Week 1

(I apologize for the formatting problems...I'm still trying to figure this blog out.

Well I have been here almost a week. When I arrived, Tito was on a trip, so Brenda and Tito’s mom picked me up from the airport. (For those of you just starting this journey with me, Tito is the doctor who is in charge and founded this medical missions organization. I live with him, his lovely wife Brenda, and their two sons Alejandro and Pablo. They adopt me as part of their family and it is such an awesome relationship dynamic that we share. However, my new hair is definitely not something the Guatemalans envy. Brenda was like “you had such beautiful hair, why did you paint it!” (In truth, it’s kinda of starting to grow on me...I can see more horror on my mom’s face now).

Naturally, when I arrived at the Palacios home, there were black beans and steaming tortillas awaiting me. The next morning Brenda and I went to pick up Alejandro and Pablo from their school. It was so neat to see how they have grown and that they still remember me as their big brother. (One of many since different gringos are always staying with them). At least THEY appreciated the hair. Alejandro’s first word was, “WOW.” They are both speaking English so much better, especially Alejandro. The rule for him is that he only speaks to me in English.

One of the first mornings, Tito took me to a conference that he had to go to for credits for continuing his medical education like we have in the States. I guess this requirement for Guatemalan doctors just started recently. The conference was held at a restaurant and was a short presentation about seizures, their different classifications, and effective treatments. It is always so interesting to me to see the universality of both my passions: Christianity and medicine. One of the biggest reasons I am entering medicine is the fact that what I learn in med school is what people are learning throughout the world, though in different languages. Nevertheless, we all are working to make the human condition better through treating and healing diseases which plague us all, regardless of what culture and country we are from.

This past week was spent primarily in the office working to prepare for when the teams of gringo

s come down over the next several months. I was pleased to find that the organizational system we

made for the pharmacy for the most part has endured these past two years--a feat which is quite rare here. Most of the time,

because interns are constantly coming and going, there is not much consistency when we try

to organize things. However, I still created a hefty job for myself compiling all the medicines we bring on the clinics into a master list that you only have to look at one list to figure out where the medicines are.

While this is my third time, it is definitely a new experience. Many of the people that worked with La Mision when I was here have moved onto other things. There are two new Guatemalan doctors who are in their last year of school before residency and a new dentist who just graduated. While I definitely miss my old motley Guatemalan crew, the new staff is nice and I hope we have a great time working together.

This trip I really wanted to make a concerted effort to continue working out once in awhile down her

e. So, even though it was humid, I made up my mind to turn on that darn treadmill in my guest room and get to running. Well, that lasted a good 20 minutes before my knees hurt, I got lightheaded, and was sweating up a storm. Pablo and Alejandro just stared at me and laughed. Sweet little Pablo tried to help encourage me by turning on the TV to some Spanish Disney Channel teeny-bopper show, but to no avail. Then I thought it would be a good idea that since I wasn’t doing a great job running,

I would still try to do some push ups and sit ups. Well, as you can see from the photo of my room

, there is not exactly a ton of space for calisthenics. Plus the tile floor proved difficult for a variety of reasons. The worst of which was that the deluge of sweat I was excreting created a slippery mess on the ground that several times almo

s

t caused my hands to slip while doing push

ups nearly breaking my nose. While that would have been an interesting beginning to this trip, I guess God decided to spare me that embarrassment.

Today, however, God decided NOT to spare me the embarrassment of some pretty horrendous tummy troubles. Normally my problem with changing to the Guatemalan diet is “estreñamiento” or constipation. However, after having two meals of chinese food yesterday and

taking my weekly dose of anti-malarial pills, let’s just say that my problem got fixed...in spades.

Yesterday, an all female team arrived of women who have been coming down here the past 11 years or so. They did a Bible study with some teachers and are going to help with a clinic. It is so incredible to me to see their commitme

nt to Tito, his family, and all the people of Guatemala. Brenda and I spent the majority of the day in the kitchen cooking the biggest vat of spaghetti sauce in the world, while Pablo enjoyed playing Michael Jackson songs on my iPhone.

It has been so wonderful to be back with these gracious and faithful people. It always strikes me how integral prayer and faith is in their lives. Prayer for them is like the breath they breathe. And it’s not like something to cross off their “Good Christian Checklist.” It’s something that they truly believe God protects them, answers them, and provid

es for them through prayer. They look for and see God’s hand in everything. It’s always so convicting to my faith since often I honestly don’t believe in the true tangible power of prayer. Today was a beautiful new experience because we had our church service and then went to a pool for the baptisms of people in the church. I

never get over the awesome concept of the global church and how God is the same everywhere.

Well, it is time to sign off, but thanks again so much to those of you praying for me. I feel so comfortable and at peace, which was one of my biggest prayers for this trip. Things are going to start getting crazy around here over the next 6 weeks with new teams coming and clinics to be done, but I am so excited. Gracias a Dios.