Began the week with a hurricane meeting Monday afternoon! What a way to scare the crap out of me!
So Hurricane Ernesto- began as a tropical storm and was headed straight towards Belize- which is what caused all the excitement and stressing out at the beginning of the week! It was supposed to hit Tuesday night/ Wednesday morn. Therefore on Tuesday the clinic was open for the morning, and a group of us went to town to get supplies in case we were going to hit. We might have gotten a little too prepared with bread, milk, pasta etc..... BUT we were ready for whatever was to come. Tuesday night we had a full house! The doctors and their 3 kids, Stacy and Celia, who stay in the tree house, and then another doctor and her son, all came to sleep in Abby's house. So we already have 15 students, plus 9 more bodies, it was quite busy!
Then the rain began Tuesday evening...... and it was not anything exciting :( it was not even as bad as the thunderstorms we've been having here. But the students decided to have some fun with the "Hurricane" and they set up a tarp out back and made a slip-in-slide.
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| The predicted path- BUT it went much further north in Belize. |
Wednesday we all woke up, not knowing what it would be like outside..... and it was barely wet at all! BUT the clinic was scheduled to be closed on Wednesday and the Hillside staff members were not coming in. So we had a hurricane day! It was so relaxing to be able to sleep in, read a book and just relax all day long! Joyce, the admin at Hillside, arranged for us to go to Big Falls Lodge for the day. They have a pool there and served us drinks and lunch. It was delicious- tuna salad sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches and curry rice with vegetables, and pizza. It was so fun hanging around the pool, doing "tricks" with the doctors 8 year old son. I apparently can still do a back dive and a front flip and also do a standing split jump and a herky haha back to my cheerleading days- good to know. But my back was not happy after all of that- whoops.
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| some of us laying out at Big Falls lodge |
Even though it was a "day off" the PTs still had our Wednesday night Community Class in San Pedro. The topic of the night was neck pain, and I was leading the class. We had 4 people in attendance this time, 2 returners from week 1 and then one lady brought a friend and then a man stopped on in! It went very well. Its so enjoyable doing these classes, I've learned a lot about my teaching skills and how to lead a small group session.
Thursday- was back to the clinic! I was super excited to be in out-patient and potentially see patients! Usually when I am in Out-patient clinic- no one comes, BUT not this week! Carley and I each saw 3 patients, which is a record for clinic for us since we've been here. It was great feeling busy and like a PT again. I have really really missed running around and seeing patients and being excited about treating them. When I am busy, I get wired with excitement and energy, as many of you know! And I've really missed that feeling since I've been here. It made me realize that that is the environment that I thrive more in and that feeling is why I am a PT! a busy day couldn't have come at a better time in the week, especially after 2 days off in the middle of the week.
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| The new friend I found in the Ed Center- no worries I did not touch it- I left it for Carley to crunch! |
After the busy morning, we finished up notes and then went to San Miguel- a nearby village to have a "professional development" lunch talk. Monica had given us an article to read regarding Community Based Rehab approaches and ethical considerations. We had lunch at Back-a- bush. http://www.back-a-bush.com/
Which is a place that Monica has gone to over the past year and knows the owners well. The food was amazing, like everything we eat here, Pakora (an Indian dish), white rice, the BEST guac EVER! and calaloo.
Then Thursday evening, we all went out to Sea Side Heights for dinner followed by dancing at Beyonce's! It was the last horrah for the majority of the group.
Friday- Stacy and I went on our last Mobile to San Felipe which is only about 20 minutes away. One of the translators/ intake staff members at Hillside lives in this community, and I was fortunate enough to meet and treat his mother and grandmother! I saw 5 patients on Mobile, which is actually a lot for a half day mobile. Stacy and I went trekking through the village to check in on patients. One was a very cute Mayan woman who was 88 years old. Very frail and tiny and walks around using walking sticks, and sometimes the walker which was given to her a few months ago. It is amazing to see how the Mayans age. They are so strong and hard working and they really have little complaints of pain unless it is chronic. I love going into patients' homes and seeing how they live and their environment in which they work so hard in.
Then it was lunch at the chocolate factory! I've been waiting 6 weeks to learn how to make chocolate and eat lots of it too! We walked right across the street from where mobile was to the chocolate factory. It is owned and operated by the family of the boy I was talking about earlier who works at Hillside. And his mother, what the chocolate factory is named for, was one of my patients for the day! We had lunch, with hot chocolate (made from ground Cacao powder) and then we all shucked cacao beans and started the chocolate making process! It was hard work! We shelled the beans, then used a traditional grider board with a rock looking grinder to grind the beans into a thin power that turns into chocolate when the oils from the beans are broken down. Then we added lots of sugar and kept grinding- it was amazing and super yummy! We all bought some chocolate to bring home or enjoy right then!
We were going to head out to Placencia on Friday afternoon- but the chocolate factory took longer than expected so we hung around Abby's house one last night as a group and made a nice pasta dinner with a SALAD! yesss :) and watched Titanic on the projector screen.
other random things from this week- my iTunes is now equipped with Belizian music- get ready friends at home for some fun dance music when i return: here's a sample:
One by One you know you want to listen to it- it's so catchy! I love it!
Updates from Placencia round 2 to come!
Which is a place that Monica has gone to over the past year and knows the owners well. The food was amazing, like everything we eat here, Pakora (an Indian dish), white rice, the BEST guac EVER! and calaloo.
Then Thursday evening, we all went out to Sea Side Heights for dinner followed by dancing at Beyonce's! It was the last horrah for the majority of the group.
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| Stacy and I at dinner! |
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| Carley and I at dinner- |
Friday- Stacy and I went on our last Mobile to San Felipe which is only about 20 minutes away. One of the translators/ intake staff members at Hillside lives in this community, and I was fortunate enough to meet and treat his mother and grandmother! I saw 5 patients on Mobile, which is actually a lot for a half day mobile. Stacy and I went trekking through the village to check in on patients. One was a very cute Mayan woman who was 88 years old. Very frail and tiny and walks around using walking sticks, and sometimes the walker which was given to her a few months ago. It is amazing to see how the Mayans age. They are so strong and hard working and they really have little complaints of pain unless it is chronic. I love going into patients' homes and seeing how they live and their environment in which they work so hard in.
Then it was lunch at the chocolate factory! I've been waiting 6 weeks to learn how to make chocolate and eat lots of it too! We walked right across the street from where mobile was to the chocolate factory. It is owned and operated by the family of the boy I was talking about earlier who works at Hillside. And his mother, what the chocolate factory is named for, was one of my patients for the day! We had lunch, with hot chocolate (made from ground Cacao powder) and then we all shucked cacao beans and started the chocolate making process! It was hard work! We shelled the beans, then used a traditional grider board with a rock looking grinder to grind the beans into a thin power that turns into chocolate when the oils from the beans are broken down. Then we added lots of sugar and kept grinding- it was amazing and super yummy! We all bought some chocolate to bring home or enjoy right then!
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| our table set up- thatch roof and all :) |
We were going to head out to Placencia on Friday afternoon- but the chocolate factory took longer than expected so we hung around Abby's house one last night as a group and made a nice pasta dinner with a SALAD! yesss :) and watched Titanic on the projector screen.
other random things from this week- my iTunes is now equipped with Belizian music- get ready friends at home for some fun dance music when i return: here's a sample:
One by One you know you want to listen to it- it's so catchy! I love it!
Updates from Placencia round 2 to come!
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