Spaghetti

Well, Saturday's cooking experience turned out well. The tables were definitely turned for us as usually I am the one with apprehension and confusion over the plate that is placed before me. I ended up making homemade spaghetti sauce, and it was really good....at least I thought so! The sister who is 24, Silvia, wanted to watch me make it, and everything little thing I did, she asked me why or how or for what I did everything...and I had to keep telling her that this is a mystery for me too. It took about 4 hours in total to make because it was over a wood buring grill type area. For their spaghetti sauce, they usually just purie tomatoes to a pulp and strain them so its basically like thin ketchup. But, I like my tomato sauce a little chunky. Silvia was so worried about me not blending the tomatoes all the way, and I had to keep reminding her that its still good, just different than she is used to. But, every last drop got eaten....either because they really liked it or I didn't plan enough for the 12 people that ate. The dad who has been to the states told me it is "Bery Goood." And the grandpa said it was "Utz" which is Quiche for good....and the little boy gave me a big smile and thumbs up as he slurped down his noodles. Funniest part though was that they insisted on making tortillas. I tried so hard to make them a Hitzing family meal, but they just can't get away from eating tortillas with every meal! But I figured out partly why they eat so many tortillas.....it reduces your diarrhea. Now, who is ready for lunch?

Sunday I taught the kids sunday school class with the personal hygiene posters I made. They all listened very well and participated greatly! Silvia helped after I would say something just to make sure they understood what I said, but they were a great class.

This week we are cleaning the operating room, setting up the recovery area, and Wednesday I am in charge of doing the papsmears again. yuck. Can I call in sick?

So I think the family and I have gotten very comfortable with each other......last night the straw broke this camel's back. So, one of the daughters sleeps in the room with me. Her name is Doris, she is 19, and has a very on-again-off-again boyfriend. Last night, she decided to talk on the phone to him for at least an hour in the room while I was trying to go to sleep. First with the light on, so I tried my eye cover...that didn't help. Then with the light off, so I tried my ear plugs....that didn't help. Then I tried to imagine she was just a television show I couldn't understand, but I still couldn't fall asleep. So, as Ali can attest, I finally snapped, and as politely as I could, I asked her if she could not talk to him during the day. At which point she said fine, and proceeded to whisper/mumble for another 30 minutes. This morning things were fine, but I take forgranted the pleasure of sleeping in a room where no one turns on the light or talks on the phone in the middle of the night.

Here is my devotional from yesterday, just thought I would share:

God Knows What He's Doing
"Surely I spoke of things I did not understand; I talked of things too wonderful for me to know." -Job 42:3

It's easy to thank God when he does what we want. But God doesn't always do what we want. Ask Job.
His empire collapsed, he children were killed, and what was a healthy body became a rage of boils. From whence came this torment? From whence will come any help?
Job goes straint to God and pleads his case. His head hurts. His body hurts. His heart hurts.
And God answers. Not with answers but with questions. An ocean of questions.....
After sever dozen questions....Job has gotten the point. What is it?
This point is this: God owes no one anything. No reasons. No explainations. Nothing. If he gave them, we couldn't understand them.
God is God. He knows what he is doing. When you can't trace his hand, trust his heart.

Donations for the Grandparent's Home

I finally got the information for the Grandparent's Home if anyone is interested in donating. The other nurses are taking what we have so far to them this Saturday (which isn't much....a few pounds of rice, beans, sugar, and a little cash), but we will definitely find a way if anyone else wants to donate....ask your church, coworkers, and family if you think of it.

Address: Cabecitas de Algodon #1
Santa Lucia Sur #18
Antigua, Guatemala

For donations, the newspaper says that deposits can be made to the bank, G&T Continental: account number 00 00 144063 Associacion Cabecitas de Algodon.

I'm not really sure how you would make international donations, but I can figure something out if anyone is interested.

The organization started on Dec 16, 2002, and currently has 38 grandparents living there. The newspaper article has pictures and testimonies of many of the residents. One of the residents was dropped off at the shelter by family members and told they would come back for them...3 yrs ago. And others were told that they were burdens to the family since they could no longer work, and they didn't want to care for them anymore. It also shows a picture of the women who run the shelter....and they have not received a paycheck since April because of the financial trouble. There are many ways that people need help here in Guatemala as well as even in your own hometown. And although we can't help every single person, we can make a differnece in at least one life....remember the starfish story?
Any help would be so appreciated.

And also, I have had a few questions about how the school teaching went. Well, in true Guatemalan style.....classes were cancelled this week, and Rosario and I didn't get told until we arrived there in the morning to teach. So no little kids pointing and laughing at me. Oh well! In the meantime, I'm going to teach the lesson at Sunday School this week and use my drawings there. We are going to try to go back to the school in my last week here (in 3 weeks).

That's about all for now. The weekend is here....and that seems to be the hardest part of being here because there is a whole lot more downtime to just sit and think. I'm going to try to stay busy this weekend- I told the family I would make them spaghetti (good old Hitzing style) for lunch/dinner on Saturday, so I will get to have some fun exploring the huge open air supermarket (with supervision of course......). The markets are fun- a little overwhelming because its tons of people smooshed in a little block with raw meat hanging from hooks everywhere, but still fun to see.

And great news...the lights didn't get turned on in the middle of the night lastnight. I was all prepared with my Paris Hilton eye cover and industrial strength earplugs in place, but I didn't even need them! And apparently, the general consensus is that Chinese men also blatantly pick their noses in public.

Picking your nose and turning on the light

Ok, I have to start by venting....because there is no one here right now not of the hispanic culture to vent to.
So, when you go to a different country, or even on a trip to a different part of the U.S., you go with the anticipation of there being cultural differences. You know that there will be cultural differences, and that is part of the adventure. You decide to accept these differences as part of the learning to broaden your world perspective.
That being said, I would like to vent about two culturally/socially excepted norms here in Guatemala that I will not accept and ademently oppose.

1. So, I will be in mid conversation with someone...at times a serious or important conversation, and here in Guatemala it is as acceptable to casually dig in your nose as it would be to scratch your forehead in the States. And, after that, it is not gross or wrong to proceed to wipe your finger on your pants or on the wall (whatever is more convenient), and seek a hand shake or cheek kiss upon leaving the conversation. In what world is this okay???? Well, now that I think of it, it is probably ok in the same world in which I had to use a toilet without a door on the bathroom......the bathroom was off of a hall where a large family party was gathered.

2. Ok, and now to vent about the thing that is just wrong! Why is it ok to go into a room where someone is sleeping (i.e. ME) and flip on the light switch to find something (the sisters clothes are all in the room where I sleep).....regardless of what time it is- midnight, 4:30am (when the rest of the family wakes to sell bread). I have conceeded to the fact that I will not sleep past 6am, but really people.....flip on the light in a room where people are sleeping in the middle of the night!? How is that ok!? Venting session over, I think.

I wish I had my devotional book here with me to copy the other day´s lesson. In a nut shell (and much more eloquently) it talked about faith and fear. Strong faith is born out of the seed of fear. We look up to God on the mountain and realize we are in the valley, and we cannot make the climb on our own. We stand with Moses and the Israelites in front of the Red Sea...we can either fight or swim. But God has a different plan in mind, a different way through, and when we trust in Him, our fear grows to faith.

Count down 22 days until I will be back on American soil. I am excited about it! But, I´m trying to remain present in the here and now. Only in today......I want to be done with making self imposed time frames for my life.

All for now. Hope you all are well. Miss you all the time.

3 weeks 4 days to go

Welp, not a whole lot of news to catch people up on at the clinic. We are back to preparing again for the next surgical group that comes in 2 weeks, so I am making a gazillion more packets of surgical towels to be sterilized for the operating rooms. This week, Rosario and I will be going to the local school for 2 days for the educational days about personal hygiene and such. I am supposed talk for 30 minutes for each class in spanish, and I'm really nervous about that. Adults and friends are really nice to me when I try to talk spanish, but little kids just giggle and make fun of me, so I'm nervous to get it right in front of the classes.

I think more stuff is happening back home than in Guatemala right now. It makes me so anxious and sad when bad things happen at home while I'm away, and I can't do anything to help it. The heaviest thing on my heart right now is that a close family friend found out that her husband has been seeing someone else, and the worst part is that they have little children. Infidelity, in my opinion, is the worst wound a relationship, family, and marriage can ever receive. It affects everything in a relationship from trust to friendship to self confidence, every move you make you have the pain of jealousy, fear, and doubt even if you aren't with that person anymore. And the risk of infidelity makes me so afraid. It can happen in any relationship. Its a scary thing to commit your heart to someone like that especially with the risk of the other person not sticking to that commitment.

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Now a big change in direction. The ladies at the clinic are having a fundraiser this week, and we are supposed to contact our home churches to solicit help. In Antigua, another little city (where I went 2 wkends ago), there is a shelter for the elderly. Most of the time, the elderly and grandparents live with their children when they get too old to work, but at least 38 elderly people in Antigua have no family or resources to provide for themselves so they are at this home. The home has employees that help feed, clothe, and medically care for the inhabitants, but the resources to support the elderly and pay the employees has run out as of Sept. 30th this year. If they don't have money to stay open by Sept. 30th, the 38 elderly will be homeless when most of them cannot take care of themselves even in the best situations. They need about 250,000 Quetzales to stay open (I'm not sure for how long), which equates to about $30,000. If anyone would like to give support ($5-$20, whatever), you can let me know on here and I can withdrawal it from my debit account and get you to pay me back when I return. I will have the exact name and address of the organization tomorrow if anybody needs it for tax/authenticity purposes.

Hope you all are doing well. Please pray for my friend and her family this week, and also, please pray for my extended family as my Great Aunt Mabel and Great Uncle Bob both passed away this week. Lots of things are probably going on in your life too that can weaken our faith, but we can rest in Him...in good times and bad. Its a choice we can make.

4 weeks to go

I've gotten really lazy about writing blogs....its such a hastle to get on the internet or get calling cards here that some days I just feel too lazy to make the effort...especially now that I need a bodyguard to do anything. The dad has become really protective. I showed him the safety whistle my real dad gave me, but I still have constant supervision. I feel like a nuisance asking one the family members to go with me to the internet cafe where they sit for like an hour as I catch up on email, facebook, and the blog. But, there is a little down time at the clinic today, and I will take advantage of that! So, now I have a lot to catch people up on........

The Independence Day celebrations ended up being pretty fun. The best way to describe it would be a cheap, hispanic, smaller version of Boom's Day in Knoxville. Silvia, one of the sisters at the house, was made Queen of the Teachers at the school where she teaches so she had to participate and stand at the front of every parade (there were 4). She asked me to help her pick out her outfit for each day, and let me tell you, these sisters I live with have more dress up clothes than I have ever had in my life.....thats not saying much though if you know how much I actually dress up. They enjoy dressing me up, and they got a kick out of it when I put on on of the mom's traditional mayan skirts.

I have taken to wearing skirts more than shorts because it helps in making me not feel like a boy....I never really get clean or freshened up here. You shower then 5 minutes later the sweat starts flowing again. The funny thing is that for some reason, the dad has accidently started calling me "Patti" instead of "Kati, and I think its a fruedian slip in reference to SNL's "It's Pat." You know, the skit where you never find out if Pat is a man or a woman. Thats what I feel like here. Ok, back to the story.

A few nights we went to the "central park" where they had the carnival rides and music over the loud speaker. I talked the youngest daughter, Betty, into riding the ferris wheel with me, and what a bad idea that was! It went at like 60mph....way faster than our ferris wheels, and I seriously almost barfed on everyone below me like 5 times. After several attempts at asking the driver to let me out in spanish as we zoomed by, he finally let me off, at which time I downed the dramamine I strategically keep in my purse. The family thought it was hilarious and kept asking me how I was feeling. I was a good sport about it and didn't allow myself to tell them that I was about to barf on the next one that asked me!

The next night in the square, there was a salsa band, and we all had fun watching that. I always feel like I have a swarm of body guards around me when we go out. One of the local boys tried to get me to dance with him (he was all of 4ft tall), but one of the sisters, Johana, zoomed in faster to get him away than I could say 'no gracias.'

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Had to take a quick break to remove some sutures. Today is the post op check up day from the last surgical week and I am working the "wound cleaning, suture removal room." Nurses do very different things here in Guatemala. I asked my supervising nurse for help because I have never removed sutures before. One request to doctors out there....use thread that has color. Transparent sutures are way too hard to see.

Just took out some more sutures. This time they were black. Thank you doctor.
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This week, I have gotten to go on the mobile clinics with the local doctors. Wednesday I went with Dr. David to a little clinic close to here and saw about 30 patients. One patient was a member of the local church we work through here. She is a very poorly controlled diabetic, and when we checked her, her blood glucose was 249. She has an accucheck machine that an american doctor gave her, but she doesn't have any test strips or lancets. It doesn't help that the instructions are in english either. So, I'm working on translating some simple instructions for her and getting some supplies from the clinic here....some kind of feasible plan for her.

Thursday, I went with Dr. Walter to Xepujup, a remote Mayan/Quiche village where most the people speak a whole different language than spanish, Quiche,....sounds like a lot of gurgling and clicking to me. We also had about 30 patients, and the one that stood out to me most was a little 3 1/2 yr old girl, Micaela, who weighed 15lbs. She can't talk or walk, but other than that, she developmentally looks like a 1 1/2 yr old. As I was taking her temperature under her arm, her skin just folded on itself because she was so malnourished. She is a frequent patient of Dr. Walter, and although they have tried supplements, she keeps presenting with malnutrition and respiratory symptoms. I asked him what he thought about cystic fibrosis, and he didn't know what it was, but is going to look it up. Even if Cystic Fibrosis exists in the hispanic population, I doubt that it would be diagnosed or treated because of the economic situation of most people. If you don't know what CF is...in a nut shell, it is a excess of mucous like substances in your lungs and pancreas so that your body cannot adequately clear your lungs or digest food, causing frequent respiratory infections and malabsorption even in people who are well treated in the U.S. The average life expectancy is somewhere around 30-40ish when agressively treated I think. Its so sad for this little girl, whatever the cause of her illness, but it is also overwhelming about the circumstances most of these people live in because this little girl is just one example of the poverty here. Little by little, the masses are being helped by educational programs and sponsorship for the children (ABC program which provides support for nutrition and education), but over all, there is little that can be done to help every single person. The team here is doing a great job, doing the best they can. But I imagine it would be centuries before most of the people even reached the living standards of the poor/innercity of the U.S.

But, from the example of the diabetic with the accucheck that she doesn't know how to work, it does no good for Americans to give "things" and tools when the people have no idea how to use them. You can build a family a house with ammenities like electricity and running water, but if they can't afford to pay the monthly bill, have you really done them any service? They will just have to sell the house and try to find somewhere else to live I really admire the ongoing work of the actual Guatemalans here. They are the ones who are with the patients and villages day in and day out. They understand the locals way more than an outsider ever could, and imagine how blessed we are when we can support these missonaries by providing financially for the work they do because we are working in the U.S.

Ok, getting off my soap box now. But, I am just realizing more everyday the impact that the natives of a country can have amongst their own people when they are gifted with the education and finances that most of us have as a matter of birth right. The weekly surgical and medical trips that the Americans bring are amazing and do so much to show the love of Christ that stretches across languages and oceans, but the work of the doctors who live and sleep and breath here is what makes the life long, economic, spiritual, social, and physical differences.

Alright, thats all for now. Miss you all very much. I am enjoying the work here and am very blessed to see the work of Christ in the lives of others and in my heart. Praying for you constantly. Miss you very much.

Independence day

Well, I am back in Chicacao at the clinic, and boy did I get spoiled in Antigua. We had a fun day of shopping and site seeing in Antigua on Friday, and I rode back Saturday with Danny, one of the workers, after we dropped the surgical team off at the airport. I bought way too much souvenir stuff in Antigua, but I figured I might as well because I am not sure if I will be staying through the next surgical group. But it was a really fun time and the hotel was so nice. Each room had 2 plush queen size beds, a fireplace (even though it was way too hot to use), an amazingly hot and powerful shower, and a pool (I forgot my bathing suit :(.) I really enjoyed the time I had to spend with the group, just talking about things and hearing the wiser ladies' perspective on life and things. And they all emptied their chocolate and goodies stash for me! One of the guys, Walt, left me the best tasting twizzlers I have ever eaten! But I think it has to do with that whole thing like when you are outdoors or camping and the food just tastes so amazing because you are so hungry!

My ride back to Chicacao with Danny was great too. He is a 25yr old originally from Nicaragua, and I think he works at Health Talents mostly because he is fluent in English and his wife is a nurse here too (Darling is her name). Danny is always just a crack up and jokester, so I felt really blessed when we were able to have a heart to heart talk on the ride back, just both sharing about one another's lives. He said he grew up in a children's home from 5-12yrs after his father died and his mother couldn't afford to raise him. Then he told me about how he and Darling came to be married. For me, sometimes it's just so easy to see the end result, the smiles and babies that come from a marriage and life, and forget that every person and relationship has a story full of bumps and bruises, ups and downs, some more painful than others.

So, back in Chicacao, Independence day celebrations are in full swing. They are having 4 days worth of parades all the way from this past Saturday to this coming Tuesday (the actual Independence Day). The parades all end right in front of my house at the soccer stadium, so the family has set up a little drink stand to make some extra money while watching the parades. Today the parade is for the local school children, and each school has a different theme. I had to come into work, so I showed one of the daughters how to use my camera because 2 of the kids are still in school. The central park area has more sketch carnival games set up, and I think the family has intentions to ride the ferris wheel.......is there any bubble wrap I can wrap myself in?

Some of the people from the last surgical group said they were going to put pictures up on facebook, so you should be able to see some soon from my facebook page once I get tagged. Just a warning, don't be alarmed if I look smaller.....I will gain my weight back when I get home! I don't know if I'm skinnier because of losing real weight or water weight, but thank goodness for draw string pants.

Its been hard to get to the computer or phone this last week, so sorry mom and dad. This week should be easier to communicate. And just so you know, even if I don't call or write you does not mean I am not thinking of and missing you. I'm still not sure whether I'm going to come home early or not. My flight home is still set for Oct. 17th, and I'm just going to take it a week at a time. 4 weeks behind me with about 5 weeks to go....its a little daughnting, so I'm just taking it a week at a time.

Hopefully going to the bank then internet cafe after work today if the workers/family lets me venture out. Hope you all are doing well. Love, Katie

Winding down

The surgical week is winding down...I think last night was the last big night and today we are sending everyone home. I get to go with the group to Antigua (a little more tourist type city here) to do some sightseeing on Friday and Saturday, so I'm excited about that!

The week went really well without any major complications. We did have a little old 75 yr old lady have an asthma attack last night. The reporting of past medical history doesn't really exist here, so none of us knew she had a past medical hx of asthma. After the Guatemalan staff helped her take a shower, I looked over at her and she was sitting in tripod position and coughing a lot. After listening to her and putting a pulse ox probe on her, she was 83% (normal >93%) on room air and wheezing terribly. We had to put her on 4L nasal canula O2 to get her sats >90% before I went and got the doctors for an albuterol treatment. But, she is much better this morning....just a little snag last night....very late last night! The 3-11 shift has turned into the 1-12p shift these last few days! But in all I think we did at least 120 surgeries because there were 3 teams of surgeons and I know one alone said they did 69 surgeries.

I hung out in the men's ward last night taking care of them. They were all so funny. I think there were about 10 of them I was taking care of, and it took me 2 hours to make my rounds on vital signs and pain meds because they all wanted me to stop and talk for an hour! One little old man told me that I was sweet like sugar as he was getting discharged this morning.....I couldn't help but laugh because he also had on his glasses that magnified his eyes like 10x as he was telling me.

Oh, but the main reason I am writing on here is to let you guys know that I can't access my email. One web page after another keeps getting inaccessible to me! First facebook now yahoo. Its taking like 30min to load my email, so sorry to mom, dad, whoever else may have written me this week. I can't get it. Maybe next week I will ask one of the sisters to walk me to the internet cafe. There may be a way to call/email in Antigua so I will take the time if I see it. But everything is fine here, nice and safe with the group. Love you all and talk to you soon.