Last Day!!!

Today was great way to end the trip. We traveled back to Teosinte this morning for clinic. Things were per usual as far as the number of patients goes but there were some good learning cases.  We stopped by some more Mayan ruins on the way back to San Sal. They were not as impressive as Tazumal but were great to see none the less.  We arrived back in San Sal around 4:00, Dr. Pena completed our evals so we can get credit for being here and we have spent the rest of the evening packing and cleaning up with a short break to eat dinner at our favorite restaurant.   

Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything tonight because I am pretty sure I am going to be out of it in the morning.  We are getting up around 3:30 AM so we can be ready to head to the airport by 4:15.  Our apartment is about 30-45 mins from the airport and we want to be sure we have plenty of time to get checked in and find the gate tomorrow. 

I apologize for not posting pictures today. I packed the cord for my camera already and to be perfectly honest am just too lazy to dig it out.  Hopefully anyone who is interested in seeing pictures will be able to see them once I get home.  I hope everyone is well and I am very much looking forward to my feet being on US soil tomorrow around noon eastern time. 

48 Hours Until I will be on North Carolina Ground

Today was one of my favorite clinic days of the entire trip.  It was a bit slow in the morning just because of the logistics of the remote area where we went but it turned out great and I am very excited to go back there again tomorrow.  The name of the town is Teosinte and it is located in the same region of the country as Al Pital (the small town where we had clinic in bedroom of someone's house).  Even though it is in the same region the terrain is very different.  The climate is much more arid, the temperature warmer and the mountains are very barren compared to the lush trees and farms of Al Pital.  None the less it was very beautiful in its own right.  During some down time this morning Don Hernan told us about the area being a hot spot for the El Salvadorian Civil War that took place in the 1980's-90's.  He said the entire area has recently been rebuilt due to the devastation that was left behind mostly from bombing by the El Salvadorian Air Force which was targeting the guerrillas who used the mountains to hide.  In the town of Teosinte there is a mural on the front of the church that shows Monsignor Romero, a catholic priest who was the voice of the poor in El Salvador unit his assassination which marked the beginning of the war.  I really enjoyed learning about the history of the country in the place it happened from a person who actually lived through the war and was a part of the fighting.  Clinic there was also good.  The people are very needy and a Salvadorian physician only comes to them once a month so we were a welcome surprise. I think we will see a good number tomorrow.

After clinic tomorrow we are having dinner with the Doctors so they can fill out our evaluations then we will head back to our apartment in San Sal to pack and clean.  Hopefully we will get a bit of rest before we have to leave for the airport at 4:00 AM on Friday morning.  I hope everyone is well! I hope tomorrow goes by quick! Looking forward to being home more than ever!

Ruins Make for a Good Day.

Today was honestly one of my favorite days of the entire trip. After clinic this morning at the Orphanage for special needs children we went to Chalchuapa to see the Tazumal Mayan ruins.  It was absolutely amazing to FINALLY get to see first hand what I have been reading about for so many years. This particular site is not completely excavated yet.  Although they were not actively working today it was pretty cool to be on the site of an active archaeological dig. After spending a few hours at the ruins we went back to San Sal to  have clinic at the orphanage for children with HIV.  It was awesome to see them again and they all flocked to us as soon as we walked in the door. Luckily none of them had any medical complaints and we got to just play soccer with them for a bit. It was honestly a blast and I think all of us wish we could have stayed there longer.  Before heading home for the evening we went to the national artisan market to buy souvenirs.  That was honestly the last thing I truly HAD to do before I left the country so now it is just waiting until Friday morning.

I apologize for such a short post. I am absolutely killed tonight.  I have been working on translating that Children's book for our driver Don Hernan and finally finished but I still need to write the translation in the book and we have to be awake to head to Chalatenango, the mountain village, very early in the morning.  As of right now we have been told we will be making the long drive to Chalatenango both tomorrow and Thursday but I expect those plans will change.  I hope everyone is well and I look forward to being home in just a few short days.

 

Panoramic shot of the ruins. Pictures truly don't do it justice.

An area where they are actively excavating. 

 

Typical El Salvadorian grave yard adjacent to the ruins.  I know it is random but I think it is crazy how they use so much concrete.

 

It is difficult to make out but there is a Mayan man etched into this rock that was excavated from Tazumal.

Last Monday in El Sal

This morning we headed to the ruins at Joya de Ceren pretty early.  Just outside of San Sal we hit some heavy traffic that we sat in for quite sometime. After about an hour and a half of crawling we got to some police cones and the road narrowed from two lanes to one.  In the closed lane there were some random flowers and a small amount of fruits and vegetables but nothing that really caught my eye at first glance. After a second look I noticed the body that had been hit and was just covered with a blanket as the police looked on and hundreds if not thousands of people passed by.  Definitely one of the saddest things I have seen since being here.  What's even worse is after driving  20 minutes up the road to discover that the ruins were closed for the last day of the holiday and driving 20 minutes back to where the body was in the road it was still there.  It really puts into perspective how differently accidents are handled here and makes me thankful to live in a country where we have folks who take care of accidents in a much more timely fashion.

We went shopping for the last time this morning and hopefully will have enough food to last for the rest of the trip. We were honestly running pretty low over the weekend after not getting to grocery shop on Friday morning.  Tenke and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon at the pool and came upstairs to work on a few things once the sun went down.  I have spent the bigger part of my evening working on translating a children's book for our driver Don Hernan's grandchildren.  It is amazing to me just how much I have forgotten since undergrad. I would have been able to knock a book like this out in no time then and I have worked about three hours on 8 pages.  It is a good thing he doesn't want it tomorrow or this guy wouldn't be sleeping. As much as my spanish has improved on this trip I truly hope I can find a way to put it to good use once I get home. I have spent far too much of my parent's money (thanks Mom and Dad) and my time learning it to not use it for years at a time and keep forgetting more and more. 

I hope everyone is well.  The countdown has officially begun.  I think we are all looking forward to getting to the airport on Friday morning.  Hopefully clinic will be busy for the next few days and the time will pass quickly.  Looking forward to seeing everyone soon.