Thursday, October 29, 2009
El Laboratorio
The school kids are now out for the year on their summer break...which means, we have very few patients. That in combination with a surplus of volunteers and medical students has left me plenty of time for branching out from the Nurse Practitioner role in the clinic. Jen and I have now taken over what we so lovingly refer to as "the poop lab." We anlayze urine for infection and pregnancy, vaginal dc wetpreps for yeast/BV/trich, feces for parasites, and blood for RBC and hemoglobin level. We are working on figuring out how to do a CBC, but we're still coming out a bit inaccurate...everytime one of us bravely donates a blood sample, we either end up having leukemia (way too many WBCs) or typhoid (way too few)! The lab is also loaded with awesome books on parasite identification and descriptions. I have learned to love the lab and am now hoping to apply to an infectious disease course in Lima, Puru. Not for a while though. The program doesn't have any openings for another year and a half. If you are curious about what the parasites look like under the microscope or if you want the scoop on the scary things they do inside of us, check out my earlier now-updated entry entitled "A Whole New World."
Monday, October 5, 2009
The 17 hour hike...yeah there aren't 17 hours of daylight in Xela
Early Sunday morning, my friends and I got together to a hike to the Santa Agito crater. However, as the thick clouds rolled in, we decided on a different hike. This other hike usually involves about two hours of walking through the city and climbing a smaller mountain until you get to a spill of old volcanic rock and boulders. Once you get to the rocks, you scramble over them for about 2 or 3 hours until you get to a cave at the top of the mountain, Candelabra. You climb up through the cave and come out to see one of the most amazing views of Xela and the surrounding towns that Guate has to offer. Round-trip, the hike usually takes about 7-8 hours.
This time, the trip took 17 hours! Why, you might ask? Never ever take a person on a high hike who has not adjusted to the altitude and who you have never been on a hike with before. My poor friend had just arrived from the states about 6 days before the hike and consequently hadn't gotten the necessary 2-4wks to make enough RBCs to compensate for low oxygen level in the air here. We got to the top caves all right, granted very slowly, but on the way back down, my friend started shaking and saying she had no energy left in her body. Eventually my other friend, Zack, had to half-carry, half-drag her over the boulders, which this time took about 6 hours. We stopped midway to wait for the moonlight to come out (gracias a Dios we had a full moon that night!) and then fought our way through the sharp, jagged dried lava by the light of the moon. The highlight of the hike occured around 11pm, when we finally made it up one of the highest points of rock, which we thought was our destination point from which we could start heading back down again. Unfortunately all we saw at the top of the peak was a gaping 100ft void surrounding us on 3 sides. We had to turn around and start backtracking and then reclimb another intensely high ridge. In the words of one of my Georgian friends here, "Geez, oh man!" I was pooped, but felt even worse for my friend who at this point wasn't making any sense and was shaking all over. Throughout it all, I do have to say that the view of the city lights and the still mountains as clouds silently swept through and around the peaks was breathtakeningly stunning. Because I never thought I'd be doing a moonlight hike over shards of volcanic rock, the experience was especially awing. Now that we are all safe and sound, I am thankful for the experience...all 17 hours of it! When we finally made it back to the road in the wee morning hours, we walked the rest of the hour into town and finished off a few plates of delicious street food before collapsing in our beds and hitting a coma-like sleep in minutes.
The next day, today, I met my friend in the clinic and I am happy to report that the same girl who seemed on her deathbed just a few hours ago in the night had perked up completely and was able to examine several new Womens Health patients all morning. I'm so proud of her! Lesson of the day...or night as it happened to become: when making hiking-buddies, start off with small hikes until you know peoples' abilities. I will never make that mistake again! Thank goodness we all made it back in one piece apart from a few bumps, scrapes and bruises :)
This time, the trip took 17 hours! Why, you might ask? Never ever take a person on a high hike who has not adjusted to the altitude and who you have never been on a hike with before. My poor friend had just arrived from the states about 6 days before the hike and consequently hadn't gotten the necessary 2-4wks to make enough RBCs to compensate for low oxygen level in the air here. We got to the top caves all right, granted very slowly, but on the way back down, my friend started shaking and saying she had no energy left in her body. Eventually my other friend, Zack, had to half-carry, half-drag her over the boulders, which this time took about 6 hours. We stopped midway to wait for the moonlight to come out (gracias a Dios we had a full moon that night!) and then fought our way through the sharp, jagged dried lava by the light of the moon. The highlight of the hike occured around 11pm, when we finally made it up one of the highest points of rock, which we thought was our destination point from which we could start heading back down again. Unfortunately all we saw at the top of the peak was a gaping 100ft void surrounding us on 3 sides. We had to turn around and start backtracking and then reclimb another intensely high ridge. In the words of one of my Georgian friends here, "Geez, oh man!" I was pooped, but felt even worse for my friend who at this point wasn't making any sense and was shaking all over. Throughout it all, I do have to say that the view of the city lights and the still mountains as clouds silently swept through and around the peaks was breathtakeningly stunning. Because I never thought I'd be doing a moonlight hike over shards of volcanic rock, the experience was especially awing. Now that we are all safe and sound, I am thankful for the experience...all 17 hours of it! When we finally made it back to the road in the wee morning hours, we walked the rest of the hour into town and finished off a few plates of delicious street food before collapsing in our beds and hitting a coma-like sleep in minutes.
The next day, today, I met my friend in the clinic and I am happy to report that the same girl who seemed on her deathbed just a few hours ago in the night had perked up completely and was able to examine several new Womens Health patients all morning. I'm so proud of her! Lesson of the day...or night as it happened to become: when making hiking-buddies, start off with small hikes until you know peoples' abilities. I will never make that mistake again! Thank goodness we all made it back in one piece apart from a few bumps, scrapes and bruises :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Mobile Clinic #2 : Bella Vista
Me with a patient
Zack with a captive audience
Part of the travel team en front of the school
The school
Rambuncious smiles of boys who begged me to take their foto on the walk home from clinic
Two of the Guatemalteca med students I work with: Eva and Dulce
The school's patio
Me with a patient
One of the cutest little ones had a big crush on this collegio estudiante
One of the sweetest families yet...the boy ran around the room the whole time, stopping only long enough to chat with each person, and the little girl spent the entire time in my lap :) FYI: the little boy is still running around the room and so did not make the pic!
The first school we visited was in Las Mojadas, where we completed heights, weights, physical exams, muestra sampling, and an educational preventative program with just over 400 niños! We also saw several walk-in patients on our last day. This next school, Bella Vista, has fewer students, about 160, and so we were able to zip right on through, finishing in just 2 days! Here are some pics:
Zack with a captive audience
Part of the travel team en front of the school
The school
Rambuncious smiles of boys who begged me to take their foto on the walk home from clinic
Two of the Guatemalteca med students I work with: Eva and Dulce
The school's patio
Me with a patient
One of the cutest little ones had a big crush on this collegio estudiante
One of the sweetest families yet...the boy ran around the room the whole time, stopping only long enough to chat with each person, and the little girl spent the entire time in my lap :) FYI: the little boy is still running around the room and so did not make the pic!
The first school we visited was in Las Mojadas, where we completed heights, weights, physical exams, muestra sampling, and an educational preventative program with just over 400 niños! We also saw several walk-in patients on our last day. This next school, Bella Vista, has fewer students, about 160, and so we were able to zip right on through, finishing in just 2 days! Here are some pics:
View from my second story room in hostel Pasado Adreas
Yes, I have to get up at 5am most of the time...but this view and a cup of coffee in my hands certainly make the wee morning hours more bearable!
More Pics of Santa Maria
My friends and I, slowly making our way up
My good friend Zack, AKA el buenisimo poop specialist en todo de Xela
Religious ceremonies at the top of the volcano inside of a cloud
A view from a lookout
Another pretty site
My good friend Zack, AKA el buenisimo poop specialist en todo de Xela
Religious ceremonies at the top of the volcano inside of a cloud
A view from a lookout
Another pretty site
The Guatemala Outside my Clinic
Obviously, the clinic is my primera passion aqui en Xela...however, I get home from the clinic around 2 everyday and always manage to pack a lot more into the day.
In the afternoons, I have a wonderful job in at Miguel Angel Austurias Spanish School, the same school where I learned Spanish in January. I am the student coordinator at MAA, which involves the grueling work of socializing with students from all over the world, taking students out salsa dancing, hiking up mountains and volcanoes with them, helping out with potlucks, answering phonecalls and emails, and much more...all things I can't believe I actually get paid for! Though the job does take quite a bit of my free time, I really enjoy meeting all the interesting students, making friends with all the Guatemalteca maestras, and helping out with the activities. It doesn't hurt that I make a whopping $1 per hour, which is actually just fine for me to live on!! I'd recommend this school to anyone.
Also, here's a little publicity for one of my good friends here. Karla is an intelligent, patient, university-certified teacher who would like to teach people Spanish over skype at the almost miniscuel rate of $10/hour. Karla is trying to put her daughter through collegia right now, which is fairly expensive, and so could use some extra financial support. Please email me (cstumpemory@yahoo.com) if you are interested or if you know anyone else who'se interested.
Apart from my school job and the clinic, I love to go hiking up the volcanoes that surround Xela. Each weekend a group of my friends and I set out for new and old climbs. No matter how many times I do the same mountain or volcano, I never get bored. Below are some pictures of my last climb up Santa Maria, from the top of which it is possible to see another volcano, Santa Agito, erupt. Que bueno ondo!
Other things I do include:
1.) cooking with the incredibly cheap fresh fruit and vegetables (I can buy a pound of blackberries or strawberries or a head of broccoli for 20 cents, and I can buy 4 red peppers for 50 cents...seriously, I'm in heaven!),
2.)salsa dancing,
3.)attending the various festivals, which are plentiful (it seems like there's something new to celebrate at least every week),
4.)watching pirated DVDs in español that haven't even come to theatre yet in the states,
5.)steam bathing,
6.)studying,
7.)playing soccer,
8.)taking crazy aerobics classes choreographed to loud Spanish hip-hop and pop music, that I can't get enough of, and
8.)participating in possibly the greatest game of all time, fuzball!
Everyday I can't help but be overwhelmed by how blessed I am to have this opportunity. Thanks to all my friends and family who've helped make this possible!
In the afternoons, I have a wonderful job in at Miguel Angel Austurias Spanish School, the same school where I learned Spanish in January. I am the student coordinator at MAA, which involves the grueling work of socializing with students from all over the world, taking students out salsa dancing, hiking up mountains and volcanoes with them, helping out with potlucks, answering phonecalls and emails, and much more...all things I can't believe I actually get paid for! Though the job does take quite a bit of my free time, I really enjoy meeting all the interesting students, making friends with all the Guatemalteca maestras, and helping out with the activities. It doesn't hurt that I make a whopping $1 per hour, which is actually just fine for me to live on!! I'd recommend this school to anyone.
Also, here's a little publicity for one of my good friends here. Karla is an intelligent, patient, university-certified teacher who would like to teach people Spanish over skype at the almost miniscuel rate of $10/hour. Karla is trying to put her daughter through collegia right now, which is fairly expensive, and so could use some extra financial support. Please email me (cstumpemory@yahoo.com) if you are interested or if you know anyone else who'se interested.
Apart from my school job and the clinic, I love to go hiking up the volcanoes that surround Xela. Each weekend a group of my friends and I set out for new and old climbs. No matter how many times I do the same mountain or volcano, I never get bored. Below are some pictures of my last climb up Santa Maria, from the top of which it is possible to see another volcano, Santa Agito, erupt. Que bueno ondo!
Other things I do include:
1.) cooking with the incredibly cheap fresh fruit and vegetables (I can buy a pound of blackberries or strawberries or a head of broccoli for 20 cents, and I can buy 4 red peppers for 50 cents...seriously, I'm in heaven!),
2.)salsa dancing,
3.)attending the various festivals, which are plentiful (it seems like there's something new to celebrate at least every week),
4.)watching pirated DVDs in español that haven't even come to theatre yet in the states,
5.)steam bathing,
6.)studying,
7.)playing soccer,
8.)taking crazy aerobics classes choreographed to loud Spanish hip-hop and pop music, that I can't get enough of, and
8.)participating in possibly the greatest game of all time, fuzball!
Everyday I can't help but be overwhelmed by how blessed I am to have this opportunity. Thanks to all my friends and family who've helped make this possible!
Semuc Champey
A few months ago, some friends of mine and I took a 13 hour bus ride to Semuc Champey from Xela. If you know me well, you know I can't sit still for longer than a few minutes, but I'm pleased to say that the incredibly long bus ride was completely worth it. Semuc Champey is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen! Granted I was in great company :)
Here's a view from the lookout, just a short 30 minute hike
Waterfalls and rivers in between pools
One of the many crystal green pools we swam in
Our sweet hostel, complete with rope swing (see pic above), mariachi bands, treehouses, and delicious food (the cook caught the fish we had for dinner 2 hours before we ate it!
Here's a view from the lookout, just a short 30 minute hike
Waterfalls and rivers in between pools
One of the many crystal green pools we swam in
Our sweet hostel, complete with rope swing (see pic above), mariachi bands, treehouses, and delicious food (the cook caught the fish we had for dinner 2 hours before we ate it!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
