Today was a fun day at the "Quinta Las Peckitas" ( a quinta is a vacation home, and Peck is Karla's mom's maiden name) on Granada Lake, also know as Lake Cocibolca. The lake is beautiful and is guarded by Mombacho, a once active volcano. Lake Cocibolca is the only freshwater lake in the world that has sharks-yes, bull sharks. (makes me NOT want to swim; although I'm told that the sharks are only in the very middle of the lake) It is interesting because the lake actually appears more like a small ocean, with its numerous waves that come to shore. The lake has over 360 islets that were formed when Mombacho last spewed lava into the water. I have read that the little islands are quite beautiful, and look forward to exploring them soon.

Catedral de Granada

An interesting view of the Catedral de Granada, near the Parque Central; taken from the restaurant window of El Zaguan, which by the way, has excellent food and service.

New Friends

This is a cool doctor couple from Oregon- Erica and Jesse. They are general practitioners, and although they "do it all", Jesse enjoys psychiatric medicine and Erica enjoys birthing babies. We had a great time hanging out and talking. Erica has practiced medicine in Guatemala and she and Jesse have practiced together in New Zealand as well. Erica joined my Spanish class last week, and I learned a lot from her questions, as well as the phrases that she uses in her practice. Sure wish I had a great couple like them to team up with in Eastern NC! Also pictured is my instructor, Sergio, with his wife Karen, oldest son, Sergio, and youngest son, Gadiel. Sergio is a very good instructor and is very active with his family and with basketball here in Granada.

Rotary in Granada

These pictures were taken at a school in a small village, Pantanal, which is near Granada. The School, Escuela Jose de la Cruz Mena, was constructed with the help of the Rotary Club in Granada. Students from our school, Casa Xalteva, visited there this week to see how the school is coming along. Students from the school, along with the director of Casa Xalteva, Juan Carlos, (in pic-left, with teacher, Sergio)plan to return to the school to donate school supplies for the students. The director gave us a tour and told us that the school has students from preschool to 6th grade. Most of the students live in close proximity to the school, and more than half of the students finish the program. She said that many students move to another village and have to switch schools. They have a small library in the building that they are trying to get stocked, and they are hoping to get a small air conditioning unit because it is very hot. Next to the library was a sewing room with women at work on the machines, sewing clothing to sell. They had cute pajamas and other clothing. Having machines donated and learning how to sew helps the community to prosper and supports their economic growth. There is also a medical clinic in Pantanal, which was constructed with the support of a Rotary Club from Boston and Rotary of Granada. The Rotarians from Boston are arriving next week, and I look forward to meeting them and to going to the clinic with them. Thank you Rotary for all of the beautiful work that you do here! Because of you, many children are learning to read and many families can have their health care needs taken care of. Your support has made a tremendous difference in the lives of people here in Nicaragua.

Interesting Sites

Typical site on the way to the market or walking down the street-I just had to post this guy with his weapon, here in Granada. There are armed guards at the entrances of most nice neighborhoods (in Managua), at the banks, at the grocery stores, and yes; I even saw a non-concealed pistol on the hip of a man who was opening car doors for people at church! (makes people feel more welcome-lol) Having been around the military the majority of my life, I'm used to it. It just would not be a typical site on the civilian streets of the U.S. I was more surprised by the cigar and cigarette smoking in the malls than the guns in the streets. Coming from N.C., you know-the tobacco state, where we grow it, but people can't smoke it.

Iglesia la Merced

Granada is a beautiful colonial city of about 170,000. It is a hub of tourism, commerce, and culture; located along the coast of Lake Nicaragua (Cocibolca), which ranks #20 in the list of the world's largest lakes. Granada was founded by Hernández de Córdoba, (hence the monetary unit-Córdoba), and named after Granada, Spain. When I was out walking with Karla she told me about the amazing bell tower of Iglesia la Merced, but I didn't have my camera with me, and we were exercising (: I am planning to go back, with camera in hand, as I have heard that the bell tower view is one of the most beautiful in the world. I am posting a few more pics taken at the funeral-a side view of the historical site, which is of the 19th century architecture church of La Merced (Iglesia la Merced), located at calle Real Xalteva, two blocks west of Parque Central. La Merced was originally built in 1539, and restored in 1862. Parked outside is the horse drawn carriage for the coffin, and a van in which the family arrived for the funeral. I mentioned in my previous blog that these vehicles followed a grand procession with "big band" music of Nicaragua. I can't wait to climb to the top of the tower with my husband (who will come to visit me soon) to see the beautiful view of the city.

Funeral Processions in Granada

The picture on the right was taken at La Iglesia Xalteva, and parked outside is a funeral carriage, where the coffin is transported to the church, and then to the cemetary. The second pic was taken at the Iglesia Merced. So, I'm not obsessed with funerals(: it is just that in Granada the have unique funeral processions. One day I was in my room studying and I heard a very large musical procession going by. By the time I got out the door I caught the back end of it, and although I had my camera, it didn't seem very respectful to take photos (although there were other tourists in the street taking pics). Granada is known for their loud and showy funeral processions, and they are proud of them. I was on the street walking when I saw these other processions, so I waited until the family was inside to take pics. A friend of mine asked me before I left, do the people in small villages bury their people, because we had never noticed cemetaries there. I asked a friend here, and she said yes, but not everyone has money for a coffin, so sometimes they just wrap the body in a sheet or blanket. Also, they need to be buried within 24 hrs. because there is no embalming. So, there is the lesson on funerals in Nicaragua(: and the band music/procession is great.

Midwifery

Last night I read the first module of the Community Midwife book that the Nicaraguan midwife gave to me. (of course, AFTER working on pharmacology & women's health) Today my instructor went over module one with me to make sure that I understood everything that it said. The first module is entitled, "Prenatal Consults: Pregnancy & High Risk". The information was good-basically what we teach about risks in childbirth classes, with a little more detail. Some words in Spanish are SO hard, like gynecologist-ginecólogo (pronounced hee-nay-CO-logo), and gynecology-ginecológica (pronounced hee-nay-co-LO-hee-cah). As if that isn't hard enough, try neurologist-neurólogo (pronounced nay-ew-RO-logo)...never mind neurology and neurological-the accents are completey different on the related terms(: Fun stuff.

¡Hay Parteras en Nicaragua!

Today was my absolute favorite day in Nicaragua so far. My instructor had told me about a female healthcare provider who had helped him a lot after he suffered a neck injury. I was interested to find out if she was a chriopractor or physical therapist, but he called her a "sobadura", which comes from the word, sobar-to knead or massage. (Remember, I am getting all of my info. completely in Spanish, so it is like piecing together a puzzle.) It sounded to me like she was something between a chiropractor and a massage therapist. Then he told me that one of his family had gone to her when she was pregnant because she was in a lot of pain due to the baby's position. This pregnant mom had been to doctors, and noone could do anything for her. The Sobadura was able to manipulate the baby's position and relieve the mom's pain. So, I asked, "Is she a midwife?", but he said, "No". Well, we made a spontaneous visit to her home today (unfortunately my camera battery had just died). She brought plastic chairs outside for us to sit on and talked awhile. The teacher asked her if she was a midwife, and she said, "Yes". When he told her that I am studying to be a midwife, she went in her house and came back with her government I.D. card/license to be a midwife, several midwifery books, and a birth log with details of births that she had attended. She told me that she uses "botanicos ", mostly herbs and natural medicines to help women. She also gives prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care. She said that she is a traditional midwife, but has received classes from the government, too. When I looked at one of her books and asked where I could get a copy, she told me that it was a gift for me! (The books are only issued to Nicaraguan midwives after they complete the government training) I was so excited. I told my instructor that this was going to be our Spanish lesson book from now on (: and he agreed. I asked the midwife if she attended home or hospital births and she said home births. Then I asked if the people paid her in good, services, or money, and she told me that she gets $15-$20 per birth. In perpective, her monthly rent is only $70. Wow. I didn't stay long because she had a little bit of a cold, but I can't wait to go back to talk with her more!

This is my host family in Granada, Nicargua: Bosco, Karla, and Ariana. They have a hospitality house, Hospedeja Ari, and a liquor store. There are always people here; which is interesting. The first day I arrived there was a lady from Costa Rica here, and this week a family from Costa Rica arrived. I enjoy listening to their converstions, although I only catch words sometimes because they are talking fast. The fastest talker is Dominga, an employee of the household. I am always asking her to slow down. She watches out for me-warning me about which streets to avoid because there are people with "malas intentiones". Dominga is a great cook too, and has been providing me with wonderful vegetarian meals(: with veggies that I have never heard of (giso de pipián), and BTW, have you ever eaten boiled banana? LOL-I have! Karla is wonderful. We are getting ready to go walk together. I enjoyed eating dinner with her, Bosco, and her daughter. The electricity went out-a common occurence here, and so we finished by candlelight. Karla practices her English with me and I practice my Spanish with her. It's a good trade(: Her parents are Rotarians and have a dental practice downtown. They came by to meet me last night, but we were out exercising! I hope to meet them soon and do a presentation at their Rotary Club. I am very thankful to Rotary for their donations and support for my scholarship to study here.

Granada, Nicaragua

I took the picture of the sign at the entrance of Granada as I was arriving. The school Casa Xalteva is a non-profit organization, founded by two professors from New Mexico. Not only are there students from various countries attending language school to learn Spanish, but there are local students who come in the morning to learn Spanish, Science, and Math. This is a program of the non-profit foundation to keep kids off the streets. In the afternoon the kids go to a public school for more classes. So far the classes have been pleasant, although yesterday we began drilling verbs (stem changers) in the present and past tense. Today my homework was to write sentences for stem changers (ir) in the past, third person, singular and plural. Grrr...a mí, no me gusta la gramática! Yo hablo por oído, cómo los músicos tocan instrumentos por oído. I said, I don't like the grammar because I do Spanish by-ear, like some musicians play by ear(: Hasta pronto! That's like, "later"...Miss you all.

Welcome to Managua, Nicaragua

When I arrived in Managua, my friend, Donna met me at the airport. Donna is a missionary in Managua and works with various churches to give assitance to those in need. She introduced me to Raquel, a friend who works for tourism in Nicaragua. I had planned to check out some Rotary organizations prior to starting school, but unfortunately I had a problem with an electronic transfer, which took ALL day to fix. Fortunately Donna was there to help me. (P.S. Trying to get your own money back in a foreign country, when there is a problem, takes an act of congress.) I went to two different church services with Donna. The one Saturday night was at a church called Hosanna. At this church the words to the songs were on the screen and it was great because I could sing with the people. I love the livliness of the Hispanic culture in praise and worship, and didn't realize how much I had missed it! The next day we went to a church called El Centro de Fe, Esperanza, y Amor, The Center of Faith, Hope, and Love. This church has various churches throughout Nicaragua and Mexico. Pastor David is from Mexico City and his wife is from (Upstate) New York. As you can see, they are a beautiful family, (and musical too-playing instruments & singing in the praise & worship) They have a heart for the Lord. The oldest son is Joshua (23?), the youngest-Sammy(14), and "Checky"(which is a nickname in Mexico for Hezekiah), and their daughter, Sarah is 21. Their son, Daniel (19?) went to be with the Lord, recently-due to a tragic motor vehicle accident, and the family is still healing-so please pray for them. I was blessed by their church and family, and it was a warm transition to Nicargua. (I haven't figured out how to format pictures yet)

Medical Clinics in Nicaragua

In 2006, 2008, and 2009, I was able to go to Nicaragua with Tabernacle Baptist Church of New Bern. This picture is from one of the medical clinics in Pascuala, a small village near Somotillo, which is close to the border of Honduras. In the medical clinics Dr. Jud and I averaged 80-100 patients per day. In later clinics Dr. Anderson, a local physician, accompanied us to clinics in outlying villages. Dr. Anderson runs the clinic in Somotillo, along with his nurse, Hilda. My Spanish wasn't the greatest at that time, but I asked one expectant mother where she was planning to have her baby and she said, "Here", indicating her house, which was made of sticks, with some block, and had a dirt floor. I asked if she would have anyone help her, and she said no, that she would give birth "sola" or alone. She pointed to the large stick pole that she would hold onto while squatting on the dirt floor to give birth. She also showed me the wooden bowl with a knife to cut the cord. She was due anytime, and I seriously wanted to stay and help her with her birth! While attending language school in Granada I will not be participating in medical clinics, due to Rotary guidelines, but I will be able to participate in an observational status. I hope to find out more about the birthing experiences of Nicaraguan women.