April 25, 2010: Week 3
I knew watching episode after episode of the dog whisperer with mi madre would pay off some day. I finally stood up to the dog that always starts the barking and nipping at me during my morning run. This is who Cesar Millan calls the pack header haha. In order to counter the dogs dominance in my deepest and manliest voice I yelled stop over and over again until the dog looked confused and just walked away haha…but it worked! I no longer run down the beach with a huge stick looking like a crazy gringo.
Raul's internship at Global healing ended yesterday so hes working for Miss Peggy this week before he leaves which means yesterday was my first day at work alone. It was pretty awesome. We were really busy and saw 25 patients. The air conditioning was broken so I was no joke dripping sweat the whole time. The most startling and sad case we saw today was a young boy with a brain tumor. Global healing puts aside money for special cases like this to send them to the main land, so we worked out a time to send the boy to La Ceiba. His cancer had metastasized (in the later phases, and spread throughout his body), really sad to see. He was only 5 years old with the biggest smile and brightest eyes.
After work I decided to explore Coxen Hole where the hospital is located. I found some wonderful cheap fruit and vegetable stands with pineapple, mango, cucumber, avocado and lettuce. My body has completely adapted to the flora on the island so I tend to eat whatever I want. Because the island is so small I ran into more than 5 patients and their children as well as the girl that lives across the street from me who I make lunch for when her mother is at work.
I went to bed verrryy late last night around 10:30pm haah so I could not wake up for my usual 5am work out. I ran mid day today around 2pm and will never do it again. It was so hott I felt like the sun was burning my soul hahah. I then ran into Jose who lives next door and speaks broken English to me and I speak broke Spanish to him. He always brings something crazy with him or shows me something crazy. Yesterday he climbed up a 40-foot tall cocoanut tree to show me how to pick cocoanuts. He then tried to show me how to straighten my arms and use my toes to propel myself up the tree. I tried for about 10 minutes and climbed about 10 feet up the tree before I realized what I was doing and quickly feel off. The cocoanut milk and skin were not as sweet as the ones I drank in Costa Rica or the states, they had a very unique sour and tart flavor….very good. Today Jose brought over some bamboo looking stuff and kept repeating caña, caña, caña. This went on for probably way too long before he finally yelled azúcar and I realized he was trying to say sugar cane. He shaved the hard shell off and showed me how to bite off the top, chew up the sugar water and spit out the rest. It was delicious and tasted exactly as expected but in its purest form of sugar water.
In the evening Sain, Raul and I started cooking food to celebrate Maddies's 22nd birthday. I not so stealthily quizzed her on all of her favorite things in life last night like what would your favorite day be like and favorite food, drink, what do you miss most from the states etc? I found out her favorite things are breakfast for dinner pancakes, bacon and eggs and loves sauvignon blanc wine, misses kiwi, and grapes, and bonfires with smores so we did all of that for her. I almost bought a Hannah Montana pinata for her but unfortunately because I am a gringo they tried to sell it for $40 which is more than the states. I was very tempted. Very tempted.
Fortunately breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite things as well so I ate until I could not move then started on the smores and wine. We shared our favorite music, movies and books. I started to make a list and am very excited to venture into the world of nerdy sci fi books. I started with Ender’s game and loved it…..neeed moreeeee!
Today the Roatan Hospital had a 4 hour non stop conference on Malaria (all in Spanish) in a 20 by 20 room packed with doctors. I can’t sit still for more than 20 minutes at a time so expectedly after a half hour I panicked and left the room to take a breather. I tried to contain myself after that and focused on Spanish words I could not understand. This lasted for about 2 hours until I started to fall asleep. I have learned a very valuable lesson and will not be attending any more of these conferences. Dang ADHD. Today is my very first day off in the afternoon. I have no idea what to do with myself but am pretty sure it involves a long nap and Jane Austen (you would be proud Tony).
