Week Three
So writing once a week seems to work the best for me. This week has been full of many changes and new opportunities. I have now moved from the community dorm I was living in and am now living in a house in Cuidad Sandino. My house is about a 15 minute walk from the community, so it's not a long commute. Another volunteer also moved in right next door to me on the same day, so I at least have a bit of my own community right next door. I am living with a woman and her grown son. The room is small, but it is really nice to have my own space. I also get to pretty much have the use of my own bathroom and shower. While they are a bit rustic, everything is functional and clean, which is saying a lot in this country. The first night I was sleeping there I saw a HUGE spider, and if you know me well you know I don't do well with such animal life. Although, I have come to
accept that this spider lives in the house, and I have even named her
Gertrude. I eat breakfast and dinner at the house, and I eat lunch at the foundation. It's been a nice transition. Accross the street from my house live lots of relatives of my family and so we are always going back and forth. They have repeatedly told me that their house is my house, so I am always welcome. They also own a Pulperia, which is a very small convenience store out of the front of their house, so there are always many folks hanging out. In this large group there are at least four children. I have found them easiest to talk to because they are willing to slow down and talk to me with my limited spanish. Unfortunately, many of the adults where I live speak with an accent that I find challenging to understand. I find it a bit frustrating and flustering, but I am slowly being able to understand more words everyday.
Work this week was also a welcome change. Tonight there is a delegation of doctor's arriving from Alaska, so we have been frantically working all week to not only finish one of the rooms in the new clinic, but I was working to make the old clinic more presentable, or 'gringo-fied' as it has been put. I helped to organize patient files and my favorite job of the week was learning about the pharmacy in the clinic. The pharmacy gives out free medication to people who come to see the doctors at the clinic. I
believe that a doctors visit itself is cheap, less than two dollars, and they medicine is free. (Although two dollars is not considered cheap here.) There are two pharmacists, although at times they get backed up and need assistance. I began working with them this week to fill prescriptions and to get trained for next week when there will be many doctors and many more medications that will need to be filled. I enjoyed learning this new part of life here and I am looking forward to next week when we will surely be busy!
I also got to co-teach an English class this week at a school that is
nearby the community. A Nicaraguan friend of mine teaches an English class and he had to be out for the day so my friend Emily and I took over. I enjoy teaching, so it was a great opportunity, we had a lot of fun doing it.
I also had the opportunity to go out and experience Nicaragua in the
evening this week. On Sunday Emily and I went with a friend for coffee in Managua and then we went to a concert at a library in the nearby town of Linda Vista. It was a neat experience. I am glad to be interacting more with the larger community and feeling like I am experiencing what Nicaragua has to offer. Today was a busy day because one of the staff here is pregnant and her due date is a month from now. We spent the morning getting things ready and around lunch people came over to have a baby shower for her. The upcoming week is going to be busy, but exciting. There will be four doctors, one of whom is a surgeon, another a general practioner, another a gynocologist and the last specializes in....something I can't remember. But I think it will be a great service to the community to have all these talents for the week. I will write next week to let everyone know how it went.
accept that this spider lives in the house, and I have even named her
Gertrude. I eat breakfast and dinner at the house, and I eat lunch at the foundation. It's been a nice transition. Accross the street from my house live lots of relatives of my family and so we are always going back and forth. They have repeatedly told me that their house is my house, so I am always welcome. They also own a Pulperia, which is a very small convenience store out of the front of their house, so there are always many folks hanging out. In this large group there are at least four children. I have found them easiest to talk to because they are willing to slow down and talk to me with my limited spanish. Unfortunately, many of the adults where I live speak with an accent that I find challenging to understand. I find it a bit frustrating and flustering, but I am slowly being able to understand more words everyday.
Work this week was also a welcome change. Tonight there is a delegation of doctor's arriving from Alaska, so we have been frantically working all week to not only finish one of the rooms in the new clinic, but I was working to make the old clinic more presentable, or 'gringo-fied' as it has been put. I helped to organize patient files and my favorite job of the week was learning about the pharmacy in the clinic. The pharmacy gives out free medication to people who come to see the doctors at the clinic. I
believe that a doctors visit itself is cheap, less than two dollars, and they medicine is free. (Although two dollars is not considered cheap here.) There are two pharmacists, although at times they get backed up and need assistance. I began working with them this week to fill prescriptions and to get trained for next week when there will be many doctors and many more medications that will need to be filled. I enjoyed learning this new part of life here and I am looking forward to next week when we will surely be busy!
I also got to co-teach an English class this week at a school that is
nearby the community. A Nicaraguan friend of mine teaches an English class and he had to be out for the day so my friend Emily and I took over. I enjoy teaching, so it was a great opportunity, we had a lot of fun doing it.
I also had the opportunity to go out and experience Nicaragua in the
evening this week. On Sunday Emily and I went with a friend for coffee in Managua and then we went to a concert at a library in the nearby town of Linda Vista. It was a neat experience. I am glad to be interacting more with the larger community and feeling like I am experiencing what Nicaragua has to offer. Today was a busy day because one of the staff here is pregnant and her due date is a month from now. We spent the morning getting things ready and around lunch people came over to have a baby shower for her. The upcoming week is going to be busy, but exciting. There will be four doctors, one of whom is a surgeon, another a general practioner, another a gynocologist and the last specializes in....something I can't remember. But I think it will be a great service to the community to have all these talents for the week. I will write next week to let everyone know how it went.
posted by Emily at 2:03 PM
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