posada maria la gorda (flaca??)

Estoy quedando en un hotel buenisimo con Shannon y el grupo desde Jinotepe, y es mas facil para escribir espanol, que extrana!! Hoy es nuestro ultimo noche en Nicaragua y estamos llorando llorando lloorrando!! :(( Porque hemos conocido a muchas muchas personas muy amables y chivas y que tienen mucho hospitalidad.. en serioso, en total los regalos que nos daron son mas de se damos. haha! Este hotel esta muy cerca al aeropuerto y tiene mucho caracter - muchos colores y pintados y somos los solomentes clientes - tratando especial!! Hay una television nueva, aire condicional, wireless internet!! (es nuestro primero vez en Nicaragua que no necesitamos hacer cosas muy rapido en un cyber), y por supuesto, DUCHAS!! wow! Los otros grupos veniremos pronto para cenar. LLOORRAANDOOOO

nicanica!

The one block we walk to the hospital (the green building in back). Peaceful, no? :)

Bicycle taxis in our town

The festival for 4 town saints, including ours, San Sebastian!

Granada

Bride, Groom and Granada

Ominous Omotepe

I gotta say... Nicaragua's more real than Costa Rica is. More itself, less untouched. I love it. The only things these two countries share are a border, and gallo pinto (rice and beans). Spanish is even different here, though I've definitely improved (while my English and Chinese have gone to poo). Nicaragua is the poorest Central American (second poorest in the Western hemisphere) country, while Costa Rica is the richest. Shannon and I went to Managua last Friday for parts and by some miracle of God, had no idea where to go but found our way to the small medical store in the middle of the huge capital city by purely asking people on the bus and streets for directions. And they happened to have every single item we needed, which all ended up costing exactly the amount we had withdrawn earlier. Ask me to tell you the full story sometime, it was ridiculously awesome. Afterwards, we found our way to a mall 'cause I was looking for a place to exchange my traveler's checks; we walked in and were literally in amazement. I had to whip out my camera. There was this kiosk called American Donuts and we shared a heavenly guava doughnut. Wow, that was the nicest place we'd been to in a while. We're in for quite the reverse culture shock.

We installed those parts today, and everything WORKED!! We finally put that Olidef baby incubator back into commission with the help of Harold, the head (and pretty much only) tech. They now have a grand total of 2 incubators in the neonatal ward (where we had cleaned and painted the walls of fungus last week - woot!) Now they don't have to squeeze 4 babies into that other one! It's so amazing how they manage.. I really admire all these inspiring people we've met. Anyways, today we also scrubbed in to see a Cesarean (C) section - olymoly, that was crazy. And fast! The baby just kinda popped out crying and squirted stuff everywhere, and our host mother Dra Fernandez caught him. que chivaaa

I've made more friends and attachments here than I expected given my experience in Costa Rica, and almost cried this morning thinking about how much I will miss them. Veronica, the receptionist that took us out to Eskimo (the ice cream company with a monopoly on the country). Lilliam, the gym owner who works us to death. Martita, the crazy nurse that only wants to learn bad words in English. Maria Feliz and the whole host family - Dra Fernandez and Julisa the power pair, and Grandma with her power yawn. Family and family friends, everyone so nice and sad when we tell them we're leaving soon, insisting that we should pretend that we're sick and stay longer, that we're nicaraguenses now. I think I've gotten to know myself better this month as well, since it's been just me and Shannon. We've also obviously gotten to know each other very well too. I don't think it was coincidence that we were partners, and hope we'll stay in each other's lives. We also have no idea what to do for our "nontraditional presentation," that is, anything BUT powerpoint.. telling stories about the random old people party we crashed, danced and drank at? Putting on a puppet show showcasing the 4 (out of 6!) ultrasonic pocket doppler problem children that we were unable to fix? Interviewing hospital staff a la Extreme Home Makeover style? Mimicking the singing and dancing that we saw at the festival of Saints? We'll come up with something gooood. Tomorrow will be busy. Lots of running around tying up loose ends, and hopefully sometime in the midst of it all, I will make my apple crumb pie again. :) That'll be the mark I leave in every country I visit, until the whole world knows about the wonderfulnessss that is apple crumbb pie!!!

just posting directly from an email...

So today was awesome! We asked to check out the OR and got to scrub in to see a fallopian sterilization surgery and hysterectomy! That would definitely not have been that easy in the States haha. We've also given back two ultrasonic pocket dopplers and a centrifuge that now work. Suh-weet! And then after work, Shannon, my hospital partner, and I ran halfway to the next town and back and then joined the gym and got our butts kicked by the owner, this bizarrely buff old woman. I always have the best feelings after seeing lots of blood and sweat. xP

We went to Granada this weekend and got to see plenty of beautiful old churches and crazy street acts. There were these amazingly talented break-dancers and fire handlers, clowns and people on stilts. Even though there was a cool European vibe, adding the abundance of gringos (n. 1. foreigner. 2. gibberish.) and Spanish architecture made the whole place seem so.. fake, almost like Epcot in Disneyworld, if you’ve ever been. I felt like I got to get back in touch with the real Nicaragua kayaking (fun!) on Lake Granada, navigating through the narrow channels and thick water forestry of some of the 265(!) islands. The King of Spain is apparently selling one of them.. wouldn’t it be cool to sign a contract with the KING? :o

I gotta say that the place that we stayed at only enhanced the whole experience haha - we ended up staying in a random room in the back of a bar! It had 5 bunk beds, perfect for the 9 of us. And it was $3 each. score! One of the hostels we talked to was completely booked, so they just phoned this place and they magically opened up the back for us. With Jared's lock, everything was safe for the night woot!

I’m still so miffed by my experience at the big market we went to before Granada though. The salesman said “treinta” for this colorful headband I wanted, but when I gave him 40 expecting change, he said 20 more, “tres dolares.” Flustered and without thinking much, I asked if 50 was ok, and he turned to look at his wife, who nodded. I gave him ten more and walked away with an uneasy feeling. I then realized I’d gotten played with the confused tourist language card – darnit!! I’ve decided that I can’t stand salespeople. You can’t trust anyone, like someone who says that a rival hotel is not in business anymore. And I’ve even heard of vendors throwing candy and trinkets at my friends while they’re at traffic stops, expecting them to pay for the stuff!?

Basically, dishonesty peeves me, and so does overbearing persistence. Adding the countless beggars that I must turn down, the guys that yell things because of my race and gender, and of course the daily challenges at the hospital results in a hardened, toughened Rita. Begging is a hard topic. My first reaction is to ignore, I don’t know why. It’s easier to turn down the people that look competent enough to work, but in terms of kids, it’s a shame to perpetuate the cycle of dependency. I feel pity yet am humiliated for the kid who asks for a piece of my hamburger. I don’t know, maybe it’s best to give with discretion, and be sure to ask for their names so we can give more through prayer.

don't say goodbye, 'cause I don't really want to hear those words tonight

This is the latest I've stayed up this past month. I don't even care anymore, today's our last day of schooling, of chilling in Costa Rica with the whole gang. :/ I'm going to miss everyone, especially my housemates and host family. Gladys' party tonight was a great way to top things off with everyone, and the (party)bus ride back was epic, all of us just belting out great American oldies along with the radio. Haven't laughed that hard in a while (oh! oh! oh! oh!). I'm excited about Shannon and my hospital assignment in Nicaragua though - this is what we signed up for, this is what we're here for! Can't help but feel a bit nervous though, even with the status reports and organization, still don't completely know what to expect. Last weekend pics and new country update when I get there! Until then, pura vida forever, man.

love tree children, unite!!

I was definitely up for making our third weekend here more action-packed than walking around looking for turtles in the dark (though admittedly that was an experience itself), so I decided to go zip-lining at Monte Verde! The 5-hour bus ride was a bit ridiculous. A bunch of us ended up standing or squeezing 3 people into 2 seats because the company had sold way too many tickets (a common practice here, even though it is illegal to stand on a bus?). The roads just got narrower and more inclined as we climbed up; it was so nerve-racking sitting helplessly as the bus stalled all the way up, up, eventually up above the clouds! When we finally got into town, we were bombarded by people hawking their hotels, from only $5-10 a night. Chad found a really awesome hostel for us to stay at: the place was just so homey, with its Christmas lights, dogs and cats, free internet and free coffee/tea.

Our room had a loft for 2 (or here, 6!) people. Que divertido!

It started raining, so we scrapped the horseback riding idea and asked our hotel manager for suggestions about cool things to see, and he gave us directions through the nearby cloud forest to a “tall tree” that was apparently good to climb. I originally imagined climbing maybe a good two, three stories up, but when we finally found the tree, I realized we'd be able to climb all the way up, to the top of the forest: the tree was literally 30m (about 100 feet!) high!! Part of the tree was made up of a honeycomb-like formation of branches that coincided into a tunnel (a stangler fig most likely), so it was like a ladder, basically! The experience was definitely one of the coolest, most offbeat things I've done in my life.

The Tree! This is Shannon trying to climb the outside of the tree before we noticed the tunnel on the inside.

We all climbed at once, single file with me leading the way to the top... I was so terrified of snakes and spiders and stuff hiding in the cracks, but was like hey, I probably won't come back, so all the way baby!!



Hannah and the White Light - it got pretty cramped towards the end!

The view from an opening towards the top. Yujing, John, and Didi sang/beatboxed "In the Jungle" up here. The acoustics were great!!

The wreakage that was my pants post-climb. xD

Super-excited and giddy after the climb!

The next day, we went to Selvatura Park to zip-line and tarzan swing! That was a lot of fun and absolutely exhilarating flying through and above the trees...

The last zipline was especially crazy, a scenic zip across two mountains, so long it required two people!

Geared up yo -

To top off the excitement, we went to Santa Elena Reserve for a leisurely stroll along a beautiful path through the rainforest. Awesome weekend!! :]

mmmmmmanzanas

Just made apple crumb dessert topped w/vanilla ice cream for our host family!! I couldn’t find a pie crust so I just baked the insides hehe. Hannah made Toad in the Hole (.. en el hueco!) and Sharon cheese over brocolli at the same time, so it was pretty hectic and fun in the kitchen. :D I’ve never made anything from scratch before, but minus the crumb burns haha, it turned out well, so yay! Vera said she’s learned a lot from watching us, mainly that certain things seem to go well together - brocolli tastes so much better with cheese, who knew? I translated the recipe I found online for Vera since everyone seemed to like it so much, and it’s just better to teach a man how to fish instead of just giving him a fish. You knoww. :]

“Give me your FACE!!”

One of the movie's inspiring messages: Women are to be dragged around and are basically useless, BBB - boobs before brains. Wow, thanks Michael Bay!

Wednesdays are 1000c ($1.75!) movie nights, so a bunch of us decided to go see the new Transformers movie. The action was fun and well-done, but the rest was just corny dialogue and trashy rubbish imho. What’s interesting is how Americans are so full of themselves. The only possible options to “save the world” were to call the American troops, or ask the autobots for help. The two Jordanian helicopters that tried to help got a grand total of 2 minutes screen time before they were shot down, while the American fighter planes swooped in and saved the day, nuking everything in their paths. And don’t even get me started on “subtle” American flag
and product placements. Physical distance and exposure to the thoughts of the locals and the international EWH kids have made me more detached and aware of what people think of us, representatives of the rock 'n rolling USA: arrogant, rich, nosy, irreligious, world police. But provider of much-appreciated entertainment (RIP Michael Jackson). Anyways, I hope my sensitivity and humility will continually increase as the weeks roll by.

Only one more weekend before we’re sent to our hospitals in Nicaragua and Honduras! We're crossing our fingers that the political environment in Honduras will have settled by then – otherwise, the people assigned there may just be sent home, or possibly reassigned to our hospitals in Nicaragua, which I wouldn’t mind. I heard that the DukeEngage EWB kids in Honduras can’t leave the country right now though, woa! I wouldn’t mind not being able to leave Costa Rica, honestly. Anyways, I can’t believe President Obama and so many other countries are supporting Zelaya. Sure, he technically didn’t complete the last 5 months of term, which violates the democratic sentiment, but if he’d stayed, I’m pretty sure he would’ve been able to successfully change the constitution and give himself more terms in office – read: dictatorship. In fact, it seems like the majority of Hondurans don't even consider Zelaya's removal as a coup, and are instead proud that they're the first Latin American country to stand up against a tyrannical leader who's tried to topple democracy and peace in their country. The whole thing makes me wonder when it comes down to it, does the checks and balances system really work? If one group is stronger than another, if one branch can veto another can veto another can.. really, who has the final say? Shouldn’t government ultimately operate according to the people, to the majority consent, without the interference of other nations? Anyways, hoping that Zelari’s return on Saturday will be peaceful and smooth.