I’m very sad that the three-week milestone is already here. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been here for that long, just as it’s hard for me to believe that in a week and a half I’ll be back to the drudgery of university life.
My time here has been everything I expected and more. I’m getting to see so much more of Honduran culture than I’ve ever seen of any other culture when I’m traveling. I used to wonder what the appeal of traveling was to people – to me, it meant long hours on tour buses, smiling photos in front of obscure landmarks, and unfamiliar hotels. My month in Honduras has showed me what traveling is really about: taking the time to live and learn in a foreign location with different cultures, perspectives, and expectations. I’m glad that I’ve had the chance to interact with patients both in and out of the clinic and to see how they live. The population in Honduras, I’ve learned, is very courteous – a personality trait often lacking in California, where time and patience are in short supply. I’ve also had the chance to meet a lot of locals through church here, and I’ve learned that islanders are very religious people.
I’ve really enjoyed my work in the clinic. It’s really great to be able to help patients get the care they need. This week, one particularly complicated case involved rapidly spreading pneumonia – subsequent x-rays show a drastic diffusion of liquid through the lungs within a span of 3 days. I remember screening and admitting the patient, and I saw them again in the wards as I accompanied the doctors on rounds. I had to travel to Dixon Cove, about a 15 minute drive, to the Galaxy Ferry office to get them tickets, and hitchhiked back because I wasn’t able to get a taxi. I was just glad to be able to help them in their situation.
In my last two weekends here, I am determined to make the most of my time. Tomorrow, a group of 10 volunteers and American workers are going on a shark dive – that is, a dive where they feed the sharks right in front of you. The weekend after that – my last weekend – we plan on going to La Ceiba, the port city closest to Roatan. I’m excited to see other parts of Honduran culture; Roatan has a very distinctive island culture that is not completely representative of the mainland culture. I’ve also heard of a nearby island called Helena, which is a small undeveloped island of 900 people with no roads and no cars. Last week, at the Parrot Tree church, I met a group of medical workers who had built a clinic there and was serving the population there, which was essentially all the descendents of 5 slave families that had been left there a few generations ago. It sounded like a very different place, and I’m sad that I won’t have the time to visit the island before I leave.
