Michelle Journal 1

Well, my first day in Honduras started out exciting because everyone was talking about the 7.1 earthquake that happened the night before I arrived. First I heard of it was on the runway in Houston when the pilot informed us that just in case we had enough gas to make it back to Texas if we can't land! I arrived safely and Andrea the previous intern was there to pick me up. The island appears OK with very minimal damage done to the infastructure although everyone was pretty shook up. The first thing that surprised me was how hot it is down here, I knew it would be hot but I wasn't at all prepared! The first day here, Andrea showed me around Sandy Bay and we went to West End and walked around a little bit. I love the island so far and everyone I have met has been extremely friendly. The first day at the hospital was amazing. I am glad that I kind of new what to expect, otherwise I would have been a little shocked by the seemingly chaotic and hot hospital. Andrea, and Dr. Mario are great at helping me get organized and get the hang of things. For the first couple of days I shadowed Dr. Mario while he did his newborn checkups. Dr. Mario is great about showing me everything he is doing and explaining to me what it means. Since I have yet to go to medschool, everything I get to see is facinating. Most of the kids coming in have respiratory infections, parasites, colds and a couple of them have chicken pox. I am practicing my medical spanish and learning new words everyday! I have one more day in the clinic with Andrea and then I take over with the new doctors who got here this morning. So far, minus the earthquake my time here has far surpassed what I was expecting!