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The update: Andy, Laura, and Luke
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December 1
Today is the beginning
of December. Incredible! Somehow, in the midst of the hot
sun; the brown dust; and the absence of malls, stores, and television,
I forget that we are nearing the end of the year.
In our weekly Bible study, we have begun to study Advent in preparation
for Christmas. Advent is marked by the four Sundays before
Christmas and is recognized as a time of expectation, preparation,
longing, and anticipation for the coming of Christ, the Messiah.
"It is that hope that [was] once anticipated, and [one] now
anticipates anew, [for] the reign of an Anointed One, a Messiah, who
will bring peace and justice and righteousness to the world" (Bratcher,
2006). This weekly study will help us to reflect and
meditate on why we celebrate Christmas and the meaning it holds
for us.
We have been enjoying being a family unit this week. We are
continuing to adjust to life here, figuring out schedules (both ours
and Luke's), meeting people, and trying to discern each day where we
would best be used. A highlight for me these past two weeks has
been getting to know our Spanish teacher, Olga, and getting to improve
my Spanish daily. We each have daily two-hour lessons with
her, which help us tremendously.
Andy, Christy, James, and Ruben have been cleaning out and organizing
the supply closet in the clinic, which has proved to be a very good
thing for the clinic. They now know what supplies they have,
where they are located, and what they need. Before, the shelves
were piled high with anything and everything that had been brought to
the clinic by a brigade, regardless of whether or not it was needed.
Now, everything has a place, is labeled, and will be used by the
clinic here, the clinic in Pinares, or the hospital in La Esperanza.
They can now tell future brigades exactly what to bring and what
to leave behind; and they don't have to spend ten minutes searching for
whatever they needed. Well done, doctors!
December 9
Two days ago, Luke and I
went hiking with Daisy to the antenna. This was about a two-hour
hike, which I would rate as strenuous, especially carrying a baby in
front. It was an amazing view from the top, though. We could see the antenna towers in El Salvador.
Beautiful! It reminded me of hiking in North Carolina.
The best part was that it was windy and cool because we were on
the east side of the mountain as the sun was setting.
Andy has been working hard this week with Ruben gone for the week
and James gone for three days. Andy remarked last night how he is
not seeing as much tropical medicine as he thought he would but that he
is seeing a lot of trauma. He has been setting bones, stitching
up machete wounds, and removing bot flies. He continues to
improve his Spanish, though it will take awhile to catch on to some of
the phrases and vocabulary here.
We have gotten to know Glenda, a member of the committee and member of
the church we have been attending. (She is taking care of the
O'Dea kids on weekdays). Glenda is a pre-school/kindgergarten
teacher in a small pueblo about thirty minutes away, by foot, though
she lives closer to Santa Lucia. She has promised to teach us the
"alabanzas" or praise songs that we sing in church so that we will know
the words. She is also a great person to talk to about the town
and the clinic, as she knows a lot of people and has the inside scoop.
James returned from Teguc last night with a new A/C unit for us and a
nightlight for Luke. Though it is not hot enough yet to run the
A/C unit, it is supposed to get REALLY hot starting in February.
Everytime someone goes into the big city, usually for just a few
days, it is a mad rush to get all the things people need, the clinic
needs, and any food that Maria thinks would be cheaper to buy there.
James took the Ford in for an oil change, went to the medical
supply store, the hardware store, and probably ten other stores in two
days. He even brought home a hamster for Marin and Maura!
The truck always comes back loaded down with supplies.
We are preparing to host a staff/committee appreciation Christmas party
on December 16. We like having parties (we've had one about every
two weeks here), and we want everyone to know how much we appreciate
them and what they do for Hombro a Hombro. So we will be doing a
lot of baking, in preparation. We will probably have the
cafeteria near the clinic make a batch of tamales; rice; and beans, and
get some Coke (apparently, Coke is always expected to be on hand at
parties). We are anticipating about 50 people.
The week of Christmas, the O'Deas, Belkis, Ruben, and Michael all leave
to spend Christmas with their families. We will be here to see
patients and share in the Santa Lucia Christmas experience.
December 19
This
last Saturday we had the staff/committee Christmas party, and it was a
major success! Everyone seemed to have a great time. People
remarked at how they loved having their families involved. There
was a big snowman pinata, lots of tamales and horchata, and TONS
of desserts. Christy did a great job of planning and executing
the party. Thanks to Mike (the peace corp worker) and Esma
(Marvin's wife) for helping to wash all the dishes! It turned out
we had about 90 people.
I (Laura) have begun the planning
process to get the Life Skills course up and running. I met with
Nelson, the coordinator of the community projects, to iron out some
details. My next step will be to approach Blanca, the head of the
committee, and then to sit down with the committee to get approval.
I hope to be up and running by the beginning of March, after the
February brigade leaves. This also means that Andy will begin to
watch Luke at least two half-days a week so that I can work on the
course and teach it. I will probably have the course on Tuesday
or Wednesday, one session in the morning and one, in the afternoon.
The other thing that I (Laura) plan on working on is an
ESL class for the staff of the clinic. Thus far, I have some
interest from two employees, both of whom would benefit immensely from
learning English. There are two other employees who already know
English but need to practice. The plan is to have the class in
the evening (after Luke goes to bed). I am excited about both of
these courses and about the opportunity to invest in the community here.
Luke
continues to grow and improve upon his newly acquired skills. He
can grab at things and actually get them, he is sitting up with
assistance, and he is trying really hard to roll over. He tries
and tries until he gets frustrated. He is a persistent little
guy! The cutest thing, right now, is to see his little legs up in
the air (usually when he's supposed to be napping) and him trying to
get a hold of his toes.
Andy and James recently took a trip to
the El Salvador border to see if the truck could cross the river.
The river came up to the doors of the truck; but no water came
in. They drove to the nearest town, Carolina, to talk to the
police about getting a passport stamp, but the station was closed.
We have heard that there is a PriceSmart (the equivalent of Sams
or Costco) about two hours away in El Salvador, much closer than the
ones in San Pedro or Teguc! We are excited about the possibility
of having a PriceSmart that close.
We will be going with Belkis,
la dentista, to Concepcion for Christmas eve dinner. The clinic
will be closed on Christmas day and New Years. Andy will be
working hard! The O'Deas leave on Friday for Teguc and, then, on
Saturday for the States.
Merry Christmas!
December 22
Luke did his first
unassisted roll today! He's been practicing. He went from
his back to his front, though he wasn't sure how to get his arm out
from underneath him once he got to his front. Good job, Luke! It
is amazing to watch him tuck his chin while trying to swing his back
leg around to get himself to his stomach. And he has been trying
hard! Yesterday, he was able to get to his stomach from his back
by grabbing the edge of the mat and pulling himself over. Now he
just has to work on the tummy side. He definitely needs more
tummy time, though he doesn't really like it.
December 25
Yesterday, we drove two
hours to El Manguito with Don Berto (the clinic guard), Ana (the clinic
secretary), and Miriam (the dental assistant) to have dinner with
Belkis' family. After we got to her family's house, we took the
young kids and drove to the waterfall to swim and jump off the rocks.
The kids, we learned, did not know how to swim; so they mostly played
in the shallows. But Andy did convince them to jump off the high
rock (14-feet) into the water with him at the bottom to catch them. So
Carlos decided he wanted to jump. Elizabeth went up to
watch. Carlos got to the edge of the rock with Andy in the water
below. He decided he would rather not after having looked down.
So Elizabeth then decided she would go. She stepped out to
the edge. Andy counted 1-2-3. No jump. 1-2-3.
No jump. Finally, Belkis helped her along by giving her a
little shove. Then, Carlos had to jump because his girl-cousin
had jumped, and he would never live it down. But he had to be
pushed, too. Ariel, after this, decided he had to go. So
the three of them "jumped" off the high rock into the water where Andy
picked them up and swam them to safety. They all had fun and were
very proud of having jumped off the rock.
The dinner was delicious. It was fun to be with a large family
celebrating Christmas. Their tradition is to eat all night until
the wee hours of the morning and then sleep all day. We had
tortillas, bean, chismol (a combination of tomatoes, green peppers,
onion, and celery all chopped up), beef from a recently killed calf,
cheese, grapes, apples, and cookies. Yum! The tamales
finished cooking right before we left so we were given a doggie bag to
take home (Our lunch today).
We ended up leaving around 9pm due to Luke's not sleeping at all.
One the way back, one of our passengers got motion sickness and
decided to revisit dinner all over the back seat of the Ford. It
was the first time in her life that she had worn a seat belt (!) and
she couldn't get it off fast enough to lean out the window. I
don't think she will ever wear one again. We made it home without
encountering another truck on the road, got in bed, and the fireworks
started up. They kept going off for an hour or so. Poor Luke
didn't fall asleep until about 1am. Needless to say, he has taken
a few naps today.
We have had a great day, talking with family on skype, taking naps, and
eating tamales. Send us an email to update us on your life when
you get a chance! Merry Christmas!
December 28
We had a great rain the
other day, which lowered the temperature considerably. The rain
also came wiith wind, which also helped to make the past few days very
comfortable and even chilly at night. Of course, the wind also brings
out all kinds of other insects, like scorpions.
Andy has had light days in the clinic, mostly seeing patients with the
flu. He has started to feel like he may be getting the flu, too,
which is not good for the other two of us; but hopefully, it will pass
quickly with lots of rest. The other staff have had it already.
I have been trying to keep Luke away from Maria's family because
they have all had the flu or have it, currently. One of the nine
of them has been sick the past few weeks. However, one of the
nine of them always wants to hold Luke, too. And it is horribly
impolite, here, to not let someone hold your child if they ask.
This is when, apparently, they can give your child evil eye.
Anyway, I am having to explain why they can't hold him and feel
like a mean person to them; but keeping Luke healthy seems more
important right now. Andy said a bad bought of the flu could send Luke
to the hospital and to keep him away from anyone who is sick or has a
sick family member; so I am just following the doctor's orders.
The whole situation does present some tension between the
Honduran norm (letting someone hold your child when they ask) and my
own point of view (not if you're sick or have a sick sibling/child).
Most sick people in the States would not approach a baby and ask
to hold it, I think. I have had people with runny noses and
coughs ask to hold Luke. And if they don't hold him, they grab
his hand. So I am fighting him to keep his hands out of his mouth
until I can get them clean. Hopefully, flu season will soon pass.
In the meantime, I have a great opportunity to teach about the
transmition of germs!
For anyone interesting in talking to us, one of the easiest ways to do
this is through a free Voice Over IP service called skype. You
can download it at skype.com. Then, we can talk
computer-to-computer for free. Email us for our contact
information.
December 30
Last night, the clinic
employees all went out for dinner together to the new restaurant in
town. We discussed our new years resolutions, ate great food, and
laughed a lot.
Andy has recovered from whatever he had. Luke and I are not sick.
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