Recientamente

This past week has been good. After my huge post-fest last Monday, I haven't been back to Pana until today so I haven't been able to update the blog at all this week. And I lost my cord that connects my camera to the computer, so I'm going to have to wait to upload more pictures until I get back to the US and can get a new one.

On Tuesday last week I went with the group to Jaibalito, a little town right on the lake. We saw about 25 patients in 3 or 4 hours. There had been some issues with Jaibalito in the recent past. There was a woman there who was neglecting her child and the resulting malnourishment was enough to cause the medical folks to suggest if she didn't shape up her baby might be taken away. Well, she took this as a direct threat and retaliated by spreading rumors that we were all baby stealers. Two weeks ago hardly any patients came. But, thank goodness, the uproar seems to have subsided and we did see a fair number of folks this past week. The thing is, you just have to approach interventions and such in a different way in this culture.

Wednesday is normally a class/lecture day, but this past Wednesday the clinic in Santa Cruz was so busy that Craig had us seeing patients instead. It was good. We each saw several during the morning. I even got to diagnose pregnancy in one nice lady. She was excited I think.

Thursday I went to Tzununa. So it was two new outreach clinics for me in one week - pretty cool. The clinic in Tzununa is held (while the centro de salud is under construction) in a school house up the hill from the lake. We were seeing patients while the kids were reciting Spanish textbooks in unison. It was kindof neat. The kids are adorable.

Friday was a little different this week. Every year a group of dentists from California comes down for 3 days of free dental clinic in Tzununa. Craig organizes the whole thing from the Guatemalan end. A group of the students (myself included) got up early and transported a ton of gear from Santa Cruz over to Tzununa and set up the school house for dentistry work. There were two dental exam chairs, and a bunch of kinks to work out - their "unidades" (the things that hold the handheld water/air guns, etc) were a bit of a challenge to get working, but we managed eventually and all told saw 31 patients on Friday. It was a lot of cavity removal and filling, tooth extractions, and prevention education. By the afternoon, Dr. Ed taught Peyton and I how to do dental cleanings with the little buzzy machine you've all probably experienced at your dentists office. It's really pretty easy once you get the hang of it. We cleaned 4 patients' teeth.

Saturday morning, Pman and I went over to San Marcos to climb. It was an incredibly beautiful morning and we got in a bunch of laps on the two routes they have there. One of them is supposedly 5.9 and the other 5.10. Both are pretty short, but reasonably fun for crumbly limestone climbing. I was able to lead both this go 'round, which I was very pleased with. After climbing we headed home, said goodbye to Riley who had to leave suddenly due to a family issue, and made our way to Santiago.

Santiago is having their Fiesta this week. It's basically like the state fair on a smaller and more rickety scale. But the same idea: people wandering around aimlessley, some drunks, lots of street food, and a few rides, the most prominent of which is the large ferris wheel. We rode it once. It goes pretty fast and the chairs are a little sketch (you can lean forward and almost make them tip over!). Probably the highlight of last night was dinner at the Posada de Santiago. Man, their food is incredible. P and I of course both got the lomito de res (tenderloin) con queso azul (blue cheese), which is amazing. We had dinner with one of Peyton's friends from the Hospitalito, Kent. He is a family doc from U Penn. It was an interesting dinner.

We stayed the night at a cheap hotel in town - most everywhere was price gouging for the fiesta, so it took some looking to find a decently priced place. But it was fine. This morning we went for a run out on the road to the Hospitalito and beyond. Now we're in Panajachel doing some internet work and working on a few presentations we're giving tomorrow morning at clinic. Then it's off to eat some Empanadas - you cannot come to Pana without getting some! - and then grab some vegetables from the market before heading back to Santa Cruz.

I have quite a few decent photos of the dental clinic, climbing in San Marcos, etc that I'll upload when I get back to the US and get a new cord for my camera.

Just three days to go and then we're headed back to the US. We are going to travel Thursday to Guatemala City and then get up Friday morning to catch our respective flights. We had considered leaving Wednesday afternoon for Antigua so we could spend Thursday hanging out there, but that would cost more money and there's not too terribly much to do there other than look at stuff and eat/drink, so I think I'm going to save Antigua for another trip.