I'm back!
Hello guys and gals...well, in case you haven't heard, I'm back! I had a great time in Belize. I learned alot, and I met alot of TOTALLY cool people. Everyone in Belize is soo nice, and they are willing to do anything for you. I traveled with a group of six, well, it was seven but my friend Bernadette got sick and had to fly home. Anyway, there were six of us. They were Cristina from Louisiana, Amanda from Kansas, Sheila from Colorado, Courtney from Canada, and Cal from Texas. Yep, there was one dude...we referred to him as our "alpha male" during the entire trip. So, this is how it went.
On May 22, Bernadette and I flew out of Lafayette to Houston. But, what would be a trip without a few problems. We actually didn't have seats on the flight...yeah, that makes sense. We spent $350 apiece for tickets, but didn't ACTUALLY want to fly out. Right...way to go Continental. We did end up getting $300 flight vouchers since they screwed us over. So, it wasn't a complete loss. We then made it to Houston. The airport there, by the way, sucks serious ass. We didn't meet up with the rest of our team until we got on the plane. We talked the whole flight...it was awesome. For the first week, we stayed in Belize City...well, specifically, Ladyville. Our host family was the Colliers. They were awesome! Every other phrase out of Mr. Collier's mouth was, "You better Belize it." Yeah, got a little old after awhile. While in Belize City, we worked at the Mercy Clinic, the prison, and the YWCA. We also had some recreational outings at the Mayan Ruins (Altun Ha), the zoo, the beer factory, and the Festival of Arts. That festival thing was really cool. It was all of the local kids showcasing their various skills and talents. Some of these kids were really awesome. But, there were also way too many kids that played recorder. I thought I was gonna die. Another cool thing we did was that we visited the National Treasure...Hortense. She's an herbalist and midwife. She's been one for 65 years, and she has been recognized for her work with the American Cancer Society with providing them with different plants and supplies. That was pretty cool.
After our first couple of days, we went by water taxi to one of the Cayes. We went to Caye Caulker, and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen such gorgeous water! This was also our first opportunity to really cut loose...i.e. we all got just a little drunk. Who am I kidding...we were wasted. Oh man...that was an awesome night though. The Belizean drink is a Panty Ripper...it's like 95% Coconut Rum and then 5% other tasty stuff. We hit 3 happy hours that night, and I ended up passed out on a pier with three native dogs. Oh! I also lost my license...yeah, it was a hell of a night. The next day we all woke up completely hungover, and had to resort to Pepto-Bismol and toast...the breakfast of champions! That afternoon we went snorkeling which was totally awesome! We went to this place called shark and ray alley. I swam with these enormous sting rays. They were like the size of me! I was really sad to leave the Caye, but we had to get back to work.
We spent our second week in San Ignacio which is inland towards Guatemala. It is soo pretty there. It's very mountainous and the foliage is gorgeous. We worked at the La Loma Luz hospital, and stayed on the grounds there. I learned how to do x-rays on equipment from the dark ages. This machine took 5 minutes to develop one film...yeah, it was a dinosaur. I worked with Steve, the x-ray and vitals guy. He was awesome! I also worked with Sylvan, the ultrasound guy. He was using a machine from 1985...yeah, very old. He was super-cool and explained everything that he was doing and everything that he saw on the screen. I also got to help out with a few emergency cases, and I was on call during the nights. I actually got to do the x-rays for a little girl that fell down some stairs. It was really scary...she didn't have any visible cuts or abrasions, but she was convulsing and her eyes were totally fixed. The really sad part was that she had to be transported to Belize City, 2 hours away, for a CAT scan because the hospital didn't have those capabilities. That same day I got to see a surgery on a guy that had sawed off his finger...it was awesome! During our down times in the day, Cal (alpha male) showed us how to draw blood. That was pretty cool except that everyone was too chicken to let amateurs draw from them. I ended up getting drawn from, or at least attempted, four times. I don't really care if people stick me with needles I guess. They were all pretty good actually. My friend, Sheila, was actually brave enough to let me draw on her...it went pretty well. She's got great veins...haha!
On another day, we went into these two villages which were really remote from everything. We set up clinics and offered checkups and that sort of thing. This was a really cool experience, but it was kinda sad at the same time. I saw 18-year old girls with four kids...yeah, it was hard to comprehend. During our clinics, we managed to compile some information on the adults. We did a survey on blood pressure and blood glucose levels in relation to age, gender, and location (of village). We put all of the data together and presented the information to the ministry of health. The presentation was simply to raise awareness of what's going on in the various regions, and the goal is to institute some type of educational programs regarding diabetes and hypertension.
I was really sad to leave. I was having such a great time, and I was learning alot. I definitely miss all of the people that I was with. There was quite a bit of downtime at night, so we really learned alot about one another. We also played ALOT of Crazy Eights! I also got teased frequently about my supposed accent. Oh, and do you know they don't say "booksack" anywhere else but here? Weird, huh? I really hope to meet up with all of them again soon. They are all awesome, and I can't wait to see where they're going to end up in life!
So, the plane ride home pretty much sucked too. My flight from Houston to Lafayette was delayed due to rain. I was sitting on the damn plane for four hours! The stewardess was giving out free alcoholic beverages, and she unfortunately overserved this one lady, and we all had listen to her in her drunken stupor for hours. I wanted to shoot myself. I made it home though. It was great seeing my family, Steven, and my dog. I missed them all.
I went to Amy and Tony's wedding on Saturday, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Congrats guys! That night, for those of you living under a brick...Steven proposed. It was very cute. We were on our way home from the wedding, and he pulled over at the LSU lakes. He popped in a cd with our song...but it didn't play...haha! He asked me there, and then we got stopped by the police because you're apparently not supposed to be at the lakes after dark. They just laughed and said congratulations. I'm soo excited, and I can't wait to start planning it!!
The last few days have been a blur. I've been on the phone 24-7 with friends and family, and I've been working on my medical school applications. I actually submitted everything just the other day. Whew. Glad that's over. Now I'm just playing the waiting game. I also started summer school. Yahoo for Analytical Chemistry and Computer Science. Yeah, I'm loving life.
Well, I think this entry is long enough. I have soo much more to say about things going on in my life, but it's going to have to wait because I want to go work on my album from the trip. Sorry! If anyone wants to see pictures just go to Steven's website: musumeche.com. Hit the "pictures" link, and then "Adri's Belize Pictures." There's also a picture of my engagement ring on there for anyone who wants to see it.
I think that's it for now. Be back soon!
On May 22, Bernadette and I flew out of Lafayette to Houston. But, what would be a trip without a few problems. We actually didn't have seats on the flight...yeah, that makes sense. We spent $350 apiece for tickets, but didn't ACTUALLY want to fly out. Right...way to go Continental. We did end up getting $300 flight vouchers since they screwed us over. So, it wasn't a complete loss. We then made it to Houston. The airport there, by the way, sucks serious ass. We didn't meet up with the rest of our team until we got on the plane. We talked the whole flight...it was awesome. For the first week, we stayed in Belize City...well, specifically, Ladyville. Our host family was the Colliers. They were awesome! Every other phrase out of Mr. Collier's mouth was, "You better Belize it." Yeah, got a little old after awhile. While in Belize City, we worked at the Mercy Clinic, the prison, and the YWCA. We also had some recreational outings at the Mayan Ruins (Altun Ha), the zoo, the beer factory, and the Festival of Arts. That festival thing was really cool. It was all of the local kids showcasing their various skills and talents. Some of these kids were really awesome. But, there were also way too many kids that played recorder. I thought I was gonna die. Another cool thing we did was that we visited the National Treasure...Hortense. She's an herbalist and midwife. She's been one for 65 years, and she has been recognized for her work with the American Cancer Society with providing them with different plants and supplies. That was pretty cool.
After our first couple of days, we went by water taxi to one of the Cayes. We went to Caye Caulker, and it was absolutely gorgeous! I have never seen such gorgeous water! This was also our first opportunity to really cut loose...i.e. we all got just a little drunk. Who am I kidding...we were wasted. Oh man...that was an awesome night though. The Belizean drink is a Panty Ripper...it's like 95% Coconut Rum and then 5% other tasty stuff. We hit 3 happy hours that night, and I ended up passed out on a pier with three native dogs. Oh! I also lost my license...yeah, it was a hell of a night. The next day we all woke up completely hungover, and had to resort to Pepto-Bismol and toast...the breakfast of champions! That afternoon we went snorkeling which was totally awesome! We went to this place called shark and ray alley. I swam with these enormous sting rays. They were like the size of me! I was really sad to leave the Caye, but we had to get back to work.
We spent our second week in San Ignacio which is inland towards Guatemala. It is soo pretty there. It's very mountainous and the foliage is gorgeous. We worked at the La Loma Luz hospital, and stayed on the grounds there. I learned how to do x-rays on equipment from the dark ages. This machine took 5 minutes to develop one film...yeah, it was a dinosaur. I worked with Steve, the x-ray and vitals guy. He was awesome! I also worked with Sylvan, the ultrasound guy. He was using a machine from 1985...yeah, very old. He was super-cool and explained everything that he was doing and everything that he saw on the screen. I also got to help out with a few emergency cases, and I was on call during the nights. I actually got to do the x-rays for a little girl that fell down some stairs. It was really scary...she didn't have any visible cuts or abrasions, but she was convulsing and her eyes were totally fixed. The really sad part was that she had to be transported to Belize City, 2 hours away, for a CAT scan because the hospital didn't have those capabilities. That same day I got to see a surgery on a guy that had sawed off his finger...it was awesome! During our down times in the day, Cal (alpha male) showed us how to draw blood. That was pretty cool except that everyone was too chicken to let amateurs draw from them. I ended up getting drawn from, or at least attempted, four times. I don't really care if people stick me with needles I guess. They were all pretty good actually. My friend, Sheila, was actually brave enough to let me draw on her...it went pretty well. She's got great veins...haha!
On another day, we went into these two villages which were really remote from everything. We set up clinics and offered checkups and that sort of thing. This was a really cool experience, but it was kinda sad at the same time. I saw 18-year old girls with four kids...yeah, it was hard to comprehend. During our clinics, we managed to compile some information on the adults. We did a survey on blood pressure and blood glucose levels in relation to age, gender, and location (of village). We put all of the data together and presented the information to the ministry of health. The presentation was simply to raise awareness of what's going on in the various regions, and the goal is to institute some type of educational programs regarding diabetes and hypertension.
I was really sad to leave. I was having such a great time, and I was learning alot. I definitely miss all of the people that I was with. There was quite a bit of downtime at night, so we really learned alot about one another. We also played ALOT of Crazy Eights! I also got teased frequently about my supposed accent. Oh, and do you know they don't say "booksack" anywhere else but here? Weird, huh? I really hope to meet up with all of them again soon. They are all awesome, and I can't wait to see where they're going to end up in life!
So, the plane ride home pretty much sucked too. My flight from Houston to Lafayette was delayed due to rain. I was sitting on the damn plane for four hours! The stewardess was giving out free alcoholic beverages, and she unfortunately overserved this one lady, and we all had listen to her in her drunken stupor for hours. I wanted to shoot myself. I made it home though. It was great seeing my family, Steven, and my dog. I missed them all.
I went to Amy and Tony's wedding on Saturday, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Congrats guys! That night, for those of you living under a brick...Steven proposed. It was very cute. We were on our way home from the wedding, and he pulled over at the LSU lakes. He popped in a cd with our song...but it didn't play...haha! He asked me there, and then we got stopped by the police because you're apparently not supposed to be at the lakes after dark. They just laughed and said congratulations. I'm soo excited, and I can't wait to start planning it!!
The last few days have been a blur. I've been on the phone 24-7 with friends and family, and I've been working on my medical school applications. I actually submitted everything just the other day. Whew. Glad that's over. Now I'm just playing the waiting game. I also started summer school. Yahoo for Analytical Chemistry and Computer Science. Yeah, I'm loving life.
Well, I think this entry is long enough. I have soo much more to say about things going on in my life, but it's going to have to wait because I want to go work on my album from the trip. Sorry! If anyone wants to see pictures just go to Steven's website: musumeche.com. Hit the "pictures" link, and then "Adri's Belize Pictures." There's also a picture of my engagement ring on there for anyone who wants to see it.
I think that's it for now. Be back soon!