Sunday was a fun day, we went to a church in Cochabamba where they spoke Spanish and only Spanish. Our house father who takes us where we need to go and helps us around sat next to me and translated a bit so I could at least understand what the sermon was about. I'm catching on to Spanish a little bit, it's easier for me to read and assoicate words with english even though they may not always be right. After that we just hung out at the house and played mafia with each other having fun and bonding.
This morning Anna and I were assigned to Internal Medicine where we saw a total of 4 patients. One had a urinary tract infection that was easily taken care of with antibiotics. The others all had a sickness called chagas which is a parasite infection. It comes from a fly common around here called the "kissing fly", it bites it's victim and deficates at the same time. When the person itches the bite they rub the feces which containes the parasite into the bite and into thier body. It effects many parts of the body including the heart, stomach and lungs. They have no cure here, so the people just live with it until it consumes them. Very sad, and it is quite common around here because the fly lives in the bricks they commonly make houses out of.
After that we went to an orphanage where there were 12 5-9 year olds who just wanted someone to play with. I did my best through broken Spanish and some English words to communicate. I ended up playing with legos with a little girl and picking up different color blocks because I know some colors in spanish and she had fun with that. There were also two dogs who seemed to be tortured by the children, they ran to me for refuge whe the kids were chasing them and I enjoyed petting them.
This evening I helped our house mother Claudia make supper, manicotti, and we had a nice meal together. Anna has been feeling sick all day, probably from something we ate yesterday so she didn't eat. She got sick just a while ago and was feeling a little better, but I think it's getting worse again. Pray for her that she feels better and will at least be able to keep water down so she doesn't get dehydrated. I will continue to keep you updated, thank you for your support and your prayers. Thanks for reading! God Bless!
Sarah
Monday, May 30, 2011
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Feliz Dia Mama!
Hey Everyone,
Well, we started working at the hospital on Thursday morning. Rounds start at 8am and it is basically us following the doctors and trying to understand what they are saying (since it's all in spanish). Then on Thursday Anna and I shadowed the Peds doctor until noon. We just sat and watched and listened, not really doing anything but absorbing the culture and the language. Yesterday was Mother's Day here in Bolivia and they had a nice little presentation at the hospital. Some kids from the local school sang a few mothers day songs (which are still stuck in my head) and they showed a slide show on how to properly breastfeed. Strange combonation, but I guess we're all more informed now! :-) Unfortunately I was still feeling pretty bad with an increasingly bad headache and nausea which I attributed to altitude sickness. I had to leave the hosptial early to go lay down because I was pretty misrable. I slept most of the day feeling even more homesick because I just felt so bad, but thank the Lord it went away and I had a pretty good evening.
Today, Saturday, we took a hike up a mountian but I only made it about a quarter of the way up before my sickness took over and I couldn't breath. Another girl who is here with Hosptials of Hope, Heidi stayed with me until I got my breath back and then we went down the mountian together. It was okay though because we got to experience a nice small town in Bolivia and see the market and even eat lunch at a local place that may or may not make me sick later... I'll let you know. :-) We did bless the food, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.
After that we went to another town and bathed street children which was interesting. I didn't speak much so I kind of felt out of place, but it was good to see how happy the children were just to get their hair washed and to get some nice clothes. We met up with some other missionaries who do this often and it was also nice to see some other Americans... I think we do that everyweek, so hopefully I can improove on my Spanish and include myself a little bit more next time. Tomorrow is church which we are going to a Spanish speaking church, big surprise... So I'll be lost, but hopefully some of the people here can translate a bit for me. My headache is gone for now thank the Lord and thanks for your prayers. Thank you for reading and supporting me, God Bless!
Sarah
Well, we started working at the hospital on Thursday morning. Rounds start at 8am and it is basically us following the doctors and trying to understand what they are saying (since it's all in spanish). Then on Thursday Anna and I shadowed the Peds doctor until noon. We just sat and watched and listened, not really doing anything but absorbing the culture and the language. Yesterday was Mother's Day here in Bolivia and they had a nice little presentation at the hospital. Some kids from the local school sang a few mothers day songs (which are still stuck in my head) and they showed a slide show on how to properly breastfeed. Strange combonation, but I guess we're all more informed now! :-) Unfortunately I was still feeling pretty bad with an increasingly bad headache and nausea which I attributed to altitude sickness. I had to leave the hosptial early to go lay down because I was pretty misrable. I slept most of the day feeling even more homesick because I just felt so bad, but thank the Lord it went away and I had a pretty good evening.
Today, Saturday, we took a hike up a mountian but I only made it about a quarter of the way up before my sickness took over and I couldn't breath. Another girl who is here with Hosptials of Hope, Heidi stayed with me until I got my breath back and then we went down the mountian together. It was okay though because we got to experience a nice small town in Bolivia and see the market and even eat lunch at a local place that may or may not make me sick later... I'll let you know. :-) We did bless the food, so I'm feeling pretty good about it.
After that we went to another town and bathed street children which was interesting. I didn't speak much so I kind of felt out of place, but it was good to see how happy the children were just to get their hair washed and to get some nice clothes. We met up with some other missionaries who do this often and it was also nice to see some other Americans... I think we do that everyweek, so hopefully I can improove on my Spanish and include myself a little bit more next time. Tomorrow is church which we are going to a Spanish speaking church, big surprise... So I'll be lost, but hopefully some of the people here can translate a bit for me. My headache is gone for now thank the Lord and thanks for your prayers. Thank you for reading and supporting me, God Bless!
Sarah
Thursday, May 26, 2011
We have arrived!
Well we have finally made it to Cochabamba Bolivia after two days of grueling travel. We left Charlotte, NC after a long goodbye to Anna, Kevin and Rachel's parents and my husband. Our flight left an hour after it was scheduled 2:45pm and we arrived in Miami about two hours later. Good thing we had a six hour layover and there was no chance we would miss our connecting flight! We left Miami at 10:30pm on the overnight flight to La Paz Bolivia. I tried my best to sleep, but for anyone who has been on an overnight flight they know how hard it is. We arrived in La Paz at 5:30am and culture shock began to set in. As soon as I stepped off the plane and down the hallway to the terminal my heart was racing and I was short of breath. I was also getting dizzy and nausous. I thought maybe I had thrown a clot and was having a pulminary embolism or somthing, but it turns out all I had was altitude sickness. La Paz is 14,000 ft above sea level and the oxygen level is much lower than it is in the states so breathing is harder and it's easy to get out of breath.
Then we had our fun with customs and visas; no one spoke english and I know almost no spanish. Anna and Kevin took it in high school so they weren't quite as lost as I was, but it was still hard to communicate. After a few problems and miscomunications we made it through with passports and visas in hand. From there we had to book a flight the rest of the way to Cochabamba, only about a 30min flight but the earliest one was booked already. Luckily, a family friend of Rachel, a missionary who has been living in La Paz for 6 years, had come to help us get through. Rachel had booked her flight in advance, so she was gone on the 8am flight as the rest of us were stuck in the airport trying to get another flight. Kathy (Rachel's friend) helped us a lot and we would have been truly lost without her. Thank the Lord for sending her!! We didn't end up getting another flight booked until 8:50pm that evening, so we had to stay in La Paz for over 12 hours. Anna was excited because she wanted to go on an adventure, me on the other hand wanted to be safe and not get lost in a forgin country. Kathy said she would take us with her and show us the city, that sounded like a good compromise, safe and adventurous!
The roads were crazy with people and cars! Everyone assumes they have the right of way and force their way into traffic all the time. Plus the roads are narrow and have no lines, I'm happy that I didn't have to drive! We visited with a nice couple from Kathy's church who she was helping. I was still feeling the effects of the altitude so I crashed on their couch and tried to will myself to feel better. They gave us some special tea that was supposed to help with altitude sickness and it did a little. We tried the best we could to talk to them, but it was hard with the language barrier. After that we went to Kathy's house and relaxed for a while before going out for lunch at an authentic Bolivian restaurant. Anna, Kevin and I all got the quesidellas which were good tasting but I didn't find anything special about them. Kathy then took us around the city so we could take pictures of the breathtaking landscape before heading back up to the airport. We were so thankful for Kathy who pretty much gave up her whole day to take us poor Americans around La Paz so we didn't have to be stuck in the tiny airport for over 12 hours.
At 8:50pm we finally borded the plane and took off on our way to Cochabamba, our final destination. Unshowered for two days with unbrused teeth and hair, and feeling exhausted; we finally landed in Cochabamba. A group of people who had been at Hospitals of Hope volunteering came to pick us up, they were pretty easy to spot because they were white like us! :-) After a 45min bus ride, we finally made it to the hospital around 11pm and pretty much crashed (after showering and brushing the teeth of course). But we made it here with a little help from the Lord and now we can start our work. Thanks for reading!
Sarah
Then we had our fun with customs and visas; no one spoke english and I know almost no spanish. Anna and Kevin took it in high school so they weren't quite as lost as I was, but it was still hard to communicate. After a few problems and miscomunications we made it through with passports and visas in hand. From there we had to book a flight the rest of the way to Cochabamba, only about a 30min flight but the earliest one was booked already. Luckily, a family friend of Rachel, a missionary who has been living in La Paz for 6 years, had come to help us get through. Rachel had booked her flight in advance, so she was gone on the 8am flight as the rest of us were stuck in the airport trying to get another flight. Kathy (Rachel's friend) helped us a lot and we would have been truly lost without her. Thank the Lord for sending her!! We didn't end up getting another flight booked until 8:50pm that evening, so we had to stay in La Paz for over 12 hours. Anna was excited because she wanted to go on an adventure, me on the other hand wanted to be safe and not get lost in a forgin country. Kathy said she would take us with her and show us the city, that sounded like a good compromise, safe and adventurous!
The roads were crazy with people and cars! Everyone assumes they have the right of way and force their way into traffic all the time. Plus the roads are narrow and have no lines, I'm happy that I didn't have to drive! We visited with a nice couple from Kathy's church who she was helping. I was still feeling the effects of the altitude so I crashed on their couch and tried to will myself to feel better. They gave us some special tea that was supposed to help with altitude sickness and it did a little. We tried the best we could to talk to them, but it was hard with the language barrier. After that we went to Kathy's house and relaxed for a while before going out for lunch at an authentic Bolivian restaurant. Anna, Kevin and I all got the quesidellas which were good tasting but I didn't find anything special about them. Kathy then took us around the city so we could take pictures of the breathtaking landscape before heading back up to the airport. We were so thankful for Kathy who pretty much gave up her whole day to take us poor Americans around La Paz so we didn't have to be stuck in the tiny airport for over 12 hours.
At 8:50pm we finally borded the plane and took off on our way to Cochabamba, our final destination. Unshowered for two days with unbrused teeth and hair, and feeling exhausted; we finally landed in Cochabamba. A group of people who had been at Hospitals of Hope volunteering came to pick us up, they were pretty easy to spot because they were white like us! :-) After a 45min bus ride, we finally made it to the hospital around 11pm and pretty much crashed (after showering and brushing the teeth of course). But we made it here with a little help from the Lord and now we can start our work. Thanks for reading!
Sarah
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Two Weeks til Departure
Wow, I cant believe this trip is coming up so fast! I just finished my last final this morning and now all I have to worry about is packing all of my underwear! :-) Anyway, things have all been going according to plan so far, I sent in the money this week along with my insurance, shots and passport copy. I had to get three shots for this trip and I still have bumps on my arms from them! But, I'm happy because they mean that I will be allowed into the country! I'm really excited for this opportunity to serve and I hope I will get to do a variety of things while I'm there. The last time I served overseas (other than in the Navy) was in Africa which I loved! South America will be different, but I'm sure it will also be the same in many ways. Please continue to pray for me as I prepare to go. Thank you for all of your support, God Bless!
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