Lessons #2,345

LESSON: It is, in fact, possible to get hot enough for a cold shower to feel good.

I honestly never thought I would say something like that. 

I LOVE hot weather!

For my first five months in Honduras I never once actually enjoyed a cold shower.

Intibuca has changed that.

Today, it was so hot I thought I might actually go crazy.

Sitting in the shade, drinking water, I was sweating profusely. 

Not glistening.

Not glowing.

SWEATING! 

A LOT!

Guachi Photos

A few quick photos of 

my first two days in Guachipilincito!

  

The Guachi Clinic!

View from the clinic. So green.

Dental Class

Outdoor Dental Checks

What the roads look like

Running is a bit of an adventure...

Book Review - Finding Nouf

I I turned 27 this month. I’m actually fairly excited about it. I have a good feeling about my 27^th year of life.

Last year my friend Mckenzie and I made a list of the 26 things we wanted to accomplish while we were 26. I got a fair number of them accomplished, and I decided to do this again for 27! 

One of these things was to read a book a week. This was inspired by a blogger I follow who has done this every week for the past five years. 

In order to keep me honest, I am going to try and post a little bit about the book I read that week.  A bit like second grade book reports, but I’m okay with that.  Feel free to skip over this if it bores you. I won’t mind. 

This week I read Finding Nouf. It was a recommendation from my mom, and she was not wrong, it was a super interesting book. 

The book takes place in Saudi Arabia, and revolves around the murder of the daughter of a wealthy family. The twist is that investigator/main character is a Muslim woman, and much of the book revolves around her life, and the manner in which she must move through the world. It covers everything from the different lives men and women live to why Saudi men don’t like to wear glasses.  

I think the best part about this book was that nearly every chapter I felt like I was learning something new about Islam, Saudi Arabia, or being a woman within a Muslim family. It was fascinating. I highly recommend it. 

Well done Mom.

Next week: Enrique’s Journey: The story of a boy’s dangerous odyssey to reunite with his mother.

Concepcion, Honduras

Shoulder to Shoulder has two primary clinics in Intibuca; St. Lucia and Concepcion.  In a few weeks, I will be placed at one of these two clinics for the remainder of the year.  Each of the clinics have housing connected to it, for those employees and volunteers that do not live in town.

This week we are spending at Concepcion.  Concepcion is the closer of the two clinics to La Esperanza, but we are still talking at least two hours down a VERY bumpy, dirt road. That being said, it is well worth the trip!

Concepcion has a population of about 8,000 in the entire municipality, but an in-town population of probably a few hundred. The center of town has about five or six blocks of paved roads, with several small stores, a few places to eat, and apparently only one place to make copies.  The clinic is located just up the hill, and it is STUNNING.

Here is a photo of the view I am enjoying while I write this post

Tomorrow, I will head to Guachipilincito (Guachi for short). This clinic was funded by Brown University, who normally does several medical brigades a year to the clinic. I’m going to spend the next two days there observing how brigades work, and what I will be doing for my position.

More photos are soon to come!

Orientation Station

We are on the move!

(We = the four new Assistant Brigade Coordinators)

Yesterday was mostly a travel day. Living in this part of Honduras, or really Honduras in general, you learn that it takes at least a day to get most places. Even if on the map it looks likes it should only take an hour or so.

We switched locations yesterday from Brewery heaven to La Esperanza. La Esperanza is the biggest city in the state of Intibuca, the department (state) that I will be living in for the next year.

Today we move on to Concepcion, where the first Shoulder to Shoulder clinic is located. We will be staying there for a week, and then moving on to St. Lucia, where the second clinic is located.

Now, I am running off to breakfast! Adios!