Me and Katie with our Powerades. They look similar, but taste very different. Everything tastes different here!


Me with Panama City and the Pacific in the background!


My villa buddies. This was before our touristy day in downtown Panama City and the Panama Canal.



Me in front of the Police station at Cuidad del Saber

I'll post more when I can. I have tons of pictures of us in the villages... it just takes so long to upload them and the internet here keeps cutting out.

~Morg

Yay for internet and an attempt at pictures!

Hola! I got to use my computer to log onto the internet - so I posted all the blogs I've written this past week. I'm sorry they're so long (and probably repetative), I don't have time to edit them. I'm trying to put up some pictures, but it's taking so long to upload them, I doubt it's going to work.

Today was our last clinical day in the clinics in this area. We spent the day in Alto Caballero at a health fair. There were hundreds of people there. We did so much. We did immunizations, IVs, heights, weights, PAP smears, blood pressures... the lot. It was fun. There were a lot of very sick babies in respiratory distress from the flu, we think. Some of them ended up going to the hospital because they weren't responding anymore.

There's a lot to say about today, but not enough time on the internet and dinner's going to be ready soon. And I already know what it'll be: arroz con pollo. We stopped at the store today and I got apples. They'll be the first fruit I've had since we left. Yikes!

Unfortunately I can't post any photos right now. I'll try again later. Talk to you soon.

P.S. Dad, I tried to call you guys the past 2 days and the calls wont go through. :/

6.29.2010

Today was the breaking point. There have been no tears, no real fights or hissy fits so far. They're in the near future. There are 80 natives staying at the compound with us, which makes for over 100 people in this place. Room wise, it's not bad. There's a huge room that houses all the girls from our group only and we all have enough space to be away from each other a little bit. The guys, unfortunately there's only 3 of them, have to share their giant room with whatever men are staying here at the time. This is the second different group. The poor guys room smells awful, and the men are very disrespectful and rude to Eli, Robert, and Josh. They keep the lights on and talk and carryon when the guys are trying to sleep - and there's plenty of space for them outside the room to do as such. And the guys bathroom is absolutely disgusting. For people with no running water, they don't try and keep things clean and nice when they do.
So, tonight the guys are sleep on the extra bunks we have. And, honestly, I feel safer having them here. These Panamanian men are no different from other Spanish men - they stare and openly admire/whistle/act disgusting towards us. So, tonight all 19 students are in the same room. Haha.
As I said, fuses are running short. Everyone, when we get home from clinicals, finds their iPods and books and goes to separate ends of the compound to be by ourselves. Often we can't find our own space, but there's unspoken agreements that it's quiet time and you leave people alone for a little while.
The reason tonight was so awful? The water situation is getting worse. When the first group of natives came to stay at the compound the water ran low, but it got better as soon as they left. Then the next group came, and they'll be here for 5 days - so it's not going to get better. The bathrooms are the only real problem (other than the guys rooming situation, which we solved for the short term), but it's an awful problem. Yes, the showers are cold, but at least before there was water pressure. Now, you'll get in and the water won't even turn on, or it turns off after you've put soap all over yourself - or even better: when you've only shaved one leg.
Then, let us top it all off with the giant spider we found in our room. It was literally as big as my hand. Ew. The girls screamed, Josh killed it. The end.
I feel like maybe I should explain some of what the compound is used for - so you know why there are tons of Panamanian people staying here. This Jesuit Priests compound serves the local community in many ways. It's completely self-sufficient that employs local people to do certain jobs, and then they offer classes and housing for people taking the classes. It's very cheap to stay here, basically just paying for food. And since they don't feed us much, I can't imagine it costing much. The group that is staying here currently is learning how to build houses and how to better farm. They also mentioned something about salud (health), but I'm not sure what exactly they're teaching them. There's also a woman's center sort of, where pregnant women can come and stay when they are close to delivering - because the hospital is just up the street. So, they don't have to travel 10 hours+ to get to the hospital from their houses when they're in labor. That's basically it.
My day today? It was fun... I guess. Today we were back in the clinics and I was at Soloy again. Another hour bus ride - and I got motion sick on the way up and on the way back. We all manned different rooms and did what little we could. I opted out of my immunizations rotation - no HIV por me, gracias. Robert and I were in a room with Dr. Guerra. He was extremely nice and explained everything fabulously. Even without interpretation we tag-teamed and totally knew what he was saying. We saw lots of children - and the exams they do on all the children is very thorough (and the same as we do in the states). Dr. Guerra said when he sees adults, he only examines and treats what they come in for - there's no physicals for adults.
We saw twins, which I had never seen before. There was a down's syndrome child as well. We saw a pregnant lady and some adolescence. Most of the stories I have to tell are not blog appropriate. The only interesting stuff is gross.
That was pretty much the day. Then we took some pictures with the Canadian medical students that are staying there. They were just beyond nice. There were unlike any medical students I've ever met. Haha. They were encouraging, and explained everything very well. They did a lot of interpreting and everything they did (exam wise) they wanted us to do as well. They were just fun. And Jon Felipe was extremely handsome! :) He was the only guy. Then there was Audrey, Claudia, and Anna. All from Montreal. I never expected to find them here. Very neat.
When we got home I went up to the internet cafe and used the internet for a few minutes. It hasn't been working, but it did today - and it was fast. I tried to upload some pictures, but I'll have to try again tomorrow because it didn't work. Then I tried to call my parents and none of the calls would go through - so I called Gram. She seemed a little shocked that I did. :) And at one point I was telling her a story and I was using Spanish terms because I couldn't remember how to say them in English. It was sooo weird - and funny!
I tried to run today (yes, in a group of 7 people with all three guys present), and I just can't do the heat here. I almost passed out and we got a ride back to the compound. I think I'll just wait until I get back to my gym. :) No more scares with the heat.
We're all fighting the dehydration - and it's a losing battle. Especially now with this water situation, we're worried we won't have enough water to fill up our water bottles. I filled mine up tonight so I would have some. It's just hard to drink hot water all the time - it's not very pleasant, so you don't even try. I've been putting my propel packets in so it's at least better than just water. But, there's definitely no way we can drink enough to replenish what we're sweating out each day. No way.
Tomorrow is our health fair - where 4,000 people are expected to show up. Yes, 4,000. We're not really sure how we're going to accomodate them, but we sure will try.
I'm ready to come home. My breaking point was earlier when I was lathered in soap and couldn't even rinse off with the freezing water. I'm kinda done. July 10th needs to come pretty fast!

6.28.2010

Still no internet. There is an internet cafe and international phone down the street from where we're staying, but the internet hasn't worked yet. There also is some sketchy stuff going on with it, like not being able to log out of emails/facebook/etc. So... even if it were working, I'm not sure I would try. Definitely not going to log onto my bank account down there. Haha.
Yesterday was la playa day! We woke up at 6:30 to leave at 7:30 to drive an hour and a half to David, to a resort. We got to the resort at like 9:30 (we left a little later than anticipated) only to find out it didn't open until 10. Thank goodness we didn't try to go earlier. We had to pay $10 to use everything in the resort for the day, but that included the gym, spa, pool, private beach access, international phone lines, and access to all their rentals. Thankfully it isn't their busy time, so even though we didn't make any reservations ahead of time we got to do all kinds of activities. Some people rented surf boards (the waves were absolutely awesome!), some took surfing lessons, I Kyacked, and there were bicyles too. It was my first time swimming in the Pacific. I loved it. I didn't like the black, volcanic colored sand, but the waves were ridiculous. When we got back from our kyacking trip it was storming and we all went out in the water and almost drowned. Thinking back on it, it wasn't a good idea. But it was so fun. These waves were 10+ feet tall and would swallow you if you didn't duck down deep enough. At one point I was tumbling and tumbling underwater and Josh had to pull me up. It was funny because, when the wave was there the water was high so I grabbed onto him like a monkey. Then the water went down and he was literally holding me like a little kid. Haha. I'm sure we looked ridiculous. A few of the others had water proof cameras, so hopefully we got at least a few photos in the water!
After swimming, surfing (no, not me), and some lunch, we all went kyacking. Biggest mistake of my life. It was a three hour trip that we talked into a two hour trip. 19 of us piled into a 12 passenger van, half the people were drunk, so it probably wasn't a good idea for them to go out in kyacks anyway, and our guide didn't speak English. We drive up to this river thing, and the water looks disgusting. The dirt here is dark and there's lots of clay, so the water was totally gross; on top of that, it looked completely still. We went out in the jungle to get malaria! The very thing we're warning our patients in the villages about.
We loaded up into the kyacks in groups of 3 (me, Katie, and Kira were in my boat), and started off down the river. Come to find out, our guide Edwardo did speak some English. I actually thought he spoke very well! I told him I wanted to see monkeys and he said he would try. The first part of the trip was really rough because it was upstream and very narrow. Then the river widened and it wasn't so stagnant. It completely looked like we could've been in Florida though - the sides of the river looked the exact same! We paddled upstream for about an hour and then turned around to come back. We get back almost all the way (or so we thought) and the guide tells us we have to turn around again. Everyone started freaking out, because it's starting to storm, and the tide was coming in so the current was stronger and we had already rowed upstream. Come to find out, per my request, the guide was trying to find monkeys for us. At that point though, we just wanted to go home. A helicopter flew over us and everyone started yelling 'ayuda me' (help me in espanol!). Our guide got a kick out of that. So, we rowed back upstream about 30 minutes to the original stream we came out of and then got to paddle downstream about 45 minutes back to our bus. Luckily it didn't storm too badly, otherwise it would've been awful!
Once we got back to the hotel we immediately went in the salt water. Everyone is still worried about UTIs and stuff from sitting in the stagnant water. We have a few antibiotics among us, but not enough for all the girls. We're worry worts - it's what nursing school does to you.
We ordered dinner to go and then loaded up the bus to head back to San Felix. By the time we made it home - everyone was completely wiped out. We almost needed a day off to recoup from our day off. Haha. I raced into the shower to try and get the sand out of my hair as soon as we got back. There are 6 shower stalls and they were all full. We know we have to take cold showers - and the initial getting in is awful. But after you get used to it, it feels kind of nice. Well, apparently we overloaded the system. We all barely had a trickle of water - and at this point I have lathered my hair... and I mean lathered my hair. We're talking trickle like that of a water fountain... almost nothing. Then, it completely stops. We wait for a few minutes and it came back on... a trickle. That happened 3 times that shower. And I wasn't in very long. 10 minutes total simply because of the difficulty of rinsing my thick hair. I've gotten used to really quick showers. 3 minutes, tops.
That was an adventure. :)
This morning came very early - because we had to leave by 7:30. Of course that didn't happen. And that's really ok to be late in Panama, because when people say be here at a certain time - they mean leave your house at that time. It's kind of annoying and unpredictable, but at least we're never criticized for being late. :) We got up and went to breakfast - that seems to be the worst meal of the day. Today it was two pieces of stale break, with a slice of ham (or so I think) and a slice of american cheese. Yesterday was cereal with warm whole milk. Blech. I've had PB sandwiches both days. The lunches are a little rough, because they sit in the containers all day, but they aren't too bad. Usually chicken and some kind of fried concoction. Dinners are usually very good. Their different rice mixtures are yummy!
We got to our village of Soloy at like 9:30 or so. It takes my group an hour to get to our destination by bus. And the road is winding and hilly. It's pretty unpleasant. I almost threw up today. One of the other groups apparently ended up on a chicken truck and almost died a few times. They won't be doing that tomorrow. Haha. Anyway, we got there and there were people already lined up outside the door, and then when you walked in there were people sitting, standing, kids running everywhere, coughing. The rooms was completely full. Once you walk into the clinic it's just a huge open room and then all the way around it are rooms designated for different purposes. They have an ER, a dentist office, a record keeping place, an immunization room, and several exam rooms. We were ushered into the back and there were several nurses/techs getting ready for a meeting. Apparently once a month they get together and talk about issues that need to be addressed in the province. The bachelor nurse (that seemed a lot like a charge nurse) was definitely in her early 20s and she was so smart. She knew about every area that was being covered and she was very thorough.
The meeting was all in Spanish - and I got tired of trying to keep up so it became boring really fast. But, one of the students was interpreting some for us. The way they do things here is a lot different simply because of how everything is paid for. The government supplies all the clinics with what they need - and it's really kind of amazing! These techs and nurses and "health promoters" were in charge mostly of vaccinations. They were also in charge of TB treatment. If these patients don't come in for their TB meds (you have to take 4 different drugs to avoid multidrug resistance, and you have to take them for 6 months) these nurses go out into the communities and find them to make sure they get them. Even though the vaccines they are giving are for certain ages, they vaccinate whoever needs it. So some teenagers may be getting vaccines that they should have had as children. We did hear that there were 3 different strains of influenza going around - two of which we had never heard of - so that scared us a little bit. Germs! Ahhhh! I'm pretty sure we all pulled out our handsantizer at that point.
During the meeting I saw what looked like 4 young americans arrive and walk in the back. Then they came out in scrubs and disappeared. When we were being distributed to our different stations, there were two of them in our room. We were in a Dr.'s room. Her (yes, she was a woman) name was Doctora Garcia. The other two people were Canadian medical students volunteering in this clinic for 2 months. Claudia and Anna were so nice and spoke awesome Spanish. When I asked if they knew it before they came they said no. It was funny to hear them speak in Spanish with French accents though. Very cool - and very nice to hear English from someone outside my group.
We spent the rest of the day watching and listening to the doctor diagnos and educate her patients. Different from in the US, the people seeking care are very sick. There's no emergency room visit for a headache. They have TB, pnuemonia, worms, projectile vomiting. It was rough. One woman we saw had a goiter (and enlargement of her thyroid). I palpated it, but you could clearly see it without touching it. There were so many babies and young children with flu-like symptoms and then there was a man with Tuberculosis. I think my jaw hit the floor when I heard that. Here we are standing in a closed room with no ventilation and a TB + patient. Fortunately he was already on the 4 drugs, had no cough, and was simply doing a follow-up appointment. I'll be getting a PPD once I get back. Yikes! There's also way more HIV than we thought. You open up the chart and there's a big sticker inside. Can't miss it. Hopefully, since we have to recap needles because they dispose of the used needles in cardboard boxes, no one will be stuck and we all make it back to the states without the HIV.
Another thing that's different than in the US, is they are very open about any medical information. The doors are all open and when there were patients in our room - other people would be standing in the doorway, listening. The medical files just lay around - and I opened a few to see if I could decifer what was inside. The doctor said I could, of course. There's no HIPPA in Panama. :)
It's really sad just how ignorant these people are about their own health. The doctor kept telling the parents that they needed to not give their sick children river water or even rain water, but to boil the rain water for 15 minutes and then give it. They also said not to let them cough on anyone. To us that's common knowledge, but they don't understand how germs work. Unfortunately, the antibiotics that were prescribed may or may not be followed by the patients because they don't understand the importance of finishing a dosage of antibiotics. Most didn't even really understand what they were being told. They often don't have much response to anything that's told to them.
I got to talk to my mom yesterday - and for about a week (even though it feels like I've been here for a month) I forgot about home. And now, after talking to her, I really miss it. I've never been homesick before or wanted to be home more in my life. I forgot about the few problems and issues and little dramas that I was facing. Life is way too short and being down here has caused me to reevaluate everything and really take inventory or my life. It'll be interesting to see how it affects me long term once I'm home.
Tomorrow is another day at la clinica del salud. Hopefully there's plenty to do. And hopefully the male Canadian medical student needs a shadow. :D

6.26.2010

Well, it's day 6 here in the oogly boogly hoonglah. It feels like we've been here for months already. We're going to the beach tomorrow - and we're all very excited about that! Hopefully we'll stay all day so we can have dinner there instead of here. The food isn't bad, but it is literally chicken and rice all the time. For breakfast this morning we did have eggs, but they had a weird texture. Any kind of bread they have seems to be good, so we may end up gaining weight because of all the bread we're eating. We had spanish donut/pancake/frittata type things this morning. I slathered it with peanut butter, so I could get in some protein... cause all this bread and rice is filling, but doesn't last long.
After breakfast, we loaded up in the bus - with our first bus driver Dario. Thank goodness! The driver yesterday was very impatient and so he sped all the way up the mountain. We were all thoroughly scared for our lives. The roads curve so severely that you can't see what's coming 20 feet in front of you most of the time. Plus the plant life on the sides of the road are seriously overgrown so there's probably really only room for one bus on the road at the same time anyway. In any case, we clapped for Dario when he showed up.
We made it up through the mountains/hills (what distinguishes a mountain from a hill again?), and went to la clinica. There is one nurse there who works 24 hours for 3 days straight. It wasn't very busy when we were there, so I'm sure she naps. There is one doctor that works there, and he is well known through throughout the community. He works there monday through friday and then goes other places on the weekends. It didn't sound like he had much time off.
The mayor of the community met us in the clinic and thanked us for coming. When we went to, leave, the entire community was marching down the street with protest signs and a mega phone. They were apparently protesting the building of a dam in their river. According to the doctor, it will provide electricity to other places than this little community and it will also put them out of a home. So, they were protesting the building of this dam, which is illegal in Panama. You don't have free speech here.
We were worried there would be no more women left in the village to survey, but there were still some. Addie, Katie, me, and our translator Carmelio walked up and up the hill looking for a women. The first woman we came across was pretty young, maybe 25-30 or so. She was very shy, and because the a lot of the question we ask are very personal, Katie and I left the house so she could have some privacy. We wandered for a while and met some children. When you take their picture and show them, they just giggle. It's like they've never seen themselves before. I've only seen one mirror in the whole village. It was so hot in the sun, so we tried to stay in the shade. There was still no place to sit really, so we just stood. A lot of the people in this village of Soloi don't speak Spanish. So there was a major language barrier there. Some of the children did speak some spanish so Katie and I tag-teamed to come up with basic conversation. I think it went pretty well. We got one little boy, Hernando, to say go bulls. He was so cute!

It's very hard to stomach the severe poverty we see. A lot of the girls are having trouble sleeping, and we definitely hate taking pictures of the village. Their houses are made of scraps of wood and tarps. They have clay floors and no one wears shoes. There is animal feces everywhere and the chickens and dogs just walk through the houses as they please. A lot of the babies don't wear any clothes at all and then they sit in the dirt that the chickens and dogs walk and poop on. I saw one baby with maggots on his hands. The only food we saw was rice.
We all feel very guilty about all the stuff we could have brought to give away. I'm pretty sure we're going to make a collection of the clothes we have with us and see what we can give away. There's no need for us all to come back with two checked bags.
God keeps impressing upon my heart to pray for these people. But, I don't want to. It's not that I don't want to pray, but I don't want to feel the pain associated with seeing these people in such distress. It seems so much easier to harden my heart. It's easier to look away and pretend we don't see anything, because there's nothing we can do. We brought tons of soap to talk about hand washing, but these people don't have running water. And the only semi-clean water they have is from the rainwater they collect. The river water is filthy, but it's still what they bath in and what they wash their clothes in. He also keeps impressing on me that more than they need running water, and trust me, it's bad - they need Jesus. It sounds so cliche, but our fixes to any of the problems - be they no electricity, or domestic violence - they fall short of their need for a savior.
All the women we interview talk about how they feel worthless, and they don't have a voice in their homes or communities. We ask these questions and then just walk away. These women need to know that a god created them, in His own image. He desired that they look the way they do, and be born into the circumstance they are in. He delights in them and thinks they are beautiful. He cares for them. He cares that their babies are dying. He cares that they don't have enough food to feed their families. He cares that their husbands mistreat and cheat on them. He cares that they don't have enough money for medical attention. He cares. He cares so much.
It also reminds me to be thankful. In the plenty and in the want. And trust me, after this trip, I see that most of my life sits in the middle of the plenty. I have never been so grateful for my parents and their provision for me. Having a roof over my head would be enough, but no. My dad bought me a car. He takes me to dinner and movies. He pays my rent (which I hope he does at the end of the month :). He provides so that I can go to school and eventually have a career of my own. I know the shock will wear off once I get back to the states, but I hope I never forget how I feel right now. I hope I never forget to say thank you. I hope I never forget to hold my tongue before I complain about something.
I hope no ones too worried about me. I really am doing fine. The days are long and hot, and we're fighting the dehydration; but the water on the compound is safe to drink so we have resources. I'm glad the trip is only 3 weeks long. I don't think I could've handled anymore time out here in the jungle. And some of the people on the trip are annoying. There is a slew of negative people that I do my best to avoid. They kinda bring down the mood - and I'm tired of hearing that it's hot. Yes, we've all got that.
Pray for Panama. Pray for our interpreters. They really can't speak English very well... some even not at all - so I'm not sure why we hired them. Haha. But, because the tribes speak Ngobe, the Spanish we know and the Spanish speakers we have with us are of no use. So, we speak in english, someone translates in Spanish for the interpreters (or sometimes they understand) and then it gets translated in to Ngobe. Haha. It's a long process that leaves everyone pretty frustrated at times. But we're all working on being patient with each other. And these surveys are 168 questions long! It can take up to 2 hours sometimes.
I think that's all for now. I was going to walk down to the internet cafe and scope it out, but I just heard back from the group that just went that the internet is and has been down. So... I'm not sure when these blogs will get posted - if ever. I can't wait to show you all my pictures! Even though no pictures I take of the landscape does this place justice. You need a panoramic shot to really capture the beauty of it. Up in the mountains it's breathtaking. And looks very tropical.
Hope everyone is well!

6.25.10

I wish that I had internet access so at least I could post to my blog, but that isn't the case. Hopefully on sunday I'll be able to hook up to the internet and load my stuff on the blog.
Well, we made it to the compound. The ride was very long and we had to leave very early. Except, because it took us so long to load all the luggage we didn't leave until 8am (we were supposed to leave at 6). The poor bus drivers were soaked in sweat trying to get all our luggage on top - and it was weighing the bus down like crazy!!! Another driver on our ride even honked at our driver and pointed to the back tires. They weren't flat, just smushed. Haha. Some of our luggage ended up on the bus with us, which made it extra cramped. We have 21 people with USF and then 2 bus drivers, plus all the luggage that couldn't fit on the roof. The picture of the bus I have kind of reminds me of the sleigh in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' when it's just stacked really high and all precariously perched.
I'm convinced I was so tired because of the Bonine I took. It's supposedly an antiemetic that doesn't make you drowsy. But, I really don't think that's true. Once we were on the bus I was out. I slept the entire way (8 hours), when we got here for 3 hours, and then went to bed at 10 and slept until 7 this morning. There's no way it wasn't the meds - even though my family probably disagrees. They think all I do is sleep. :)
We stopped 3 times on our trip. Once to get gas, once to go to the bathroom, and once to eat. The time we stopped for food, we stopped at what looked like a gas station. And on the corner, instead of a store there was this huge open covered area that had tables, and a huge buffet line. The ladies behind the counter were very nice, and of course, only spoke espanol. Katie and I had chicken sandwiches from our lunch the day before, so we both just got rice. I wanted veggies - but they are pretty much non-existent in this country. So, I got arroz combinacion. It had chicken in it and some cilantro - it was good. I'm glad I didn't get the white rice. One of my colleages is really sick because of the white rice she had there.
The compound we're staying on is huge. It's thick and you can't see anything beyond the path you're walking because of the jungle-like feel. There are outdoor classrooms with bars all around, and they have their own farm with gardens and animals. They also have a very elaborate water filtration system. So, we can drink the water here! Yay! We can't drink any of the water that's in the bathroom though - so not in the showers or in the sink. You have to brush your teeth with the water fountain water. No complaints here! At least we have water.
When we first arrived, it was the hottest part of the day - so we all thought the stay was going to be miserable, but it's not. It's definitely humid and from 11-5 it's good-grief hot, but the mornings are nice. And the cold showers at night cool you off in a hurry. We're talking cold too. Mucho frio! Take your breath away cold. I haven't had a warm shower since I came to this country actually. But, I'm not complaining. I'm glad to have running water, which is more than I can say for all the people living in the communities here.
Today was our first day of actually doing nurseish things. We got up at 6:45 or so and got ready, breakfast was at 7 and we had meetings until about 10 or so.
Profesora Lordes is the lady coordinating our work in the clinics. She is so nice and I have yet to see her without makeup, a huge fashionable purse, and heels on - even in this ridiculous heat. :) I can understand her spanish perfectly. I dont grab every word, but I can completely communicate with her no problem. (She speaks very little english by the way). I'm actually surprised at how much Spanish I understand and even can speak. Random vocab words from high school pop into my head all the time. I have a feeling my family will get very annoyed with my random spanish words. Anyway, La Profesora introduced us to an epidemiologist that works with the Ngobe/Bugle tribes. Unfortunately his statistics are hardly resourceful - seeing as they are from 2005 and most only represent patients who sought care. For example, the research stated that 22 people had HIV. But that's 22 people out of people who sought treatment for something that would cause them to test for HIV. They aren't just testing for that randomly. Basically it's not representative of the population - and therefore, extremely unreliable. So, for those of us who sought comfort in the idea that no one had HIV - yeah, no.
We separated into our groups - we were visiting 3 different communities. I was with a group of 10 other students, my main director Doctora Cadena, Profesora Lordes, and 3 interpreters. The interpreters speak Spanish, Ngobe/Bugle, and some english. Enough to communicate a little bit. Their Spanish is very hard to understand right along with their english. We went out into this little community to conduct surveys regarding domestic violence and alcoholism. The community leaders have seen a rise in both, and wanted someone to do a study. So, we volunteered. It's a 168 pregunta survey asking all kinds of personal questions. It was uncomfortable for all parties I think. These women are definitely at risk - but I don't think they realize. Just to give you an idea, all the women we spoke with were beaten at some point in their relationships, all got worse during a pregnancy, and all their spouses were involved with other women during their relationship with that women (some even had children by other women). Some reported feeling depressed and other reported wanting to commit suicide. The hardest part was walking and giving them only the number and location of la clinica up the road. And the name of a mental health nurse.
The extreme poverty these people live is hard to fathom. They don't really even have houses. They have sticks tied together with tin roofs - or some have tarps over top. It's very hilly where they were so the houses kind of go up the sides of the hills, but they're very close together. Horses, chickens, dogs, cats: they all roam freely. All the animals are stick thin - esp the horses. The houses are sized based on how many people live in them, obviously. The first house we went into was probably the size of my room. It housed 3 women and 6 children. It had planked wood stacked up on other wood as beds. There was one tattered hammock and strings that were strung across the room to hang up their belongings. The clothes they have were dirty and tattered. There is no running water to do any laundry, let alone wash your hands. The walkways, when it rains turn into rivers - literally. Big enough that you can't cross them without some form of a bridge, like a fallen tree or something. It's slippery and gross.
The children are adorable, unfortunately a lot of their abdomens are distended because of worm infestations. Some little boys run around with loincloth looking things on. We call them Mogleys (little boy from the Jungle Book).
The women wear traditional dresses that are short sleeved, and to the floor. Their uni-colored with trim on the sleeves and around their hips. A lot of them were wearing off-brand crocs, which I thought was funny. The kids love having their picture taken - and when you flip the camera around and see themselves, they go crazy. :) It makes you laugh.
I think most of us were very humbled to come back to the compound, to a housing facility we probably had complained about before. Yes, it's hot, but it's not rank smelling inside. Yes, we have cold showers, but at least we have soap. And yes, maybe the food is different, but it's usually warm, and we don't have to worry that it's infested with worms.
Because this is the first trip USF has taken this far out into the jungle, we weren't really sure what we were getting into - and we definitely weren't prepared for what we're seeing. There was obvious opportunity for collecting donations for these people. They need clothes, shoes, toys for the kids. They need so much, and I feel like, because we were ill-prepared, we have nothing to offer them.
That's all for now - it's already an extremely long post.
Some staggering statistics: there are 2 doctors per 10,000 people. And one dentist and one nurse per 20,000 people. The leading cause of death is diarrhea.
I'm thinking of all the wonderful things waiting for me in the states and I am truly thankful to be an American - and to have been born to such priviledge. I miss you, Mommy. :) I have a request for asparagus, salad, and broccoli all in one meal when I get home. Kthanks.

So long from the oogly, boogly jungle (pronounced: hoonglah en espanol). Say that 10 times fast! :)

AHHHHH!

This is my first opportunity to get on the internet - I´m at an internet cafe that´s down the street from the compound where we´re staying. It hasn´t been working, which is why I haven´t updated sooner. It´s a dollar for an hour of internet. ´There´s so much to say, and not enough time to write it all out... and this keyboard is different en español, so that makes it doubly as dificil. I´m learning so much español, it shocks me. I have been blogging on my own computer, so as soon as I can, I´ll figure out how to put them up here.
We´ve been working in the clinics this week. We´ve been with people that have tuberculosis, three different types of influenza, tons of HIV and STDs, and other fun things. The doctors and nurses here are extremely nice! They take every opportunity to teach us what they are doing... and it´s usually in spanish. My spanish english dictionary is coming in handy.
I hope everyone is well. I´m fine - sweating beyond belief.... taking cold showers and braving la selva. :)

Hasta mañana!

Oogly Boogly!

I wish I had more time to blog, but I'm sooo tired from the day and I have to be up by 5am. Today was good - it's incredibly hot. We're all dehydrated and downing tons of bottled water.
Today's our last day in the city before we head out to the jungle. The oogly boogly, I like to call it. (The people group's name that lives there sounds kinda like boogly.)
I did take a spill today and cut up my hands and palms. Robert was my rescuer and almost fell himself trying to pull me out of the bushes. It's ok to laugh... it was funny. :)
We're heading into a very povertous area - with lots of healthcare needs. It'll be nice to start doing some nurseish stuff. Pray that no one gets malaria - it runs rampant here.

I doubt internet will be available, since we dont have AC - and the place is powered by generators. So, postings will probably be few. I'll update as soon as I can.

Arriba! Onto the the Oogly Boogly!

Cuidad del Saber

Hi, from the City of Knowledge. It's an old army base in Clayton. It feels very safe, you'll be glad to hear. I've only seen one entrance and it's surrounded by a tall fence. The base is now used as a knowledge center. Basically, there are a few schools and a gym a couple restuarants and several rows of villas. Just across the street is the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. If you catch it just right you can see the ships as they enter an exit.
I'm still trying to get my card reader to work so I can upload some pictures. Haven't had much success. :(
Today was 'Be-a tourist' day. And though I make fun of such people, I was indeed lookin' touristy. Haha. Katie (my roommate) and I decided it was more important to take too many pictures and do the touristy stuff than to go home and not have taken enough.
The day started at 8am. Not too early, which I liked. I got in about 9 hours of sleep... so needed! We got ready and loaded the bus at 9. Our tour guide Bianca was so so nice! And animated and funny! Our driver - Jorge, was also very nice. We took a ride south to "The Old City" and heard all the history of Panama and it's holidays, presidents, etc. Drive through crowded streets with cars on either side and people was very nerve wracking. There were plenty of times I thought for sure there would be a collision, but there never was. Thanks, Jorge!
As we drove through the city, we saw a lot of impoverished areas backed right up to beautiful buildings. It was odd. There was no rhyme (or none that was apparent) to how the city was set up or where things were. Restuarants, shops, public buildings, and apartments were randomly everywhere. The government has ordered that all of the buildings in the Old City be restored without any major changes to the look of them. The ones that were finished were so beautiful!
We stopped at a cathedral, that was again, randomly placed on a street corner. San Jose. The inside of it was so ornate and beautiful. During one of the wars, the priests actually covered the alter in clay to make it look ugly and unappealing to the pirates. The pirates left it alone cause it was ugly - but it was really hand-carved mahogany and plated with gold. I wish I could show you a picture of it! :/
We toured all through the city, saw some government officials in the town square listening to a band play the Panamanian anthem. Very cool. And regardless of the heat (today it was about 95 at 10am), these officials (and most everyone walking around the town square) were dressed in suits - and other various fashion-forward outfits.
We did a lot of walking, even crawled down part of a cliff to take a picture with the Pacific and Panama City skyline in the background. Watching everyone try and make it down made me wonder if we're ready for the jungle yet. Haha.
The Panama Canal came last, and it was spectacular. Almost $1 billion of revenue come from the Panama Canal each year. We saw a ship that paid $285, 000 just to come through the canal!!
We're catching on to the spanish and several of us are attempting a little bit of communication. The people here are so nice and friendly. And everyone greets everyone else. I've completely mastered the "Buenas" that is used to say good morning, afternoon, or evening. You say it with a little bob of your head. :)
Two more interesting things:
1. Most of the schools here are public and all require the kids to wear uniforms. The uniform colors designate what grade you're in. It is required to go to school until 9th grade, and after that for 10th-12th you study a specific field (like business, or science). Once you graduate then you go on to a university or trade school that continues what you already studied. So, if you didn't choose science to study in high school - you have to go back and take those credits to move on in a university studying science.
The police are also very strict on truency. If they see you out they either take you to school or to the police station.
2. After lunch we were standing outside the cafe and a beggar came up and asked for change. Several of us gave him some, and our sweet tour guide just smiled. Once we got back into the bus she told us to look back at the man. He was sitting on the bench with a cell phone. She said she admired our sweet, compassionate hearts, but that we weren't to encourage the beggars. She said that he needed to get a job. They don't like when people give the beggars money, because it encourages the children not to work, she said. Maybe something America should consider...

I'm alive!!

Well, I made it to Panama. Yay!! I'm completely exhausted, but it was a great first day. I left Ocala at 3am and made it to Tampa International around 5:30. Our first flight was to miami that left at 7:30, so we hurried through security found Starbucks and then sat. There are 19 students on the trip and all of them I've seen/talked to before, but none of which I know super well. And trust me, that has already changed.
The flight to Miami took 38 minutes - it wasn't even long enough to dig out your iPod. We took up 3 rows on each side of the aisle - so we chatted most of the way. We had to book it across the airport in Miami to make it to our other gate, but we made it and shortly thereafter boarded the plane to Panama City, Panama. The flight attendants both spoke Spanish (naturally), and the instruciones (or instructions for you nonspanish speakers. (:), were in Spanish first and then English. Thought it was funny. We all made guesses as to what they were saying... caught a few words here and there.
I didn't think 3 hours was going to be so long, but it felt like forever. I think a lot of it was the pent-up excitment of the trip. We played Go Fish and 20 questions to help pass the time. Haha
It was cool to look out the window and see nothing but water - I saw Cuba too. No oil spill sighting though, Stuart. :/
Customs was an intersting experience. I was yelled at for taking a picture of the welcome to Panama sign... it was in Spanish, but I got the point. No permanent damage done apparently, since they let me in the country. ;)
I was one of the first people to exit the customs area and I kept looking through the crowd of people... I saw signs for specific people, for companies - and then I spotted it! A USF Health sign. I don't know if they knew it was us because of our joyous expressions or because of our USF t-shirts. Either way, we found our buses and loaded on.
There are sooo many details about today that I would love to write about, but I'm beat. So, I'm just going to hit on the major ones...

I was shocked to find that Panama City looks a lot like Florida. It even feels like Florida. The temperature was actually a little cooler than Florida - it was 80 degrees today. And the humidity was probably about the same too.

There are tons of skyscrapers, but they were all spread out and most of them appeared to be under construction. Probably 75% of them were still being built. It seemed odd.
We're staying at the City of Knowledge in "villas" at the moment. They really are old Army housing. They're nicer than we expected, but still no vacation. Bugs, a little dirt, and coooooooold showers. But it's all about the experience, right? :)
I had my first meal of Chicken and rice and it was really good. We all also toasted to being in Panama with our Panama water. Didn't really think about it. No one has reported issues yet. But, there is a GI bug going around the area (so say a little prayer).
Before we settled in we all went to the supermarket... and wow! They have everything we do in america. Lays chips, Borden cheese, and Easy Mac. Diet coke even! :) Instead of a sub counter though, they have a place where they sell things like empanadas and other fried goodies. Haha. Muy interesante! :)

Katie, Eli, Kira, Josh, and I ran along the front of the base - along the Panama Canal. We could see a cargo ship making it's way (very, very slowly) through one of the locks. Pretty neat, not going to lie. I ran along the Panama Canal. Wha???

A meeting with the faculty and all the students rounded out the evening. Played a few games and just hung out. I can already tell it's going to be a great trip.

Now... sleep. Goodnight.

P.S. All the channels here are in Spanish, go figure! As is the microwave, the internet I'm currently using, and all the signage around the city. Yes, I knew it would be, but it's still neat to see. :)

Top 10 things I'll miss:

1. Mom's food. Mac-n-cheese in particular.
2. The birth of Carolina May. Can't wait to see pictures!
3. My car Zippy. She's the best.
4. The 4th of July (Don't worry, I'll wear my red, white, and blue while I'm there!)
5. 2 Sundays of church.
6. My guitar.
7. And my piano too...
8. Running.
9. Drinking water out of the faucet.
10. Teaching swim lessons (yes, I actually like to work).

I'm all packed up and ready to go. I leave for Tampa at 3am, so I'm going to bed shortly. I feel a little anxious, but hopefully not for long. When I see all the familar faces at the airport, I'm sure I'll be fine. They'll be bleery eyed, no doubt, just like me.

A cabo la Paz, América! :)

I received a package from Amazon this morning. Odd, I thought; I hadn't ordered anything. I opened it and found a rather detailed National Geographic map and a Panamanian Culture Guide book. An unexpected gift, but it made my day! I laid out the map on the table with my itinerary and traced my trip through the country. If you look at the picture, Pamana City is all the way on the right side of the map, and where we're staying the majority of the trip is all the way on the left - on the border of Costa Rica! It's a 10 hour bus ride! Unfortunately a lot of the specific villages and towns we are going to visit aren't listed on my travel info. But, I'll have a great water-proof map to take with me and check it out as I go. :)
A tidbit from my new book: Panamanian's, regardless of socioeconomic status, are well dressed for every occasion. Men and women work in formal clothing, even on the hottest days. And it is illegal for men to walk the streets of Panama without a shirt.
Hah. I better warn the guys going with us.

5 more days...

...until I leave for Panama! I dragged my giant suitcase out today and started putting things in it. I think 4 items made it in, but it's progress, right? :)

Yesterday I talked to my roommate who went on the first Panama trip. She was full of advice and stories about what she liked and didn't like. I think she had a good time; she didn't warn me not to go. After talking to my classmate Jessica (who is taking Community at USF this summer), I'm convinced we got the better end of the deal. Our course work doesn't seem nearly as time consuming (almost nothing computer based because of the lack of internet). Jessica on the other hand, has assignments due constantly that take hours to finish. I'll gladly take a trip out of the country and get away from the ridiculous work load, USF! Haha.

Panama also means getting off work! Weeee! I've been in the pool 6 days out of the week for the past month... sometimes twice a day. The chlorine smell no longer comes off. It's sure conditioned me for the heat though - 97 on the pool deck Sunday. Crazy!

I'm off to make a packing list... wish me luck!

Let's face it: I've never been into blogging. I try (I've had this blog for over 2 years! I try so so hard... and nothing ever comes of it. But, this summer I'm determined. Well, I'll at least post while I'm in Panama. That's the goal anyway.

I'm so excited to leave for my trip. It's so many first rapped up into one. It's my first trip out of the country, my first flight over an ocean, and my first study abroad trip. And even though that's the case, it doesn't scare me at all. It excites me... my mom - not so much. She threatened to divorce my dad if I don't come back alive... :)

I'm loving my summer. I've been out of school for 6 weeks and I love it. I love not having classes and not having homework. I love not being in a college town with a bunch of drunk college students. I love getting the opportunity to do other things besides study. :) I do, however, miss my roommates and my classmates. I miss having sleepovers and late night swims, and I miss a couple of my teachers (but definitely not all)!

At the end of last semester I was feeling overwhelmed with the thought of finishing my degree - now I'm excited and can't wait for my last two semesters. It's going to be great. Especially because the fall is my favorite semester. Why? FOOTBALL! :) Go Bulls!

Well, there's a lot on my to do list this week... and then it's off to Panama!

Can't wait!