1/13/13 Day 10 Mt Pine Ridge

Punta last night was a lot of fun. The Punta King was really nice and made it interesting. I was somewhat surprised at how well I could move my hips. Vicky and Dani and a lot of the others were very entertaining to watch. It probably lasted about an hour and a half. I took a bunch of videos and pictures. 

Today was very excited. We went to Mt. Pine Ridge which is a nature reserve and got to see this one really cool cave, go swimming in a river which made a bunch of pools, and then go jumping off a cliff. I didn’t jump off the large cliff which was about 30ft or so, I jumped off the one that was about 10ft. It was a lot of fun and the day flew by. The cave we went into was called Rio Frio cave and was GORGEOUS. There are really no words that can accurately describe what I saw today, so hopefully the pictures and videos will suffice.

This next week is going to be interesting and exciting. Tomorrow we have to go teach kids at a local school about different health concerns that the Ministry of Health deemed necessary. The topic my group is supposed to talk about is hepatitis A. We’re really not too sure on how we’re going to teach 7 year olds about it in a way that they can understand. We’re thinking about asking them if they know what the liver is, what it does, and tell them what happens when it stops working and what causes hepatitis A… not exactly sure on the details but we’ll figure it out tomorrow before we go. We’re supposed to only have a half day of teaching, so after that we have a free day. Vicky, Hunter, and I and whoever else wants to might go to the Iguana farm that is somewhere near here. Other than that who knows.

Tuesday seems to still be up in the air on what we’re doing. We’re most likely doing a clinic but I don’t think its official. Tuesday night is drumming which should definitely be an entertaining night.

Wednesday is ATM, as long as they don’t cancel, and our farewell dinner.

Thursday we leave for Caye Caulker and go snorkeling

Friday we head home.

I’m pretty excited to head home. It’s been a long 10 days so far and I’m about ready to leave. I’ve been having a great time, but I also miss having quiet time where I don’t have to do anything, where I can just sit, relax, watch TV, and be on the internet.

Oh, also earlier today while I was sitting in my room I made a list of things to not take for granted that I’ve learned while being on this trip:

-          Hot water

-          Wifi

-          Loved ones

-          Cell phone service

-          Paved roads

-          Screen (for windows)

-          Having a season where there aren’t any insects

-          Multiple blankets

-          Doctors and hospitals being affordable

-          Health insurance

-          Prescription drugs available

o   Ex. More than just glyburide and metformin being available for diabetes

-          Owning a car

-          Cars being in good condition

-          Hamburgers

-          CHEESE!!

-          Sidewalks

This is just what I came up with while thinking about it today; I’m sure more will come soon enough.

Anyway, time to upload some pictures onto my computer and then read for a bit before bed.

The pools where we went swimming

headed towards the waterfall to cliff jump

Amber cliff jumping

Dr. Hickey climbing up to jump off the cliff

1/12/13 Volunteer Botanical Garden and Punta Dancing

So the politician last night cancelled on us again so we ended up going to Cayo Twist to get some ice cream then we went to the casino. It was called the Princess Casino San Ignacio. I only spent BZ$ 5 ($2.50 American). I didn’t really know what I was doing on the slots but it was fun. We only stayed for a little while. People were allowed to smoke in there so my eyes ended up killing me and Stephen and Zack were tired so we left around 10:30. It’s definitely weird being around smoke inside when you come from NY where you’re not allowed to smoke indoors.

Today has been a really slooooooooow day. We did this volunteer thing where we went to this botanical garden to help them out. We raked some leaves and painted some wooden planks that they’re going to make into signs. The good part of it was we got to try more coconut and sugar cane. They also had a cocoa plant where you could suck on the bean. I didn’t try it because the texture looked really weird, but the sugar cane was delicious. Also while we were there, they showed us a bunch of the plants and even got some to try and help Amber with the rash on her arm. It was pretty cool to watch, even though Amber said it didn’t really work. Grant said that they’re probably going to get some prednisone from the pharmacy for a couple of the people who got a rash while pushing the bus out of the mud. We only spent a couple of hours there then headed back to ProWorld. Vicky and I went to the market for a little bit after that, but didn’t stay very long. Neither of us really felt like buying anything. It’s been a crazy hot day today which made both of us really tired, so we walked up the ginormous hill, stopped at Sweet Ting to get an iced coffee then she went back to her house and I stopped at a shop next to Cayo Twist to get more bug spray since I’m running low. It’s obnoxious how expensive bug spray is here. It was BZ$ 16.95 for a single can of bug spray.

Once I got back to the house, I just ended up taking a nap for a bit and now here I am writing my blog while David and his friends play outside. One of them was hitting drum sticks on cans while I was trying to sleep. Ugh.

Anyway, tonight we have Punta lessons and tomorrow we have Pine Ridge.

Amber got a rash on her arm from something a couple days ago so Lucas said he could try something and this is him putting it on her arm

Drinking some coconut water

Sugarcane 

Time for PUNTA! 

1/11/13 Day 8 Duck Run 2

So clinic today wasn’t anything too special. It took us a while to get there. The place was called Duck Run 2. Only had a couple interesting patients today, one had angina, another had hyperthyroid, and another was potentially pregnant. Apparently there was someone who was in hypertensive crisis, with a BP of 190/110 or something like that. They brought the person to the pharmacy and then the hospital. After the clinic we went swimming at the Cahal Pech Resort. The pool was amazing and the view was gorgeous. Tonight we’re going to a lecture from a politician and then going to the casino. It should be interesting. I’m hoping to not stay out too late because tomorrow we have to go and do manual labor, using machetes to clear a path or something like that for this botanical garden. Tomorrow night we have Punta lessons from the Punta King. That should be fun. It was really nice to be able to go swimming and just relax. I had a mai tai while we were there and it was really strong. I’m honestly ready for bed but I told Vicky and Dani that I would go out with everyone.

Also, it seems like ATM is most likely going to be closed because of all of the rain we’ve been getting so there’s talk about going to a zoo that’s on the way to Caye Caulker. I guess it’s one of the best zoos in the world and a trip to Belize isn’t complete without seeing it. I’m pretty excited for it. Two nights on Caye Caulker would be amazing.

Anyway time to relax a little bit before dinner. I’ll let you know how the Casino and politician are.

Pool party for Megan

A spider I saw behind a screen in my room. If that was actually in my room, I would have DIED!