Journal Entry #5

Today was the first day that I walked to work. Yes, I could take a taxi, but the cost is at least $5.00 Belize, and quite frankly I don’t have the money to waste. This also places me more in line with most residents of this area. Walking or bicycling is a very common mode of transportation. It is very expensive to own and operate a vehicle here, aside from the fact that gasoline is about $8,00 Belize per gallon. I am glad that I decided to pack my scrubs and change when I got to the hospital! Boy is it a hot and humid walk at 7:30 am.! It was a lovely walk though.

I was excited to go out into the community today, and since we hadn’t received any calls, I figured that it was still a go. I was disappointed when I found out that Ms. Emma had taken a few days sick leave, although I do understand, and hope that she feels better soon. Hopefully, if everything works out, I will be able to go with her next Thursday. before I leave.

So, since Nurse Madrid was off, and Ms. Emma was out sick, I went to help Ms. Jenny with bandages in Sterile Processing. Ms. Jenny commented on how fast I was working, and I didn’t exactly pick up the hint I guess. At noon, she sent me home so that she would have something to do for the rest of the day.

With nothing else planned for the day, I decided to final take that hike up to Cahal Pech. What a fabulous site! It absolutely amazes me that this is such a new discovery. There were students there escavating new parts of the site, some were local kids, and other were from the States. It was genuinely wonderful to see new discovery at this ancient site. It is also heartwarming to know that Belize is regaining some of it’s history. I find it disappointing to go into town and find so much for sale from other countries, especially America, and China. I suppose that in a country that is so poor, it is hard for the people of Belize to produce and sell their own goods. This is something I will have to ask Jaime and Nancy about.