride and he thanked me (as I did him) for the friendship and living with this family. He also told me how much the gifts meant to Abuella, Lidia, and Vanessa on this Christmas. Her husband left sometime earlier this year and that's why they were living with Carlos and Alicia, literally sleeping under the kitchen table at night. He told me the kindness to her really helped to make her happy. The last few minutes of the ride we both sat there not saying much.  I looked out at the volcanoes and the lake, not knowing exactly the next time I would be back but thinking what a special place Lake Atitlan is and how lucky I was to be able to enjoy it for a whole 4 weeks. Carlos and I walked to the bus...I got on and  headed to Antigua

A few photos

Primera semana

I've capped off my first week here in Santa Cruz. It's been a week full of adjusting to to how the clinic works, speaking Spanish with patients and living with my family. I was a little surprised at how quick I got thrown into things on Monday. I got there in the morning and met Dr Craig for the first time and he gave me a quick introduction to the clinic, which sat on the the second floor of the ministry of health building in the town center. Within a few minutes of arriving I was seeing my first patient. He sent me in with a translator and I realized quickly Spanish was the only language that I was going to be speaking, especially since my translator was translating the locale language into Spanish for me. I honestly don't remember what complaints the patient had because of was pretty flustered the whole time. I finished seeing the patient a went to report what I found out to the attending.  Luckily, Dr Craig was cool about me not really knowing what the hell I was doing for my first patient, but it is always interesting the first time you present a patient to a brand new physician. There will always be a question you didn't ask and the diagnosis will always be wrong...

As the week went on I realized quit a few things about my new clinic. Firstly, it isn't a clinic in the US so I don't need to compare them. There are simply things we do in the US that aren't done here for either lack of resources, money, or personnel.  Secondly, it runs very similar to other clinics I've been a part of internationally, in under served areas. It's hard to explain exactly but it seems we are always searching for supplies, trying to find charts or trying to get all the vital signs written down by the nurses. Lastly, these are different patients and I need to understand their culture in all aspects in order to help treat and diagnose them.

We had a great clinic on Thursday where we traveled by boat to a town called Tzununa. This was a town that mostly spoke the local language so again  my patience was tested.  Luckily, I had a new arsenal of medical Spanish I had been working on and although I still got caught up from time to time I was able to get most of the history and exam down comfortably.  Here I saw the extent of parasite infections, presumably Ascaris, which is a big problem in underdeveloped countries. At least half of my patients walked away with a 400 mg prescription for Albendazole to treat their parasitismo intestinales.

Tomorrow I think Ill head to another town on the lake and enjoy my time hanging with travelers passing through.  It will be nice to hang with some other people because my gringo contact has been pretty limited as I think I'm the only one living in town with the local people ( at least that I've seen). Most foreigners live in the big houses or hostels  by the water about a 15 minute walk down the hill.  All things considered it was a fruitful work week and I think after 4 weeks Ill feel comfortable with my Spanish and happy my experiences.

Santa Cruz Arrival

Arrived in Santa Cruz today after the morning travel from Antigua then to Panajachel.  I was met at the dock by Carlos, the father at my homestay. I  was put on a tuk tuk to head up the hill towards their house. I arrived at their home but not before getting pimped by my driver for an extra 5Q. I was met by the women of the house, Alicia and her mother Maria. Immediately after stepping through the ironclad doorway the three kids ages 3, 5 and 7 (Hardeth, Richard and Juan) slammed into me, it guess thinking they got an early Christmas present of a jungle gym in the form of a six foot gringo. I didn't mind one bit though and after messing around for a good half hour I put my stuff in the small bedroom they had prepared for me. I'm glad I didn't have any true expectations for this homestay, but if I did have the thought of living in a concrete floor, tin roof house that you see when you travel and wonder what I looks like inside, then this would have fit the description. Also, my ambitions of speaking only Spanish were holding true because there was no one living here that would be speaking English to me.

I toured the town of Santa Cruz a little bit but walking up or down very steep hills wasn't my MO this afternoon so I went back to the house for a nap. I was awoken around 4 to the sound of a guitar. What I thought was the living room was indeed their makeshift church and as I sat their about 10 to 12 men,women, children, and babies attached to the breast came into the living room for the church service. Apparently, Carlos and his family had converted to Christianity last year and they don't have a formal church, so they use their living room. Last to arrive were an older husband and wife missionary couple of the states. I guess at this point I had no choice but to be a member of the congregation. We sat for an hour or so listening to Carlos speak and play the guitar. I got pressured into the tamberine so I recalled my old middle school band skills.

This was probably my most enjoyable church service ever. First, it was great Spanish practice. Second, it was amazing to see happiness of people who are living in such poverty. I could only help but picture some of my church experiences with the people who drive nice ass cars and live in mansions coming to thank The Lord. Talking with Carlos later, he told me they hold church at their house 4 times a week, so it looks like I'm going to be getting my good graces in. Carlos and I walked around the town before dinner an he told me stories of growing up in the small town of Santa Cruz. Each person we passéd on the street he acknowledged them in the local language of, quetzekal ( terrible spelling error!)

We returned for dinner consisting of chicken, avocado, tortillas, and papas ( all my favorites). While at dinner I realized the true extent of people living in this tiny "house". Carlos, his wife Alicia and their three kids. Alicia's 2 sisters, ages 9 and 12, and their mother Maria. After this occurred to me I realized they were all living in the one bedroom beside me! We had a great dinner and finished it off with hot chocolate ( my second of the day). I'm off to bed now because I have clinic starting in the morning.

Headed out

     Once again I find myself about to board a plane to Guatemala. I never thought I would be so lucky as to return within 6 months of my last trip. Luckily I was able to get my passport brought to me last night aft leaving it in Athens (Thanks MF!) . The thought of my passport didn't cross my mind until 6:30 pm last night when my mom asked me if I had it. I guess I had a lot of stuff going on the past week with school but it still amazes me how I did not even put it on my long checklist of things to do/pack before in left. In my defense, it is only the third time I've left the country. I'm leaving that mishap behind me, however, and getting my mind in the right spot to truly embrace Guatemala. It feels great to be returning with the purpose of both language and medicine. I'm excited to be living with a local family having to speak Spanish on a daily basis whether I want to or not, and also working in a clinic that will give me the confidence I need with interviewing and examining patients in their chosen language. On a side note, I bought medical travel insurance this morning, which makes me feel a little safer when considering some of the cars/trucks/vans/buses/donkeys that I'll most likely be traveling on.

Back to Guatemala....

Headed to Lake Atitlan for 4 weeks, working with Mayan Medical Aid and trying to improve my spanish. Hoping to keep the blog going while I'm down there! 

The Peace Corps In Honduras In 1964

Just watched this little documentary. Super cool.

http://www.youtube.com/v/8MeYkpFQWKk?version=3&autohide=1&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&feature=share&attribution_tag=IKZwhRS7ZEKc9HJIFqxF9g

A warmshower

Check out the blog of Tyler, who stayed with me on Saturday night. Once again, a reason why riding bikes brings people together. Good luck!

Tyler Wheatcraft: Bicycle Touring: I've decided to travel the country via bicycle working on organic farms along the way. I'm leaving my house October 8th headed South...

Fall Tour 2013 pictures

great video of smallpox vaccine development

/http://www.wimp.com/weconquered/

favorite pics from Guatemala

r.i.p.

Interesting how this case has shaken things up in America...Either way, it is sad to have an innocent kid shot and killed.

Land of Eternal Spring

Took some clips from the Gopro and 60D to make this..

last post from Guatemala (forgot to post!)

It's the second to last night of our trip and it seems we've covered a ton of ground since the last post about Tikal. Our trip to Belize proved well worth it, having a great time in San Pedro and enjoying Ramones Hotel right on the water. Hopefully we will be able to return one day and spend a few more days. We were still able to enjoy the crystal clear Caribbean water and barrier reef as well as the Lobster Festival. 

We headed back to Flores after Belize only to head out again to the south towards the town of Semuc Champey, where we stayed at one of the best hostels of the trip. Although the trip was long we finally made it to the town hidden in the Jungle but not before making the last leg of the journey in the back of a  pick up truck with a number of other tourists. Our  hostel, El Portal, was a self town along the river that only had power from 6pm to 10 pm. Nestled among the jungle and mountains El Portal was just a few minutes from a cluster of waterfalls and limestone pools of crystal blue water cutting through the jungle. We hiked through the park and ended by swimming in each of the pools and swinging off rope swings and climbing down rope ladders beneath giant water falls. Semuc Champey might as well have been mother natures version of White Water Adventures. 

As if there wasn't enough to do, we spent the afternoon swimming through caves, guided only by candle light and our feet scraping against whatever portion of the limestone floor they could get a hold off. Most of the time we were chest deep in water trying to keep one arm elevated enough to prevent the flame from going out the the other arm holding onto a rope that prevented you from the current of water beating against your body. Alex wasn't too thrilled about the caves and was relived to see the daylight that signaled the end. 

    We woke up the next morning planning on heading towards Antigua but Alex's stomach had other plans. Realizing we weren't going to be catching our shuttle we settled in for about day at El Portal. Luckily the locals helped us out by heading I got the jungle and bringing back a traditional Mayan medicine that was brewed into a tea known as tres pontes te. I could barely try a sip of the tea without getting nauseas and having flashbacks of the jungle root medicine I had consumed last year in Peru (however for a different purpose) and I applaud Alex for having two rounds if it. It must have worked to stop her bowels because I don't know if she has had to go número dos since!  Staying another day wasn't the end of the world and led us to meet Steve from California who we continued to hang out with when we got to Antigua the next day. 

It was a pretty long bus ride back to Antigua compared to be short I looked in the map but we finally made it after about 8 hours if travel. We decided to spent our next 3 nights in a hostel called Jardin De Lolitta. Lolitta was the old Guatemalan grandmother who ran the hostel and offered us a great deal for the rest if our stay. Half of the time we didn't understand what the little lady was rambling about but we came to enjoy talking with her and playing with her Perro salchita ( Weiner dog) named coffee. 

For the rest of our time in Antigua we toured a coffee farm ( finka de cafe) and got to understand a little bit more about the drink that keeps us going on a daily basis and we also did a lot of looking in the markets. Alex tried her hand at haggling after the practice previously at the Chichi market but in the end she always ended up paying a little more. 

Our last night we went to a local fair and it reminded me a lot of the Griffin Fair, including the fighting pre teens, but was filled with only 2 gringos, Alex and  I. We rode the Ferris wheel and luckily it didn't fall apart and played a cheap 5 quetzal game and we won a toy car that we have to a little kid that could not have been happier. The final venture of Antigua was crepes and beers on the curb with our buddy Steve from El Portal.  

Woke up this morning to rain and caught our shuttle to the airport. Now we're en route to the States some 15,000 feet in the air.  I'm pushing it close but I think I'm going to be able to make to my 7:30 am orientation tomorrow to start the next chapter in the neverending story called Medicine.  

Chichicastenango-Flores-Tikal-Belize

We woke up early today to have the free breakfast of coffee, eggs and pancakes that our hostel offered before we headed out to meet our bus to Chichi. We didn't really want to leave San Marco but it would have slowed things up even more if we had decided to stay another night, bedsides we could probably justify spending the rest of our    3 weeks at this homey town on the lake. It was a lot more calm than San Pedro and was filled with more people trying to do yoga and mediate than hit the bar. 

    The bus ride to Chichi was just under 3 hours and at one point we were shuttled onto another bus due to the fact that there was a mechanical issue. I asked the driver what was wrong he he responded fuego mechnico. Just as I was thinking that must be a pretty bad problem they were loading locals into the exact bus we had gotten off of. After the vehicle exchange we made it to Chichi where we were instantly met by the bustling market that you couldn't walk for a second in  without getting yelled at to buy something. The city and market had kind of a dirty feel to it but we were up to explore every corner of it while we were here. Being the biggest market it Guatemala we wanted to buy regalos (gifts) for folks back home and it also gave us a chance to sharpen our bargaining skills.   Alex wasn't the best at saying no or turning people down so we ended up looking at a ton of places that had mostly the same things such as pillow cases, masks, knives and blankets. 

We had had enough of the market and headed back to our fluorescent green painted hostel were we napped upstairs and listened to the afternoon thunderstorm. Most people who visit Chichi only go for the market and head back to where they left in the morning but we had decided to stick around and go to HueHuetenango the next day. We probably should have done a little more research on the routes to get to HueHue because the next morning it seemed almost a death wish to travel the washed out mountain road that has yet to be fixed. After talking over coffee and eggs at breakfast we decided to skip northwestern part of Guatemala and head towards Flores and Tikal further North and closer to Belize. The change in plans seemed to be the best and safest option but it also meant we had to go back through Antigua before getting a bus in Guatemala City. The chicken bus was entertaining on the way to Antigua, complete with old western Spanish movie playing on a flat screen TV above to driver and every seat packed in 3 deep with the aisle also full. After winding through the mountain roads and trying to keep down our lunch we made it back to Antigua where we found a hostel for the cheapest rate yet at 70 Q total. 

After napping for a while we headed out to find a bus to take us up North in the morning. Not only did we find a bus but we found one leaving at 9 pm from Guatemala City that evening. Although we had already paid for the hostel it seemed like a good idea to try and knock out the 8 hour bus ride to Flores during the night... 

12 hours later, after a midnight breakdown, crying baby and urgent roadside bathroom break we made it to Flores. There we stayed at a small little hostel with a great view of the lake. We bought tickets for the Tikal Mayan ruins an hour or so up the road for the next day and also made the decision to head to Belize. Initially we were going to only stay in Guatemala but after talking to Mark (a.k.a Stone Cold) a bald headed, grey bearded American who lives in San Pedro, Belize, we bought tickets for the 5 hour bus/boat ride to the island....

Other random things..

-Met badass couple Simon and Julia from New Zealand who we had dinner with in Flores.

- We met an recently married angry couple in the hostel that we call the Angry Birds. They yelled at the cleaning lady for stealing their pot they left out. They always seem to be following us, bc they were on our same bus to Belize and also stayed in San Pedro. 

- People in Belize are nice

- Food in Belize is amazing

- We aren't rich (with money) but staying in Ramones makes is feel like it

- Snorkelling yesterday was amazing

- Lobster Fest Today!

- Heading back to Guatemala tomorrow