Feliz Ano Nuevo! Happy New Year!
Despite al most losing my carry-on luggage, sobbing onto my first plane and then sprinting to my second plane… I made it to Guatemala! Just a few days here and I am already feeling completely acclimated. My only problem is Spanish is very difficult for me to speak but I am catching on! For the first week we have Spanish class every day (except New Years Day) for 3 hours.
I am working at San Juan de Dios, a government hospital in Guatemala City about an hour and a half bus ride away from our home stay in Antigua. The hospital is enormous with two seven-story buildings and multiple rooms on each floor. I was exhausted after our tour! They have many different specialties and even some areas of private practices within the hospital. This situation is much much different than my time is Rwanda. For example, Guatemala has companies that offer medical equipment that can be rented and a 24 hour service line for when it breaks, thus no technician is required. Also the hospitals are very strict about knowing who is working in which hospital and when. We almost were not allowed in the gate on Wednesday because we did not have a stamp of approval from the director with us.... even though we had been there Monday and Tuesday already! In Rwanda, my partner and I were in the hospital for a few days before anyone started paying attention to us!! This experience is also different because the hospital is very welcoming to us and has started a pile of equipment for us to repair. This is awesome because it cuts down on the process of having to go and find equipment to work on which can be a real obstacle, especially when the workers are lying about the condition of the machine. On Monday during our tour, the technician pointed to a respiratory therapy machine in the corner of the hallway saying that it was not in use but did not mention that it was broken. When a nurse that works on that unit came out to talk to us, she said that it was indeed broken and was never even used! This is a major part of what we do when we come to these hospitals and I think it happens because the workers do not want to reveal to us that they may have problems with equipment even though that is what we are there for.
As a group we have been working on about 5 or 6 different pieces of equipment in the two working days we have been there. The first 3 pieces were all the same: electro surgery units (ESUs), which are used to cut and coagulate during surgery with minimum blood loss. They use high frequency current to do this, so they are a bit scary to work on. So far we have been able to diagnose the problems for them but not completely repair them. The first one needed some rewiring done on the inside but was a real pain to put back together and is still not totally fixed. The only thing that is wrong with the second unit is that the switch on the back is not working, so we are trying to take the switch from the first one and put it on the second one. Unfortunately, the models vary just enough that not all the parts fit and we must find the right sized bolt before we can return it to the hospital floor. Another piece of equipment we have been working on is a tabletop centrifuge powered by a motor for the laboratory. We are still in the process of diagnosing the problem to this one, but luckily we have a seasoned technician here in Guatemala that will be able to help us! I think that the first week at the hospital was a successful one even though we still have not returned any fixed pieces back to the floor. This is partially because we mostly need to find spare parts for the equipment and partially because we only had two working half-days this week (first was a tour, off for New Years AND Friday).
Antigua is a beautiful city with an old Spanish feel to it. There are 3 volcanoes you can see from almost any point surrounding the city. This is a very touristy town (as I sit in a McDonalds for wifi to write this) but also a very small town. Many people come here due to the incredibly cheap yet affective Spanish schools as well as learning Spanish via immersion. Most days we have time do some exploring before and after Spanish class, but I do not know how well that will work once we go full-time at the hospital. Nonetheless, I have already met some awesome Guatemalans and seen some amazing sights. On Wednesday in my Spanish class, we took a field trip to a neighboring village called San Juan de Obispo where we were able to taste and buy all-natural Guatemalan chocolate, fruit wine and coffee. We also made a stop to see how jade is taken from rocks and turned into beautiful jewelry. Guatemala is known for their jade and was considered more valuable than gold to the Mayans.
New Years Eve and day was one for the books! All throughout the streets that was music, dancing and fireworks. They party here until 5am for NYE!! We went all around town meeting great people and having an awesome time. The fireworks were INSANE they love them here... they went off until midnight the next day. We hung around Antigua, or Gringolandia as I have learned it is called, all day on Thursday hitting up artisan markets and having lunch on the terrace. Not sure I will ever have a better New Years!
Tomorrow we are waking up early for a mountain bike ride down a volcano through parts of the country and then hiking up Volcan de Pacaya to roast some marshmallows in the lava because it is now constantly active and erupts daily. Sunday we are taking a bus out to Lago de Atitlan which is surrounded by different Mayan villages which we can visit.
Promise to write shorter next time!
xox
Despite al most losing my carry-on luggage, sobbing onto my first plane and then sprinting to my second plane… I made it to Guatemala! Just a few days here and I am already feeling completely acclimated. My only problem is Spanish is very difficult for me to speak but I am catching on! For the first week we have Spanish class every day (except New Years Day) for 3 hours.
I am working at San Juan de Dios, a government hospital in Guatemala City about an hour and a half bus ride away from our home stay in Antigua. The hospital is enormous with two seven-story buildings and multiple rooms on each floor. I was exhausted after our tour! They have many different specialties and even some areas of private practices within the hospital. This situation is much much different than my time is Rwanda. For example, Guatemala has companies that offer medical equipment that can be rented and a 24 hour service line for when it breaks, thus no technician is required. Also the hospitals are very strict about knowing who is working in which hospital and when. We almost were not allowed in the gate on Wednesday because we did not have a stamp of approval from the director with us.... even though we had been there Monday and Tuesday already! In Rwanda, my partner and I were in the hospital for a few days before anyone started paying attention to us!! This experience is also different because the hospital is very welcoming to us and has started a pile of equipment for us to repair. This is awesome because it cuts down on the process of having to go and find equipment to work on which can be a real obstacle, especially when the workers are lying about the condition of the machine. On Monday during our tour, the technician pointed to a respiratory therapy machine in the corner of the hallway saying that it was not in use but did not mention that it was broken. When a nurse that works on that unit came out to talk to us, she said that it was indeed broken and was never even used! This is a major part of what we do when we come to these hospitals and I think it happens because the workers do not want to reveal to us that they may have problems with equipment even though that is what we are there for.
As a group we have been working on about 5 or 6 different pieces of equipment in the two working days we have been there. The first 3 pieces were all the same: electro surgery units (ESUs), which are used to cut and coagulate during surgery with minimum blood loss. They use high frequency current to do this, so they are a bit scary to work on. So far we have been able to diagnose the problems for them but not completely repair them. The first one needed some rewiring done on the inside but was a real pain to put back together and is still not totally fixed. The only thing that is wrong with the second unit is that the switch on the back is not working, so we are trying to take the switch from the first one and put it on the second one. Unfortunately, the models vary just enough that not all the parts fit and we must find the right sized bolt before we can return it to the hospital floor. Another piece of equipment we have been working on is a tabletop centrifuge powered by a motor for the laboratory. We are still in the process of diagnosing the problem to this one, but luckily we have a seasoned technician here in Guatemala that will be able to help us! I think that the first week at the hospital was a successful one even though we still have not returned any fixed pieces back to the floor. This is partially because we mostly need to find spare parts for the equipment and partially because we only had two working half-days this week (first was a tour, off for New Years AND Friday).
Antigua is a beautiful city with an old Spanish feel to it. There are 3 volcanoes you can see from almost any point surrounding the city. This is a very touristy town (as I sit in a McDonalds for wifi to write this) but also a very small town. Many people come here due to the incredibly cheap yet affective Spanish schools as well as learning Spanish via immersion. Most days we have time do some exploring before and after Spanish class, but I do not know how well that will work once we go full-time at the hospital. Nonetheless, I have already met some awesome Guatemalans and seen some amazing sights. On Wednesday in my Spanish class, we took a field trip to a neighboring village called San Juan de Obispo where we were able to taste and buy all-natural Guatemalan chocolate, fruit wine and coffee. We also made a stop to see how jade is taken from rocks and turned into beautiful jewelry. Guatemala is known for their jade and was considered more valuable than gold to the Mayans.
New Years Eve and day was one for the books! All throughout the streets that was music, dancing and fireworks. They party here until 5am for NYE!! We went all around town meeting great people and having an awesome time. The fireworks were INSANE they love them here... they went off until midnight the next day. We hung around Antigua, or Gringolandia as I have learned it is called, all day on Thursday hitting up artisan markets and having lunch on the terrace. Not sure I will ever have a better New Years!
Tomorrow we are waking up early for a mountain bike ride down a volcano through parts of the country and then hiking up Volcan de Pacaya to roast some marshmallows in the lava because it is now constantly active and erupts daily. Sunday we are taking a bus out to Lago de Atitlan which is surrounded by different Mayan villages which we can visit.
Promise to write shorter next time!
xox