North Carolina and All Those Trees

Since I've been making my way around the world, I thought it was time to make my way around the States!

I'm now officially in the boondocks of the South. Though I should say the north part of the South is the geographically correct location: North Carolina. And our mascot should be none other than the... Tar Heels? *shrug* Don't ask me.

I've found that there are farms dotted with big houses and rusted barns a mile south of me and a forest somewhere to the north of me. They say that North Carolina was once covered in trees until John Smith "discovered" America and decided to chop down the trees and create some Anglo-saxon villages. The trees are so beautiful that they make me feel like I'm living in a cabin lodge somewhere in the forest. Almost reminds me of Tahoe minus the lake. Or Yosemite minus the Half Dome.

Anyway, one of the most notable things about North Carolina upon arriving is its humidity. 90 degrees plus wetness equals misery. I sat for an hour and a half outside and felt like the heat was going to suck me in. Another girl next to me from Illinois wanted to cry. However I concede that once inside, the AC makes it all just a little bit more bearable!

I have yet to consume all that hype about North Carolina BBQ, the pulled pork sandwich wasn't too bad. It wasn't as wet and sloppy as I thought BBQ should be, but... still not bad. I heard Dicky's is the place to go so my next destination will be Dicky's! (Wonder if Janie will be there too.)

Though Chapel Hill Transit boasts of its free buses, I've learned the hard way that public transportation is not my greatest friend on the weekend. I waited an hour and a half for a bus to come on Saturday and was told that buses don't run on Sundays. So unless I get a car, I can plan on being on house arrest during the weekends. Man, I sure miss the AC Transits in Berkeley! What AC Transit couldn't make up for, BART or Muni could! So, I guess the question now is ship my Honda Civic or buy a used Vespa or Mini-Cooper? Hmm....

Anyway, I'll take some pictures soon and post them when I get a chance! (Sorry I'm still working on the Nicaragua pictures too!)

Adios Nicaragua!

I'm so sad to bade Nicaragua farewell. It has been a good month here.

I just spent this past weekend hiking Volcano Mombacho, ziplining through Mombacho, walking through the colonial city of Granada, listening to a Nicaraguan band play American songs, and watching the World Cup Final at a bar with other ex-pats! Pictures to come soon!

I also had to say good-bye to the Centro de Salud in La Concha on Friday. The highlights there include:

1. Watching the Vectoral Disease Technician educate health volunteers how to test for malaria

2. Distributing Temeflor (water insecticide) into people's homes, barrels, tanks, etc. to combat the reproduction of dengue mosquitoes

3. Scouring pulperias (local street stores) for expired products that may contribute to diarrhea and other health problems

4. Making Dengue Prevention posters and presenting them to the clinic

The clinic here is definitely much more resourceful than the clinic I worked with in Malawi. The workers here seem much more committed to their work, though their standard of practice may not be very high. Here we had running water, actual desks for the health professionals, private consultation rooms, etc. They even had an ambulance at their expense. They had plenty of educational materials (which they don't seem to use very often) regarding family planning, HIV, dengue, etc. I was surprised to even find an asthma machine at the clinic. But that just goes to say how limited Malawi's resources are. Of course Nicaragua is lacking many necessary resources like x-rays and other expensive instruments, and not using gloves or practicing private consultations when necessary, but Nicaragua is doing much better than Malawi based on what I've seen.

Volcano Surfing!

This past weekend my friend (Diana) and I went to a major town, Leon. We spent a day going to Cerro Negro, Central America's youngest volcano, and hiked up the volcano with our boards on our back. With our orange jumpsuits and goggles in gear, we "surfed" (sledded) down Central America's youngest volcano! Pictures to come!

We also spent a day walking around Leon visiting its infamous churches and sites. And had a tete-a-tete with a crazy taxi driver on our way back to the hostel!

This is my last week in Nicaragua! Unbelieveable how fast time flies by! My espanol is improving paso a paso. These past few weeks I've been visiting different barrios and observing the health workers distribute abatizado (Temaflor? pesticide) in various water sources to eliminate mosquito larvae, a Dengue prevention method. We've also visited various pulperias (street vendors) to check for expired foodstuffs and visited different health volunteers to follow up on malaria tests. I also presented my Dengue poster last week and will present again tomorrow!

My stomach has been a little iffy this past week. I was eating rice and beans todos los dias and was also feeling a little nauseous. I realized that part of the nausea was from inhaling the Raid mosquito repellent coils everyday. I also informed my homestay mom that I needed vegetables, so the next day she prepared boiled potatoes and carrots. I practically started picking up fruits off the ground to eat! The next day she made me deep-fried crepes! My stomach's still not feeling that great, but I'll be ok after this last stretch!

Una semana mas!

Executed Dog

Hola!

The most interesting event of this week: the execution of a dog.

The day before yesterday a man walked in with blood all over his face and shirt. Turned out he was mauled by a dog. Because he's tachycardiac, the medics wanted to test the dog for rabies, but apparently to do so, they have to execute the dog in proper manner. They hired a man who hung the dog with a rope, beheaded it with a machete, and bagged the head. The result? Negativo.

I´ve been eaten alive by the zancunos y insectos! Muy iritable!



Today is Saint San Juan´s Day. In celebration of the patron´s saint, they´ve been setting off bombas and partying all night in different parts of the barrio. They were setting off fireworks right in front of our house! Needless to say, I didn´t get much sleep.



This past Sunday, I rode the caballo and had an exhilirating time! Only my second time riding the horse I got the loco caballo and we fought our way through the journey. Once she bucked and kicked all the other horses, then she took off while the others were waiting and refused to stop until I yanked her reins with all my might. But I have to confess it was fun!



Anyway, for the past week and a half I´ve been shadowing nurses in different areas. I´m mostly trying to follow the vectorial infection disease technician into the different barrios where he´s been teaching the malaria health volunteers how to test for malaria. What baffles me is that malaria is hardly prevalent here and everyone has been crying out to me for dengue prevention and resolutions. Because unlike malaria, dengue doesn´t have any vaccination or cure. Currently we have had two deaths and about 36 suspicious cases. As I follow the technician around, he has barely educated these health volunteers about dengue except with miniscule pictures from a calendar.



I´m currently working on a project to develop dengue fever materials for the schools and health center. Unfortunately I lack certain artistic skills to make them more appealing. And I´m considering educational campaigns in schools to promote discussions about dengue fever. Kinda wishing my espanol was mas bien.

It´s been a little frustrating. I can´t believe I wasted five years of Spanish in high school and lived eight years without speaking a word of it. And now everything that wants to come out of my mouth is in Chichewa. At least now I know that I´m fluent in Chichewa!


Oh yeah, a hilarious story. I was sitting with my host family and my host mother asks me how to prepare a certain dish. She runs into the kitchen and she brings out rice noodles from China! (Which she received from her cousin in Canada of all places!) Then she asked me if it´s ok to prepare it with ¨salsa¨. After choking for a bit, I told her that no, we don´t eat it with salsa or tomatoes. Then she asked ¨But no salsa¨ and she runs into her kitchen again and brings out ¨Salsa China¨! After I stopped laughing, I told her that yes, we use salsa china with the Chao Ching spaghetti.

Adios amigos! The tortillas are calling my name now!

Week One in Nicaragua

Week uno in Nicaragua is officially over!

I'm currently staying with a program called La Mariposa where I'm taking Spanish classes and volunteering at a new health clinic. I moved in with my homestay family on Monday. I've been shadowing nurses in the morning - going into the barrios educating health volunteers about malaria testing, observing the family planning clinic, treating elementary students for lice, etc. My role, however, is supposed to involve dengue fever prevention. Dengue Fever is a major problem which doesn't have any vaccine or real treatments. I'm intrigued to see how the health care system will tackle this problem.

My homestay has been pretty sweet, though I miss having my own place to live in. Malawi was a better place when I could cook and clean for myself. But it has been a good bonding experience for me to get to know my family and practice my Spanish while watching the Capo Mundial avidly.

My experiences here contrast so differently from those in Malawi. How do I describe it? Well, for one thing, I'm having an easier time adjusting here. People don't stare at me as much and actually respect my role here as a volunteer and student. Regardless of whether I can understand them or not, I just love how they'll keep conversing with me. The health clinics here are by far more resourceful and the workers seem much more invested in their health care system, whereas in Malawi their jobs were less of a priority as opposed to their livelihoods (farms). It's strange actually, because I came expecting extreme poverty and my expectations were actually exceeded. I have electricity, a toilet (albeit I have to pour in water to make it flush), infrastructure, a working health system, and efficient transportation. I'm amazed and really grateful.

Anyway, I'll update again in a week's time and share more about mi Centro de Salud y educacion en Nicaragua!

Hasta luego mis amigos y familia!

Yo hablo espanol pero... no

Hola mis amigos y familia!

I am now called "Elena".

My mornings typically consist of shadowing a health professional at the Centro de Salud and taking Spanish lessons por la tarde. I rode on the back of a motorcycle without a helmet absolutely terrified because of the rain and muddy roads but saw the beautiful landscapes deep within the barrios and saw the destitution of the people there. I'm once again reminded that there are people who don't have what we need to survive.

Goal of this month: to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing at this health center!

More to come later!

Adios!

Missing Malawi

There are some days when I miss Malawi so much. I didn't realize how much I loved the serenity of the village life until I came home to find everyone running to someplace. In Malawi, I'd wake up and feel the sun rise on my face while the roosters make their wake-up calls. Even during the rainy seasons when the rain would beat the tin roof like a choral of drums, I'd sit in my simple chair and read away living in the bliss of a worry-free life. I miss breathing in the freshness of vegetables and fruits at the market. The hustle and bustle of villagers haggling over prices, men congregating over chippies, children running after whirling tires. But mostly, I miss the children. In my whole life, I have never had the privilege of playing with children on a daily basis. To see their precious faces before my day started at the health clinic was the highlight of my work. They brought so much joy to my heart that nothing America can ever buy for me. And I miss my Agogo. My 82-year-old grandmother whom I'll never see again. Sometimes I wonder how she's doing and what she's doing. There was something remarkable about her strength and dignity that I wanted to have more of in my life. Talking about Malawi in five minutes cannot do justice to the people I've met and loved the two years I was there. If only people had that deeper interest to learn about Malawi, I'd be gushing for days about the things I'd learned and the kind of people I met. But if I can't talk about them, how can I relive my passion for these people and nation?