Buenachos

I can't believe this is the last week of work! It has gone by so fast. I am really excited to see my family, but really sad to be leaving everybody here at the same time. On Monday and Tuesday I was at the school. I really really enjoy playing with the kids. I like playing soccer...no big deal that I made the same kid bust his lip twice. He's still my friend. On Tuesday we got hamburgers for lunch to celebrate Raul's birthday and also as a good'bye present for the interns. I was really surprised too that after school they had another good'bye present...a cake!! They also said it was for my birthday on August 11. I was beside myself because I had just mentioned it to Roxanna in passing. All of the teachers went around and said nice things about us so I decided that I was going to say something back....in spanish. It worked out well because I didn't get the confused look I usually get. What a blessing to get to know them and the kids. On Wednesday we went to the clinic. Since there were four of us we had to split the patients half and half. That night Chad, Shelli, Meredith, and Alyssa came over to eat spaget at our house. When they came we were playing a sweet game of four square so Chad joined in. I won. On Thursday we went to Duyure with Javier. We had to wait for him at the school. As soon as I walked outside Jefri (if you are allowed to have favorites he would be mine) ran to me and yelled my named and jumped in my arms. I don't remember much else about the day because that was the best part. Just kidding, but it was the best part. We hiked around to different houses. A man gave Herman some mamones and I thought it was awesome because he really didn't have a lot to give. That was our last night for Spanish classes and it was sad to be leaving Mary. Today was our last day of work. Now we are all trying to change our flights to get home...what a pill. But I am realllyy excited about Roatan!!! God bless!
Jaclyn

No Mas Trabaja

Well this was the last week of work for the interns here in Honduras.  I don't think I could've asked for a better week.  There were several good things that took place that I enjoyed.  Like every other week I began on Monday with Javier at the clinic.  Its always a joy to be able to work with him and learn what you can.  We actually got to watch him perform a minor surgery and remove a cyst from a woman's arm.  It was awesome to be able to see the procedure performed.  On Tuesday, Kyle and I had the privilege of handing out 4300 pounds of fertilizer to the families of Las Pitas to apply to their corn.  It was apparent that the families were very appreciative.  On Wednesday, I finally got to do something I had wanted to do the entire summer.  I got to work with the carpenter on a project the entire day.  We made a picture frame to give to our Spanish teacher with our picture as a farewell gift from the interns.  After Chad saw the frame, he asked us to make him one and we ended up making three during the day.  On Thursday, I got to spend my last day with Javier doing the medical programs.  We drove into the mountains at Duyure and walked on the mountainside from house to house to see the patients.  When we finished on the mountain, we went back down into Duyure to see the rest of the patients.  The last house we went to was very moving.  The entire house was no bigger than the size of my bedroom.  At that moment I realized how fortunate I truly am.  Finally on Thursday night, we had our last Spanish class.  It was a relief to be done.  As I wrap things up, I have enjoyed the work that we were able to do while down here.  Here are a just a few things that I was able to do: learn to check blood pressure, give shots, count and distribute medication, work with doctors form Honduras and America, do road work, carpentry, plant coffee, plant king grass, ride horses, and several other things along the way.  It's been a great summer!

Loren

Amy, Whats Up

So I told Amy before she left that I would write a blog directed to her, so here it is.

Amy I hope that things in the U.S. are going well. Things down here are about like they were when you left, however, the house tends to much quieter without you around (for those of you reading this, that was a joke). We still ride around in El Jefe, we still make the same jokes over and over, we still go to Spanish class, and we still dont know her name. Loren still cooks all of our meals, we still talk about the time you ate the entire cheese cake. The Bathroom is still stinky.

I figure I should give you a person by person update.

Kyle: Katie bruised him on the cheek, and he has a really funny sun burn
Heather: She can hypnotize people, Loren ate some berries
Katie: She still likes to ride horses, she yelled at us on our last ride. She bruised kyle
Kendra: I now know more about cows than I ever thought I would
Haley: She is still the most mature out of all of us, she has really curly hair
Loren: We caught him sewing while watching a chick flick. He nearly killed Jarred at Tres Pilas
Jaclyn: We found out that she is really a secret agent in the British Special Forces
Me: I am about the same, I did shave on Tuesday though
I hope that was an adequate update on things down here
David
P.S. we played four square last night. I hope you like the picture

I am already missing Honduras

Two weeks to go, and I am already missing this place.
I love the country´s beauty, the simplicity of life, and the culture.
The Honduran culture is still amazing to me, for they are a strikingly simple and happy people. I´ll give you an example concerning their giving and considerate attitude. Holman once offered to share his dinner with me because he saw that I had none for the time being. Now you may be thinking that any decent American would do the same. Well, what if the stakes were raised to where that American goes without food on several occasions and that night the food he recieves is, fortunately for him, incredibly delicious? And I can always get my food later. I never go forcibly without food; he knows this. Would you, being that American, want to share your food happily, without grudge, or anything negative in your attitude as you do so?

Another classic example of Honduran hospitality is making sure everyone has a chair to sit down on. Over the course of my stay, several times I have had Hondurans, male and female, seek out a chair for me so I do not have to stand. On this same subject, two nights ago we had movie night with about ten orphans from the refudge on the ranch. Everyone had a chair but me. The three American guys noticed but started the movie and proceeded with everyone to watch it. (This is not to say that I am incapable of finding my own chair, but I could not help thinking that if there had been Honduran men in the room, they would have most assuredly sought out a chair for me.)

Another example of the goodness of the Honduran culture is how often everyone smiles at you, greets you, and alknowledges you IN COMPARISON to Americans, especially or mostly in comparison to western states Americans. If you were to see how often people can actually smile and how happy they can be, you´d see what America´s missing.

Other example of the contrast between our two cultures are buzzing about in my head right now. One includes a Honduran looking for a lost article for me when it was not his worry at all. Another includes a stanger, a young Honduran woman, reaching out her hand and touching my shoulder, in comfort, as she passed, because she noticed I was seemingly sad. One Honduran worker on the ranch asked me if I was feeling sad, and said he hoped I would get to feeling better. (Note that I do not seek to get these displays of feelings and concern. Nor do I expect I would get much concern if I wanted it back in the West.) As a whole, they are very considerate people. I gurarantee you there are indeed differences. It´s indisputable.

Reply to this post. I would love know what you´ll think.

Heather

Great Audience

Another good week in the hood.On Monday I was at the school and it was a good time. I took lots of pictures because Im starting to realize it is close to being over. After school Haley and I took a walk and stumbled upon a cemetery. We walked around inside and it was very interesting to see all of the graves. Monday night we went to the Posada and after we introduced ourselves Chad gave a blurb about us and five minutes later someone had bought all of our dinners for the rest of the week. That was exciting!! (God bless you!) Then that night we had a verrryyy long family meeting about a surprise I will soon be able to tell you. I thought it was special though because we all had different views but we expressed them like any family should and everything was fine. I liked it. Tuesday was the nutrition program and Wednesday the clinic. David gave his first shot!! Or I guess I should say his first four shots..(it wasnt his fault we promise.) He claims his beard wasnt getting in the way. Hey soooo Thursday I had a ranch day with Katie. We rode horses with the group. Then rode 15 minutes by ourselves. Lets just say I had to turn my hat sideways because Medianoche was moving so fast. Last night was one of my favorite spanish class sessions. Mary is so patient...it gives me confidence! Today we went to the clinic and it was a pretty busy day. A few shots in the rear are always a pick me up. I'm excited about this upcoming weekend because the mini'fair is in town and there is a huge church get together on Sunday. God Bless!
Jaclyn

BRIGADA MEDICA

Last week was a good week here in Honduras.  About thirty people from the U.S. came for the second medical brigade of the year.  However this brigade was on a much larger scale.  The group included three doctors, a physician's assistant, two nurse practitioners, a dentist, and an optometrist, and several others who assisted in translating and other areas needed.  As an intern, I got to hang out Dr. Walter, one of the doctors, Susanne, the physicians assistant, and Milly and Christie, the nurse practitioners.  The group was awesome and I enjoyed every minute that we got to spend with them.  I could go on and on about things we saw, did and learned including skin ulcers, infected toenails, and pulling teeth.  But most importantly, last week I saw professionals from the U.S. who were willing to sacrifice their time and money to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  Most of the people from Duyure are very poor and rarely receive medial treatment.  Last week, over 900 people were able to see the doctor, dentist, and optometrist to receive the care they needed.  As I reflect on last week, I can only pray that when I become a doctor I will be willing to do like the one's mentioned and sacrifice my time to help those less fortunate than me.  

Loren

Kyle Week 5.2

There is a cardinal rule that must always be followed at a pool.  Well two I guess.  Don't pee in the pool, and as we have all heard preached from lifeguard stands for our entire lives, NO RUNNING!

Not so much here in Honduras.  

On Saturday, Jaclyn, Haley, Olman and I joined the refuge kids at the pool at Las Tekas park.  It was an awesome day and I have the sunburn to prove it.  

But back to the running.  

They didn't just run around the pool, they sprinted, played tag, flung themselves over the wet concrete around corners, up stairs and ultimately on a painted concrete ledge that stood over an unfenced ten foot drop to the yard below.  My heart never left my throat.  And it wasn't just the kids, it was the Tias, their driver, Olman, and ultimately even the gringos joined in.  God smiled upon us that day.  No one died.  No one even got hurt.  Miracles still happen.  

The pool was only five feet deep, which comforted me that no one would drown, that is until Giovanni tried to prove me wrong.  We had just walked in and I was in the water watching two of the older boys doggy-paddle back to the edge of the pool.  The question, "Can Honduras swim?" flashed into my mind, but only briefly before all eyes in the pool were upon the screaming Tia leaping fully clothed into the middle of the pool to snatch a smiling Giovanni off the bottom.  In all of the commotion of people jumping into the water, Giovanni, who is maybe four years old, had sunk to the bottom and was innocently holding his nose waiting for someone to come and rescue him.  Who needs to be able to swim to enjoy the pool?  

We had lots of fun splashing, teaching kids how to swim and jumping off the edge.  At one point Jaclyn and I were tossing kids into the water, one of us holding by the ankles the other by the wrists.  That lasted until we put a kid five feet in the air with absolutely no spin so that he belly-flopped with a sickening smack into the water.  No one wanted to be tossed after that.  Go figure.  

I had so much fun, I can't even tell you.  Best Saturday I've had yet.  

fourth times a charm

During our time here in Honduras they try to get the interns involved in all areas of Mission Lazarus. While I am a marketing major and have a business focus here in Honduras, I am also involved on the ranch, school, and clinic; Wednesdays are my day to go to the clinic. The normal routine while in the clinic consists of sitting in Dr. Javier’s office and watching him treat patients, while he also explains to you what he is doing. Yesterday while I was their, a boy came in who had a fever and needed to get a shot. When shots need to be given Dr. Javier lets the interns give them, however, since I am a business student I leave the medical stuff to the interns who are here for a medical focus. Yesterday, however, when it came time to give this boy his shot Dr. Javier shouts out of his Office, “Jaclyn, teach David how to give a shot.” While I was slightly nervous about giving this 12 year old boy a shot, I was confident that I would be able to do it no problem. Shots at the clinic are given to patients in their butt. After Jaclyn explained how you are suppose to pinch the cheek where you are going to give the shot, gently stick the needle in, and then push down on the plunger to inject the liquid, she handed me the needle and I was ready to go. At this point it is only me, Jaclyn, the boy, and his mother in the room. I did as Jaclyn said, and the needle went in just fine, however, when I pushed down on the plunger, I could not get it to budge, I then tried to push harder on the plunger while not sticking the entire needle into the poor kid. At this point Jaclyn told me there is something wrong and that I should take it out and try again. For a second attempt I picked a spot about an inch below my first spot. On the second try, however, the same thing happened and I could not get the liquid to come out of the syringe. At this point we call in the clinic nurse Lexi, and ask her what we should do. She takes the syringe flicks it and gets it to work outside of the cheek. She then hands it back to me and tells me to try again. At this point I look up at the mom and she looks very angry and has her hands folded across her chest. On the first attempt I felt slightly nervous, however, after two failed attempts I look like I just ran a marathon. Since the kid already had two holes in his right cheek I decide it is time the try the left cheek. I stick the needle in just fine like the first two try’s, but like the first two times I cannot get the liquid to come out of the syringe. After a third failed attempt, Lexi takes the needle from me, goes over to the counter and changes out the needle on the syringe, and then hands the syringe back to me. At this point I am thinking to myself “why me again I have already failed three times,” I keep my thoughts to myself though and I go in for a fourth try. Before I stick the needle in I chance a glance at his mom and she looks angrier then ever. I figure I might as well give him an even two holes in each cheek so I again stick him in the left cheek. This time, thankfully all goes as planned, and I am able to give him his shot. I then dispose of the needle and go back into Dr. Javier’s office, where he is still treating other patients. Later Lexi told me that it was not my fault, that the needle was not working, and that we should have changed out the needle after the first failed attempt. Javier told me that the boy will be back next week for a second shot.
David

Kyle Week 5.1

Rubio is a punk.  No wonder they gelded him.  

Rubio is the name of the horse that I rode up into the mountains on Wednesday.  Kendra, Amy, Samwell and I rode all day Wednesday from the ranch all the way to the coffee plantation two mountains away.  Kendra was collecting information for an agriculture project by taking a survey of the farming practices in different villages.  Amy and I were along for the ride and to help take pictures and entertain kids while Kendra spoke with the parents.  Samwell was there for security and as the only person who really knew what to do on a horse.  The ride there was long and uneventful, as was most of the day, but Rubio decided to spice things up a bit as we mounted up at the last house of the day.  

He had been doing so great.  

I had ridden Rubio before so I knew that he had a tendency to start before you were quite in the saddle.  But at the last house, he decided to really mess with me.  I don't know if he was cranky or tired or just ready to go home, but as I untied his lead rope from the tree where he was hitched, he took a mind that he was ready to go with or without me.  I grabbed hold of his reins and tried to get him to hold still while I tied the lead rope into the saddle.  He was having none of it.  As soon as I would let go of the reins to use both hands to tie the rope, he would take off and I would have to scramble to rein him back.  I finally threw a half hitch around the lead rope enough to keep it off the ground and with the eyes of everyone else now on me, tried to mount.  It was a fantastic display of bumbling frantic despiration.  My left foot was barely in the stirrup before Rubio started forward, this time with earnest.  I had been expecting it and had a firm grip on the horn and had been planning on using a bit of his momentum to swing me up above the saddle.  I don't know exactly where it all went wrong but I found myself with two hands gripping the horn, my left foot in the stirrup, but the rest of me riding Rubio's haunch, sliding back away from the saddle.  It would have been bad enough had Samwell not tried to lead his horse, Sistona, in to help me at the last second.  Rubio was gaining speed toward Sistona and did his best to rub me off by crushing my left leg into her flank.  It took a gigantic heave to pull myself forward into the saddle, then I had to find the reins and take control of my deranged ride.  I think I even got a round of applause from the Hondurans that were watching.  One tried to make me feel better by telling me I was a good rider and a cowboy, but he couldn't keep a strait face.   

That was just the start to a long ride home.  At one point I forgot that a horse bounces up and down as it walks and had to find my hat with crossed eyes after Rubio put my head squarely through a tree branch that we were going under.  

Another time he decided to get spooky because of a concrete pipe that was next to the road.  When I finally convinced him to walk past the pipe and not wheel around in eight different directions, it was like we were shot out of a cannon.  One instant I had a hand on Rubio's neck trying to calm him and coax him forward, the next we are at a full sprint tearing down a gravel road into the gathering darkness.  It was a quarter mile before I could slow him down, and I promise that I was reining him back with every bit of survival instinct inside of me.  

Stinking Rubio.  I found out a week later that the horse has confirmed mental issues.  

Medical Brigade

This past week we had a medical brigade from Tennessee come. I was able to work two days with an awesome doctor who taught me so much about medicine and treating patients. Priscilla taught the entire time we were together and I learned all about why we use different medicines, what medicines react with each other, what to prescribe for different illnesses etc. I really appreciated her patience with me, as well as her advice on medical school and everything else we talked about!
This doesn´t fit in with medical, but on Friday David and I took groups out on trail rides. It was awesome. We took the river trail and basically just got to hang out all day and ride horses. Then on Saturday the interns all went riding and then we went to what we thought was Tres Pilas. Turns out it wasn´t but it was still really cool. There was a 100 foot waterfall that you could swim up to and then we all went exploring on the rocks down below. It was a great way to spend a Saturday, then that night we had Shelly and Holman over for dinner and dessert which tasted great (good job Loren, Haley and Shelly!!!)
Katie

Medical Brigade on Steroids

This week was the medical brigade in Duyure. We were stacked with doctors, a p.a., two n.p., rn´s, an optometrist, dentist, translators and many others. We saw around 200-300 patients a day. It was a good experience and very interesting to see the difference between the practices of US medicine and Honduran medicine. I got a little bogged down around Tuesday wondering if what we were doing was really doing any good for the people. Because say a person would come in with high blood pressure and we can supply a month worth of medicine but what are they going to do the rest of the time? So I asked Meredith about it and she totally helped me see the big picture and that is that we are showing them love. Showing them that we are spending time to take care of them and having faith God will provide the rest and for the moment we are the provisions God is supplying. Such a simple but pivotal moment. I was pumped to express this care and concern for the people there after. Not to mention I got to give two joint injections, pull a tooth (i just happened to be standing at the right place at the right time), see a lot of interesting things, translate roughly a few times for the first time (mind you the very first thing I said was ¨When you pee does it itch?¨hey I was nervous), and meet some awesome awesome people ( hey mom-I even landed a place to stay in Dickson on my way to Harding-sleepover!!). Overall-excellent. I even got to hear a woman tell us she hasn´t...defecated in three years. Turns out it´s only been a week, but I wasn´t translating on that one.
Yesterday was AWESOME. We rode horses in the morning and it was one of the most perfect days these eyes have witnessed. Blue skies for sure. Afterwards we went to what we thought was Tres Pilas..turns out it wasn´t, but it was a huge waterfall that we got to swim in!! It was exciting. And I loved seeing how excited Olman was...what a good guy. Welp-time for church! God bless!
Jaclyn

Kyle ¨¿Como se dice?¨

There are a few phrases that I have found that I needed but never learned in Spanish class. So with some help from a very good friend, I translated the bare essential for survival thus far in the trip. Enjoy and practice in case you ever travel to Honduras.


That smell is the bathroom upstairs.

Aquel olor es el baño arriba.

My horse is pregnant.

Mi caballo está preñada.

I broke my horse's leg.

Yo rompí la pierna de mi caballo.

My horse ran out of gas.

Mi caballo no anda benzina.

Please do not yell into my stethescope.

Por favor que no gritas en mi estetoscopio.

The cows in my yard woke me up this morning.

Las vacas en mi jardín me despetaron esta mañana.

Olman, you just ran over a cat.

Olman, atropellaste un gató.

I will dig your latrine.

Voy a cavar tu letrina.

The electricity is out again.

Sé fue la electricidad otra vez.

I fell into the river.

Me caí en el río.

Sometimes Loren snores like a garbage disposal.

A veces, Loren ronca como si fuero un triturador de basura.

I have to give you a shot in the buttocks.

Tengo que darte una inyección en las nalgitas.

This doesn't taste like beef because it is not beef.

Eso no sabe de carne porque no es carne.

Why are you laughing at me?

¿Porqué te ries de mi?

You are now out of toilet paper.

En este momento se terminó el papel higiénico.

Yes I know my passport photo looks like a terrorist.

Ya lo sé que en mi pasaporte parece que soy terrorista.

Please stop screaming, it is one a.m.

Por favor, deja de gritar, las uno de la mañana.

Thanks Seth, I know you understand exactly what I am trying to communicate.

Sooooo much Spanish!

Saludos Amigos,
I am going to begin this email giving you guys an ideas as to what I have been doing this week- something that is begining to wear me thin. It begins in the following paragraph.

Estoy bien y ocupada con varias actividades. Para esta semana, soy interprete para los americanos quien son doctores y enfermeros. A veces, no es facil, porque los hodureños usan palabras nuevas o palabras con que no estoy familiar.

Okay, so anyway, today I mainly focused on....what´s that you say? I need to translate the above sentences? Oh yeah, that´s right. It´s just...I´ve been doing a lot of that lately. But okay, here´s the translation: I am well and busy with several activities. This week, I am acting as an interpreter for the americans who are doctors and nurses. Sometimes, it is not easy because the Hondurans use new words or words I am unfamiliar with.

Yeah, it´s been great. Today, I was beat, so exhausted from interpreting, I thought my brain would burst or something. It was though I could not bare to try to hear and understand anymore Spanish. So, what do I do. I slip somewhat out of range and head for the bench are where two older Honduran men were waiting to see the eye doctor. ¨Can I sit here beside you, please?¨ I asked one of the elderly men in Spanish. ¨Si,¨ he replied enthusiastically, ¨I would be so very proud to have you sitting next to me,¨ he added with delight. I looked at him disbelievingly, wondering if I had heard him right. Then he stretched a little and added in Spanish, ¨Oh si, I am satified now¨. I was so tired and could barely believe my ears. My weary ears were hearing him correctly- this 65- year old man was lightly hitting on me. I actually started to blush. Then Sarah came over and made things worse. She said to him, ¨Oh si, she is very beautiful, no?¨ and the man relplied without delay, ¨Yes, very pretty¨. Luckly in that moment, I was called over to interpret more and so had to leave. Just kidding, I really did enjoy the man. The guy was refreshing and adorable.

The rest of the day with the Hondurans went well. I really enjoyed helping them find the right glasses and helping the Americans to determine whether or not the had cataracts or were near-sighted or far-sighted or whatever the problem was.

Gotta go.

Heather

We are treating several upon several upon several Hondurans with many different enfermedades. Por example, there are personas con problems con sus dientes y eyes y ears y heart y knees y mucho mas problemas. It makes for a very long day! I am constantly interpreting, which of course involves listening, comprehending, and speaking in turn to them (the Hondurans, in this case).

A Lesson in Joy - by Haley

Hello, all! This week the interns are accompanying a group of doctors, nurses, physician´s assistants, pharmacists, dentist, opthalmologist, and translators, on the week-long ¨medical brigade¨in Duyure. Kendra, Heather, and I are translating for the medical personnel; Kyle, Loren, Katie, and Jaclyn get to observe, learn, and assist the doctors; and David is helping out wherever necessary. It has been a huge blessing for me to be able to translate. I definitely give glory to God for how easy it is for me to communicate with the Hondurans now. Remember the first week when I didn´t see how I could possibly be fluent by the end of the summer? Well, just within the past couple weeks something clicked for me. I don´t know all the words that people say to me, but I´m able to understand them and to speak with them so that they understand me. And the other interns are getting so much better at Spanish, too. I truly believe that God is giving us this wisdom and understanding and ability. Praise the Lord!

Yesterday I was encouraged so much by two patients in particular. One was a 14-year-old boy with mental retardation. He came in with his father, who definitely loves his son very much. And this boy overflowed with such joy and love! He wore a huge grin the entire time he was there; he shook hands exuberantly with everyone he met; he loved to laugh and smile and hug. He brought joy to my life just by his presence in the room.
The other encouraging patient was a man who had an work-related accident 7 years ago which left him paralyzed from the waist down. He is no longer able to work; he cauterized himself; and he came to the medical brigade, by himself, in a wheelchair. This man has one of the most amazing attitudes I´ve ever seen. Always positive. Kyle told me that the man was encouraging him about going to med school and how Kyle will touch people´s lives for God through medicine. As I talked with the man, he told me that he thanks God for his life, for keeping him safe during the accident. He knows that God has a purpose for his life; otherwise he would have died in the accident. I asked him what he does now that can´t work. He said that he spends all day reading the Word of God. I could see the joy, the wisdom, the intelligence, and the deep love of the Lord in his eyes. This is a man who knows God, who knows the goodness and love and friendship of his God. Who revels in the time he spends with God. Would that all of us took the time to know and experience God like this man does.

These two patients left me thinking: if they can have such exuberant joy and thankfulness towards our God, why not we who are considered to be ¨healthy¨and ¨normal¨? Where is our gratitude and love for Him who has given us days of a life worth living? Who has given us legs that walk, and minds that think, and ears that hear, and eyes that see, and hearts that beat, and family that love us, and jobs that pay us, and food that nourishes us, and homes that warm us? If these two children of God can show such appreciation and praise, I certainly have no excuse for not worshipping and honoring and glorifying my God in everything, all the days of my life.

Que Dios le bendiga. (God bless you.)

Haley

El sabor de los buenos momentos

I left last Thurs from Managua to go to Anna´s wedding. It was a whirlwind of a trip! I couldn´t believe how I went from one day in the clinic to the next getting served food. It was beautiful and I really enjoyed it. On the way back from Nicaragua it felt very normal to be back. I liked it. On Monday I was supposed to go to the school, but ended up having pink eye so I went to the office and counted pills with David for the medical brigade. When I say we counted pills what I really mean is we counted 15,000 by fives. It was awesome to say the least and sometimes I gave someone 31 instead of 30 just so that they can be lucky. On Tues. I did town visits with Javier. One elderly lady cried and hugged me and it was really cool to see that she was thankful. Wed. was a good and hard day. I helped clean this lady´s ulcer again and it´s getting so much better!! Then a 40 day old child came in (she has pneumonia and Javier took her to the hospital) and she is not doing good at all. I felt helpless, but Javier said ¨Science says this baby will not live, but God says anything is possible.¨ I´ve been thinking about her a lot. On Thurs. I went with a group for horseback rides. It was so much fun! I think they thought I knew what I was doing so I just shook my head and pretended. And at the end Ariel let me hold my horse back and it really wanted to be with the rest of the horses...so when I say ¨hyah¨ (ask later for demonstration) he TOOK OFF. I almost flew off we were going so fast and it was so much funnnn!! And then Katie and I went and milked some cows. I thought my cow was empty...but then the professional got up there and there was still like three liters left in this sucker. Showoff. Just kidding. But really. Friday was another clinic day. I love them every time bc I learn so much! Today was one of my favorite days yet. Haley, Kyle, and I went to Las Tekas aka swimming pool of the century. We went with the kids from the refuge and their tias and a tio and Olman. We played tag but not just like Marco Polo..i mean run around on the slippery edges with a 15 ft drop and no railing. Someone should have broken something, but it´s cool...no one did. There was music and laughing and splashing and swimming lessons. I love how they just squeeze you when they are afraid that you will let them go. I seriously have sunburn lines on my face where there are wrinkles when I smile. Such a blessed day. It is so good to be here. God bless!
Jaclyn

Musings on the Road to Monjaras - by Haley

Today I had the privilege of traveling with Dr. Javier, Don Wil, Lexi, and three fellow interns to deliver food and visit patients in the villages of Monjaras and Cedeno, on the Pacific coast. We spent some good time in "El Jefe," our Toyota Land Cruiser, (since it's 1 hour one way to Choluteca, and from there on to the villages), during which I had the opportunity to think. Here are some of my musings:

One thing I've noticed about Honduras is that this is a very relaxed society. They work very hard, of course, but they also spend lots of time just sitting and waiting contentedly for things. When you visit the medical clinic, or a bus stop, or when you're riding somewhere with Honduras, you will notice that they don't fill all their waiting time with talking. Often they will simply sit quietly. I enjoy this. It provides plenty of good thinking time.

During some of my own thinking time here in Honduras, I have thought about how the families here could earn more money. (Maybe they could get some more laying hens and sell the eggs at the market. Maybe they could plant more corn. Maybe they could join a co-op and export the coconuts that grow in their yard to the U.S. Maybe they could weave hats and baskets out of palm fronds and sell them. Maybe a bunch of people could get together and start a mosquito net factory. Maybe they could turn that building on the beach into a hotel, and create a website to attract Americans/Britons/French/Australians/Canadians/Germans who want an adventurous, exotic vacation. Maybe...) And then I wonder why, when they have so much rich time to think, that so many here haven't acted on ideas like these, and are still living in poor conditions. (By the way, when I speak of the poor in Honduras, I'm not referring to the general standard of living here. What really bothers me are those families who can't even afford enough food, or clothing, or healthy living conditions.)

I must conclude that they don't think of these things because they haven't had the education to teach them to think of these things. They simply have never had anyone teach them to look for opportunities to do something, to create something, to fill a need in their society. They haven't been told that they can do something that provides value to others, and do it well, and earn good money for it. That when they work hard at something, and do something with integrity and excellence, God blesses them. If they do come up with ideas for a new business, maybe they don't have the resources because they haven't learned the principle of putting money in a bank and watching it earn interest. When we visit patients and see all of the kids who are at home, instead of at school, I wish that we could sit the kids down, teach them how to read, and then leave each family with a kid-friendly encyclopedia, or textbooks, or even fiction books. Something to teach them. And to teach them how to think. I think that education like this would be a huge step in helping the people of Honduras.

Que Dios le bendiga.

Haley

Kyle week 4.2 Popping a stinky balloon.

It is a natural tendency for a child to tense the gluteus maximus muscle when nervous or in responce to a sharp stimulous i.e. a needle.

Thursday was my day to travel with Dr. Javier and Lexi to Duyure for the medical program. We checked on individuals that had been previously cared for and were unable to travel to a clinic. To some families we delivered food and gave prescriptions, to others we gave checkups and the occasional shot, others were in the process of digging latrines so I was volunteered by Javier to jump in and help break bedrock. The latrines were being dug to help waste control and prevent contamination of a water supply. A meter square hole dug three meters deep will act as a sufficient filter and will last a group of families nearly twenty years. The problem is that three meters is a deep hole! Javier´s great sense of humor sent me to the bottom of one of the latrines, swinging a pick down onto solid rock and then hoisting out the gravel with a shovel. I have a lot of respect for those families that finished the project. One family went above and beyond, well I guess below, what was expected of them. As we walked up to the worksite, all we could see was a group of people standing on a huge mound of dirt looking down into a hole where occasional jets of dirt would burst forth from below. The hole was so deep that I couldn´t even see the shovel as it lofted the dirt into the air. I gaped when I saw a man working alone at the bottom of a twelve foot hole and the ladder that was needed to escape from the pit. My conversion is probably a little off but I believe twelve feet is more than three meters. This guy didn´t hold back when digging an outhouse. None of those wimpy porcelain toliets would do, his latrine was going to be able to handle anything Honduran cooking could cause.

At one home a young boy about four years old had a bad fever and needed an injection. Javier prepped the syringe and handed it to me as we walked into a back room where the boy was waiting over his mother´s knee. Being slung over your mom´s leg, drawers around your ankles is not the most reassuring position one might find oneself. The poor boy was already stiff as a board when I swabbed his cheek. Javier had ahold of his arms and his mom had a tight grip on his legs, preventing him from going anywhere, but the boy had a fighter´s heart and was battling the only way posible in that given position. He was screaming his lungs out and clenching his butt so tight that his posterior was beggining to turn from brown to white. My job was easy, even if I was the most despised person in the room. All I had to do was slip in the needle, push down the plunger and the ordeal would be over, no hard feelings. Problem was, as the needle broke the skin, it also broke the final straw and the boy gave a desprate lunge. He was firmly held in place by four strong hands so the only reaction to his last effort of defiance was a tremendous burst of gas right into my face.
Nothing could have prepared me for that moment.
A mixure of disgust and convulsive laughter flashed onto my face for just an instant as I looked up at Javier and then at the mom. But only for a moment because neither of them flinched and the now intensified wailing quickly brought me back into the job at hand.
I quickly finished, with as best professional manner as I could muster, and patched him up just right.
The stink was hideous. Poor boy was sick.

On Friday I cleaned out a young man´s ear. I washed out a glob of dirt and wax that looked like the tip of my ring finger from the last nuckle. Didn´t phase me. I getting better at this stuff.

Point me toward wierdness Honduras, I ready!

Guilty as Charged

Kyle Week 3.2: like rolling up a tortilla.

I have decided to go into greater detail about last Monday. Javier left without me this morning so I have a lot of time to reminisce.

It started like every other morning. Waking up to David climbing out of the shower, walking downstairs to the smell of Heather´s fried egg breakfast, driving two hours to Las Pitas; the usual.
I feel the need to point out that I suffered from a strange case of insomnia the night before this all took place, not to make any excuse but to identify that I wasn´t my normal "able-bodied" self.
Katie and David were with me at the clinic and we sat with Dr. Javier seeing patients for twenty minutes before he sent Katie and me into the treatment room to give two shots to a gentleman. Mind that I had never before given a shot let alone filled a syringe. Neither had Katie. So with help from Lexi, the nurse, we filled appropriate amounts of whatever this particular bloke needed and, in turn, stuck him on both sides of the buttocks. Moral victory. You´d be surprised at how much pressure you have to exert on a syringe to get the needle to pierce the backside. Didn´t even phase me. I took it all in stride and so did Katie. Katie did have trouble keeping her hand from shaking but we blame it on the adrenaline. When Loren came in, he had to give a intravenous injection to an older lady by using a butterfly syringe. He did great. The old lady claimed that she didn´t feel a thing.
The three of us were feeling quite proud of ourselves for accomplishing great feats of medicine, when Javier sent the next patient in. "This time you will help Lexi, next time you will do it on your own," were the only words he said to us. The patient was a girl in her early teens that had an infected big toe that looked like a polish sausage. The toenail had to be removed.
All focus of thought and effort for the next twenty minutes was spent on a single purpose within my mind; make it through this one time and pray to God that another one never comes.

I remember holding the disinfectant while Lexi cleaned the toe.
I remember Lexi filling a small syringe with lidocane to act as an anesthetic.
I remember the pain on the girl´s face when the needle was stuck all over her toe.
I remember looking at the syringe and noticing that not very much lidocane had been injected.
I remember doubting that the toe had gone completely numb even though the girl no longer responded to Lexi´s touch.
The rest becomes a bit hazy, yet forever branded in my mind is the image of a small pair of pliers digging under one side of the nail and then lifting and pulling the nail up and away from the skin. The last that I remember of those few minutes was thinking that the way that Lexi gripped the nail with the pliers and twisted the nail away from the bed was that it reminded me of rolling up a tortilla.
Somehow I stumbled out of the room and into the waiting room, mumbling something about "I ... air... breath..."
I fell into a chair and began sweating like I had been in a sauna. I had the distinct impression that the room was much to hot, and the noise of the girl´s moans were still to close, and there was definately not enough air even in the waiting room, but by far the most ominous feeling was that something bad was going to happen if I didn´t get outside fast.
Staggering now, I swayed past all of the Hondurans waiting outside, and, leaning against the wall, made my way towards the back of the clinic. I was quite sure that my whole sense of balance was gone and just before my eyes rolled into the back of my head, I let myself down so that I was reclined against the corner of the clinic. Two Honduran boys stuck their heads around the corner just in time to see me vomit.
A while later, with no dignity left, I came back inside looking like I had stood under a shower with my clothes on. I was still dizzy when Dr. Javier lectured me on the importance of keeping my head in an emergency. "If it is just you and a doctor in the room and the patient is bleeding to death, you don´t have five minutes to go outside and catch your breath!"

Please God, don´t let another infected toenail come through the clinic. Or, if it must, let it be on a Wednesday. Wednesday is my farm day. Amen.

Kyle Week 3

David and I are now facebook friends. It is a big step in our relationship. Who knows where this is going to go?
None of the other interns will request me on facebook.
David and I rock out to Queen and The Killers. The girls laugh, but I can do a pull-up.
I sabotaged Javier´s office this morning. No coke is safe when I am around.
I discovered earlier this week that I can handle most procedures that take place in the clinic, but I might have found a weakness when watching a toenail being removed.
If it can be at all possible, I think I am getting worse at Spanish. I know that I no longer can spell words in English correctly. I did not know how to spell sabotage in the first place (see line five) and so I tried to look it up on dicionary.com and then at dictonary.com.
If the whole pre-med thing falls through, I can now say that I have experience in the field of sanitation control. On Tuesday, my ranch day, Arle (sp?) and I visited all of the mission sites and refuges, collecting garbage in the back of the truck before going to the city dump. Arle is awesome and tried in vain to teach me some Spanish. I am the garbage man. It was fun. I got to see parts of San Marcos and different refuges that I would have never been to otherwise.
Katie and I went to the bootmaker and were fitted for riding boots. Hopefully we will be able to find time to ride more so that I learn some form and feel comfortable in the saddle.

The Wee Little Mouse

Well once again, I've had an exciting week.  I started off at the clinic on Monday where I gave my first injection ever.  I was a little nervous at first because I've often heard of people "jabbing the syringe" or hitting the bone but I'm happy to say that wasn't the case for me.  On the first one, Lexi guided my hand as I inserted the butterfly into an elderly woman that had heart failure.  The second one, I gave without assistance to a little boy.  He cried for about five seconds and thats all.  I gained a new appreciation for medicine and what it includes when Javier told us that a 25 day old baby with pneumonia was our patient and it was our job to take care of him until we could get him to the hospital.  We had to give him breathing treatments and rehydration salts until we could get him down the mountain and to a hospital.  That was about all that happened on Monday.  When Tuesday rolled around, we headed out to Marcovia for the nutrition program.  Once again, we got to paint the little kids' hands blue to get a handprint.  Javier examined each patient to see if they were ill or not and then we gave them medicine and sent them on their way with their food for two weeks.  Tuesday night's Spanish class was interesting finally and I learned something.  I don't know if it was because the people around me helped out or not but nonetheless it happened.  Now you might be wondering why the title of this blog is "The Wee Little Mouse" so now I'm going to tell you.  Wednesday is the day that Kyle, Katie, and I go to one of the area schools.  We found out that Shelly was going to Monjaras and decided to tag along.  We were in the office gathering up some supplies when Shelly decided to open up a box to find some black yarn.  When she did, a little mouse decided to pop up out of the box as well.  Shelly's reaction is hard to describe but to the three of us it was hilarious.  At the school, we entertained them by teaching them some of our American games.  Today, we had the nutrition program and Monjaras and at Cedena.  It was pretty much the same as the rest of the days, only way hotter.  On the way back we stopped at the beach for a picture or two and then came into town to eat Chinese food...mmm mmm good.  We're closing out the week with a nice little adventure to the ruins of Copan.  It's going to be a pretty "wicked" sweet bus ride that last about ten hours.  Well it's time to start packing so for now, adios amigos.

Loren

Monday was my clinic day with Loren and Kyle. I was able to give my first shot, and I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous. Lexi helped me out and then I was feeling kind of bad about how nervous I was, so she told me that I just needed more practice. Then she pulled out a needle and let me stick her in her hand, and I got the vein on the first try. I was so excited! I'm definately ready for another clinic day, more practice!!! The sad part of today was that we saw a baby (25 days old) with pneumonia. You could tell just from looking that she was really sick. We gave her two nebulizer treatments and then oral rehydration salts and drove her and her mother back down the mountain to the hospital.

This week has been fairly uneventful, although Kyle and I were able to get measured for cowboy boots. This way, on Tuesdays (ranch day) we can actually look the part. Loren, Kyle and I all went to a school on Wednesday with Shelly and played with the kids there for about an hour. It was definately cause to practice my Spanish because we ended up teaching them red rover and duck duck goose. All I have to say about that is that those kids are crazy fast!! I would tag them and literally two seconds later they had caught me! After that the kids had us play hide and go seek, and then jump rope. Tomorrow we head to Copan, I'm psyched about that 10 hour bus ride!!!

First Day at School

Tuesday was the first Day that I was able to go to one of the schools. The school that I was able to go to was the one in San Marcos. School down here is free like it is in the U.S., however, like in the U.S. their are always expenses included. To go to school down here you have to be able to pay for a uniform and school supplies. Many families are not able to afford this, and in turn their kids are not able to go to school. Mission Lazarus saw this problem and has created schools for those kids who could not afford public school. At the Mission Lazarus schools the kids are given two meals, an education, and some love and care.
I arrived at school at 7 am, before most of the kids arrived. In the mornings the teachers meet and have a morning devotional. While I cannot understand what they are singing or saying, I can see the passion in which the praise the lord. School does not start until a little after eight, so I sat and played with the kids until it was time. The second you sit down on the floor next to one of the kids you immediately have 20 kids crawling all over you. Most of them just want to be hugged, or to sit in your lap. At eight the kids line up outside according to their age group, and sing kids worship songs. After this they are led into the kitchen and they are served breakfast. At the schools the kids are given glasses of milk that is from the Cattle on the Mission Lazarus ranch. After breakfast they are led off to their respective class rooms, I was with the kindergarten class. In class they were going over their alphabet, and on Tuesday, how to write the letter "D". After this they drew, and then played games. After playing everyone washed their hands and went off to lunch. This week in Honduras the public schools are out, and so the Mission Lazarus schools are only having half days. So after lunch the kids went outside and played on the playground until their parents came to pick them up. This was probably the best part of the day. On the playground the kids all want you to play with them, at one point all of the swings were full, which is about 15, and all of the kids were shouting "David, Push me" in Spanish. I ended up pushing kids on the swings for about an hour.
So far this has been one of the most rewarding days for me. I am looking forward to next Tuesday when I will be going back to the school.
David

Week 2: Introduction to Medicine

I never posted my blog for last week so I'm going to take care of it now.  Last week we finally got to get out of the house and get started working.  On Monday, Kyle, Katie, and I headed up to the clinic with Javier and the crew.  Javier said it was a perfect day because there were so many different types of patients that we would see.  There was one patient that I possibly could have gone without seeing.  When the blood started flowing, the room started spinning and I knew I had to leave the room.  Other than that, it was a great day and a great learning experience.  On Tuesday, we worked with the Mayfair group at the village outside of the ranch.  Our first patient was an American that somehow busted his head open.  After he got sewed up, we started seeing the Honduran patients.  I was supposed to educate the patients on how to take their medicine.  It was pretty difficult being that my Espanol is still limited but I managed.  Our efforts were brought to a halt when it began to pour rain so we had to pack up and leave.  We made it to the river and realized we were going to have to hike if we wanted to see the house.  We made it back about an hour later but I think that the other interns would agree when I say that it was one of the best days.  On Wednesday, we pretty much did the same thing except we were at the coffee plantation.  When Thursday rolled around, I headed to San Marcos for the nutrition program with Javier.  It was moving to see the work that had been done with the kids and the progress they were making.  That afternoon we went to the children's ward with Meredith.  It was very different from any hospital I have ever been to in the states.  I felt like I was in a hospital that would have been used back in the 50s.  On Friday, we got to hang out with a 90 year old guy planting coffee at the Posada.  It was quite the workout walking up and down the side of the mountain in the slick mud.  We finished and headed down to the casa only to survive another flood shortly after we got there.  It wasn't the first and probably won't be the last either.  Well that pretty much sums up the events of last week.  Being here is still awesome and only getting better everyday.  I look forward to the rest of the time here.

Loren

Hurricanes, Mud, and Floods

This past week has been a crazy one. Late last week Honduras had a tropical storm from the Pacific side headed right for it. It hit Honduras late thursday night and into Friday. By the time it went over San Marcos it had become a category one Hurricane. The intern house is seperated from the rest of the ranch by a stream, when heavy rains hit, however, the stream turns into a raging river and nobody is able to cross either way. Because of this we were trapped in our house most of the day friday until late friday night when the river went down enough. During the Rains a TACA (the name of the airline) plane tried to land in tegus and was not able to stop in time, which caused it to run off the end of the runway and into the middle of an intersection. The rains are not, however, totally at fault for this crash. The airport in Tegus is the shortest in the world that major airliners land at. The combination of the storm and the runway are the reason that this tragic accident, which claimed the lives of five, occurred. The Honduran Government has said that they are going to close the airport in Tegus indefinitely, so it will be interesting to see what will come of that.
This past week has been a fun one for me. On Sunday Dr. Lytle, the Dean of the College of Business Administration at ACU, flew in to visit Jarred, but because of the Airport problems in Tegus, he flew into Managua Nicaragua. Jarred asked me and one other intern who is in COBA, to come down with him to pick up Dr. Lytle. This allowed me to visit Nicaragua and to meat Dr. Lytle who I have not met before. During this week I feel like I have really become more aware of the way of life in Honduras. Getting stuck in the mud or trapped behind a river and having to walk back to your destination have become daily activities. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live down here, and to have to deal with these circumstances year round.
David

It Was A Dark and Stormy Afternoon

It keeps raining here. Every day. Usually starting around 3pm, and lasting for 20 minutes to 8 hours. :) It´s the rainy season. I don´t mind. It makes crossing bridges exciting. We interens have had quite a few adventures this week due to the rain, as a matter of fact. Let me tell you more!

On Tuesday, all of the interns travelled to a village in the mountains with a church group that was here from Alabama. We held what they call a ¨medical brigade:¨ providing dental care, eyeglasses, medical care, and a mini-pharmacy for the locals for the day. Just before we finished, the rain began. By the time we got back to the ranch, one of the rivers bordering the ranch had flooded to about Level 4 rapids. The cars couldn´t cross. The church group was able to cross a swinging foot bridge and were picked up on the other side by some other Mission Lazarus workers, who took them to their cabins. We interns, on the other hand, were told that since our house is on the same side of the river as the village, we only needed to hike along the riverbank until we reached the house. It sounded easy enough, even though the rain made things a little - actually, a lot - muddy and slippery. So off we went. After walking 5 minutes along a fairly clear path, we found ourselves forging our way through trees and underbrush along the riverbank. Okay, we can handle that. Then the riverbank ended. The water had risen so much that it covered the remaining ground. We had a choice: to wade through the water until we reached more ground, to scale the sheer rock wall beside us, or to go back. We decided to wade to the next clear spot of riverbank. We prayed. Then we held hands and started into the water. Loren, who was in the lead, took about three steps before he was up to his waist and realized that it would only get deeper. We decided to turn back. We retraced our steps until we were no longer next to a sheer rock wall, but a 60% grade, slippery, vegetation-covered mountainside, and we began to climb. After several minutes of scampering almost on all fours, we reached the top. Yay! We were still in a forest as far as the eye could see, but we could see and hear the river raging down the slope to our left, so we continued to walk. We partly forged our own path, and partly followed the paths made by horses who had wandered through the forest before us. We felt like we were on the right track, as long as we kept encountering horse manure along the way. We walked and walked and hiked and climbed until we reached...a barbed wire fence. Ugh. After scanning for a break in the fence, to no avail, we decide to climb through. Loren and Kyle held apart the two center strings of wire for us ladies to pass through, then they followed. We continued on. We couldn´t see the river any longer, but we could still hear it close to our left. The forest started to get thicker. The ground began to descend. We passed a dozen little waterfalls, and encountered another stream. This one was only a foot or so deep, but the bank was high and slippery. Finally we found a good place to cross, and waded to the opposite bank. Now we needed to climb another small tree-covered hill. As we neared the top, we could see the roof of our house in the distance. We came down the other side of that hill, then up a grassy hill. To a waist-level stone wall. The house was in sight. With two footholds, we were over the wall. We traveled down that hill and up another rise, and found ourselves in the field beside our house. We walked to the end of the field, through the gate, and we were home. It had only taken us one hour. :)

In all seriousness, I think that Tuesday was my favorite day so far. We were able to provide medical care to the people of that village. I helped to fit people for eyeglasses. I made one gentleman laugh for five minutes straight because I told him that he looked handsome in his new sunglasses. Two little girls gave me hugs. And we interns experienced an adventure in survival and finding our way home. This is the best summer ever!

Haley

Kyle Week 2.2: The tip of the needle!

I started asking to many questions today in the clinic, and I paid for it. One of the girls that was with me, Jaclyn, had given shots before so Dr. Javier let her give a lady two shots, one in each cheek (not the ones you smile with). I got to watch, but he wouldn't let me give one until Jaclyn showed me how. Afterwards I started asking questions about how to know if the needle hits a blood vein. Javier explained it once to me but when I asked again he smiled and said, "I'll show you!" He walked out of the room and I looked at Jaclyn and said, "I hope he is not going to do what I think he is going to do."
He walked in with a syringe, a cotton swab and a rubber band. I laughed in disbelief.
He tied the rubber band above my elbow, and started swabbing my forearm.
"If you hit a blood vein, it will look like this!" he said, sticking the needle in my arm right into a vein. Sure enough blood came into the syringe, just like it was supposed to.
I still couldn't believe that he had actually stuck me.
And neither could the slack jawed ten year old that had been sitting in the office room watching the entire procedure.
If the doctor stuck an American with a needle who wasn't even sick, what other horrors could be possible?
While Javier was laughing at me putting a band-aid on my arm, I accused him of being a sadist. He speaks English well enough to understand and he countered, "No, I am a masochist!"
Sure enough when all of the patients for the day were finished, he owned up and let me do the same thing to him, talking me through the entire process of drawing blood.
It was pretty awesome. I found the vein first try. Nailed it. Drew a few milliliters of blood and pulled it out.
Only outside of America, could things like this happen. Unbelieveable. Interns, giving shots, volunteering themselves to be stuck, drawing blood from the doctor himself!

I'm loving it. Hope this doesn't get anyone in trouble.

Adventures with the interns!

It's my second week here and I did medical work all this week. I don't know a lot of spanish, but we had a medical brigade here this week and I was able to work with a Spanish teacher from the states to take patient histories. Let me just say that my Spanish dramatically improved!! I think the coolest thing that happened to me was when I stepped out of my comfort zone and went over to talk with a man. He was trying to teach me the spanish alphabet, and then we just started talking. He told me about how he has a car for work, and I told him about what I liked to do in the states. It was my first coversation in spanish and I loved it.
Then when it was time to leave on Tuesday, it started pouring rain. The only problem was that we had to cross a river twice to get to the intern house. We got to the river and Chad said that we couldn't cross it, so the interns had to walk home. This was quite the adventure since the main trail that led to the house was flooded we had to find our own way in the rain. It was a blast and teh scenery was spectactular. I really think that it was a blessing that we couldn't drive home, because instead we got to trek through the woods and by a waterfall for about an hour. Of course, then we got to our house and it was flooded, so yet another adventure began when we began to sweep the water out with brooms. Life is never dull on the ranch or at the clinic!!
-Katie

A whale of a week

SO much has happened since the last entry. Friday was supposed to be our first day out however hurricane emma put our world on hold. We stayed in the house all day and got a little stir crazy. On Saturday-it rained. Sunday was a bad day for me...I had a fever all day and when Meredith finally took it it was 104. I felt real bad to say the least...that night things continued to get worse in other areas. So I was stuck in the house again on Monday. Besides feeling like death I was frustrated that I didn´t get to get out. That night we went to the Pasada for dinner with the Mayfair group and I debated going until the last minute and am so glad I did. It was a turning point. Tues and Wed we went on a medical brigade with the Mayfair group. It was very good getting to know them and work with them. Yesterday I helped plant coffee plants on the side of the mountain by the Pasada. I haven´t gotten that dirty in a long time and it was awesome. And today I got to go to the clinic. Javier is great! I felt like I learned so much and got to do a lot (I gave two shots) So that gives a overview...but leaves out things like the Mayfair group feeding us, our house flooding twice, me breaking into our house because the door wouldnt open, crossing the rivers, not crossing the rivers, the interns hour hike in the rain crossing rivers just to get back to the house, whales, morning mix 08, countless stories in the house and in el jefe. Life is good and God is better.
Jaclyn

Kyle Week Two

A friend asked me if I had seen anything crazy in Honduras...

crazy: check

sicknasty: check

almost gagged: yep

touched something Id rather not think about: YES

got lost: so much

got left: twice

felt stupid: never stops

forgot TP: never again

faked spanish: always

laughed to tears: yes

got dirty: quit caring

made friends: favorite part

got used to waking up at 5: strangely

couldnt stay up past 10: sadly

felt God moving: often

understood Jesus: daily

wanted to go home: not yet