Day 5

Day #5 09/01/20

I don’t really feel like writing right now. I’m really sleepy, under my fuzzy blanket (from the hospital staff), and I’m quite comfortable. But, I really want to document and remember stuff from this trip since it’s probably one of the more impressive things I will do with my life. Well, I hope I keep doing cool things, but you never know… See, I’m not even really making sense I’m so tired; nonetheless, here goes.

Today we were at El Porvenir again at the clinic. Today we saw some of the same patients plus some new ones. Apparently today was ear cleaning day because we did these really nasty ear cleaning treatments on 3 out of our 7 patients. With what we had to work with, it was pretty impressive all the gunk we got out of their ears. I kept meaning to take a picture of the way I was taught to clean our reusable equipment; hopefully I can tomorrow. It’s outdoor at a “sink” meant for washing clothes– right next to two non-flush outdoor toilets in wooden huts. One half of the sink catches water (not exactly sure from where, but it looks pretty clear), and the other side has a drain to dump water down. The way we sanitize is by dumping some powder soap/detergent into a bin and then scoop the outdoor water with a pail into the bin and let it sit for 15 minutes. We do this with breathing masks for nebulizing treatments, with the ear cleaning supplies, and various other equipment. I have to pinch myself each time I walk outside to clean the medical equipment (equipo) that what I’m experiencing is real life.

Last thing, before I fall asleep with all my lights on and my computer on my lap. We went to the market today! It is only on certain days of the week. There were SO many vendors with fruits and veggies mainly. The other type of vendor was for clothing. The clothing ones were a bit disappointing; I was hoping to find some artisan or handmade craft, but most everything was bough cheaply off the internet or already used and then sold. Anyway, everyone kept staring at us and offering us papas (potatoes) for sale. Apparently, they assumed that white people only wanted potatoes. [Side note: a fun thing to do in Honduras is to be white and then go anywhere. People stare at you like you can’t see them, and they don’t try to hide it at all. I’ve started to great every person that I can, I’ve found that it sort of breaks them out of their daze in amazement that they’d found a gringa and embbarass them just a small amount that they were staring so hard.] The best part by far though was that this old guy in a neon safari hat with emojis on it eyed both of us up and proceeded to scamper in front of us as we were walking through the market and every once and a while do a sort of heel click (think leprechaun) and then look back at us, keep walking, and then do it again. We weren’t sure what he was trying to accomplish… for a while we thought maybe trying to entertain so we would pay him, but he never asked for anything, so he might’ve just been confused.. It sure was interesting though…

We also went to the grocery store where I bought a can of Planter’s Cashews for 240L which is equivalent to about 10 USD. Yes, I am slightly ashamed. It is pretty challenging to find wholesome foods around here other than fruit, but I’m working on it. After that monstrocity of a purchase, we went to the Mennonite store (yes, they live in Honduras too). We bought some icecream and yogurt and some carrot cake bread that I am stoked to eat at work tomorrow… 

I finally got to facetime my fam tonight after dinner, it means the world to me to get to those faces and hear them and talk. Also getting to see my puppies was pretty nice:) Alright, I’m way tired. Goodnight.

P. S. Here’s the view from my office: