My week started off slow again on Monday.... began to think to myself....wow this is going to be a long semester (internship wise). I was not in a good mood between the way the week started off and the fact that the abroad office has their own set of guidelines for me on top of the school work I already have.
I have to admit I woke up miserable Tuesday thinking I was going in to sit around all day but just as I was dreading the worst....a miracle happened. Not only did I have work to do, I couldn't even finish it all in one day.
I had gotten set up with a label maker and laptop to make labels for the medicine, condom, lubricant, pregnancy test inventory but got pulled away to help in the Cytology lab (where slides are prepared from pap smears and then analyzed by Raf the Cytologist). Raf showed me the database he uses to enter in patient's personal information and results. Today he started me off with helping him to enter their personal information in. When I was finished I double checked it because just like in America, the doctor's here have awful handwriting too (maybe I really am meant to be a doctor :} ) After helping Raf I went back to finishing my labels just in time for lunch.
Lunch was an interesting experience today. I had decided to walk to "Subway" to get a sandwich. This "Subway" looks like our Subway but everything that is on the menu is not available. The first thing you do in Subway is tell what kind of bread you want right? Well I decided to go for a wrap. "We don't have wraps" the girl said, as I was looking at the list of things they should have. Okayyyy....how about some wheat bread. "We don't have wheat bread" she says. So instead of continuing to play this game I said "What do you have then?"....just parmesan and white (decisions, decisions). Long story short, I thought I finally found someplace like home but DENIED. It was good but nothing like home. Oh and it's not diet coke here it's Coca Cola Light.
During lunch I was talking to Raf (the Cytologist) and come to find out he owns a coffee shop named "Moon Clusters." We got on the topic of coffee because I was saying how I would KILL for a good cup of coffee. Raf invents all the items they sell. They have hot coffee but their specialties are frozen coffees (ice cream, espresso and complete deliciousness). Sooooo when he went to pick up his son at 1 he said he would bring me back their best seller to try (Choli). I'M IN LOVE!! I will surely miss Moon Clusters!! AMAZING
The rest of my Tuesday was spent alphabetizing one of the nurse's client files (which I could not finish which meant definitely having something to do tomorrow). After work I was in such a great mood! Terry cooked up grouper and rice & beans. This was my first time trying grouper and it was delicious!
Wednesday-It is quite interesting walking to work from Daniel's work. If I am not getting called at or whistled at, I'm getting asked for money (No fret mom and dad, I walk only on busy roads, there's always people around, and Daniel & Terry wouldn't allow me to walk anywhere they didn't think was safe). I guess I really need to get a tan or something so I don't look like such a tourist all the time.
I spent the morning finishing up Nurse's files (time flies when you're having fun haha). After lunch I started to put together a power point on Sexual Harassment for a presentation the following day. I worked on that until I had to leave around 3 p.m. to go to St. John's College extension with Nurse Rachel to give presentations on breast exams, pelvic exams, pap smears and personal hygiene. SJC was doing a wellness week promotion and we were only one booth out of several. Long story short, our booth was not as popular as the others (no music, no scale, etc). We started out with about 10 girls paying attention and ended with 2 who were not evening paying attention they were just being polite. Interesting experience to say the least.
Thursday-Well the comments on my walk to work are never ending. Maybe one day these people will learn that I'm not a tourist and forget about me. Work started off slow today because my supervisor was running late but I found things to occupy my time....like cooling off from walking. After I cooled down Raf showed me how he writes the results of the slides and how to enter them into the database. It took a little while but I finally got the hang of it and now I can be a big help to Raf (and he can repay me in Cholis ; } ). After lunch I went with Ana (a youth officer) to Wesley College (High School) to give a presentation on Sexual Harassment. The school we went to is one of the better disciplined schools here. We had about 125 students and they were very respectful. Ana is a great presenter too!
When we were waiting for our ride back to the BFLA, street vendors came by with corn on the cob on a stick that they brush with mayonnaise, sprinkle on cheese, and then squirt ketchup on. I wasn't willing to try this concoction yet. The other vendor had fried plantains (banana like fruit that is really good fried) with hot sauce. Another concoction I was not too keen on trying.
Ana invited me to go with her to a school tomorrow to present 'Puberty.' Since her computer crashed we spent the rest of the afternoon developing a power point for that. Ana is really nice and invited me to come out for drinks and to have dinner at her house sometime.
For dinner I tried tamales. Tamales consist of seasoned chicken wrapped in cornmeal dough and steamed or baked in corn husks. I decided to put salsa on top of mine and mmmmm it completed it.
I met with my academic advisor, Kathy, to hand in some paperwork for the guidelines of the abroad office. She told me she'll take me out soon and that it won't consist of business because I mentioned all the things I want to try and do but do not really have anyone to do them with (till Marielle, Chris and Shauna come to visit of course :] )
Friday-It was really hard to get out of bed today but when I realized it was Friday I couldn't be happier. Terry made french toast for breakfast and it was sooooo good. Reminded me so much of home.
I decided to wear jeans for the first time here because the only pants I had clean were in desperate need of ironing and there was just not enough time for that this morning. I completely regretted the decision of jeans though because it was really hot today.
Ana and I were late to Ladyville Technical High School because the driver went on a run and didn't come back on time. The school rearranged some of their activities so we had to wait a half hour before presenting. Personally I felt like the age group we were presenting to were too old to learn about puberty but that was me assuming they had ever learned about it at all. It seemed from the presentation that they really hadn't. After the presentation, Ana told me that this was one of the least disciplined schools and they have very high pregnancy and HIV rates. While we were waiting for the driver to come back to get us the school provided us with tamales and juice. They're tamales and juice were really good!
The rest of the afternoon was kind of boring because my supervisor had went to a meeting for the remainder of the day. So I just did some computer work and talked with people in the office.
Terry made Curry so we ate a little bit of that before heading out to the D'Ceviche Hut with Alberto and Daniel's cousin, Patch. MMMM I sure will miss Ceviche too. It was a nice chill night filled with ceviche and beer. Afterwards we went back to the house to watch "The Vampire's Assistant." For how tired I was before the Ceviche Hut I was the only one who stayed awake the whole movie! It was a cute movie with a definite sequel in the future.
Saturday-Felt so good to sleep in finally! (if 8:30 could be considered sleeping in haha) I made some toast with onion & chive cream cheese for breakfast. I sat down to get some homework done and thank God I did because there would be no other time over the weekend. Around 11:30, Martinique, Dani and I walked to Moon Clusters to get something tasty. It was a decent walk and I was shocked that Dani did not complain at all. Moon Clusters is such a cute and cozy little place. It's on the second level and has an open porch with couches and little cafe style tables. The walls are painted with all different pictures and the shop is decorated for Valentine's day. Everywhere you go down here is decorated for V-day. I specifically wanted to come to Moon Clusters today because Raf was telling me about their V-day Choli and of course I want to try everything on the menu while I'm here. I ordered the V-day Choli while Marts and Dani shared a banana foster (similar to a banana milkshake). The V-day Choli is espresso blended with milk and ice cream with red and pink sprinkles and a mini cupcake on top, all in a decorated cup. It was fabulous. I think I may make this my new Saturday morning ritual! : )
When we got back, I showered and got ready because we would be leaving for Orange Walk for a 50th wedding anniversary. It was the first time since I've been here that I straightened my hair (thankfully it was comfortable weather today). We were originally going to stay the night in Orange Walk at Terry's friends house but change of plans and decided to drive back after. We went to the church for mass to celebrate the couple. After mass everyone gathered out front to chat. We arrived at the reception and sat down with Daniel's brother and sister were sitting. We listened to the speeches about the couple. It is so nice to see that marriages still last and how respected this couple were. When the speeches were over, they started the party off with a waltz. While people were waltzing, dinner was being served. It wasn't long after I started eating that a beer was placed in front of me....courtesy of Daniel's sister, Lupita. Let's just say open bar here isn't like open bar in the states. Open bar here doesn't stop till the party stops.
I sat and drank and people watched until Terry came back from her friend's house. She pulled me up and dragged me on the dance floor. I didn't leave the dance floor for the rest of the night (and thanks to Lupita a beer never left my hand). It was mostly Spanish music up until close to the time we left. As soon as "Girls just wanna have fun" came on I couldn't control myself anymore. Nothing beats the typical wedding music.
Dante was so funny because he saw this cute girl when we first got there but was too chicken to go up to her. Some of his cousins finally pushed him up to her and he didn't leave her side ALL night. According to him we can go back to Orange Walk any day.
Spanish wedding anniversaries are a great time and I suggest you go to one!
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