First Weeks at the Hospital

Believe it or not, we are inside the hospital compound. It doesn't look like a hospital at all!
Everything is very poor and very crude. 

Well, here I am at the hospital.

This is Glesni Mason. She's from Idaho. She only 19-years-old and her parents let her stay to work with me in the hospital for a month to gain experience and exposure to birth. She speaks some Spanish, so that's been really a big help to me since I'm still struggling to understand what people are saying.

They had the sweetest little twins here. The mom was very young.

Here are your baby bundles at work. 

Hardly any of these ladies are  over 30...even though they look it....most are 20 or younger and some on there 3rd child.

   If the ladies don’t look happy after the birth there is a good reason. They really are thankful for the bundle...but this poor little girl just went through torture after a really easy birth. They cut really big episiotomies for almost every lady. They are sewn up with very little anesthetic. Thank you again for your gifts. These ladies are right off the delivery table. No husband, friend or relative by their side. It’s really nice to be able to dress their babies in something bright and pretty after what they have been through. The nurses and doctors have been great and are willing to let me do whatever I want. I’ve been observing so far mostly and believe it or not appreciating hospital births in the US. Birth here is brutal and sometimes hard to even watch, but nobody is being mean… this is how birth is here and it is accepted.

The women are usually laboring flat on their backs and alone. The nurses let us circulate around and help. We try to get them to stand and walk to help shorten labor and encourage them with our few practiced Spanish phrases. It seems overwhelming at times because help is so foreign to them.. but just knowing we can show some tenderness to a few ladies and they can know that someone is there for them and cares.  Hopefully it is a blessing.​

We are trying to offer as much TLC as we can. A back rub and and encouraging word is very foreign to them in labor. Things are looking up though. More ladies seem to be trying to walk and letting us help. We usually attend about five births a night.

These are some of the nice nurses that have been letting us do IVs and catch babies.

These are some of the doctors doing their social service here for a year. There is usually one who speaks at least some English every night and can talk us through procedures.

Shopping in Santa Barbara

Me shopping in Santa Barbara. It was actually very cold that day. A cold front came in and I think we had some sort of a hurricane. These pictures just give you a glimpse of the town. The stores are really tiny here. It's almost dangerous trying to get around because the streets are so narrow, the cars go fast, and there are hardly any sidewalks.

People fix food right on the sidewalk and sell it. After I took a picture of this lady, she fixed me some green mangos, rubbed it down with salt, and offered it to me. I was told not to eat anything off the street, but I was kind of stuck after taking her picture, so I was forced to eat it and it didn't taste good at all! And she made me eat some more! So I said, "Bien, bien." So I lied, but I had to show my gratitude.

Days at the Restaurant

Well, my days in the beautiful mountains are over except on weekends. I’ll be staying in the city above the restaurant to start working at the hospital. I’ll also be helping at the restaurant. There’s a bed in the back that I sleep on. And because I work at the hospital from 3 pm to 11 pm, I have to stay in town. I needed a few weeks to learn my way around and learn some Spanish...that venture is going slower than I would like...Elsa says I need to listen harder and speak it more no matter how I sound....and not get so frustrated. So this month I’m really going to try to speak it more...I made flashcards...my vocabulary is increasing but my sentence structure is not there yet....verbs, so many verbs!!!!

Yes, it’s true, a vegan restaurant in this poor little city...it’s amazing that as much fruit and vegetables you see on the streets people really don’t incorporate them in their meals. Fruit is more for snacks and vegetables are mostly carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, and lots and lots of potatoes. The restaurant and bakery have actually introduced whole grains, fruit, salads, and more green leafies to the people.

These girls are amazing the way they run that restaurant with almost nothing.

Jessica is happy and grateful with the one sink in the whole restaurant and bakery, but thanks Dean for your special donation for another sink. I’ll send you a picture soon.

Making fruit empañadas

Making savory empañadas. 

Half of the kitchen is a screened in porch... 

Strange for a person used to strict codes, but it's kind of nice too.

Now this I know... people here aren’t really familiar with eating pizza, especially with a whole grain crusts, but they’ve been coming in for it.  It’s one of my jobs to make it every Friday.