7.5.2010

I think today was my least favorite day of the whole trip. Botanical gardens sounds so exotic. Yeah, not in the oogly boogly jungle. I got to sleep in until like 7am this morning... such a treat. :) I didn't shower after we got back from Boqete, so I hopped in this morning. It was freezing! I attempted to shave my legs, and it worked at first... and then i got goosebumps. So long smooth legs. We've all given up on trying to be girly and pretty. As soon as you walk outside you look and feel nasty.

Our dress code changes on a daily basis, and today was walking shorts and polos with tennis shoes. Well, after that hike, my right foot doesn't fit into my shoes anymore. So, I wore flip flops to the gardens,. It didn't work out very well, but there's was nothing I could do. The mud was extremely slippery and the hike was almost 2 miles from the road. I wish I could say that the plants and flowers were worth the hike and it was fun... not so much.
When we got there we were introduced to the doctors and midwives that ran the whole thing. Then we had to hike up a giant hill just to look at some plants that looked the same as all the other plants. It's not like a garden in the US. The plants are on a hill amongst every other plant that grows there... weeds included.
After a trip all the way around the village we went to the meeting house, which is basically just a covered cement slab. Thankfully, they had plastic chairs for us to sit in. The next hour was filled with a Spanish doctor talking about how great he was... in Spanish. I stopped listening very early on; it was incredibly boring. As soon as he finished talking we all clapped, took a picture, and took off running to the bus. It rains every day starting from noon on, and I was not about to get rained on for the second day in a row. I was running out of clean dry clothes.
On the way back to the bus two twin brothers came up to me and started walking next to me. One reached out and grabbed my hand - Jose and Monerto. I eventually had to tear my hand away so they wouldn't try and get on the bus with us. Then it was back across the rickety old swing bridge. It was probably about 50 yards across and felt like it could fall at any moment. Then, when the people behind you start walking - the whole things bounces and you're sure you're going to fall off. Ew. I didn't like that.
We made it to the bus without getting wet - and then it was back to the compound to listen to a lecture from El Padre that runs this joint. On our way back to the bus Jim (one of our faculty) fell in the mud. When he got back to the bus he looked at his arm that he hit on the way down and there was a huge hematoma... and it was growing. It was probably the size of half a tennis ball. What great company he was in though - with all these gorgeous and smart nurses. We rapped him, and he's doing fine. :) We need him to be fine - he speaks Spanish!
I took a nap after we got back - and we've been working on our final presentations ever since. So, not a very exciting day. Tomorrow we're presenting to the doctors and nurses and health staff that work in this area.
I'm very ready to come home. I don't even really want to go back to Ciudad del Saber. I just want to be back in the states.

**Daddy, when I come home... can you please cook me a steak and tons of veggies. And whatever you make, please, NO RICE!!!

**Gracie Brand: you would be so upset if you saw the animals down here. I saw a horse today whose back was raw with tons of ulcers on it where the saddle had been left. All the animals are stick thin and the kids kick and hit them often. :( Don't come to Panama, unless you plan to adopt more pets! :)
One more day in this town. Yay!