DAY 13 - 15/1/10

IT'S WARM!!! It's crazy how that all changed over night but we actually had a beautiful day yesterday! The morning was pretty rainy on the way out to the village but a little drizzle never hurt anyone. Unfortunately, once we arrived at Blue Creek's village clinic, we were not greeted with very many patients. I saw one man who walked in with x-rays in hand and didn't speak much language (he spoke Ketchi). Who needs a lightbox when you can read x-rays in natural sunlight? He turned out to have chronic interstitial pulmonary disease with an acute exacerbation of pneumonia. This sounds impressive but it really wasn't all my doing.. multiple diagnoses from multiple providers over time! I just helped group everything together and get him on some maintenance treatment. He was one cool cat though especially hunting him down later in the day to return his umbrella he left behind.










The rest of the day was spent playing with the kids across the road at the school. They were a huge hit!! They played volleyball and loved the frisbee during each of their breaks! Let me tell you.. these kids are truly the biggest blessing down here.









Just as we were leaving, we stopped by a Mayan culture center and found out that they bottle honey from three local districts (Toledo - where we live, Cayo, and somewhere else I cannot remember). I'm taking orders for some of the best honey you've ever had fyi.










ps Chef Kate made dinner for the crew... coconut curry chicken with kahlalu, sauteed veggies, roasted potatoes, and plantains... mmmmm!!! I'm getting good at this improv menu!

Belize this morning, Guatemala this afternoon! Morning clinic, education meeting and then we're off to Sarstun, Guatemala for a little adventurous weekend! We're heading out with Roberto (local Punta Gorda tour guide) for an all-inclusive hiking, tubing, touring, river riding, hot falls, eco lodge type of excursion! I'm really excited mostly because I get to add another country to my list of newly growing international destinations (up to 2!).

Kate

Day 11 - 13/1/10

Three little boys in Cuxlin Ha village who demanded that I take their picture... of course, I said yes!! :)







BRRRRR!!!!

It is not the tropical, warm, sunny weather that I thought it would be down here and according to the locals, they're freezing too! In all reality, it's only been down to the 60's which I know, I know, is still warmer than the temperatures that are hitting most of the United States... but come on! I'm in Central America! We're all crossing our fingers that since the weeks are chilly and not quite as sunny as we'd like, that the weekends will make up for it!

This week was a touch busier than last week which is a nice change! We still spend the mornings in the clinic catching hypertension and controlling diabetes on top of itching from scabies, head lice, and other random rashes. The afternoons are either out on mobiles to the villages or at the schools performing physicals for screening. Gang 2 ventured out to San Marcos village and then spent 2 days at Little Flower school and the clinic. The nights have been rainy so far this week but us crazy tourists still manage to get out and have some fun! Last night we stopped in to a local restuarant called Marian's and listened to a drum band. Those of us who have no pride learned how to do the local dance called the Punta (free lessons for all when I return!!). The food was great aka your typical rice, beans, curry chicken, plantains. Tonight the crew has decided to make a classic American breakfast for dinner (it should be a nice change).

Although the kids down here are not quite as sassy as most American children, they sure know how to crack you up and force a smile out of you. I thought I'd give you a taste of a couple of the munchkins that have won over my heart this week! There was even a little infant with cleft palate - go speech pathology!!! Sad news though, this little one cannot receive proper healthcare to correct the cleft lip until 25 other people nearby need similar services - that's the only way a surgeon will come! That could take a looooong time :(.

Day 7 - 9/1/10

A day of adventuring... complete success!! Our bus was definitely late (by an hour) which I hear is common since everything in this country runs on "Belizean time". Francis sort of forgot that we were supposed to get a bus until I called him again; good thing we just roll with the punches down here. Once we were on the road, we had a blast heading out about 15 minutes to Lubaantuun where we explored a few Mayan ruins, and a few of us got "lost" in the jungle! (NOTE: Mom, if you are reading this, don't worry!! We are fine.. we really didn't get "lost" but 3 of us decided to explore a trail off the creek and it was completely worth it... absolutely beautiful!) Afterwards, we headed out to Blue Creek on a search to find food. The restuarant we wanted to go to was not cooking today because their cook had a bad sprained/fractured ankle... BUT! One of our patients yesterday, Wendy the "ex-patriot", was outside and offered to cook us a random (not so delicious) meal of a hot dog, mac & cheese, rice and beans. Interesting to say the least.. it's amazing what hot sauce can transform! We headed up to explore a cave at Blue Creek and it was definitely one of the most impressive things we have done yet. After an unsuccessful attempt to find a tour guide into the cave, our lovely van driver (Dernell) walked us up there and we went exploring on the rocks to find the cave. (NOTE: Mom, if you are reading this, don't worry! :) We didn't go very far in.. we had a few head lights... and again, it was completely worth it!) Final destination of the day... Rio Blanco... might I add that to get to this destination we spent an hour on a VERY rough road but very worth it (phrase of the day)! A swing bridge across the river, a hike through the jungle and the best part, a running cliff dive into a waterfall!

Honestly, pictures do not do this place justice but I included them just so you could have a smidgen of a taste.
Did I mention I love adventures?

<3.

Pictures:
1. Jungle hike (aka getting lost because we wanted to explore) at Lubaantuun.
2. The trail in the jungle.
3. A picture that desperately tries to show you the rocks we had to climb next to a beautiful creek and waterfall to get to the cave we swam into in very little light.
4. Swing bridge at Rio Blanco. You don't know how bad I wanted to jump and make this swing... look mom, no hands!
5. Cliff jumping... :)

DAY 6 - 8/1/10

Who knew it rained in the rainforest?!?

Today was a rainy, rainy day and yet, still a good one. Team 2 (my team) worked the clinic this morning which was actually fairly busy. In four hours, we saw 23 patients in 3 exam rooms... not too shabby. It's surreal how much we take advantage of American medicine and the accessibility of resources that we have at our fingertips... We topped off clinic hours with lunch at Gomier's restaurant, a local Rastafarian fella who believes that "health is wealth". His lunch consisted of a wholesome, healthy, tasty burrito of vegetables, whole grains, soy meat and herbs/spices that he concocted on his own. He's incorporated heathier options for food rather than the standard rice and beans that every village consumes. He explained some of the local culture, the plants and herbs that he has growing around his place and even gave us a sample of his homemade "bitters" (basically alcohol with many herbs and spices with the rumor of healing anything). He's a man I would love to sit down with a cup of coffee and just chat all day, all night. A handful of us are attempting to join him for a cooking lesson that I'm sure I will be talking about for days to come. Just after lunch, I stopped into a small Mayan store to find some of the local Mayan coffee! It was quite lovely chatting with the local Mayan women in the shop about their jewelry, their village, and their lives... and the fresh, warm (delicious) cup of coffee was a cozy treat to have on a rainy day back on the clinic grounds (I swear the countless number of Starbucks lattes did not cause any sort of addiction for me back in the states haha). The afternoon was fairly lazy for the crew due to the rain and possibly due to a night out singing karaoke last night. I'll leave the pictures and stories of karoake out of this blog but ask me about it later because it's a story worth telling!!
I took the executive role of the group and started planning our weekend excursions. I couldn't help it.. I'm not much for just sitting around and most of the gang was fairly indecisive on making a final decision. After calling Bruno, Romero, Betty and speaking with Andy, April, and Penny, this weekend's plans are ready to go!! There's a van showing up at 8am to kidnap us away to a Mayan ruin site called Lubaantuun, followed by lunch and possible cave tours at Blue Creek and a massive waterfall (Rio Blanco) that we can jump off of and relax in to top the day off. I somehow sweet talked us into getting a discount plus a free driver for the day. We're hoping to relax around Punta Gorda, kayak, meander down, and get some home cooking from Janice on Sunday. All in all, sounds like a good weekend to me!
Our gang is one of the most laidback and friendly groups that I could have asked for on this trip. We have all been getting along so well and it's refreshing to learn from the Brits and sit back at night exchanging stories of our hometowns and sharing a laugh or two. My Brit of a roommate is brilliant and I'm constantly promised an excellent time if I can make it out to London (future travel plans?)... ok, enough internet. It's spaghetti and movie night with the crew before our adventure starts early in the morning.

Sending warm wishes to the "arctic cold"...

DAY 4 - 6/1/10

Here are a few pictures of the now ever-famous Wee Wee ants... check them out in case you ever have to play Trivia Pursuit (thanks B.K.).



We had a slow day today out on the mobile clinics but we visited a local village called Big Falls not to far from Eldridge village (which is where Hillside is home to). We worked maybe 9am-3pm but we only saw 11 patients total. The real joy of the day came from mingling with the locals (I think this might be a common statement I make). We met a half dozen little children who knew all of our names very well by the end of the day. As it turns out, they all had head lice, scabies, and chickenpox (haha) that we really did not discover until after they had jumped on us and given us endless number of hugs, but it's not like we haven't ever been exposed to this stuff before in medicine. I might have scrubbed my hands and arms after that discovery, just saying!! But they were truly a joy.. after talking to one of the nurses at the clinic, I found out that these very contagious and very annoying infections (scabies, chickenpox, lice) are actually quite common and difficult to get rid of because most of the children wash up down at the creek. This is the same creek that all the dogs and critters also "wash up" in and they aren't exactly the cleanest animals. It's a toss-up... be clean? or get bugs?












Today didn't bring many other surprises for us although a group of us went out adventuring on a 3km run down a gravel road and ended up at an amazing little village called Cuxlin Ha Village (turns out it is not little and it's actually a resort/retirement village). Since we were out on a run, I don't have any pictures but look it up otherwise I'll try to make it up there again. One of the best things about walking around these little villages is discovering all of the hammocks and being homesick for yes, you guessed it, MY hammock!! :) Gives me something to look forward to!

From "my" country to yours... love.

Day 3 - 5/1/10

Belizean fact of the day... down here, they write out their dats as day/month/year. Turns out just us "silly Americans" (as the resident Brits call us) write month/day/year.

Today marked the first day in the clinic and it was a slow one. I ran one EKG on a 91yo who looked incredible for her age and saw an infant with a little bit of an upset stomach, nothing too exciting. Afterwards, Nurse Betty offered to take another PA student (Adam) and myself out on a home visit up the road. I think this is the opportune moment to tell you that nobody has an address here, there are no street names, but somehow everyone manages to get around just fine and know where everyone lives. Here's how we got to this lady's hut... up the road, turn right, go down the dirt path and over the bridge, there will be a small dirt road so follow that to the right, go up the steep hill and there's her place. SO CRAZY but this is a very small village that we are in and everybody knows everybody. So... this home visit might have been the best part of the entire trip so far and to come, I was that amazed. I truly felt like I was out in the jungle trying to hike to this woman's hut. I'll put up pictures later when I can upload them but her hut was actually a decent size and extremely gorgeous from the outside. The inside is one large open room with multiple hammocks (those are their beds!! see, I would fit in PERFECTLY down here!). There is a large stove that had a delicious smell coming out of whatever was cooking on top of it and then random odds and ends. It is pretty bare with a few "tapestries" on the walls or their clothing. There were 2 of us students, one practicing PA, and Nurse Betty and we were a site to see. Anyone around that hut surrounded us to watch our every move. We tried to learn a little of their local language, Ketchi, but we gained a large laughter in response. Haha, can't hurt us for trying...

Here's a funny story for all you people who know how giddy I get about stupid little things... we're out walking the trail to this patient's house and we crossed a small little stream and I looked down only to notice a massive trail of ants and these floating green things on the path. Nurse Betty informed us that these are called "wi-wi's" (not sure of the spelling) and they are ants that go to a tree and devour all of the leaves and carry these pieces over to another area where they build their house. There were a few lone stragglers but man, these ants were dedicated! Who knew such little creatures existed in nature?!? Needless to say, I was amazed once again.

Okay.. quick heads up on what's going on around base here. There are 11 of us students total... Nicole & Sara (pharmacy students), Adam, Lindsey, Tracy, Emily (Marquette PA students), Val & myself (RFUMS), Ama, Natalie, and Cyndi who is my roommate (med students from London). Then, there is Dr. Peter DeWolf and his daughter Julie, Dave (a PA) and his son Andrew, Dan & Marie (the clinical coordinators), Ebbett (the coolest handyman ever), Alfia & Emilia (our interpreters and cleaning ladies), Andy (our crazy awesome driver), Nurse Betty (in-house nurse who is volunteering here for a year), and if I missed anyone else, I'll catch up with them later!

Every week there are two teams of us... one group travels out to the villages to see some 0f the locals and then the other group stays on clinic grounds and runs a full-functioning clinic for anyone who shows up Monday-Friday from 8am-12pm. In the afternoons we are trying to team up with the Peace Corps and do school physicals for every child in the surrounding districts (about 300-500 total). We also help Nurse Betty out on these home visits whenever a few of us have spare time. The weekends are ours to thorughly enjoy. So far, we've tossed around ideas of Guatemala, Sarshun (a small river tour on a river that borders Belize & Guatemala), adventure caving in San Ignacio or an island weekend getaway just off the coast of Punta Gorda. More information about those to come...

Other than that, it's crazy humid here.. nothing dries... there are ants everywhere. We've spotted a flying cockroach in one of the bedrooms last night and a lizard near the extra refrigerator today. Good thing I love bugs and critters huh? I'm in heaven out on the roads meeting locals... everyone waves at you, says hello (actually they prefer good morning, afternoon, or evening, or pleasure to meet you). It's just like being back in a small town and I just can't get over how friendly everyone is.

For my beer-lovers out there, Belize makes a dang good brew called Belikan! Find it, check it out, love it (otherwise I'll try to bring some home)... I definitely enjoyed a delicious stout while avoiding a serious downpour in PG (aka Punta Gorda) today AND I met another Brit!!!

Much love... belizean love of course!

Day 1 - January 3, 2010.

I'M HERE... safe and sound for all you worry warts out there! Let me give you a little run down of what has happened so far... (and it's only day one)

I knew that this was going to be the start of a great adventure when I was driving to my parents house near O'Hare at 2:00 this morning on no sleep after a phenomenal Dave Matthews cover band with friends that lasted a touch too long. A few last minute packing changes, a quick shower, and no power nap... off I went to O'Hare. If you can believe it, there was a line at 3:30am!! I sure couldn't believe it but I couldn't believe that I was still awake either. I breezed through O'Hare with no problems, found a Starbucks open very early and curled up in the international terminal to rest until takeoff. I was out cold from Chicago to Houston and then hopped onto a beautiful flight from Houston into Belize with a local Belizean on one side of me and a non-local who's family lived in Belize on the other side of me. You better believe I chatted it up with them! Best advice... do as much as you can crammed into as much time as you have.

We arrived in Belize City about 30 minutes delayed... which was only a problem since I had 20 minutes to catch a puddle jumper but low and behold, everything worked out fine! I flew through customs in a large open room... might I add that Belize is a very easy country to get into! :) I walked up to the counter of Tropic Air (Belize's local airline company) and was greeted by name (makes you feel very important)! I hurried out to the runway and walked right onto a plane that looked a lot like the plane I jumped out of last October.

So here's the puddle jumper & the inside of the plane!! Seriously, some of the BEST aerial views of Belize ever!

So although Mom told me not to talk to strangers down here, I just couldn't resist. I met a fellow businessman traveling to Punta Gorda to work on a forum about the orange trees that were destroyed in the hurricane. He taught me more about Belize than I could have read in a book... AND he didn't follow me out of the airport!! :)

Here's what I learned...
1. Belize City = "there's no need for you to ever be here... it's just not a good place" (note to self.)
2. Runways in Belize = "you either make it in the air or you get wet" (we made it in the air!!)
3. There are these crazy grids of water ponds... turns out they are shrimp farms.
4. There are areas with rows and rows of trees... turns out they grow bananas.
5. This is a rainforest... it will always be wet.

(See what good talking to a local does for you Mom?)

Anyway, we're here safe at the clinic and it's beautiful. I share a bedroom with a girl named Cynda from the UK whom I haven't met yet. There are about a half dozen people here. Chris, you would love it because there are random dogs roaming around all over the place. Janice lives next door in a pink house and has generously offered to cook all of our meals for us. Based on how sweet her house smelled, I think I may enjoy this feature very much! Nurse Betty lives on clinic grounds with us as well and she's a sweet little lady! She's given us tons of advice so far and I think she'll be a blessing in disguise for us.

Ok... time to kick back, relax and await the arrival of the rest of the crew. Tomorrow morning starts orientation, tours, market!

xoxoxo..
ps it's definitely at least 70 down here!!!

Let the good times roll!

HAPPY 2010 EVERYONE!!!

T minus just over 24 hours!! Can you believe that? I definitely cannot. The last couple of months have been crazy busy and filled with emergency medicine, internal medicine, and plenty of research. I have not had the prime opportunity to really sit back and realize that I'm about to travel internationally and experience something I cannot even imagine how indescribable it will be. And now I can say that this adventure is only a few days away... it is SUNDAY MORNING!! It feels a touch surreal to have this trip upon me and I still cannot believe it is actually happening.

2009 was a tough year for me with PA school and the hard times that come alongside that, but truth be told, 2009 was also one of the best years I have had overall. I've discovered a lot about myself and learned a few inspirational lessons. For some reason, I have high hopes for what 2010 will bring. The new year was celebrated surrounded by amazing friends, old and new, with smiles and pure joy. A few days into the new year, I continue to create memories by venturing out to Belize! And in 6 months, this student life will finally be complete and a new chapter opens up.

So here's to 2010! Thank you to each of you who have been in my life over the years... I am truly blessed to be where I am and be surrounded with an abundant amount of support and love.

and away we go!!

TICKETS ARE FINALLY PURCHASED!!

January 3, leave Chicago at the break of dawn... and arrive in Belize City around 11:30am! I'll either be awaiting my fellow classmate and her arrival around 3:30p or just jumping on a puddle jumper and heading to Punta Gorda!

For four weeks you can follow my adventure through this blog and Skype (sign up if you haven't already).

January 31, I leave Punta Gorda and head up to Belize City to catch a 1ish plane back to Chicago! I should be home safe by that evening!!!!

(((( SO EXCITED! ))))

ps. Right now I'm at ER at the ever-famous Mt. Sinai Hospital and although we've had many slow days and nights to count so far, I think it ties with surgery for a possible career choice!

a world down under

Women's health... never thought it was really a field for me (for no specific reason) and still, don't think it's my cup of tea! But regardless, I'm having fun and it's a different world for sure.. The south side of Chicago will open your eyes to things you didn't think you'd encounter and will make you much more aware of your surroundings! I keep crossing my fingers that I'll continue to be on the RIGHT corner at the RIGHT time :)

BUT!!!

I delivered my first beautiful healthy baby girl! The labor wasn't too intense and I even caught the slippery little munchkin. I had no idea what I was doing but I think I understood the basic concept and with the helpful advice from the doctor standing at my side ready to jump in, I got her out in one piece without dropping her and helped deliver the rest of the goods that go along with pregnancy! It honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... but I also wasn't the one lying on the table trying to push a massive object out either! Other than that, women's health is basically a lot of "dirty va-j-j's" as I termed it but it's a lot of fun. I can relate with my patients being a woman, I can help comfort them in a situation that probably isn't very thrilling to them, and I get to provide joy with fetal heart sounds and exciting baby news. It's not what I want to do... but it's an experience! I miss surgery a lot but I do get to be in the OR a few days of the week with surgical cases of a different type so it's ok!

Five more weeks... then cardiology/internal medicine.
Six weeks after that... then emergency medicine.
Five weeks after that... then the holidays :)
THEN BELIZE!!!!!! (still counting down...)

Another day in the life of a PA student!