After last-minute packing and shopping runs, Amy and I left on Saturday night to catch a red-eye flight to Miami on our way to Nicaragua for our 4-week elective. Thanks to previous renowned bomb-carrying passengers, not only did we do the usual removal of jackets, belts, and shoes, but also I had to toss my beloved 8 0z tube of Neutrogena face wash. Amy's husband, Dan, had asked me in the car on the way to the airport what my one must-have comfort item was. After some thought I named that tube of face wash. Sigh. Feeling dejected and the sprouting of an opportunistic pimple, I also realized that we had entered the wrong gate when Amy asked which direction we were headed. So we exited and walked halfway to the next terminal, only to realize that, in fact, we had entered the right gate. (My terrible sense of direction never ceases to amaze me.) So back we went. We had a deja-vu moment, including the scrutinizing of my ziploc bag of bottled items (now minus the face wash) by the exact same security guard.
At the Miami airport we experienced the nosy intrusions and innocent assumptions of other travellers. We started debating whether Kaiser clinics truly provide better efficiency and patient-directed care. As we were concluding that in fact Kaiser patients had equally long wait times and difficulties seeing one's own doctor, an eavesdropping older woman sitting next to us decided to chime in: "Well, I've been a Kaiser patient for over twenty years and I always get to see my doctor!" Later on, just prior to boarding the plane, an overzealous provost (at an American university located just outside of Managua) gave us his name, e-mail, office number, home phone number, cellphone number, the name of his mother, her phone number should we not be able to reach him, etc., in case we were to get sick and in need of a doctor. We thanked him and chuckled to ourselves. Boy, were we glad we were traveling with our personal favorite doctor...
Fourteen hours after our departure from Santa Rosa, we made a wobbly, squeaky-wheeled landing into Managua. We smiled big smiles upon seeing the bright blue sunny sky and, more importantly, a man holding a sign: "Cyndy and Amy". Relief. As I told Amy, it's always good to feel accounted for. We hopped in a car with our driver and history teacher, Julio, to the colonial and academic city of Leon. Apparently, Leon had been the first capital of Nicaragua but then got caught up in a sibling rivalry type fight with Granada. The result was the naming of Managua as the capital, since it was located between the two cities. We also learned that while Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (second to Haiti), it is actually the safest country in Central America.
Our apartment is fabulous. Water runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the bathroom is just a short 100-yard walk away. Just kidding, Mom! The apartment is actually located on the top floor of the office building of our main contact person, Santiago. Currently, he remains a "Charlie"to us (hint: TV show) as we have only communicated via e-mail and phone. Anyhow, we have two separate bedrooms (each with air-conditioning), a large kitchen, a spacious bathroom with shower, internet, and a night-time security guard named Jorge. We are in "downtown"Leon and right next to a comtemporary art museum. Everything we need is walkable. This includes banks, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, a movie theater, and, oh yeah, the hospital. Yes, the real reason why we're here. :P We had ourselves a delicious dinner of broiled corvina, french fries, rice, salad, and cold Victoria beer (the Nicaragua brand). The weather is quite summery, probably in the 80s, with a refreshing breeze. We're wearing shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses, and sandals. Life is pretty good right now.
Tomorrow we meet Santiago (I'll let you know if he looks like Bill Murray) and Dr. Morales to figure out where we can help out the most in the hospital. We'll be here from January 14 to February 9 and will try our best to keep this blog updated and include photos. So keep on checking and send a comment if you'd like. We'd love to hear from you!
Cindy
At the Miami airport we experienced the nosy intrusions and innocent assumptions of other travellers. We started debating whether Kaiser clinics truly provide better efficiency and patient-directed care. As we were concluding that in fact Kaiser patients had equally long wait times and difficulties seeing one's own doctor, an eavesdropping older woman sitting next to us decided to chime in: "Well, I've been a Kaiser patient for over twenty years and I always get to see my doctor!" Later on, just prior to boarding the plane, an overzealous provost (at an American university located just outside of Managua) gave us his name, e-mail, office number, home phone number, cellphone number, the name of his mother, her phone number should we not be able to reach him, etc., in case we were to get sick and in need of a doctor. We thanked him and chuckled to ourselves. Boy, were we glad we were traveling with our personal favorite doctor...
Fourteen hours after our departure from Santa Rosa, we made a wobbly, squeaky-wheeled landing into Managua. We smiled big smiles upon seeing the bright blue sunny sky and, more importantly, a man holding a sign: "Cyndy and Amy". Relief. As I told Amy, it's always good to feel accounted for. We hopped in a car with our driver and history teacher, Julio, to the colonial and academic city of Leon. Apparently, Leon had been the first capital of Nicaragua but then got caught up in a sibling rivalry type fight with Granada. The result was the naming of Managua as the capital, since it was located between the two cities. We also learned that while Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere (second to Haiti), it is actually the safest country in Central America.
Our apartment is fabulous. Water runs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the bathroom is just a short 100-yard walk away. Just kidding, Mom! The apartment is actually located on the top floor of the office building of our main contact person, Santiago. Currently, he remains a "Charlie"to us (hint: TV show) as we have only communicated via e-mail and phone. Anyhow, we have two separate bedrooms (each with air-conditioning), a large kitchen, a spacious bathroom with shower, internet, and a night-time security guard named Jorge. We are in "downtown"Leon and right next to a comtemporary art museum. Everything we need is walkable. This includes banks, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, bakeries, a movie theater, and, oh yeah, the hospital. Yes, the real reason why we're here. :P We had ourselves a delicious dinner of broiled corvina, french fries, rice, salad, and cold Victoria beer (the Nicaragua brand). The weather is quite summery, probably in the 80s, with a refreshing breeze. We're wearing shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses, and sandals. Life is pretty good right now.
Tomorrow we meet Santiago (I'll let you know if he looks like Bill Murray) and Dr. Morales to figure out where we can help out the most in the hospital. We'll be here from January 14 to February 9 and will try our best to keep this blog updated and include photos. So keep on checking and send a comment if you'd like. We'd love to hear from you!
Cindy
3 comentarios:
hola mis amigas,
Sounds pretty good so far. I am jealous! Glad to know you are keeping priorities straight. Rest and rejuvenate first, explore, learn, then work. (Pretty much the opposite order, I imagine, of Jim in the Phillipines). I am in sunny, cold Seattle, but heading home today. Don't worry about us in Santa Rosa, we'll keep the program afloat while you're gone. If they have any fried plantains in those parts, have some for me ... with natilla, mmmm.
xoxox, Erica
Hola chicas!
Que chevere de tener un cuento de sus primeros dias en Nicaragua! Es una idea muy buena de mantenerse un blog durante su viaje. Debemos continuar con esto en el futuro.
Here I'm trying to soak up the last hours of vacation prior to starting medicine tomorrow. We went to the beach and though it was no 80 degrees, it was a nice sunny 60ish....I really don't know what this arctic freeze was that everyone has been freaking out about. Seems like pretty nice weather for January!
Hope you gals have a lovely time! We'll be thinking about you lots!
Abrazos,
Erin
hola doctoras,
estoy de acuerdo con erin. que bueno que pueden contarnos sobre sus viajes. les extraño y que tengan un buen viaje!
con mucho cariño,
stevo
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