Keeping the Faith

Over the past week I got to make my second trip off the island.  This time, I only went as far as La Ceiba (where the ferry takes us) where I worked with a mission group from Texas.  For the past several years, this mission group has been coming down to Honduras to work for a week with an Episcopal Church.  Part of the group works with tutoring the school children, another group works with medical and eye glasses, and the third part of the group works on construction projects.  Myself and 3 other volunteers from Roatan worked with the medical team of course.  Everyday began with breakfast at 6:30, followed by morning prayer before we all headed out our seperate ways.  Tuesday through Thursday, we spent the mornings working in the clinic with the Honduran doctor that is always there.  Dr. Silvio Azure typically sees around 80 patients a week; so anywhere around 20 patients a day.  Upon walking into the clinic the first day, I was rather taken aback.

There was next to nothing in this clinic.  There was an open room that served as their waiting room but there was nothing more than a bench on each side of the room for patients to sit on.  Behind the front desk was not only the files, the bathroom, and the admission area, but the triage area as well.  Triaging consisted of taking a blood pressure, weight, and tempurature.   No chief complaints were gathered, no blood sugar was checked for diabetics, no pulse or pulse oxygenation levels were gathered.  And although the temperature was taken, every temp was either 36 or 37 Celsius- even if they had a fever!  The consult rooms had just about as much- an exam table, a desk, and a couple chairs.  There were a few medical supplies but if there was something you actually needed, chances are it wouldn't be there.  The pharmacy had a smattering of medications, but of course, it lacked many as we waiting all week for the ordered medications to be released from customs.  The "lab" consisted of a chair used as a desk and another chair for the patient to sit in along side the pharmacy out in the hallway. The clinic had a storage room, but the supplies that were in there were mainly eyeglasses.  With very little to work with, I must say, I actually thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in this clinic.  It was very much serving the poor in a location that wasn't all ritzy yet had the essentials to be able to treat these patients adequately and appropriately.  While the clinic lacked in many of the medical/technological advances that are now seen in the health care field in the US, it focused on treating the root causes of the problems (such as nutrition, lifestyle, etc) and left the rest up to God.  These people search out medical treatment but they still keep sight of their faith; for some of these people faith is all they have, but that is enough for them.  This was enhanced even more when we went out to a village, La Linea, on Thursday afternoon to do a health clinic. 

One of the guys that we treated came to us with a problem of not being able to make a fist with one hand because of a machete wound he suffered 5 or 6 years ago.  He was asking us about whether there was a surgery or medications we could give him to correct it.  I had to tell him there were no meds other than some pain pills that we could give him.  I told him they could do an operation to fix his tendons but that was about it.  His response was that he is a poor man and surgery is expensive, is there nothing else he/we can do?  Once again I reiterated that surgery was all that could be done.  Then he wanted to know the likelihood of the surgery actually helping his hand- would he still be able to work out at the plantation?  You see, his first three fingers worked fairly well, they were just a bit weak.  His 4th and 5th fingers however, were straight, unable to be bend due to tendon damage.  Since his accident happened such a long time ago, he would most likely need a tendon graft done as well because the tendons have permanently shortened.  After surgery there would be no guarantee that his hand would be all that much better.  So I told him that surgery was possible but probably not available in Honduras and it would be a complicated surgery.  His reply was that we would just have to pray to God for strength.  I replied, yes, for now all we can do is take meds to control any pain and pray to God for help.  He thanked us and was on his way.  Wow!  Even people with little to nothing, having difficulty working due to injury still have faith in God.  Can we say the same thing?  Would we have this same faith or would we have given up on Him long before?  It's in situations like this that I am reassured that there are people that still have faith and trust in God.  They don't give up easily just because something didn't happen in their favor.  If only more people could see things like this and gain renewed strength and faith in God- even through the hard times.  Then as we were getting ready to leave, he came up to me and asked if I could take a picture of us.  Even though he would never see me again, and never get the picture, I believe he wanted me to have a picture of us so that I could remember our encounter for years to come.  What a great day it was!

So, while almost everyone on the mission group as well as the 3 I traveled with spent a day or two of their time with Montezuma's revenge, I was able to enjoy my week full force and really soak up the work that god was doing in this community.  Not only did I work with the medical team, but I learned a little more advanced way of fitting people for eyeglasses using foropters and constructing glasses to test for astigmatisms and the whole shpeal.  So I guess, if nursing fails, I can always take up optometry!  Working with this mission group allowed me to see what it's like working with a community that is very accepting of a short term mission team coming in and working with them.  Oh how I cannot wait to do more mission trips in the future.  Therefore, at the rate I'm going, I should probably come to appreciate the letters d-e-b-t as I will be seeing them for quite some time!  Save your change folks, it could get you far someday.

Peace and Love to all those at home!!
Laura

True Meanings

It seems like we are constantly celebrating one holiday or another.  But, are we really celebrating the holiday or are we celebrating the commercialism that comes with the holiday?  Most of the holidays have come and gone without me even knowing that they were coming.  If it weren't for the fact that I know the date in which holidays fall, I probably would be none the wiser as to whether it was a holiday or not.  Being removed from all the commercialism associated with any given holiday has made me realize that there is much more to the holidays.  Today is Valentine's Day.  Do any of us really know the history behind this day?  Why do we send people cards; was St. Valentine known for something associated with love or why do we associate the holiday with that?  Since many of you are probably too busy to really sit down and look into the history behind Valentine's Day, allow me to enlighten you.

Not only is there one person known as St. Valentine, but 3.  One was a priest, one a bishop, and the other is heard of only vaguely.  All three of these men were martyrs of the church, and all are remembered on February 14th, but none of them really have any direct relation to the holiday in which we celebrate.  The holiday in which is celebrated today is because of a reference made by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer in his poem Parliament of Foules.  In one stanza he writes, "For this was sent on Saint Valentine's Day, When every foul cometh there to choose his mate."  Because of this reference, people started to associate St. Valentine's Day with a day for couples to celebrate- to send love letters and tokens of love to one another.  The reason for this reference in Chaucer's poem is because it was a common belief in England and France during the middle ages that toward the middle of the second month of the year, birds would begin to choose their mates.  (referenced from NewAdvent.com)  While North American's celebrate with candy, cards, and roses on February 14th, other countries have varying days and ways of celebrating.  Of course, just like many other holidays, Valentine's Day is considered an American culture.  Some countries refer to the holiday as Friend's Day (when you recognize all of your friends, instead of just lovers), others refer to it as Lover's Day, Day of Love and Friendship, or All Heart's Day.  One tradition that I found to be rather interesting was that of South Korea's.  On February 14th, women give chocolate to men; March 14th, men give non-chocolate gifts to women.  On April 14th, those that received nothing on either of the two previous 14th's go to a Chinese restaurant and eat black noodles.  Also in Korea, the 14th of every month is celebrated in some manor to reflect a lover's holiday: Candle Day, Valentine's Day, White Day, Black Day, Rose Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Green Day, Music Day, Wine Day, Movie Day, and Hug Day.  Those could be fun celebrations :)  (info from wikipedia).

And there you have it folks, the source of Valentine's Day and its many traditions.  Now that you know where it comes from, feel free to go out and celebrate in whatever way you see fit.  As for me, I'm going to sit inside and enjoy the rain.  Happy Valentine's Day to all my loved ones- family and friends!

xoxo,
Laura

All systems go!

Wow!  Almost 5 months in, my body has fully adjusted and worked out its problems, the weather is getting nicer, the days are getting longer, and I once again enjoy being outside without fear of mosquitoes and 'cold'.  Lately I've been able to go snorkeling a number of times without freezing as soon as I got in the water (in which case, I would have opted out of snorkeling).  Along with the numerous amounts of fish, I have seen an octopus, king crab, sea snake, sea cucumber, starfish, and have been able to play with dolphins!  Poco a poco, the sun is staying up a few minutes longer and we see more sunlight in the day. 

More and more volunteers are streaming into the clinic, so there are more hands to do things, therefore making my work even lighter--plus I have a student nurse!  It's great.  Today we went out to an isolated community on the island to do an outreach clinic.  There were a fair number of moms and children, but other than pain, parasite/worm treatment, and a couple cases of chicken pox, we didn't see anything too exciting...that is, except for some amazing views!  In the process, I also saw Hottest Sparrow.  This is another small, isolated community, that is very difficult to access--yet this is where the 3 children were from that I wrote about back from when my parents were here.  After the outreach clinic today, we did a health screening at the SOL Foundation, which is an after school program for children.  Therefore, for 3 hours we measured the height and weight of children....way to long!  (especially since we had just spent the past 8 hours in the clinic and on the outreach clinic)  Oh well, we got them all taken care of and were able to pinpoint the kids that are below the average for height and weight. 

In a week and a half, I will be making a trek over to La Ceiba to help with a medical brigade that will be coming for a week.  It will be a great change of pace for a bit and a new population of people to work with.  More to come following my week there....stay tuned ;) 

For all of you suffering from feet and feet of snow, I thought you would like to know that with the longer hours of sun (and the warmer days), my tan is coming along quite nicely...unfortunately, I really only get to work on it over the weekends since the sun is no longer very good by the time we are done with clinic.  Oh well, such be the life!  Not much else is new around here, so I will leave you with that...maybe next time I can write something a bit more inspirational....I'll think on it for all of you :)

My thoughts and prayers are with you all!
Laura

Winner, Winner!

Wow, it seems like forever since I have blogged, but don't worry I am still alive and doing well!  So, fasten your seatbelts folks, and let me get you up to speed on life in Honduras!

Since the new year, things have started to pick up around the clinic.  During the month of January, we have had 4-5 residents every week working with us int he clinic.  We have had a couple visiting doctors as well as a few other volunteers.  With the increase of volunteers in the clinic, it has brought with it an increase of patients.  Over the past couple weeks we have been seeing 40-65 patients!  Fortunately for us (not so fortunate for the patient), it hasn't just been an increase in number of patients, but we have also gotten to see and do some new and interesting things.  For instance, we saw a lady with a blood sugar of "hi".  Now when this comes up on a glucometer, you know it's bad.  "Normal" blood sugar is 60-110; it says "hi" once it's over 600!  Over the past few months we have been working to control this lady's diabetes, so it didn't really surprise me all that much.  So what did we do for her?  I, yes, that would be me, put in an IV...my first ever!  Man, did I ever master that IV- got it on my first try!  Now this wasn't just any IV start, this was an IV start on a lady that was dehydrated and had no veins....makes for just a bit harder of a stick, but I conquered it none the less!  However, I must say, it was probably to her advantage that she couldn't understand us as I was walked through putting in an IV....something about that wouldn't comfort me all that much :p  Along with that, we have seen a few results of moto accidents, I have started not one, but two IV's successfully, we are making headway on our upstairs in hopes of opening in April, we are tightening our bootstraps for the boat load of volunteers we are going to be seeing throughout the month of February, plus starting to get out into the community more with health fairs and presentations.

Over the past few weeks we have gone up into the Colonia a few times in order to hold health fairs.  During these health fairs we check people's weight (as many/most do not have scales and/or know what they weigh), blood sugar, blood pressure, and screen for HIV.  If we run across something that needs further evaluation, we refer them to the clinic, making sure to tell them that if they cannot afford it we will see them anyways.  This is often times what holds people back from coming in the first place.  Many do not realize that we will see them even if they cannot pay.  That is one beauty of the clinic and the excellent health care we provide.  Unlike in the states, everyone gets quality health care (at the clinic that is), regardless of their ability to pay and without having worries about insurance.  Besides the health fair, we also did a women's health class in the Colonia.  Although I did not attend, I hear it was a great success and well accepted....we will definately need to get more of those going.

Last week, we also took a field trip into the Colonia in order to deliver a dozen backpacks and school clothes.  There are two families of 8 or 9 living in a house about the size of a nice bathroom maybe.  It is unreal what you see when going up into the Colonia--it never ceases to amaze me!  3,000 people living up on the hillside in which they have to walk up steep, steep hills to get to there homes while carrying a small child, propane tank, supplies, food, etc.  Many don't have work outside the house and many of the kids do not go to school.  What gets me everytime, though, is walking past houses that have cable tv or the number of people that have cell phones and talk on them constantly but can't afford food.  What has technology come too?  Has it really consumed our life that much that it is more important to us than food and shelter?  Sometimes, I think that is definately the case, and it is really quite sad and almost pathetic!  Think about all the technology in your life.  How do you compare?  What are your priorities--the here and now or the cyper, technological "galaxy"?

I know what people are really waiting to hear about is the rumored triathalon I was in.  That's right, I was part of a triatholon this past weekend.  You didn't know I was training for one?  Oh wait, that's because I didn't! haha  Yup, cold turkey in the Bay Island Triathalon and my relay team took 1st!  While some may not think going cold turkey is all that terrible, let me paint you a little picture.  The bike portion (which I did) was 5 miles on hilly terrain.  Yes, 14%, 18%, and 20 %, grade hills...for those of you unfamiliar with grading (you're not alone)...but that is practically straight up for all I'm concerned.  Apparently "normal" grade for a hill is right around 8%.  So yes, these hills covered about a third of the course.  The course here on Roatan is one of the top 5 hardest courses....in the world!  Future olympic athletes come to compete for points to get them into the olympics.  That's right....I was racing with olympic athletes!  And to think....they train for this everyday?!  Why gave me this crazy idea to enter the triathalon?  The triathalon had been postponed from November and there were two girls that were going to do it.....but their biker went home in December.  Therefore, I told them last weekend that if they found me a bike, I would bike for them.  The day before the race, I checked out the bike that I would be riding.  Clipless peddles (meaning your feet are attached to your peddles) that I've never used before, riding on an island full of hills!  I rode a little bit of the course on Saturday to "train".  The portion that I rode?  The relatively easy portion....yet I struggled on the hills.  How was I ever going to make it on the most difficult part?!  Well, I guess we shall see come race day!  The best part of it all?!  I didn't have a helmet, so I wore a moped helmet.  That's right folks, I went real Roatan fashion.....delayed training, moped helmet....  Look where it got us....first place! 

I think that about sums up my life for the past few weeks.  Weather is starting to get nicer again; went for a snorkel yesterday and it was quite nice--saw a Baracuda, a few star fish, swam in a school of fish--man was it clear yesterday!  Four months are gone, eight months left--time sure is flying, but at the same time, there are days when it seems to move so very slowly.

Until next time,
xoxo

Another time, another day...

Another day, another YEAR!!  Holy cow, where did the year go?!  That's right, in case you missed it, it is now 2011!  I guess that calls for a Happy New Years!

What happened this past year?  Let me shed some light on that for you.  I complete my last semester at CSB/SJU and graduated in May.  I applied to and was accepted to volunteer with CMMB for the next year beginning in September.  I spent my summer waitressing to help fill in the whole that was created by attending college for four years.  I decided that after I complete my year of volunteering, I would go to grad school.  In June, I took and passed the NCLEX and became a RN.  I backpacked the back country of Philmont Boy Scout Ranch with 4 of my siblings...and we all survived and came back alive (contrary to the thoughts of many)!  I took a week long road trip with 3 friends exploring some of the world's largest things and the many statues of Paul Bunyon and friends.  I spent the summer hanging out with friends and family to say my final goodbyes as I prepared to move abroad for a year.  I moved to Roatan, Honduras and quickly became the charge nurse at Clinica Esperanza.  I've become "Doctora" to a multitude of people (even if I just answer a simple medical question for them) :)  I experienced 46 straight days of rain and my first hurricane ever!  I've transitioned to a life of simplicity and learned what it means to not be on a tight schedule.  I've seen God in many new ways and have learned many new things about myself and others.  I seen many beautiful sunsets, a full rainbow, and countless numbers of starts.  Seeing a cruise ship on a daily basis is no longer something new and unusual.  All in all, it's been a great year.  I'm glad it took place, and I'm sad to see it done; but I'm sure whatever awaits in the upcoming year has potential to be just as great, if not better!

So what did I do to ring in the new year?  Well, 2 CSB/SJU nursing students, Maggie and Jacki, chose to spend their 3 week Christmas vacation volunteering on the mainland of Honduras.  Therefore, they decided to come over to Roatan to visit over New Years!  New Years Eve, we headed down to West End to meet up with some of the other people that came over with them.  Bryan and the West End Players, just about the only band on the island, was playing down on the beach/road side and having a street party to help bring in the new year.  Therefore, we hung out around there listening to the music and trying not to fall asleep as we all continually yawned.  Once midnight hit, there were fireworks to be seen.  Alright, we made it to midnight, now lets head home!  I know, we are lame, but such is the life.  Upon arriving back home, we heard fireworks, gunshots, music, and pot banging, as the celebrations continued.  New Years Day we ventured up to the clinic to complete a dressing change of a lady that had a skin graft done on her leg after being in a car accident.  From the time we started changing it 2 weeks ago, to now, it has really come a long way-- it's so neat to see the progression of healing!  Following that, we toured a family around the clinic and then headed across the street to catch the end of the dolphin show....what a treat!  The afternoon was spent walking to West End in the sunshine and relaxing on the beach soaking up sun, while all the rest of you back home were in the midst of a blizzard.  I'm terribly sorry!  (Not really....just slightly jealous!)

Not much is new in around the clinic since last time.  Over the holiday season it has been kind of slow because Dr. Rafael is on vacation until Monday, so we only had Dr. Raymond, a resident, and a med student to see patients.  Therefore, we were only seeing 20-25 patients a day instead of our typical 40 patients a day.  Now one would think with less patients, we would get done much earlier--nope! guess again!  Like Miss Peggy has said, we operate out of a box: if there is a lot of work to be done, they move through patients faster; if there is little work to be done, they move through them slower.  No getting done early for us!  Within the next few weeks and for the next month or two, things should start to pick up around the clinic and I am sure there will be many more stories to be told.  Not to worry, I will keep you posted :)

xoxo

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas to all!  While Christmas wasn't quite the same for me this year, it definately will be one to remember.  My Christmas really came a week early with a surprise visit from my parents.  It was Wednesday afternoon, we had gotten done with clinic early that day, and Peggy said that she needed to go to the airport to pick up some packages and wanted to know if I wanted to go along for the ride, she was going to stop at the grocery store as well.  So I thought, why not, I have nothing better to do.  As we walked into the airport, I had in my mind we were picking up packages, so we would find them at the continental office.  Out of customs walks this guys that looks like my dad, but no, what would he be doing in Roatan?!  And besides, he just kept walking right on by.  Bt wait, am I just seeing things, or is that mom right behind him?!?  It can't be can it??  Needless to say, it took me a minute to register what I was seeing, I was left speechless, very surprised, and excited to see them!  So began my Christmas.  Over the course of the next 6 days, we would work at the clinic, tour the east end of the island, take a water taxi into the mangroves, eat seafood on the beach as the sun sets, cook together, eat together, and just simply enjoy one anothers company.  Wonderful!  I love my parents...and my whole family!
Over this past week, there was one incident at the clinic that has really stuck with me and will remain with me forever.  There were these 3 little kids, all brothers and sisters- a 12 yr old boy, a 7 or 8 yr old girl, and a 2 or 3 year old boy.  The 2 boys needed to be seen by the doctor and the sister was just along with them.  The kids looked so sad and you could tell that the little boy could use a diaper change.  Upon bringing them into the triage room, I realized they didn't have any parents with them.  When I asked them where their parents were, the 12 yr old answered by saying their mom was in Coxen Hole.  Oh no, this is not good news for them.  We are not allowed to see patients at the clinic without some adult with them.  My mom and I finished triaging them, I confirmed with Dr. Rafael that we could not see them, and then I told the receptionist this.  She then told me that the mom was just out in the car.  Ok, these kids will get to be seen.  However, when Dr. Rafael went out to get them, they had no parents.  He came back in to tell me their parents had left and we will not be able to see them.  Are you serious?  These kids look and sound sick, how can we not treat them.  But, we must follow protocol.  After a few minutes, the receptionist comes up to me and says that Dr. Rafael has agreed to see the children, if I am willing to go with them.  Of course I will!  So, when it was again their turn, I went out to get them and my heart just melted.  Here, a couple women that had been sitting on the porch of the clinic with their own kids, are changing the little boy's diaper, they had gotten them all a pastelita and juice.  What stong sense of community and family they were showing to these kids that none of them knew!  Into the doctor's office I went with my sick children.  The older boy had been having fever and chills, not eating well, and headaches-- he will need to go get some labs done to test for malaria and dengue fever.  When he was brought back to the clinic with his labs, again he was alone so I took him in and the results showed positive for malaria.  A course of medications and he should be as good as new.  The little boy came in with a nasty cough, runny nose, and fussy-- turns out he had croup and bronchitis.  A few antibiotics and he, too, will hopefully be set to go.  I am soo happy that we were able to help these children.  It really made my day.  Then after clinic that day, we had a Christmas party for the kids.  When we walked out of clinic to all the kids anxiously awaiting, here were those 3 children sitting off to the side under a tree waiting for their ride-- but also, they were on the outside looking in.  I couldn't just leave them there, so I immediately went over to them and invited them to join in the party.  Then when their ride got their, I made sure their parents and pastor understood the medications, I got the kids some cookies and sent them on their way.  Oh what a blessing those kids were to me that day.  It made me sad to see them there alone and fending for themselves (to some degree), but they are the reason I love doing what I am doing!
Christmas Eve I was able to go out on the dock to soak up some sun, so it didn't quite seem like Christmas, but it was nice none the less.  Along with soaking up some sun, we met up with a group that was doing a food drive on the island and went into the Colonia to deliver bags of food to families.  Four vehicles went into the colonia, each with 75 bags of food; what a different way to spend Christmas.  We have so much that I think we forget just how much others don't have, especially on the holidays.  As I talked to people in the colonia asking them what they were doing for Christmas, a common response was nothing, we have no money this year.  How sad!  They didn't have gifts, they didn't have food, the whole spirit of the season just really seemed to be gone.
Then Christmas day was filled with some adventures and lessons!  A volunteer was coming in at 1:15 so I went to the airport along with one of the boys from the colonia and another volunteer.  We waited for nearly an hour before her flight finally landed at 1:45.  After greeting her, we headed out to the truck, got all loaded up, only to find that the truck didn't want to start.  Great!  Why don't we try popping the clutch?  Ok, sounds good to me.  So Heather, Moises, and Johanna got out to give me a push, but no such luck.  Well, let's try the jumper cables.  I'll go get Paul, a guy I knew that was at the airport.  As we are hooking up the jumper cables, it is starting to rain and the cables don't have rubber on the handles so they risked getting electrocuted to hook them up.  Attempt #2 at starting the truck?  Unsuccessful!  So we called Dee and him and his friend came to help us get it started.  Turns out that in order to pop the clutch, you have to be in 2nd gear, and release the clutch and push on the gas after being given a push.  Who knew?!  So we go to leave the airport only to kill the engine and we need to pop the clutch again.  Now onto the gas station.  It at the top of a hill and I know that there are arrows on the ground marking which way you are supposed to drive into the lanes, but by the time I got up there it was too late to change lanes.  Oh well, it's Christmas, so not many people are out needing gas right?  Well the guy working the pump wants me to change lanes, but I inform him the only way to start my truck is by giving it a push.  So he reluctantly fills up with gas and then waits for us to go.  Since I was waiting for Dee to pay he tells me he can give me a push.  Here I am sitting at the top of a hill that leads right into the main road and this guy wants to push me down it...are you serious?!  Down we went!  But, the first 2 times weren't quite enough for me, so I didn't quite remember all the steps to popping the clutch so let's just say a perfect hill and spot for it and I failed....oops!  Alright, 3rd times a charm.  Truck in 2nd gear, check! Clutch released after getting a push, check!  Lots of gas, check! And we're off- this vehicle isn't stopping until we get home!  Now, not only do I know how to drive a stick shift, but I know how to pop a clutch on one as well- and I thought I was only going to learn things about nursing while volunteering :)
Well, I hope everyone is having a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!  As much as I wish I could be home celebrating with each and every one of you, I know that this year God has been using me in other ways.  Take some time to look around and count your blessings.  Look at this holiday season not for the consumerism, but for the true meaning of Christmas- the birth of our Lord, Jesus.
Merry Christmas!  Happy Holidays!
xoxo

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas

Christmas tree at the Cruise Ship Port

Christmas is starting to hit full force....in all forms (fortunately and unfortunately).  Christmas lights are starting to pop up here and there; while there aren't (and probably won't be) many, there are some and they are exciting to see.  Saturday afternoon, I went with Bob and Debi into Coxen Hole where there was supposed to be a parade followed by time with Santa and a Christmas tree lighting.  Well, as like most things here, it started fashionably late, the parade which was supposed to start the festivities, ended up being halfway through the festivities, and there were bits of chaos.  The tree lighting of course wouldn't take place until dark, but since I had another function to get to (yes, believe it or not I had something on my schedule!), we did not get to see the lighting.  The part that we did get to see though, was quite exciting.  There is a lady, Debra, living here on the island that used to be a music teacher in California.  She now works with children on the island and runs a steel drum band.  That was pretty cool.  If I figure out how to add videos on here, I will put up a video of it!  Following this, I went with Miss Peggy and the staff of the clinic to a Rotarian Christmas Gala.  It was a nice social evening, filled with delicious food and good company.  There were some raffles and auctions that also took place.  One of the items being raffled off was a tour of the RECO, the electric company.  I tried to get Alison, our administrator, to bid on it for a field trip for the clinic staff, but she wouldn't.....darnit!  It ended up going for $250- aka, probably not in our budget :p ; guess we will just have to go for a free tour sometime haha.  Christmas festivities continued on Sunday with a Caroling Christmas Party at Debra's house.  There were probably a dozen of us that gathered together and sang Christmas carols for an hour, ate appetizers, chili, bread, and desserts, while drinking some hot cider (all homemade!)-- what a wonderful evening we had!

The Steel Drum Band

While we had a great weekend filled with Christmas festivities, there were also some downfalls to the weekend.  During the 2 hrs that we left to take some people to the airport on Saturday in the early afternoon, our home was broken into and robbed.  Out of the 3 of us, Jess was hit the hardest as she lost all of her electronics, where as I only lost some jewelry and a phone, and we all lost some food.  Someone's eating good right now!  I guess things could have been worse and we remain hopeful that maybe some of the stuff will get returned, but it was only material things that walked away and life will go on.  After all, material things are simply that and they are purely here for comfort.  The day will come when we are at our judgment and we will not have these things with us; what we will have are all those things that we have learned, all the actions that we have performed, and the journey that we took.  What does your slate look like if judgment day came tomorrow?  Would it be full of material things that are no longer there?  Or would there be experiences, actions, and lessons learned that you are proud of?  In this time of advent, this time of preparation for the birth of Jesus, are we prepared to readily greet Him at any moment?  What is standing between you and Him?  Is it something that you can change?  Think about it- it's worth some thought.

Clinic life hasn't brought about anything too exciting this past week.  More of the typical diabetes, hypertension patients with various other things throughout the week.  Saw another machete cut today...this one was a few days old and unfortunately infected :(  The girl was 14 yrs old and this was her first time ever coming to the doctor- wouldn't you know, first time in and she had to get a shot.  Bummer!  Luckily she had my good steady hand and I think it was pretty much pain free.  Hopefully her infection will heal up quickly as the cut was on her foot and it is preventing her from being able to walk :(  English tutoring is continuing at the school, bringing with it it's continued challenges.  The part that we find most frustrating is that these kids do not have the basics of the english language down, yet they are trying to learn information that would be taught at a 3rd grade level.  While I feel like we should/need to be working on the basics, she has all this homework that is not getting done so I also feel like we should be working on that.  Some days I feel like we make progress, and then other days I feel like we get nowhere.  Since I work with her for only 2 hrs a week, there is only so much that I can do.  The other frustrating thing is that the teacher is Honduran and has very poor written (and therefore probably spoken) english-- meaning, that they kids are probably hearing a bit more spanish in class then they are supposed to be.  When we get to school in the afternoons we will see the kids and they are of course speaking to one another in spanish.  No matter how many times we remind them to speak in english, they always revert back to spanish.  Sometimes I question how much effort they put into practicing their english.  Are they benefiting from the education that they are paying for and receiving?  I can only hope and pray that some day this will all pay off and benefit them.  For now, I guess we will just keep doing what we're doing and see what happens.

News tells me that the Viking dome has collapsed in, the giant Christmas tree in Sioux Falls was blown over from the blizzard, and snow is everywhere!  I wish I could say the same about here (at least the snow bit) but the only thing we have collapsing here are the waves upon themselves!  This weekend we were blessed with very nice weather.....up into the 80s!  Can't really complain about that (except when you love the winter and are ready for a change in seasons....I'm not sure how someone could live in the same season year round...I sure can't!).

Today I got my visa renewed for another 3 months, so looks like I'll be staying here for a while!  Hope you are all staying warm!  I'll work on my tan a little extra hard, just for all of you ;)