Lots to catch up on

So as many of you have probably noticed I just could not leave Belize. I woke up Friday morning to go to the Clinic with the rest of the group, after being there for about an hour and hearing everyone's plans for the next couple of days I decided I just couldn't leave; something was telling me to stay.  I made a lot of phone calls and got my flight switched last minute... This is so unlike me! Maybe this trip has taught me to a be a little  more spontaneous without having anxiety about plans changing!!

The Clinic was pretty slow on Friday with only about 15 people coming in all day. After the Clinic we went to the pool for a little to swim and hang out. I had dinner with my family which included mashed potatoes; I was in heaven because I am getting pretty sick of rice at this point...  After dinner I went to the bunk house to watch zoolander and just relax with everyone.It was a pretty early night and much more relaxing knowing it wasn't my last night anymore.

Saturday I got to go on the excursion that had been planned through proworld since I decided to stay. We went to the Mayan ruin, Xunantunich. We took a little hike to get there then walked around the ruins for a couple hours. It was pretty amazing to me how they built this with pure man power. No one this days would ever think about doing that. Although I did think it was pretty cool, I don't think I appreciate it enough to be amazed. I am glad I got to see some ruins, but I prefer the more adventurous excursions. 

After Xunantunich Ruth and I went to the market to experience what Saturdays are like in the town; everyone is out wondering around buying their groceries and having BBQ. It is amazing how lively the town gets on Saturdays. I took a few pictures of the market, but they don't give the same effect as when you are here. It is just row after row of produce, clothes and other things. I bought a banana chocolate chip muffin from the menonites....it was pretty tasty! Then off  to the pool for a few hours I went. I have started taking my swimsuit with me everywhere in case it is nice, so I don't have to walk all the way back to my house. It  was the most beautiful day I have had since I got here. 

Adma and Marlin were gone for the night in Belize City for  a family reunion so I had to fend for myself; I went up the road to a Mexican restaurant, Rolsons, and I ended up eating a cheeseburger and french fries!! Never in my life has a burger and fries tasted so good, and I don't even usually order them when I am home. It was a good change of taste! And for the first time since I have been here I have got a stomach ache from eating too much. Usually the food is very good here, but not so good that I cannot stop....The burger was so good that I could not stop haha! It was just what I needed.  After dinner I met up with everyone else to celebrate Bhavika's last night and her 21st birthday. We ended up hanging out at my house, sitting on the porch. It was so sad to already be saying good bye to these awesome people I met. The only thing that has kept me from being really sad about her leaving is that she is from Michigan, so I am sure we will keep in touch.

This morning I was abruptly awoken with a loud scream and pounding on my door.....any guesses why?!?

A TARANTULA!!!!!! Ajia was screaming and terrified of the tarantula that was in her room. I told her she was asking the wrong person for help; I wouldn't even look at it. Luckily marlin had gotten home from Belize city, so we pounded on the door to have him kill it. It was terrifying; even after it was dead I couldn't get close to it.  To make things even better marlin was taking forever to come kill it and as he came upstairs he said," sorry, I had to brush my teeth first," I don't think he understood how petrified we were...Brushing teeth can wait!! He swept the nasty little creature out onto the porch after it was dead and made a comment while staring at it, " there he goes crossing over into a new life," I guess they really like their creatures here. I can handle the cute little geckos in my  room, but now I am on serious tarantula patrol every time I move in my room. I am terrified that I am going to wake up with one in my hair!! 

After that I slept for a few hours, ate some breakfast and hung out with the family. I told them I was going to the pool today and then they started to tell me about this resort that is here where you only have to pay 5 bucks to use their pool and they have really good food. Marlin drove me up the hill to the resort; it  was awesome with such a beautiful view and pool. I was there from 10-5 today. I had some really good nachos and took advantage of good wi-fi. It was exactly what I wanted to do for my last couple of days here. The weather was amazing, not a cloud in the sky. And of course I had to get some cayo twist ice cream on my way home. Since they are only open Thursday- Sunday it was my last chance. It was pretty tasty :)

I cannot get over how cheap everything is here, in the last two day I have spent only about 19$ US  which got me a cheeseburger and fries, 3 coke lights (diet coke), nachos, ice cream and I tipped 2 servers.

All the other volunteers went to guatemala today, so I don't know if anything will be going on tonight. I am totally okay with relaxing. I have no idea what I am going to do tomorrow, hopefully the weather is beautiful again.

Miss you all!! I posted new pictures today too!!

P.S. Grandma if you read this, thank you so much for everything!! Staying a couple extra days is really maximizing my experience. I love you and hopefully will see you soon!!

Last day :(

 So I felt much better all last night and even enjoyed dinner and going out, which I am so thankful for. Everyone including staff and volunteers met at the bunkhouse for dinner . We had curry, rice, and salad.; it was tasty and didn't bother my stomach much. We also surprised Bhavika with a birthday cake because her 21^st birthday is on sunday. The cake was delicious!!

After dinner we went over to bhavikas home stay family and she made pina coladas for everyone and even made me a virgin colada, so nice! We decided to play a game, which sounds dumb, but ended up being really cool. We had different color packets of Tang (kind of like kool-aid) and each color represented a different type of story you had to tell. For example if you drew orange you had to tell a story when you were happy, red =mad, blue= sad, peach= fun and there was one that someone would ask you a question. It seemed dorky at first but we all learned so much about eachother. It was actually really cool and we had a great time. After the coladas were gone we headed to our favorite hang out place, Greedys, for ladies night. Lastly, we headed to the casino for some karaoke. It was pretty packed in there and was a fun time. I went home early because I started to feel a liittle sick to my stomach, but nothing too bad.

Now, I just woke up and have been having a lot of cramps, nothing unbearable just a little uncomfortable. I am thinking once I get another dose of medication in my system it will really help. Today we are at the clinic again and hopefully we will see a lot more patients.

Tonight is my last dinner with my host family and I think we might be going to Benque for the Benque fiesta. I also really need to get some more ice cream at cayo twist before I leave!!

I cannot believe I have already been here for 2 weeks, time has gone by so fast. I also cant believe how much I have learned and experienced from the time I got off the plane in Belize until now. I was terrified the moment I stepped off the plane wanting nothing more than to be back home and now I am comfortable being out of my comfort zone. I have met great people, doctors and patients. There were a few rough days that I was ready to come home, but I am pretty sure every one of us volunteers had that feeling and of course the amoebas ruined a little of my fun. But, I am so happy I had the opportunity to have this experience. Thanks for all the support through reading my blog, commenting on my pictures and calling me.

I am sure I will be very bored tomorrow during my 5 hour lay over so I will post one more blog. Cant wait to see you all when I get home!!

parasites in my colon....not okay!

The last couple of days I have been extremely tired, but did not think much of it because I have been working a lot and walking a lot plus I did so much activity over the weekend. I also felt like I had a fever tuesday but it quickly went a way. This morning I woke up with terrible cramps and had no appetite, but forced myself to eat breakfast and went to the clinic. I started feeling much worse after about an hour of being there. I was nauseous and really crampy in my stomach. I went back to the Cayo Clinic that I have been volunteering at to see the doctor; he was so nice and didnt even charge me for my visit which was awesome. After listening to patients for the past week I was almost positive that I had amoebas, which the doctor confirmed. After walking around san ignacio for an hour I finally found a pharmacy that carried the medication I needed. I was expecting it to be  super cheap, but I was definitely wrong. It cost 65 BZ$ for 6 pills!! But I should be feeling better by tomorrow. The only bad part is I cannot have any drinks for the  next couple days and we were all going to celebrate tonight and tomorrow for me leaving. Oh well, I am sure I will live without a few drinks.  So in conclusion I have amoebas! 

I was only at the clinic for about an hour, so I didnt see much action. The other volunteers informed me that i did not miss much. I slept all afternoon and the cramping seemed to have gone away. I still dont feel amazing, but I feel better. I am getting ready and going to dinner!! 

Hopefully the little ameobas in my stomach relax for a few hours so I can have fun!

Cayo Family Clinic!

This morning was a little rough getting up. I didn't get home until about 130 and had to be up around 630, but I can always sleep when I get home! Today the clinic was actually pretty busy which I am going to attribute to a dry day...finally! The morning was a little slow, but I had things to keep me busy; I folded gauze for a while which was interesting and very tedious, but since it was my first time it was not too bad at all. We saw a few patients in the morning with simple illnesses and injuries. There were a few injections, one for a back injury and one for plantar fascitis. It was cool to see the way Dr. Meza diagnosed patients, then to see the x-ray and then the treatment, which were the injections into the foot and the back. Reading x-rays is much more difficult than it would seem so I really enjoyed when we had x-rays to read and the doc would explain them to me.

After lunch we got really busy; none of the patients had anything too exciting, but I felt like a big help because I was actually calling patients back and taking care of all their paperwork while the nurse did patient intake. The doctor also did a lot of explaining today and taught me broad diagnostic tips for anything. Over the past few days he has pretty much explained the entire process that you go through while you are at the doctor, what they are feeling for on every part of your body and what's normal and what's not.

Today was also really fun because most of the people that came in spoke english, so I had a clue what was going on, which is quite helpful. I talked to one lady who was convinced she was dying this morning; she was completely fine though!! She was really nice and even hugged me and told me the world is a small place and that maybe she would see me in the states one day. Another lady was really interesting to talk to because she knew a lot about the healthcare system here and in the US, so while she was waiting to see the doc we had some interesting conversation and I learned a little more about the public healthcare here which I did not get to see.

Since I have been here I have only seen the private clinic I was working in and have been curious as to why people would pay for private doctors when they have free healthcare at the hospital? But, after talking to a few patients today I have learned that the wait time to see a public doctor is really long and they do not take the time to deal with your issue like they do in the private sector. Also, the doctors are supposed to be much better at the private clinics. The prices at the clinic I was at were not to steep, so I think that is what drew people in. Also, people have been hunting for Dr. Meza because he has only been back in Belize for about 5 months, so that helps to bring people into the clinic.

Today was my last day at the clinic and although it was an awesome day, it made leaving so much harder. I stayed for an extra 2 hours until the clinic closed. I took pictures with everyone and exchanged emails and such. I never felt like I was much of a help while I was there, but when I left the doctor thanked me so much for all the help and the nurse hugged and kissed me and thanked me a lot too. I told them I will definitely be back to see them again, which made them happy!! I am going to miss all of them and miss the conversation I got to have with Dr. Meza. I am going to wonder what happened to certain patients and wonder if others were okay. But, when I realize that I have that curiosity and care for people, I realize I have found something I love and that my future should be exciting. Today really reaffirmed my desire and excitement for treating patients in the future.

On the other side of things....the bugs have finally found me. I have more bug bites than I have ever had in my life; I itch so bad. The first week here they didnt bother me at all, but now I want to rip my skin off. If it was possible to overdose on deet, I would have already been in the hospital. I am starting to think the mosquitos have super powers and are immune to deet.

Tonight we had chilli for dinner which was a great change; for once in my life I am sick of chicken and craving beef. It was really good chilli but some cheddar cheese and crackers would have topped it off nicely. Instead, I had tortillas with it. At least they were home made..yum :) For the rest of the night I am just going to read my book and relax. Tomorrow we are back to our free clinic with all of the other volunteers!

Hope everyone is having a good week and I will see most of you soon!

P.S. I cannot believe I only have 2 more full days here :( Boy how time flies!

Thanks for the prayers everyone, we had a few more sick people today!! That sounds so bad. Anyways, last night it rained like I have never heard or seen rain in my life. It was continuous for hours and I even had to take a taxi to work because it was so rainy and the ground was so wet. The clinic was slow at first, so I read some of my book and just relaxed, which is hard to get used to doing at work. It still hasn't gotten in my head that it is okay to sit down and do nothing at work. I tried to explain to them that at my work that is completely not okay; even if you are not busy you must look busy all the time. They didnt get it...its  a totally different way or life here. Everything is slow and relaxed. It is kind of nice, but actually a little hard to get used to.

I dont know if you remember the man that came in last week with the open chest wound, well today the doctor cut some of the skin and stretched it to stitch it to the other side to cover the open part of his chest. Another patient came in to get a small growth from her shoulder removed, something that was probably due to sun damage I am assuming. For some reason watching him cut into the skin really made me feel sick today. I got really hot and sweaty and had to keep taking deep breaths. I think part of it is that the scalpels here are not very sharp and he has to use a let of pressure and pulling to cut the skin which was kind of gross to me. Hopefully the more I see it, the less it bothers me.

There was an older lady, about 82, that came in today and it reminded me how much I love working with the elderly. I am starting to realize what great experience being a CNA has been. I even miss the old people at home!! It was nice helping her walk and stand; the other staff wasnt sure how to assist, so that was nice to feel useful.

The rest of the patients were there for pretty common things: ear infection, allergic reaction and a few others. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some more excitement. I might ask one of the workers if they will let me try a blood draw on them and see if the lab tech is willing to show me. I dont know how much courage I will get, but it is something that I was wondering about today. I also need to take some pictures of the place and the staff tomorrow to show all of you.

Today after work I was praying for sunshine, or at least no rain and thankfully it was nice out. I walked downtown to pick up my laundry which was nicely folded when I picked it up.

After my walk home I showered, did some reading and took a long nap. We had dinner and then I went out for a little bit. I finally had some french fries too which calmed my cravings a little for american food!!

Good night all!

Never taking pavement for granted again

As I said in my last post we were headed to mountain pine ridge on sunday. Getting there was quite a treat. Imagine the worst dirt road you have ever been on and add a ton of large rocks and hills to it plus what it would feel like to be driving 60 MPH down it in a huge van....that is what I endured for an hour and a half there and an hour and a half back. And, really we were only going about 20 mph the whole time.Lets just say no one gave me a heads up on that one. It was quite miserable, but it was worth it in the end. We first arrived at rio frio cave which was a much different cave experience than the day before; this cave was open on both side and just huge inside! It had a little beach inside of it as well. After the cave we went to Rio on pools which was a bunch of small waterfalls that turned into pools that we swam in. It was refreshing and beautiful. It happened to be a hot sunny day that day as well so we laid out on the granite rocks to dry off and catch some sun. It was so nice to relax and just take it all in.  We ate lunch there while watching the beautiful waterfalls. After that we drove a few miles to big rock which is a pretty large waterfall with some pools to swim in at the bottom and ledges to cliff jump as well. This was my favorite part of the day. It was so exciting to jump of off the cliffs and to swim next to the falls. But, the rocks were SO slippery to climb up. And as clumsy as I can be...I definitely took home the award for least graceful falls; I am pretty sure my ribs are bruised. But at least the rest of the group got some entertainment out of me falling on my butt more than once. The hike up and down to the falls was also really steep and was probably the most mountain climbing I have ever done in my life. It was a good experience.

After all of that we were pretty exhausted. We got home and all went to our separate houses. I ate some dinner and hung out with ajia for a while. I  went to bed pretty early last night and got some sleep.

This morning I was up at 630 to get ready to head  to the clinic. I had a good breakfast and was on my way. Luckily the monsoon that took place last night was over by the time I had to walk to work. The clinic was extremely slow today; we think it was because of all the rain. I kept telling the doctor that we need to make some people sick so we would have something to do! I saw some x-rays and mammograms so the day wasn't completely boring. There was a patient that needed an IV, but for some reasons her veins were just not cooperating; I had asked a question and the lab tech thought I said I was good at IVs. He started to hand me the needle and I had to say no no no I have no idea how to do that. They really will just let you do anything here! It made me a little queasy when they were wiggling the needle all around trying to get it to stay, but I survived without fainting.  On Friday I missed a vasectomy which I am totally bummed about. Hopefully tomorrow will bring some excitement! Pray for some sick people for me.... just kidding!

I am just about to go eat some dinner and  then I don't know what the night will bring. I am pretty tired, so reading and sleeping sound pretty good.

Thanks for reading and for all your positive comments on FB, I appreciate it!!

Only 6 more days :(

Today was awesome!!! We booked a tour through one of the local companies that we had heard was awesome; none of us really knew what we were getting ourselves into but we were very excited to say the least. We had to be downtown at 730 ready to go. We rode in a van for about an hour, but most of it was on very crappy dirt roads and we even drove through the river; these people in Belize think cars can do anything.  The ride there was pretty exciting because we hadnt seen much of the jungle yet; it was cool to see all of the crops growing and also the houses that are that far from a city. As we got closer to the mountains we all got pretty excited and jittery. Once we got to the site they gave us packs with our lunch in them and we could put our water, socks and snacks in there as well. I used the nastiest bathroom I think I have ever had to use and the toilet seat was so far back from the edge of the wood stand that squatting was  extremely hard for the vertically challenged like me.

Our tour guide was pretty much the best person we could have gotten and he might be our favorite person from the whole trip. Patrick took good care of us and was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about the jungle. He said when he wass 3 he was given his machette and started to learn the ways of the jungle. He and his father, who was a medicine man, would go on 2 week long trips into the jungle and he also grew up riight by the jungle. He also went to college in Boulder, Colorado and is certified in flying hot air balloons. He is  creole, meaning he is half african and half mayan. He has had the chance to travel all over the world and has seen so much, so talking to him was really exciting. He also had a great sense of humor. He discovered this cave in 1986 with one other man. Since then the government has taken control of it and has many laws. Nothing in the cave can be preserved or touched. The way it was found is the way we saw it today.

The tour started out with a hike and within 5 mins we were waist deep in the water. We continued hiking for about an hour while patrick showed us tons of plants and animals. He had us smell some plants and things like  that and told us what type of medicine is still  made from them today. We finally made it to the entrance of the cave which was amazing. We ate some lunch and then we were off on our 3 hours adventure into the cave. To get into the cave you swim a small distance first. Then we trekked through water for 90% of the cave and climbed  a little more than I expected too. There are definitely some spaces we went through that would not fit the fat americans as patrick said, " we would need a lot of oil". Patrick gave us tons of information ranging from history to the science behind all of it.

Once we got to a certain point we had to climb up to the next chamber of the cave where we took our shoes off and had to have socks on so nothing would get ruined or altered from our shoes. We then kept climbing into higher chambers to see all of the artifacts that were left from the mayans. There were so many pots and pottery as well as skeletons and bodies. It still hasnt hit me that we  werent in some disney world exhibit, but that it was actually real.

After all that we ate lunch at the campsite and trekked back for our ride home.It was an awesome experience and I am so glad we did it.

The rest of the day consisted of stopping by the market and a few shops. After that I shower, relaxed and had dinner. After dinner seems to be the time that i hang out with Adma and Marlin the most. We talked for a few hours. I love talking to them. Today Marlin told me he can see his daughter being just like me when she is older, she is 9 now. He said she wants to be a doctor just like me and has a very similar personality, so that was cool. They also told me that whenever i want to come back just get a hold of them and they will give me a deal and I can stay with them anytime. They really want me to stay longer, we were all getting sad at dinner tonight about my trip being half  way over.I guess I will just HAVE to come back!!

Tomorrow we are going to mountain pine ridge which has a 1,000 foot water fall and some cliff jumping. It should be pretty cool. Hopefully are your  weekends are going well!

Miss you all!!