Wednesday morning...Buenos Dias!
Last night, I decided to work on presentation material before writing about the day. Subsequently, I finished working at 10:45pm, the wifi was sluggish, and my bed was calling to me! So, this morning I will write about yesterday. I should start by mentioning how incredibly lucky I am that Laura and Jen are part of this trip! Laura is the administrator at Predisan clinic and she is wonderful. She is organized, flexible, warm, kind and easy to laugh...and I have utilized every aspect of her personality in the last two days. Jen, my fellow Sonographer, is also flexible, quick to laugh, and so easy to work with. Laura and I reconfigured our training plan yesterday morning, and then were forced to mix it up again just and hour or so later. By late morning, we finally figured out a training scenario that seemed to work! The group that Jen and I are training are really enjoyable. Many of them have some ultrasound scanning experience and all of them have nursing or physician training, with a strong knowledge of anatomy, medical terminology, and pathology. This is so helpful when you're trying to teach so much in such a short amount of time. They are also very eager to learn, and typical of the Honduran people, warm and friendly with a good sense of humor. When our patients ran out, we continued scanning each other until the late afternoon. At the end of our training day, we meet in the conference room, and I ask them to tell me if the day was productive, what worked for them, what didn't, and specific subjects they would like more training on. First thing in the morning, I give a short power point lecture about whatever they requested, then the rest of the day is spent with hands on scanning. As is usually the case, the number one request was that we stay longer than one week. :) What began as a day of chaos and frustration, ended in success...and exhaustion, but it was a good kind of exhaustion! Tomorrow, a small group of us will travel a few hours away to a remote clinic in the country, to train and scan with a small group of physicians. I cannot end my post without mentioning food...specifically last night's dinner. Baleadas. Another Honduran treasure. There are slight differences in how they are made, but it is a homemade flour tortilla filled with beans, cheese, and Honduran "butter", which is more like sour cream. There are usually additional filling options and it is served like a quesadilla or rolled like a burrito. But it's so much more! The restaurant we went to last night makes Baleadas with HUGE fresh tortillas, that are paper thin. The list of ingredients to choose from range from pico de gallo and avocado to eggs, chorizo, and even plantains. I think it's the homemade tortillas that really make them so delicious. The power went out in the city, a nightly ritual when the town runs out of power, so we ordered in the dark and patiently waited for the generator to kick in. Laura brought her family along, her husband and two children, which is always fun. As is usually the case for me, on these trips, I've fallen in love. With the country, the people, the work that I'm doing here...and in the case of Honduras, the food! Until tonight...buenos.
Last night, I decided to work on presentation material before writing about the day. Subsequently, I finished working at 10:45pm, the wifi was sluggish, and my bed was calling to me! So, this morning I will write about yesterday. I should start by mentioning how incredibly lucky I am that Laura and Jen are part of this trip! Laura is the administrator at Predisan clinic and she is wonderful. She is organized, flexible, warm, kind and easy to laugh...and I have utilized every aspect of her personality in the last two days. Jen, my fellow Sonographer, is also flexible, quick to laugh, and so easy to work with. Laura and I reconfigured our training plan yesterday morning, and then were forced to mix it up again just and hour or so later. By late morning, we finally figured out a training scenario that seemed to work! The group that Jen and I are training are really enjoyable. Many of them have some ultrasound scanning experience and all of them have nursing or physician training, with a strong knowledge of anatomy, medical terminology, and pathology. This is so helpful when you're trying to teach so much in such a short amount of time. They are also very eager to learn, and typical of the Honduran people, warm and friendly with a good sense of humor. When our patients ran out, we continued scanning each other until the late afternoon. At the end of our training day, we meet in the conference room, and I ask them to tell me if the day was productive, what worked for them, what didn't, and specific subjects they would like more training on. First thing in the morning, I give a short power point lecture about whatever they requested, then the rest of the day is spent with hands on scanning. As is usually the case, the number one request was that we stay longer than one week. :) What began as a day of chaos and frustration, ended in success...and exhaustion, but it was a good kind of exhaustion! Tomorrow, a small group of us will travel a few hours away to a remote clinic in the country, to train and scan with a small group of physicians. I cannot end my post without mentioning food...specifically last night's dinner. Baleadas. Another Honduran treasure. There are slight differences in how they are made, but it is a homemade flour tortilla filled with beans, cheese, and Honduran "butter", which is more like sour cream. There are usually additional filling options and it is served like a quesadilla or rolled like a burrito. But it's so much more! The restaurant we went to last night makes Baleadas with HUGE fresh tortillas, that are paper thin. The list of ingredients to choose from range from pico de gallo and avocado to eggs, chorizo, and even plantains. I think it's the homemade tortillas that really make them so delicious. The power went out in the city, a nightly ritual when the town runs out of power, so we ordered in the dark and patiently waited for the generator to kick in. Laura brought her family along, her husband and two children, which is always fun. As is usually the case for me, on these trips, I've fallen in love. With the country, the people, the work that I'm doing here...and in the case of Honduras, the food! Until tonight...buenos.
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