11 de Diciembre

After my last post, I got extremely sick again and spent the whole night and next day in bed. Today I´m still struggling with whatever it is I have and awaiting lab results, which like the veggies, are hard to get around here. After missing the bus this morning, I started the hour long walk to town with my sample in my backpack. Second time in 2 days and after arriving, found out that the doctor at the lab is on vacation! About ready to give up and just live with this bug in me for another week, I decided to try the health center, which normally doesn´t service foreigners. But being very friendly and courteous, they decided to run the test for me...thank you Centro de Salud de Jicarro! Hopefully this time I won´t have cryptosporosis, like my last bought of illness in Managua. Did I mention I almost missed my big swearing-in ceremony because I was trying to drop off a stool sample at the hospital in Managua and then racing across town, arriving with only 10 minutes to spare! But I made it and also made it onto nationally televised TV, with the rest of the PC group and US ambassador. And I was well enough to celebrate that evening with the PC group. Managua was a good trip...2 weeks of luxury and eating well. But I was definately ready to leave when it was over.
As for life here, things just seem to take longer around here. Kind of like the simple errand to get milk this morning. I remember back in Salem walking 4 blocks to the mini mart and picking up a gallon. Not here, my milk errand involved a 15 minute bike ride, 2 houses, a chat with a señora, and milking the cow myself by hand. It definately made it worth it!
Although I´m still struggling for things to do here, I´m starting to work with a guy in the community named Mancho. This week we are going to the homes of the different women for me to meet them and view their patios, which are actually large yards where they grow all sorts of veggies and fruits and plants and keep their animals.
Mancho is a great guy to work with, he´s really excited about working with me and trying new things, he already has tons of medicinal plants growing, a vermiculture project, he makes wine that he exports to Spain, and is in his first year of vet health worker training. Yesterday he showed me all his manuals and vet books, which were made by an american vet for the organization he works for here in Nicaragua. All of the books are in spanish of course, but I get the general jist of it and its great to be exposed to vet medicine again...it makes me so excited. In January, a team of americans are coming to finish construction on the lab in his patio, which I´ll be a part of and also helping him learn and work in the lab. I´m also really excited about this.
Also working on planting a garden with my host mom. It all sounds so simple but things take so much time here. For example, we have to build a fence for the garden to protect it from the chickens but finding the materials to build a fence without spending money they dont have takes time. And getting water throughout summer is a challenge, as is finding a container for the worms to make compost (I think I´ll be using an old tire that I learned to flip in training).
So I´m staying busy for the mean time and meeting new people each day and of course, improving my spanish.
And looking forward to the beach trip for New Years!