La primera semana! The words part...

La primera semana!

Wow! It's hard to believe that I have now spent the first week of my year abroad here in Nicaragua. After thinking about it, wanting to do it, and then planning it for so long it seems ridiculous that it is actually happening. And it has been quite a week: arriving, figuring out where things are, seeing how the hospital works...-and then there is the whole language thing! My Spanish is certainly good enough to survive and I can carry on a conversation quite well with one or two people who are talking directly with me – and happen to be of the slower talking variety. But put a group of saucenos together or even just two and the conversation speeds up, the pronounciation drops off and my understanding plummets! But I have hope, things have gotten better – and it has only been a week.

But otherwise things are good. Life is interesting here. El Sauce is HOT – hot and sticky. And unlike being home in TN there is no relief when you walk inside, often it is even worse. And somehow, for reasons and abilities that I do not yet comprehend everyone still wears pants! Let me tell you, the last thing I want in the climate here is more clothes than absolutely necessary. And then doctors somehow manage to wear white coats as well – granted alot of them are shortsleeved – but still that is extra covering that really serves no purpose.

The pace of life here is very Latino – most people spend their days sitting and chatting with their neighbors and I am truly unsure of whether people actually have jobs or how people earn money. Interestingly, the weekends are truly no different than weekdays – shops are open and people are hanging out in the shade on the streets.

Days begin early here, people start to get moving by 530 or so in the morning although nothing officially opens until 900. I usually get to the hospital at 800 although I dont do anything till 900 – and by doing something I dont mean too much – although that is partly by choice at this point in order to get a feeling for how the hospital works and to become a bit more comfortable with the language. We then finish about 3 and have the rest of the evening to hang out, or in my case, work on my vocabulary buy some essentials or chat with some folks.

I am currently living with a nice woman named Ilean Rivera, her husband, their two children(both in their late 20s whose job/role in society/the community is largely unkown to me at this point) a granddaughter of 7 and their grandmother. They are all very nice and Ileana is more than willing to chat with me but otherwise I am kinda left to my own devices which is kinda nice but a more 'family' like atmosphere would be welcome – but again it may just be a cultural thing.

I think that's all the writing for now, but here are some photos of the hospital:

The beautiful new hospital.  It was completed in November of 2010 and replaced the old Health Center(Centro de Salud).  Unfortunately, whereas the Centro de Salud was in the middle of town the hospital is a bit outside - about 1/2 a mile or so.  Certainly gives the pedi-cabs and moto-taxis some additional work!  The hospital has a pharmacy and the ability to do blood, urine and feces tests as well as xrays.

 

 The inside - there are rarely fully closed off spaces here in El Sauce

 The exam room of the ED.

 The ED waiting room.  Just like in the states the majority of people who show up in the ED are there for non-emergencies - sore throats, runny noses, aching necks and then the even more pressing blood pressure checks and analyzing the results of blood tests and urine tests.

The ED procedure room. We examined a machete-severed achilles in this very clean room this morning...something else - somehow the machete fell from a height and got nothing but her heel.  Mala Suerte!!!!!

The hallway.  This is usually full of people.  The system works in that patients have to show up in the morning to get a number to see the doc and then wait around until they can be seen - ideally in order.  Pts start to be seen between 7 and 8am so they often show up at 6 or so to line up to get a number.