Sweet Summertime!

Well, summer is here full force!  There is definitely no lack of heat here.  Since I've been MIA for a bit, let me fill you in on the past month.

My golden birthday was the end of May so that brought with it several celebrations.  First a celebration at the clinic, that evening a celebration with some wonderful friends on the island, the following night a delicious meal and party with another fellow birthday mate, and finally a week later, a cake from home!  That's right, my mom sent me a cake via mail and it was delicious! 

Following that week, Peggy returned to the states for 3 weeks of fundraising and vacation.  Once again, that left me in charge of the clinic.  This time around, it was much better.  I was no longer new on the job (or in the profession for that matter), I knew how things ran, and people knew me.  Much less stressful this way!  Not only was I left with the clinic for the 3 weeks, but Peggy also left me with her phone for the 3 weeks.  After a few days it didn't really ring all that much, but the times that it did it was usually someone asking for medical advice.  After one of the calls I thought to myself, I almost feel like answering the phone as "Hello, ask a nurse" as my mom frequently does with us.  It was also kind of nice having her phone because it is literally a phone book.  Just about any number that you could possibly want for somebody on the island can be found in that phone.  A common joke around the clinic was that Peggy's secret agenda was to get me accustomed to the clinic so much that I would just want to stay for another year or two.  Nope, I don't think that's going to happen.  I will definitely come back for a visit, but there are way to many things waiting for me at home right now. 

Over the past several days I have been working on filling my passport up with stamps.  I traveled to Costa Rica where I met up with Susan and Emily (2 of my roommates) and we hung out in the rainforests of Costa Rica in a town called Monteverde and then traveled to Panama and hung out in Panama City for a few more days.  The rainforests were beautiful and I would have loved to stay in them longer, but time just didn't allow.  One afternoon we did a tour of a coffee and sugar cane plantation and the other day we did a ziplining tour.  Aside for the 12 cables that the canopy tour consisted of, there was also a superman one and a tarzan swing.  The tarzan was almost like bungee jumping, but not quite (however, it was going to have to do since the others didn't think much of that).  While in Costa Rica we got a little more than we bargained for by having a lost passport.  This meant we got to make a trip to the Embassy to get a new one so that we could continue on our way to Panama.  After the embassy we then walked around San Jose for the afternoon checking out what little there was to see.  It was in San Jose that we saw the literal meaning of "living out of a box"; apparently it actually does happen!  In Panama, we really took time to explore the city.  Here, unlike San Jose, there was much to do in the city and it was full of history.  One part is called "Panama Viejo" where all the old ruins are; another part is known as "Casco Viejo" where all the historic buildings are.  And, if you didn't already know, this is also where the canal is!  So of course, we went and checked out the locks, watched some boats pass through, and traveled from coast to coast- one direction by bus, the other by the Panama Railway, a nice little historic ride along the canal.  We also took a nice little hike up through the nature park for a scenic overview of the city.  During our final 7 hours (of 3 days) in Panama, it was also brought to our attention that they are not in the same time zone as Costa Rica.  I must say, things start to make a lot more sense when you have the right time (such as places being open/closed, rush hour, etc...).  From there we began our journey back to Costa Rica and from there I headed back to Honduras.  All in all, our time on the buses and our time exploring equaled out to be about the same, but it was a wonderful trip and now I'm refreshed for the rest of my time here.  If you would like to read more in depth about our travels, check out Susan's blog as she kept more of a daily update on our happenings! http://sasass1206.blogspot.com/

Pictures are being added to my Picasa Web account as I am typing this, so make sure to check those out.  Or in the next few days they should be appearing on Facebook as well. 

Today being the first day back after my vacation, brought with it a little bit of work, but for the most part things were kept quite well in order...so very exciting!!  To top it all off, the joyful, excited greetings that I received as I walked in this morning from all the staff was amazing.  It's great to be able to come back to work and feel the love from the people you work with- it lets you know just how much you are appreciated and that the job you are doing is where you are meant to be at that time.