El Sauce? Where is that?

So maybe a good place to start this whole blog thing would be with a quick intro to what I am going to be doing and where I will be going.  Then, if I have time before I leave the lazy life of being home in TN, I will try and share some exciting pictures from my student fellow life so far - it's been a pretty great month!
I will be going to El Sauce, Nicaragua which is a town in the northwest portion of Nicaragua.  It's on the smaller side but not tiny with a population in the 30000 range.  It's about 1 hour from Leon, the capital of the department, which for Nica is kinda like our states.

So, that's where I will be going, but what the heck am I going to do and why am I going?  That's a slightly more involved question.  Since I travelled in Australia between 2nd and 3rd year of college I have been wanting to spend a legitimate amount of time abroad.  While I was travelling, I decided that doing the Peace Corps would be perfect for me.  Unfortunately for my high-flying plans that didn't pan out.  But the bug to spend a chunk of time in a poor country doing something worthwhile remained.  So I entered medical school determined to take a year out, the question was - what the heck was I gonna do?  I went down to Peru between 1st and 2nd year with Jeff and Zach and we did a project with medical students that was fun but really only whetted my appetite for the time being.( but I did get a bunch of good pictures! and they haven't been seen that often so here are a few)

sandboarding action - they're tough dudes

hot, hot sun

Zach's a thinker

had to go to Machu Picchu

we summitted Nevado Ishinca >5000meters! Huaraz is totally the place to go.

Jeff riding his caballito.  Very seaworthy...

And then some jungle adventures for Zach and I in Iquitos, the largest city in the world inaccesible by road!  Too many mosquitos for sure though.

Then during my second year I was taking a medical spanish humanities course that was taught by a Pediatrics ED doc who happened to establish a relationship with the clinic in El Sauce when he was a medical student at the University of Buffalo.  So I started talking with him and soon the idea of going to El Sauce was established.  But then I decided that after 3rd year would be best, so that I would have some actual medical skills and could actually contribute.  So then it was decided - a year abroad in El Sauce between 3rd and 4th year to better my physical exam skills, finally reach the point with my Spanish where I feel comfortable saying I am fluent and learn what life is like in the 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - after Haiti.  It's pretty incredible that this is actually about to happen.  I have been planning and working toward this for such a long time now that it seems impossible that in just about 1 week I will be leaving for Nicaragua!

But before then hanging with the fam, cooking a lot of delicious food and getting my butt kicked by all the hills and humidity in Chattanooga - a great way to spend 2 weeks!