Jonathan: With deepest regret...

I must now say that we are returning home. Libby is currently in the air to Portland by way of Charlotte, and in a few hours, I will be heading to the airport to make my way back to Michigan.

I'm sorry that we've been so slow at posting. I've got many more stories written down and gazillions of pictures - all ofo which I would be more than willing to share with any interested parties.

So, with that being said, maybe if I have spare time (read: don't get your hopes up) in the next few weeks I'll update the blog with the last few weeks' worth of our trip. Otherwise, you can always visit us in Saginaw... it's ALMOST as beautiful as the pictures that have been posted here.

But to whet your appetite (we need whatever bait we can get to lure people to Saginaw), here's a very skeleton version of what's been left out of the blog:

~ the dramatic end of the "back room" saga
~ a unbelievable trip to the Carribean side: Puerto Viejo... so different... so good
~ a fascinating trip to indigineous people groups
~ was there really more sickness?
~ and more!

So, until next time, on a scale of 1 to great, I'm super awesome.

Jonathan

Jonathan: Magnificent Magma?

February 11, 2008 (Falling Behind Again)

So, another weekend trip down.... we went to La Fortuna/Arenal (the biggest active volcano in the world or the most active or some superlative like that). We planned the trip last week as a group. That was a painful process - some people wanted a luxurious hotel one night and a cheap place the next night, some people wanted medium places for two nights, some people wanted a cheap place for two nights; some people wanted to do whatever possible for everyone to stay at the same hotel, some people would have preferred more privacy. To spare the gory details of the 90-minute discussion/argument/meeting, we eventually decided to stay in a hostel in La Fortuna, the little town just west of the volcano Arenal. All of us in the same, cheap place. One room of bunk beds for 8 people, one room with 2 queen-sized beds for the other four. Libby and I would get one of the queen beds and the rest was pretty much up in the air.

Friday at the clinic, rather than ending at noon like we've done the previous weeks (tough life, eh?), we had a full day, but we were given Monday off. The reason for the late Friday was that one of the founders of FIMRC (the organization for which we're working) came to visit the clinic. He gave us a talk that took most of the day. It was really interesting hearing the story of how the organization was born among a group of 5 college buddies, how it took off quickly in terms of fund-raising (more quickly than growing in terms of actually doing things), and what his visions for the future of FIMRC are.

The founder, Vic, was an impressive guy. He helped to found this international group while he was in college and continued to work on it full-time throughout med school and now as a surgery resident.

Anyway, Friday night, everyone went to the Struthers's house for a little fiesta, in part to celebrate Nate's and Neil's birthdays (February 10 and 13, respectively). That was fun. A small group of us played charades for quite some time, and by the end of it, pretty much everyone had joined in.

It was a bit frustrating that plans started to change again. Half of the group was going to go to a jazz cafe in San Jose and then stay in the city overnight. Alvarro (our driver) was going to come pick us up at 7:30am Saturday in Santa Ana and 8am in San Jose before heading to La Fortuna. However, Friday night people got tired (read: "drunk and weary of inevitable hangover") and decided not to stay in San Jose, and thus people decided not to have Alvarro start picking us up until 9am. Libby and I hadn't really wanted to get a ride from Alvarro in the first place (we could've taken a public bus for $40 less) but we'd compromised for the sake of people who wanted to all got together, and we suddenly found the arrangement we'd agreed to (arriving no later than 11am) changing and the drunken majority overruling us. Argh!

After getting to the hostel, we went to lunch. Well, we tried going to lunch. Even after the group decided we'd go to lunch together, half of the people ditched the other half. Libby and I were among the ditched half.

We went to lunch, and at the end, if was kind of weird. We paid the bill, and the waiter counted the money at the table and promptly informed us that tip was not included in the bill. This was weird for two reasons:
1) In Costa Rica 2 taxes are always included - service (tip) and sales
2) when we were looking at the meny initially, I pointed out to the group that I thought it was funny that literally the only text on the menu that wasn't printed in both Spanish and English was the two lines that said those taxes were included. So, we tried asking the waiter about this, but he seemed sketchy and gave us a non-answer, so I think Alisha might have added 200 colones (40 cents), and we left.

By this time, we didn't really have time for the tour we had planned on (back when we thought we would get to La Fortuna nice and early), so we decided to splurge and spend the whole evening at Tabacon Hot Springs with the rest of the group, rather than just a few hours included in the tour. The hot springs were awesome! It was beautiful there and the water was SO WARM! It was really cool how the vast majority of their pools were naturally occuring. The only disappointment was that it was too cloudy to see the volcano.

Our package included a buffet dinner. It was really good food... except, disappointingly, the desserts. Oh well. I didn't have much room left by that point.

After dinner, there was just enough time for a quick dip again before leaving. One of our drunken classmates sat under a waterfall, ignoring several workers' attempts to lure him out, telling him it was closing time and he had to leave. Eventually, another classmate told him they were calling the police, and he slowly got out at that point. I had made the mistake of putting down a deposit for the whole group's towels and lockers. It was quite an ordeal collecting them all at the end of the night. And then we took a microbus to go back to the hostel. I was frankly embarrassed at the drunken rowdyness of the group.

Sunday, the plan was a hike and then the waterfalls, and then dinner for Nate's birthday. It didn't quite work out, since it took an extra hour or so to leave the hostel and go to breakfast since the whole group wanted to go. Breakfast took longer, too. So, rather than getting to the hike/waterfall place by 9:30, we got there at about noon. When will I learn that things take SO much longer with big groups so that I'm not disappointed when it happens.

We decided to do the hike first, so that we could cool off in the waterfall afterwards. (I should mention that Neil was the only one up for a hike with the Egles.) It was the coolest hike I’ve ever done. Definitely not for sissies – 2 and a half hours straight up a steep hill and then another hour and a half back down. Most of it was in the rainforest. The view from the top was pretty darn good, too. The destination was the brim of Cerro Chato, a volcano right beside Arenal that has been dormant for 3500 years. Within the crater of Cerro Chato is a beautiful green lagoon that we were able to see. We also go a nice close-up view of a mostly cloud-obscured Arenal.

Neil was a trooper on the hike. He struggled with it quite a bit, but he perservered.

By the time we finally made it back down, the waterfall had already closed for the day, and we had to hurry to get back to the hostel – we were supposed to meet the group there and head to the restaurant together at 5pm.

Luckily, a taxi pulled up right as we finished the hike, and we made it to the hostel at 4:35 or 4:40. Guess what had happened, though: plans had changed. We made it back just in time to see our classmates heading out. The three of us took turns rapidly showering and ended up getting to the restaurant a lot later than everyone else.

Humorous side note: we had a bath towel with us, so that’s what Libby covered up with when it started raining on our walk to the restaurant to keep from getting her white dress wet. She looked like quite an exhibitionist, since it wasn’t completely obvious that she had anything on under the towel.

We had a nice dinner, and Dr. Schnuth was there. She had arranged to surprise Nate with cake. Libby and I shared seabass and fettuccini alfredo. The seabass may have been the best fish I’ve ever had. So good!

After dinner, we went to Baldi’s, the other hot spring place - less luxurious, but still amazing. All of the pools at Baldi’s are man-made, which seemed to be the only major difference. Both have many, many pools with a variety of temperatures (from luke warm to literally scalding hot).

Baldi’s had a few huge waterslides. We were silly and went with the more dare-devil-ish one. There must not be regulations in Costa Rica. Talk about dangerous! We were tossed around violently, a few people nearly getting flung out of the slide half-way down. It was so bad that after about three of us went down, we tried yelling to the top to warn the others, but they couldn’t hear us.

The rest of the time at the hot springs was fun, though. Libby and I ventured off on our own to explore for awhile. We ended up in this relaxing warm pool with a bunch of seats for lounging so that you’re lying down, half-submerged… looking up at the disco ball, of course.

A little bit of frustration at the end of the hot springs: we had arranged for a microbus to pick us up at 10pm, when the park closed. Nate and Dennis, though, were nowhere to be found. Dennis had made the arrangements, so we know he knew about it, but where were they? We sent Sean to find them, and he said they were just getting back to the lockerroom. We ended up waiting for about a half an hour for them.

When they finally showed up, they each had a girl-in-tow, meaning that not all of them would fit in the microbus, so they decided to take a cab... After all that waiting! I felt so bad for the driver, who had waited so long and was charging per person.

After Baldi’s, everyone went to a “karaoke” bar next door to the hostel, at Nate’s request for his birthday. That was a bust. There was no karaoke; there was no Nate. Libby didn’t feel well, so we went home and went to sleep.

The next morning was Monday, our voyage back. Before getting picked up at the hostel at 1pm by Alvarro, we were determined to squeeze in a hanging bridge canopy tour.

Neil and Alisha joined us, and we ended up hiring the same microbus driver from Baldi’s (so apparently he had no hard feelings). In the van, we were debating the merits of paying the extra $10 per person for a guide, but when we arrived and found out there was a $10 student discount on admission, we decided that was God’s way of telling us to get a guide.

Edgar was his name. He shod us around. I thought he was a good guide. He taught us about leaf-cutting ants, bromeliads, walking palms, pal tree roots, monkey ladders, gambas (thick roots), and other things that we may not have pait attention to otherwise. Edgar’s weak point, though, was either his luck or his ability to spot animals. A few other guides would excitedly tell him where to spot snakes or monkeys, but when we got there, he couldn’t find them.

The walk itself was really nice. The bridges, though well constructed, were scary. We ranged from really high up to ground-level. We went by a waterfall. Edgar was very nice and patient and was willing to spend as much time with us as we had.

At the end, his patience led to us needing to rush to make it back to the hostel in time. Just as we were about to exit the park, though, we finally, saw some monkeys: spider monkeys.

We ended up getting to the hostel in plenty of time, and we all made it back, safe and sound, to Santa Ana.

Jonathan: Routines...

February 5, 2008 (Caught Up!)

Not a ton has happened in the past two days for an update... I guess that means we’re falling into a routine, which I think is a good thing. There seems to be a bit of tension in the group, though, and I’m not entirely sure why. I think it has to do with planning/communication. There seem to be frequent conversations between a few people (eg. Cristian and Lisa, or Libby and Dayan, etc.) and decisions are made or almost made that affect the entire group, but when people not involved in the discussions find out, they feel hurt.

Good example: before coming back from Playa Hermosa, about three people in our group had very firmly decided amongst themselves that going to Palmares was a bad idea, and straight home was better. No conflict until the people who still wanted to go found out, but didn’t find out until we were in the van already on our way and needing to make a decision promptly...

I think that most of us have realized this gap in communication is causing problems and people have done a better job at filling the group in earlier, rather than later, but at least a few people have made a big deal about resenting the need to consult other people. It reminds me of a few things I read in Proverbs a few days ago:

10:8, “The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin,” and

11:2, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”

The struggle (and it is a struggle) is to remain humble, recognize that our way (even when “our way” means thinking everyone in the group should have a say in how we spend our time and money) is not the only way, and be able to love our classmates and forgive them when we’ve felt wronged.

On a positive note, we started hardcore cleaning of the back room, after having come to a group consensus that it’s a good projected, created a budget for the entire project (to make sure we won’t run out of money), and come up with a rough timeline (to make sure we won’t run out of time). Perhaps the biggest potential pitfall at this point is our lack of expertise when it comes to closing off the roof... We’ll see how that goes.

Jonathan: We actually do some work, too

February 3, 2008 (Still a little behind)

It’s been awhile since the last entry, but there hasn’t been a ton of time. Highlights from the week: Tuesday, Sean and I went with Dr. Cristian to a home visit. It was fascinating seeing the inside of someone’s house in el barrio.

It actually wasn’t as terrible as I feared, but they were certainly living in poverty. Lots of people in a small space, dirt floors, no running water, no waste/sewage disposal, lots of random wires or uneven ground or other tripping hazards. They seemed pretty happy, though.

However, the land they live on is owned by 250 people who live there. (There are currently about twice that many there. They have saved up enough money to build proper houses there, starting in March. The building project should take about six months. Meanwhile, there is some government housing available for them in some other area, and there is apparently some option for the people who are currently living there without owning property. It was a little confusing because the woman was speaking quickly, but that’s the gist of what I understood. It will be interesting to return next March to see what had come of the plans.

Clinic seems to be moving along steadily. People seem to be getting lazy, though... not wanting to work on health education stuff, not working on fixing the back room... Argh... I wonder whether the back room project, which seems legitimately valuable to FIMRC, will get done. I wonder how long it will be before someone gets fed up with picking up the slack for others or gets majorly ticked off at constantly being pestered to do more work.

It strikes me as interesting that in our group of nine, the vast majority (if not all) of us claim to be interested in helping the underserved, and yet when presented with an opportunity to help ICHAI (another organization that runs free clinics in impoverished areas of Costa Rica) open a new clinic in San Jose by painting a few rooms, putting together furniture, etc., only a minority of people volunteered. That was Wednesday. Maybe people had things to do.

When given the same opportunity Thursday, the same minority stepped up; the same majority did not.

So, Libby, Alisha, Neil, and I painted. It was a bit frustrating that the students who were actually volunteering for IHCAI just sat around and played ping pong or played with their computers while we were working at their clinic. And then we found out later, even though we worked WELL into the late evening twice in a row after having put in days of work at our own clinic, the IHCAI people had the nerve to be upset that we didn’t come back Friday to work again. Makes me think that I can’t blame the majority who didn’t volunteer if no good deed goes unpunished.

(Sorry if this entry sounds whiney. The whining is done now, I think.)

The weekend was great, though. We spent Friday and Saturday in San Jose. Friday we explored the Mercado Central as a potential source of souvenirs/gifts. No luck on that front, but I did get a cheap watch to use while I’m here. On the way home Friday, we stopped at the Multiplaza, which is basically a huge, American-style mall. I bought a book there by Garcia Marquez, but otherwise not much story-worthy happened... Except The T-Box. Very cool Turkish store with t-shirts in impossibly small boxes.

Saturday, we went to a few museums and a couple different artisans’ markets for some souvenir bargaining. That was good times. We bought some fun stuff. We didn’t want to buy TOO much because our host family hinted that they might take us to Sarchi Sunday. (Sarchi is well known for their wood products, many of which are souvenir-type things.)

We went to an Asian restaurant, Tin Jo, for dinner. It was quite good. Then, we ended the night in most delightful fashion by seeing A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Teatro Nacional. It was a gorgeous theatre, and the production was quite good, even if they took a few liberties with the dialogue.

Sunday, we didn’t do a ton. No trip to Sarchi. We got a little flustered (ok, just a little more whining) because at some point during the very early afternoon, our host family was half in their running car when they invited us to go to some fair right that second. We weren’t really in the mood to go out right that second (as I was in the middle of a nap when they invited us, and Libby was busy on the computer), so we politely declined. They said they’d be back at 2:30pm to give us lunch.

We waited for them until about 4:00 or 4:15 before finally making plans with Alisha and Neil to go out to a Superbowl party that Dr. Struthers (the gingra doctor) was holding. Our host family pulled un just as we were walking out, and they guilted us into sticking around to eat, and then they proceeded to tell us how we should’ve gone to the fair because there were lots of souvenirs (information that was not given to us before the trip). Argh.

The party was fun, though. It was an exciting game (Giants beat the heavily favored Patriots with 30 seconds left), and it was sort of nice to hang out with some non-MSU gringos. A pretty good end to the weekend, I’d say.

Jonathan: Beaches, fun, frustration, sickness...

January 27, 2008 (Sorry I'm being slow to post)

So, we’ve just left Playa Hermosa, the first of our weekend excursions. The beaches were awesome! We got in Friday and checked out our hotels before heading to the beach. Libby’s and my place was Olas Bonitas, and our room was amazing! We had the second floor facing the ocean... an absolutely beautiful view of the ocean over the palm trees. The hotel was literally 30 feet from the beach (just enough room for a pool). It was a little frustrating that the cheaper B&B we had found was sort of swiped away from us by a trio in our group who wanted to stay there (because the only available room could accommodate three people), but our place was certainly very nice, and we weren’t at all sad with it.

After moving into our room in as short a time as possible, we went to the beach. Black volcanic sand, a little rough, some driftwood, and WARM water. Who knew the ocean could be warm? We watched a fabulous sunset and then went out to eat.

It’s awesome how the local dishes on the menu taste great, are huge portions, and cost the least. In this case, I got casado (chicken, rice, beans, an egg, 2 tortillas, and a salad).

We headed to the hotel ~100 m away where Alisha, Pete and Lisa were staying and played speed Scrabble with Alisha and Neil for an hour or so before calling it quits for the night. And then the drama began...

Libby and I were just about to go to bed when a bold, huge cockroach dashed across the bathroom floor. Of course, we couldn’t go to bed with such a beast roaming free, so it was my job to catch it. (It was big enough that killing it would have resulted in more of a mess than we wanted to deal with.)

Unfortunately, I had already taken out my contacts, so it was a bit more difficult than anticipated. I got a pot from the kitchenette and successfully trapped the monster underneath, only to realize the pot’s handles extended beyond its rim, leaving a sizable gap through which he escaped.

He had learned his lesson and immediately fled to a dark corner under some shelves where we couldn’t get to him. Out of sight, but definitely not out of mind. Somebody woke me up five or ten times to ask me what the source of some noise was. Not a very restful night.

The next morning we had breakfast at the B&B where Pete, Alisha, and Lisa stayed. I had some yummy pancakes with bananas. Then, we headed to Jacó, a beach about 5-10 minutes north of Playa Hermosa. Alisha, Neil, Libby, and I spent the morning/early afternoon at their beautiful beach. The sand was lighter and smoother than Hermosa, and the waves were more the size for swimming than for surfing. We swam and soaked up the sun and played Frisbee until about 2pm, when we decided we should get lunch.

As we walked to the restaurant, I started feeling very tired. By the time we picked a place and sat down, I was very happy to be sitting. My appetite had suddenly disappeared. Poof! I literally only had one bite of my delicious fish. Fortunately our plan had been to return to Hermosa after lunch anyhow, so I was able to have a little siesta on the beach at our hotel, in the shade of some palm trees. I ended up not feeling well for a few days, but I never did figure out if it was something I ate, or just too much sun...

And then it was dark... We were in our room, and Libby turned on the light. POP! Bright light and then darkness. We thought the bulb had burnt out, but we became suspicious because the fridge light also didn’t come on, and the TV wouldn’t turn on. So, a while later, I went to the front desk to let them know that it seemed a fuse had blown. They were apparently already aware of the problem because there was a guy with a flashlight working on the outside of the building near the front desk. Perhaps it would be fixed by dinner?

We had dinner at some bar-ish type place with the whole group. Most of our classmates either already were or became drunk. I’m not a big fan of drunk people. Selfish people become more selfish. People who are insecure become moreso. And some people become frankly annoying.

The sober among us had gotten to the restaurant and we had eaten most of our meals by the time the drunks arrived (I guess because we didn’t need to have any drinks before going to the place). That was fine except that the bar wouldn’t separate our checks, and several of the drunks were paranoid about us not leaving them enough money to cover our portion of the bill (perhaps projecting their own math insecurities in their current state). So, we ended up waiting therer while they ate until we could all pay the bill. That was frustrating, especially when two of them spent a lot of time hitting on some gringas, thus taking even longer to finish their meals.

We sober folk eventually got out of there and went to Libby’s and my room for games. As we clame back, we encountered a woman who seemed to be in charge at the hotel, and she informed us that whatever electrical problem they were having wouldn’t be remedied until the morning. No big deal for us. We used the light by our bed to brighten our room and had no difficulty getting enough light for games.

Games were good (cards, Scrabble again), but when Neil and Alisha left, our second fuse blew, leaving nothing but the bathroom light and (thankfully) the A/C. Out of fear of messing anything up, we left the bathroom light on all night and just closed the door. During the night, though, I went to the bathroom, but the light had gone out. At least we didn’t see any cockroaches, right?

The next morning, the frustration continued after a pleasant breakfast and hour or two on the beach. The girl at the hotel front desk was anxiously looking for us because we hadn’t yet paid. Apparently, though no one had told us, they wanted us to pay each day.

So, we went to pay, but because most of the electricity was STILL out (including in our room), the credit card reader didn’t work. And at this late point in the game, we were told that even if it did, they would charge an extra 10%. And most frustrating of all, we were 10,000 colones short ($20) to pay in cash, which seemed like a more-than-reasonable discount for not having had electricity for a day, but the manager was “up in the mountains,” there was no way to get a hold of her, and the girl at the desk wasn’t authorized to make such a decision. I was SO tempted to just give her the money that we had and call it good, but my conscience ended up winning, and we borrowed the money from someone else in our group.

Next frustration: Potential plan changes. The plan had been to stop at Palmares (a national festival that happens once a year) on the way home. In fact, that’s how we chose the beach we went to. However, some people started to suggest that instead we just go straight home. So, a few-hour-long half-hearted discussion ensued before people finally admitted that no matter what the festival were like, it would be more entertaining than sitting at home.
The festival ended up being quite interesting... more borachos (drunks) than I have ever seen before. And not just mildly drunk, but passed out, not moving, face down in the dirt drunk. And a lot of them were young. Early teenager kind of young. We sober folk wandered all over the place trying to find the artisans (which we knew existed but couldn’t find on the map). We eventually found them, but in the meantime got a nice tour of nothing but food places, stages for concerts, and bathrooms (which you had to pay some 7-year-old kid out front to use). When we go to the artisans, Libby bargained to get a few gifts for people.

Libby: Weekend at the Beach

This past week flew by- so I am finally getting around to writing about last weekend- oops!

We left on Friday afternoon after clinic (all 9 of us students) and headed for Playa Hermosa, a 3-4 hour drive! We headed over several mountain passes with windy narrow roads and steep cliffs below- kind of like some of the mountain roads in Oregon!

We stayed at a beautiful hotel right on the beach, and our room had a great view:

Under the palm trees, we had a swimming pool and some lawn chairs on the sand

It was so nice to be at the beach for the weekend- it was probably in the 80's during the day, and the ocean water was remarkably warm.

We spent Saturday morning on the beach in Jaco, a town 10 minutes north of Playa Hermosa with a great beach for swimming and sun bathing, and a lot of restaurants and ice cream shops to choose from!

Jaco

The waves at Playa Hermosa were huge- around 13 feet- and it was fun to watch the surfers there (but too dangerous to swim much!)

On the way back, we stopped at this bridge that is known for always having crocodiles under it (partly because they lower live chickens down once or twice a day . . . )

We missed the feeding time, but it was still incredible to see so many crocodiles, so close to us!

So- part of the reason we decided to spend the weekend at Playa Hermosa is that there is a once-a-year national festival at Palmares that was ending on Sunday. Playa Hermosa is one of the closest beaches to San Jose (that is worth going to, anyways), so we thought we could spend the weekend at the beach and head back a little early on Sunday to see Palmares as well. We had heard mixed reviews about Palmares- that there were artisans from all over, that there were bull fights, concerts, lots of drinking. Some people highly recommended it, others couldn't understand why we wanted to go.

When we got there, all we could see were streets crammed full of people, lots of food vendors and lots of people who were clearly having a good time . . .

I guess now we can say we have been to Palmares :)

Libby: The Clinic/ a typical day

First, the clinic:

The clinic is called FIMRC (Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children). I think there are multiple clinics around the world with the same name, but this one is located in a small "suburb" of San Jose called Alejuelita. I call it a "suburb" because the area was described to us as one part of the "ring of poverty" that surrounds the city of San Jose. Each area is full of immigrants, mostly from Nicuragua at the moment. The immigrants come to Costa Rica for safety and because there is more money here. They think they will be able to get jobs near the capital, and therefore, there are many poor immigrant areas near San Jose.

So- the goal of the clinic is to meet the medical needs of the children from 3 neighborhoods in the area, as Jonathan described earlier. These kids aren't covered under the national health system because they are not citizens. The clinic was set-up by a doctor and a health educator. They are both single guys in their 30's with a lot of enthusiasm as well as compassion for the children they work with.

A typical day:

Leave for the clinic at 7:30, arrive at 8. Have Spanish class from 8-10 with Tatiana, the most amazing language teacher I have ever encountered! (and the clinic psychologist)

10-12: Each day we are assigned to a different part of the clinic:

The waiting room:

All three kids in this family are showing off their new clothes :)

the exam room: 3 students and one doctor sit in the exam room and see one family of children at a time. The doctor and students as questions, and then one student and the doctor exam one patient at a time. It is good for us to practice our clinical exam skills and medical Spanish!

(minus the laptop on the exam table, of course!)

the medicine room, the group that goes out to make home visits, and a few other tasks to help around the clinic (like updating charts and painting some furniture)

12-1 or 2: Lunch! We get chastized for eating so quickly . . . and I am learning to enjoy a prolonged lunch 'hour.'

Two afternoons each week, we go out into the community, either to a nearby soup kitchen or one of the neighborhoods where the kids live. We do skits and teach the kids some basic health lessons. Last week, the theme was nutrition and we taught them about good foods and bad foods, vitamins and the food pyramid, via skits, of course.

We also get one or two lectures each week about the 'theme' of the week. These are given by one of the doctors or the health educator or the psychologist. Last week, we got lectures on nutrition for babies and normal pediatric growth from the Family Medicine doc, Dr. Nancy Struthers. Today, we got a lecture from Tatiana about her work with the children and a bit about childhood and infant psychology.

More to come soon! Hope you are well.

libby