Center of the Americas

Here in Cuilapa, we are lucky enough to walk past the precise geographical center of North, South, and Central Americas at least twice a day. It makes you feel like you are a part of something important. Really, we are probably keeping the entire Western hemisphere from spinning out of control towards Africa.

This week we had no running water for three days. When I say running water, I mean water that runs for an hour in the morning that you use to fill up the sink and 55 gallon barrel so you can wash dishes and take a bucket shower. Luckily the family that we live with has six 55 gallon barrels that they keep filled up for just such emergencies. It sure makes you appreciate water for bathing, flushing the toilet, washing dishes and preparing meals. It kind of feels like camping. On Saturday Ryan filled up all the barrels with water while the Perez’s were at the temple. He had a great time and here are the fruits of his work.

Another exciting part of life in Guatemala is Valentines Day. They start the celebration the night before with a throw-down party downtown with live Durango music (which to the untrained ear might sound like Banda music). The next day everyone gives each other gifts like Christmas. If that weren’t enough the day after Valentine’s Day we celebrated again, by beating a heart piñata with a stick at the institute. It’s like the holiday that keeps giving.Cooking American food in Guatemala has proved to be a fun challenge. I have been doing a lot of recipe adjusting and ingredient replacement. Probably the most traumatizing experience was when I bought a pound of chicken and brought it home to take the skin off and there were also feather stubs for me to take off as well. That’s when I go to my happy place. Ryan says that we live too far removed from our food sources and the real world; I told him that he could pluck the chicken next time

The Circus comes to Cuilapa

Michelle: We had a serious cultural experience this week- we attended our first Latin American circus. We bought bleacher seats which turned out to be 2x6 inch boards lashed together. I thought that was a little sketchy but there were only 40 of us in attendance as opposed to 300. When I saw that the more expensive seats were right under the net I decided that I would rather be in the bleachers. While we waited for the performance to start Ryan reviewed with me the “emergency exits” we would use if the tent started on fire. I thought that he was being ridiculous and just making conversation until giant sparks started flying from one of the sound system wires and all the circus workers ran to throw dirt from the dirt floor on hot wires. The other exciting part of the circus was when they asked for a volunteer to help hold the giant anaconda; Ryan volunteered me. I guess that he had decided the snake was drugged enough to be harmless. I was afraid I was going to have to do something else while in the center ring but I just had to hold it long enough for Ryan to take a picture.

Ryan: Last week I started my rotation at the Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, which serves the entire state of Santa Rosa and two smaller bordering states as well. It’s the only hospital around for miles and miles with a full team of surgeons, CT scanner, and MRI. They are still pretty limited as though as far as lab work and newer medications. I worked with the internal medicine team the first week and now I’m in the emergency room where there’s a lot more going on. There’re aren’t very many nurses and that means I get to draw blood for labs, put in IV’s and run my own EKG’s – good practice that’s hard to get as a medical student in the US. My medical Spanish has improved a ton, and I can usually get through a patient interview without asking them to repeat themselves more than once or twice.

Temples, ancient and modern

This week I decided that participating in the Amazing Race would not be nearly as fun or glamorous as they make it out to be on TV. On Thursday we left Xela at 4am and didn’t reach Copan Ruinas in Honduras until 12 hours later, after taking 5 separate buses. The most exciting of which was the 15 passenger van like Natalie and Josh had in Costa Rica that was actually filled with 28 people- two of which were hanging outside the open sliding door. There is nothing quite like watching the ground race past you and thinking, “If I fall there is nothing to stop me from flying right outside the van to a certain death (we were in the mountains)”. But, it was worth it.

The following day we went to the Copan Ruins which were impressive. They weren’t as tall as other ruins that we have been to, but they had a great museum with a life-size replica of a temple they found underneath two other temples. Ryan has gotten really good at discovering “undiscovered” ruins from what might seem to be big piles of rocks. I think that he found enough covered ruins to keep a whole herd of archeologists busy for years. He even started preparing his speech for when National Geographic contacts him for a press conference. Another fun part of Copan is that they keep a flock of scarlet macaws near the entrance, much to the delight of tourists like us.

That afternoon we got back into a bus for Guatemala City and stayed overnight in the hotel for temple patrons by the Guatemala Temple. We were warned to go to the temple early because it fills up. I have to admit that I was doubtful that there would be people at the temple before we got there at 4:40, but the waiting room was packed with people overflowing to the outside. We managed to get into the second session at 5:30, but I think that they filled at least four the sessions with the people that were waiting with us. Incredible.

After the session we walked ourselves and our luggage up the hill to the bus stop to catch a ride to Cuilapa, where we would spend the next month. I went ahead and wore my brightest shirt because I knew that people would be looking at crazy Americans walking their luggage along a busy street anyway. We caught the suped-up school bus when it was already full, so Ryan got to sit on the transmission by the driver facing all the passengers. He assured me that everyone was looking at him, and I thought that it would be a great time to preach the gospel. Nothing like a captive audience. I got a “seat” between the two benches. I was actually what you might call the “keystone” that doesn’t need to be supported beneath by anything to stay mid-air because there is enough pressure from both sides. We were six people across and I basically floated for 1.5 hours.