Hospital tour, etc.........

 

At 10am, we were to meet Dr. Ortega at the hospital for our hospital tour, but he was running late. Fortunately, we ran into Dr. Ricardo who spoke a little English. He was very kind and spent much time with us explaining all areas of the hospital, except for the emergency ward. He said it was way too busy and  possibly too gruesome. More conversation with the hospital directors and other doctors ensued that morning. We were warmly welcomed.  The last stop of the tour was the dental clinic. It has changed a lot since we were here last  year. We lost two of the operatory rooms that we normally occupy, as well as the reception area. The hospital is undergoing many structural changes so we needed to adapt. Turns out that the dental clinic can be accessed from the back area so a decision was made to set up underneath a grove of mango trees beside the hospital. This will be a sight to see. It'll be cool under the shade, the greatest risk will be the falling mangos. I'm trying to secure several umbrellas to work under and to find a way to keep them standing without breaking the hospital ground. It will be interesting.

After the tour, we walked back to the students' home away from home @ Roberto's to debrief. With our feet in the pool,  the debriefing session was a far cry than our debriefings in Canada. Then, it was time to organize and plan for the next day. We will be seeing approximately  60 kids at the kindergarten school. Emma and Jeanie led the discussion as this was their Spring Term project. An agenda was planned, goodie bags were organized, and details about a return visit to the school in our last week here was discussed. Danielle, Kellie, and I ventured over to Entreamigos a few hours later to find out more about the nutrition seminar that was scheduled. The picture that you see of a blank space with a kitchen will be where our last dental clinic will be established.

We ended the day by walking over to Eva's kitchen for some good, very affordable eating. My meal of chorizo and carne pelliscadas (shown in picture) was less than $5.00 CAD.  Eva's granddaughter, also named Eva provided entertainment for our group. She danced and clapped and mainly ended up on Emma's lap. Today is another busy day of school visit, excursion to La Pineta (25 minutes north of San Pancho) to purchase supplies and do some banking, and setting up a health promotion table at the local plaza when we return to San Pancho. There is high probability that the Bassetts may be dropping by later this afternoon for a visit, as they are vacationing in a nearby village.