My name is Amanda Schwartz and I just finished my first year of
medical school at Stanford. I’m originally from a suburb of New York
City and I also attended Stanford as an undergrad. I’ve studied
Chinese for most of my life but decided to begin studying Spanish in
medical school. I’m thrilled to be spending this summer as a HEAL
intern!
After two flights, one two-hour delay, and a nearly-missed connection,
I arrived on Roatan yesterday afternoon! The island is absolutely,
breathtakingly beautiful. Peggy Stranges (who runs Clinica Esperanza)
and a friend met me at the airport and drove me back to Peggy’s
apartment, where I’ll be staying for the next four weeks. On the way
home we stopped by Clinica Esperanza, where Peggy gave me a brief
overview and tour of her clinic. I must say I’m really impressed with
everything she has set up here—there is a dentist and pharmacy
on-site, and they are in the process of opening a pediatric in-patient
unit. It definitely seems like a wonderful place and one that is much
appreciated by the islanders.
Last night mostly consisted of unpacking, figuring out how to check my
e-mail, finding something to eat for dinner, and meeting the other
interns who are also here volunteering at Peggy’s clinic. Right now
there are a total of 6 of us here, but people will be rotating on and
off throughout my time here. The current interns have been great in
terms of showing me the ropes, including helping me do my first
grocery shopping (items purchased: Corn Flakes, white bread, and an
avocado!) and explaining how to negotiate for a reasonable price with
taxi cab drivers. I tried my first baleada, which is sort of like a
quesadilla but with a thicker tortilla shell. I’m looking forward to
shopping at the larger grocery store in Coxen Hole this week as
well…I’m not sure my current food supply will sustain me for too long!
After some much-needed sleep, I met up with three other interns this
morning and took a cab to West End, which is a hub of dive shops and
small cafes/restaurants about a ten-minute drive from Sandy Bay. Two
interns had scheduled a scuba diving lesson, and myself and one other
intern decided to snorkel, so the four of us spent about three hours
out on the water. I have done some snorkeling in the past, but
nothing compares to this—we saw probably 25 different kinds of fish,
plus lots of beautiful coral. The water is very clear and calm—I can
understand completely why Roatan is such a maven for divers. Our two
scuba divers had a great time and successfully completed their first
dives—in addition to fish and coral, they saw eels as well (although
sadly no turtles, which had been their goal)! After our trip we
headed back up to Sandy Bay for lunch and managed to watch the
U.S.-Brazil soccer game on TV—things were looking up for the U.S. at
half-time but sadly Brazil won in the end.
It is really hot, although there seems to be a breeze moving in
tonight, which will be nice. I’ve been told I’ll acclimate quickly to
the heat-- I'm hopeful that is true!
Tomorrow morning I’m meeting the current HEAL intern at hospital
publico to begin my training. I’m nervous and excited to see what
tomorrow will hold. The hospital is about a ten-minute taxi drive
from my apartment—this will be my first time going somewhere on my
own—I think I will spend some time tonight brushing up on my Spanish
vocabulary! I will update soon with information on how my first week
goes. In the meantime, here is a picture taken a few minutes ago from
my balcony.
