Upon arriving in Nicaragua (after a surprisingly short flight) I went through the customs line which was only made interesting by the crowd of French Canadians around me and the frequent turning off of all the power in the room leaving me and the French speakers in the dark.
I was a creeper on my flight in and took fotos of little Nicaraguan girls in matching pink jumpsuits sleeping on each other. Very Cute. :DLanding in Managua meant a long van ride to San Juan where I spent the afternoon ogling the beautiful country. San Juan itself is particularly gorgeous with the beach on the end of the street of my home-stay. For the short time I was there I lived in an orange, green and blue hostel with Mama Sara, who was the Nicaraguan version of a Jewish mother. I swear, every time that I entered into her house she handed me a plate of food. The first morning I sat down in front of a spread that I thought was meant for every one staying in the hostel (two oranges, two bananas, a large chunk of pineapple, and half a watermelon) but actually she had made it only for me!! I saved some of the fruit to eat at lunch but was given so much for lunch that I couldn't even think about eating the fruit. I quickly learned that the best way to escape the table without having eaten enough food to last the week was to help make the meal and to serve myself. This method worked out quick well as I learned some pretty amazing recipes and was told hours worth of amazing stories by Mama Sara, who had her first son right on the kitchen table we were eating at.
Days were spent between the beach and the eye clinic. On days were I was not working I went with my house mates and host brother to swim and explore the city.
To get around we walked or thumbed rides in the back of pickup trucks. I played soccer and chalk with the neighbors, stumbled upon a free ukelele lesson in one of the local bars, and convinced my host-brother to take me on a hike to the top of a cliff that overlooks the city and the ocean.
On other days I spent up to 12 hours at a time working at an eye clinic. The clinic, which was run by eye doctors from Connecticut, was held in the the local school. Everyday people from San Juan and the surrounding areas came on foot and by bus to get a free eye exam and pair of sunglasses or prescription glasses. Each day over 800 people came through. I worked as a translator simultaneously for an eye doctor and a Berkley optometry student as they performed exams. It was amazing to witness these exams with such limited technology and space and time constraints. Sometimes translating was rewarding when explaining where the patient could go to receive their new pair of bifocals. Sometimes it was heartbreaking when explaining that the clinic had run out of a certain prescription, or that a person had cataracts and there was nothing we could do.
I have to say that I have a new found interest in optometry and a deep love for Nicaragua. The ten days that I was there felt like months and it was really sad to leave my host family. Now I have a few new aspirations for my pending public health degree. Optometry school? Nicaragua? Who knows? :D
Moms and their kids waitingin line for their eye check-up.
People wait in line, sometimes all day, for their eye exam.
Me and my lovely assistant Roberto, the
sweetest kid ever who volunteered in the
clinic and sometimes brought us ice cream and our store of glasses!
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