Medical Missions

Today, I had the opportunity of working with a team of doctors that came in from the States to help with an NGO called Companeros de Salud (Partners of Health). They are an NGO that performs operations free of charge to those in need. They do surgeries to correct hernias, remove benign tumors, remove extra fingers or toes, fix scars (mostly from burns), cleft lips and pallets and others. Doctors come in from the States for 5 days to help do consults on the potential candidates. Once the candidates for surgery are found, logistics are set up and they receive their operation in one of the NGO's surgical centers. The operation is free of charge and patients must just cover transportation and food cost for the week but they are provided with a place to recuperate and space for family to stay with them.

All of the doctors spoke little to no Spanish, so that's were I came in to help translate. I was a little nervous yesterday wondering how I would do but once the day started I quickly gained confidence in my speaking Spanish. It was a challenge to go back and forth with Spanish. A few times throughout my time there I was speaking to the Spanish person in English and the English person in Spanish. There were some points too that the people only spoke Quiche, so I had to pull in my usual translator to have her tell me what was going on in Spanish to be translated to the doctor who spoke English. Oh the wonders of being bilingual!

All in all it was a great experience but mentally very exhausting. The team that came to work at the health center was very easygoing and friendly and really nice to work with.

Now I am going to head to bed, my brain needs some rest.

A Day in the Market

As most of you know, Sunday is the big market day in my town. Some of the bigger towns have a consistent market throughout the week that has a day or two when it gets engorged with sellers and buyers but in my site we only have one big day. The local people live off of the market and can find almost anything they will ever want or need. 

The market has been a constant source of fresh fruits and vegetables here for me. I have been overjoyed with the abundance of fresh picked produce and it has made it quite easy to eat healthy. I am so glad that my mother always made me eat vegetables. She has given me a habit that will benefit me for the rest of my life. Thanks Mom! 

Here is a breakdown of my purchase yesterday at the market along with the cost (note: the US dollar is now worth only 7.50 Quetzales):

1lb Tomatoes- 1.50Q

2lbs Potatoes- 3Q

3 Medium sized Mangos- 3Q

2lbs Green Beans- 5Q

3 Avacados- 3Q

2 Peaches- 2Q

Pkg of 4 ears of sweet corn- 6Q

Bunch of 10 small onions- 2.50Q

3 Peppers- 3Q

2 chocobananos (frozen bananas dipped in chocolate with nuts)- 2Q

½lb Campo cheese (cheese made locally, a mild white crumbly cheese) 6Q

Other things that I get from the market (just not this week):

Broccoli- 3Q

Carrots- 1Q/piece

Eggs- 10Q/dozen

Bread- 1Q/2pieces

Cauliflower-2Q

Black beans-7Q/lb   

Pineapple- 5Q

Cantaloupe- 5Q

Small Watermelon-5Q

I hope this gives you a better idea of my life here in terms of eating. I was a bit intimidated of the market when I first got here but now have grown more or less accustomed to it. The market starts in the early am around 5:30 or 6 and goes until about 1:30 or 2. I have found the best time to go is around noon. Going too early means fighting a big crowd of people which I am not a big fan of. You either have to go early early or late, close to ending time. The benefits of going later is that sometimes stuff cost a little less or you can bargain for a less because many of the sellers don't want to haul stuff back so they try to get rid of as much as they can.

Until next time,
Kelsey