Night Prom

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted. Don’t really know where to start exactly. Things have been great. I’m home, and I have a family here-it’s amazing.
The study is going really well, too. I skyped with Liz the other day to catch up—I’m running low on supplies here, and we are trying to figure out a way to get more down here before the brigade comes in mid-October. Otherwise, I won’t be able to do the study for a bit. Apparently I’ve just about doubled the number of patients that had been recruited before I got here just in the month that I’ve been here. I guess that proves the seasonality of respiratory infections here…or my creepy stalking abilities. Both.

So what has happened in the week or so that I haven’t written… Honduras had it’s Independence Day last week- so there wasn’t work on Wednesday. Tuesday night there was a parade and some music in the plaza, so a few of us went there to check it out. Supposedly there’s another parade and dance in December…how excited I am about that is slightly odd.

I’ve had several moments on the upstairs porch just thinking over and over about my life here. There is something about that porch and view that puts me in such a reflective mood. I hope I never forget the view. And the sounds- the generator (a veces), the roosters, the rain, Spanish, and English. I’ve even pulled a total me and thought about where everyone will be after this. It’s interesting to think—we all came from busy lives, and after this we’ll all be starting new stages in our lives, but right now, for this year, we are here together and have a life here. It’s a very unique experience. What's also interesting to observe is how this place is constantly changing- growing, shrinking, cycling people in and out. Some people stay here for years, others for months, brigades come and go, it's rare for us all to be in the same place at the same time, which makes those days and nights so wonderful.

And while I’m on that topic…I’m beginning to realize more and more how unique of an organization Shoulder to Shoulder is. I have heard so many different perspectives and takes on it all- how it started, the current projects, past projects, the future, etc. A few of us got to talking last night about our motives for coming here—often, there are similarities, but everyone has their own story. Art Ranz (chief operating officer) and Dick Buten (director management systems) have been here since Sunday, and having them around has been a very cool experience. For some reason, seeing them walk around the comedor makes me feel so proud to be a part of this organization- makes me realize just how much people care about this place and how much work goes into keeping it afloat. They have such great attitudes also. Beyond friendly and personable. And they have such a passion for S2S- it’s admirable. Hearing them talk to each other and to the gang makes me realize that I don’t want the end of my stay here to be the complete end of my involvement with S2S.

The study was (for the first time) slow the past two days, so I’ve been doing work in the comedor. It’s been nice to kind of take a break. A few of us are going to Antigua, Guatemala in a week or so and I am so so excited for that! Oh, side story- Doris (pharmacist) has been gone for the past two days. When I went down to the clinic this am, we saw each other, I squealed her name and she gave me a huge hug. Such a small thing, but it made my day. I feel so comfortable in the clinic now. I’ve been hanging out in the lab a lot too with Rahul, Norma, Digna, and Veronica. Digna is a wizard with the lab tests and I’m trying to learn things from her. They all also want to learn English, so we help each other out with languages-it’s a great place to be.

One last thing to note—we have all recently gotten into playing basketball. We had an incredibly intense game yesterday- Me, Yuan, Ashley, Karla, Beth, Alex, Chepe, Juan, Cecilio, and Manuel. I can’t even describe how fun it was. We played straight into the dark then made it home just in time for pupusas for dinner. Played again today with some different people, and it was pouring rain the whole time. Life is good here.

Tomorrow, I’m heading to Conce to hang out with everyone there. There is a hike planned for Agua Salada, another waterfall, on Sunday and I’m pumped- supposed to be pretty intense.

I’m sure I’ll have stories to tell after the weekend :)

side note: I'm writing this post from a keyboard attached to my computer through the USB port because I had the brilliant idea to remove my keys from my keyboard last night and clean the base. After jamming the buttons back on...a select few are stuck and do not work...not what you want.