Chalatenango I am Pretty Sure it is El Salvadorian for Spruce Pine

Today was a lot of fun.  Our two hour drive to clinic in Chalatenango was more like two and a half to three, but it was definitely a beautiful drive.  We were basically as high in altitude as you can possibly go in this country and there were some stunning views along the way.  Chalatenango is a small farming village.  It really did remind me of the mountains of Western North Carolina and I will apologize in advance because I left my camera in our car and won't be able to post any pictures tonight.  Other than clinic, I think the best part of the day was just being in the mountains away from the city.  It was nice to breathe some crisp, clean mountain air and see how much different life is away from San Sal.  They grow a variety of crops in Chalatenango ranging from wheat to fruits to flowers for florists but their main cash crop is cabbage much of which is exported to the States.  It seemed to be everywhere and entire hillsides would be that distinctive blue green because of the cabbage leaves.  We got a chance to stop at one of the local farms which runs a produce/flower market and buy a few things.  I really wish the flowers would survive the trip back to the states because for $1 you could get an amazing bouquet that easily would cost $30-40 back home (I was thinking about you Christina, I hope it's the thought that counts).  They also made their own homemade jams that they sell and export to the states so I picked up a couple of jars to bring home.  If they taste half as good as they look it is going to be amazing. 

Clinic today was slower than I expected but I really feel like we did some good.  Each community here has a health officer, basically a nurse, who helps with vaccinations and communicates needs with government officials.  The health officer in this community let only those that were most in need and couldn't afford to purchase their own medications know we were coming and that was the main reason for such low numbers.  I feel like everyone that did show up really needed our help.  We ran clinic out of a VERY small bedroom in someones house so that also limited the number of folks we could see.  I feel like we saw some things outside our normal respiratory/cold complaints and that was definitely a welcome change.

Tomorrow we are off in the morning to grocery shop and run errands.  Our washing machine should finally get fixed in the morning which will without question be nice. In the afternoon we have a short clinic at the school in Santiago.  We got some more medications today so hopefully we will be able to get those to the folks we weren't able to give them to earlier in the week and we can get them on the mend. 

I hope everyone is well at home, you all have no idea how much I miss you! I truly wish we were busier so I didn't have so much time to think about it.  Don't get me wrong I am definitely enjoying my time here but I came here to work not to be a tourist.  I am looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back Stateside two weeks from tomorrow!