A bit of this and that.

Wow, that was a brutal morning...just got handed a very definitive 6-0 defeat in the weekend soccer league.  That being said it wasn't that surprising given that we were playing the perennial champions and my team is new and definitely not very organized.  It's rather interesting to listen to everyone talking about how we should play and whatnot - everyone here loves either Real Madrid or Barcelona and they like to think that by watching their teams they know how they should be playing.  Unfortunately, reality and mental desire are a bit disconnected.

I can't necessarily talk too much though - these days my knowledge of the game far exceeds my technical abilities.  What with all this cycling and running I now do my slow twitch muscles far outnumber my fast twitch - which were in need of help when I was playing regularly...oh well it's still a fun way to spend a few hours each day!

Next week will see me more in my current element with my road racing debut here in Nicaragua...a half marathon from Jinotega to San Rafael del Norte in the northern and 'fresco' part of Nica - should be an interesting time.  I am going to see more Peace Corps volunteers in one place than I ever have before, which me

Life in the hospital here in  El Sauce still goes well.  I have recently started to feel more confident attending to patients in the ED  and that has made the whole experience much more enjoyable.  My project is going well - in fact I have essentially finished with my surveys of the patients with asthma and boy was that interesting - I feel incredibly sorry for any child who has ever been nebulized here in El Sauce (and there are a lot - one of the 'normas' or edicts from MINSA the government health organization is that if a kid comes in with the suspicion of pneumonia and there are wheezes in the chest fields they get nebulized).  This generally makes mothers think their child has asthma and if a child has asthma they are forbidden from doing a TON of things - anything from bathing in the evening to playing in the river to eating ice cream or drinking a nice cold fresco.  Not a nice way to pass your childhood.  And this doesn't even touch on some of the traditional cures - anything from monkey, shark or fox oil to cures based on copious amounts of garlic or the blood of a cat.  One woman - who actually has her grandsons asthma well controlled was telling me that she would give him a little bit of a laxative so that he could get some of the phlegm in his chest out with his poop - an interesting concept.  

With this in mind my current project is making a little brochure about what asthma is and some myths and realities - including the best ways to treat the disease.  We'll see how it goes over - most people look at me like I am nuts and have no idea what I am talking about if I explain the actual physiological basis behind things - asthma and other things included.

Well, that's been a lot of words - let's see if there are any photos to share from the last several weeks...

This one is to make all you fruit lovers jealous...in a few weeks there is going to be a massive influx of ripe mangos and avocados!  Boy am I looking forward to that.  A ripe mango beats a green one with salt and chile any day...

I recently went to the port town of Corinto - the biggest port in Nica.  The goal was to eat a ton of delicious seafood and  I definitely accomplished that.  The views were quite good too...

The central park in Corinto.  There are a bunch of cruise ships that come in each day and deposit their charges to explore COrinto for the day.  Everyone was sure I was part of the cruise ship that arrived the day I arrived but it was gone by 6 and when I was walking around taking these photos the people were saying "Look at the gringo - he got left behind!"

A doctor here has a good friend there in Corinto who I called and he brought me out with the boys - or the gallera as they call themselves.  Really it's a group that can drink rum like water - incredible cantidads consumed! 

Variation on painted easter eggs?

Apparently this is how my beloved cashew grows...I had absolutely no idea!

Matagalpa y más

Wow - it's hard to believe that I have already been back in the country for over a month!  Before I know it, I will have to start thinking about scary things like med school electives and residency interviewing...but until then there is still a lot to be done and seen here in Central America.  The last few weeks have brought some fun adventures, both here in Sauce and out and about in Nicaragua.  

As the next phase in my study here in Sauce commences I have had the opportunity to track down numerous patients with asthma in order to chat with them about their disease, its maintenance and how it affects their lives.  It is quite interesting (did you know that oil derived from foxes, sharks or even monkeys will cure asthma?) it is also quite challenging as addresses as we know them in the States do not exist and no one is ever really willing to simply say "I don't know them or where they live".  So, it's time intensive but fun.

Two weekends ago I took the opportunity to visit Matagalpa, a city in the northern and more mountainous region of Nica.  As such it is both beautiful and has a wonderfully fresh climate - I was actually chilly at night!  It is known for its coffee and has a local chocolate 'factory' - 2 things that I love and don't get enough of here in the Sauce.

Nica is full of volcanoes.  This is taken maybe 30k from Sauce where I got off the bus in the middle of nowhere to wait for a bus going the other direction.  Love travelling here!

Cacao beans at the Castillo de Cacao - the chocolate factory in Matagalpa.  It is  a small outfit with a mixture of machine and hand-labor.  For example, the beans here are ground by hand, but the shell and the actual meat are separated with the help of a machine.  The chocolate is very different from what I am accustomed to - 75% cacao signifies 75% cacao and 25% sugar - nothing else!  Turns out to be quite tasty - and melted it tastes even better.

It's done by hand - from making the aluminum sleeves to putting on the colored wrappers!

Matagalpa's pretty!

Went to a coffee plantation that was amazing not just for its coffee but for its self-sustaining policies.  It's called Selva Negra and is now renowned for it's hotel and beautiful locale, but what interested me the most was how they have found a way to re-use just about everything - from egg shells of the hotel to the casings of the coffee beans.  They even generate about 50% of their own energy!  Super cool.

Of the coffee plantation where they research ways to improve the soil quality  to improve the life of the coffee trees.

The chapel at Selva Negra.  Apparently a very popular wedding location.

This past weekend I hung out here in El Sauce and survived a 10.5 mile run with this  beast of a man.  He's 50+ and runs all the time and is known by everyone and their mother in El Sauce and all the surrounding communities.  Every house we passed along the way gave us a friendly and personalized salutation.  Down side is that he is hard to understand normally and when running it's even worse...

A main reason for staying in the Sauce was an invitation to a quince años - for which i received the invitation in November.   It's a big deal here and was very impressive.  It all starts out with a procession to the church, a mass and then a feast followed by dancing and copious amounts of rum.  Sure is a shame that we don't have this excuse for a party in the states!