Only in Roatan

Here I am, six months in; halfway done!  I can count down instead of up now!  Things are still going wonderfully, but the island is starting to wear on me.  There is only so much one can take of living on an island 30 miles long and 4-5 miles wide with no where to go...even if some people would consider it "paradise". 

Time at the clinic is continually passing, yet one day seems to run into the next.  We are now at the point of licensing for the upstairs, so that is exciting.  Last week we had the pre-inspection and we got an 81% (or 25 things missing out of 132)- not bad considering the things that we need to fix are things like putting a light bulb in a lamp, move some reflex hammers and tape measures from downstairs to upstairs, and hang a blood pressure cuff on the wall.  As of last I heard, grand opening is set for March 31st, but that will of course all depend on when we are licensed- could be sooner, could be later, no one really can tell.  We all survived the busy month of February with 10-20 volunteers every week, so now we should all be pros for the roughly 30 people we have this week!  Luckily, 13 of those are in one group and they are going to be doing outreach in the community so we won't have to juggle them through the clinic.  Sometimes, I just have to keep reminding me that what doesn't kill me can only makes me stronger; not gonna lie, running a volunteer staffed clinic is A LOT of work, probably something I won't be doing again in the near future :p  Regardless of how much work it has been, my time so far has been wonderful and I am continually learning something new every day. 

Since I've been here 6 months, I figure I might as well share with you some of the things that I have found strange, peculiar, random, out of place, rare, funny, or just down right ridiculous.

• Only in Roatan, are you able to be driving down the road when the car in front of you completely loses the 2 front tires; and if they had continued further, probably would have lost the back two.
• Only in Roatan, would you find me in my pj's at 7:00 some nights and in bed by 9:30 other nights.
• Only in Roatan, does the hospital ER shut down for a few weeks.
• Only in Roatan, can you work with in a developing, 3rd world nation on the weekdays, yet spend your weekends in "paradise" on the white sandy beaches. 
• Only in Roatan, do you have to wear bug spray in a screened in house to avoid getting bug bites.  
• Only in Roatan, are scooters made for 4 people.
• Only in Roatan, is it normal to see someone walking around with a machete. 
• Only in Roatan, do you have power outages weekly, just because.
• Only in Roatan, would you find the city filling potholes the day of a triathlon, which has a course using that road.
• Only in Roatan, is a blood sugar of 2 or 300 not alarming.
• Only in Roatan, does is cost 70 L ($3.50) to deliver a baby and 300 L ($15.00) for a hysterectomy.
• Only in Roatan, would a clinic focused on treating/managing diabetes and hypertension have someone selling chips, pop, fried pastelitas, and baleadas (flour tortillas with beans) out front on the porch.  
• Only in Roatan, would I "train" for a triathlon the day before the race which happens to be an Olympic qualifying course, and one of the top 6 most difficult courses at that!
• Only in Roatan, an island only 30 miles long, would you find a Wendy's, ACE Hardware, and Applebee's.

I know there are more things that I am missing, but of course I cannot think of them right now to share with you.  Maybe as I remember them, I will choose to enlighten you with them.  For now, I will be gearing myself up to take on the week ahead.

Buenas Noches!
Laura