Beach day

It is early Saturday morning and we are off to the beach!! We have a red eye flight to night, so this may be our last blog. We look forward to reuniting with all our loved ones and can't wait to share our stories. Thank you for all the prayers and support while we were gone.

Day 6

Today was our excursion day and we were all so excited to finally enjoy some of the Nicaraguan culture.  We started off the day with scrambled eggs, pancakes, and a Nicaraguan oatmeal which was delicious; and don’t forget the rice and beans and Chilero hot sauce.  We then set off for ziplining in Granada.  There was an option of doing a coffee tour for those who did not feel up to ziplining.  There were 11 lines total, and the guides were awesome.   They helped some of us to tricks, such as superman (legs around the guide with arms flying) and upside down monkey (legs in the air, head down as if you are doing a handstand).  Don’t worry family, we all made it down safely. After ziplining, we headed to lunch at TipTop chicken which is the equivalent of KFC in the states.

After lunch, we went to the market in Masaya which had beautiful items, many that were hand-crafted for sale.  We were on a time limit, but many of us bought some fantastic souvenirs to bring home. As we finished up at the market, we were off to see the active volcano.  As we were driving, it began to rain.  The park’s officials said that the view was terrible at the top, especially with the rain so we were not allowed to tour the site.  This was disappointing, but we kept our happy attitudes and headed to the store instead to stock up on hot sauce, drinks, and candy.

Upon returning home (aka our hotel bungalows) we were given a strict timeline of 45 minutes to get ready for our reception dinner. We were told to look our best, which is quite the challenge when three girls are sharing one shower.

Dinner was at Los Ranchos, one of the top restaurants in the country. We had the option to order steak, sea bass or chicken. Most opted away from the chicken as it was a staple of our dinner menu all week long. Some of the team ordered white wine... but due to communication barriers some red wine was enjoyed instead. It was nice to enjoy a nice meal with some air conditioning. After dinner, approximately 150 pictures were taken outside of the restaurant.

Through this long week of hard work, sweat and laughter, it is safe to say we have all grown to love one another a little more and worry a little less. It has been a fun day.

-Nina, Kelly and Nicole

Day 5

Today we went back to the Lifelink school and had a short clinic day where we saw about 80 patients.   While the Concordia FNP students were in the tropical outdoor clinic, the Columbia College of Nursing students taught the children first aid.  The Lifelink students learned how to care for injuries due to barbwire, fire, and horses.

For lunch we enjoyed a traditional Nicaraguan meal of fried tortillas, guacamole, salsa, fried plantains, rice and chicken.  After lunch, we boarded the school bus to tour the local hospital.  The hospital was newly built, but small by American standards.  The hospital director graciously led us on a tour of the facility.  He was proud to show us the updated facility and describe the outreach programs they offered. 

We returned to the Lifelink school to meet children in need of sponsors to support their education and wellness.  We played soccer and made bracelets with the children.

At night we enjoyed a special treat of pizza and ice cream.  We finished our day with a comical game of charades. 

Liz and Jeannine

Day 4!!

Today was quite the day! It was our last medical camp day as a whole group. We visited "Casa Del Adulto Mayor", an elderly nursing home where we saw many kind, warm, and grateful patients. We had much better luck with the weather compared to yesterday, it was a sunny 92 degrees! Despite having a scare earlier in the day among our team, we were able to finish off on a high note and earlier than what we have done in the past two days. No worries, everyone is all healthy and doing well!

Once we returned to our hotel and after enjoying another delicious meal prepared by the wonderful  hotel staff - which included rice with corn and carrots, chicken with mango sauce, buttered toast, cabbage salad, cucumber salad,  and of course,  yummy fruit (mango, banana, papaya, pineapple) -we set off on a adventurous and somewhat frightening ride in a "moto-taxi" which was a completely open three-wheeled cart bike. Our destination was "POPS", a delicious ice cream parlor with a variety of different flavors ranging from Choco chip (chocolate chip) to Pasion QueQue ( no available translation, but it was good!) We also had the opportunity to quickly step inside  and see their local pharmacy, which was nothing like the pharmacies back home because this was a very small space and consisted of a few workers and an interesting array of products. After our excursion, we took another moto taxi back to the hotel, which was another pure adrenalin rush.

There is no doubt that many lifelong memories were made today among us all. So far this experience has been such an eye opener, and we cannot wait to see whats in store for tomorrow!
Mayra and Branka

Day 3 - Monday

We had our first clinic day and saw close to 200 patients in about 5 hours!  Phew - we're tired!  

Started our morning with a later breakfast of beans and rice, scrambled eggs, some type of sausage, and lots of great fruit!  We set out for the medical clinic and arrived early and finished our preparations.  We were all set to go - but then we had to wait . . . . for the approval from the government to start our clinic day.  We finally got it about an hour later than we were expected to start - but then our crazy day began!!!

Some of the things we saw today - skin infections, urinary tract infections, lots of allergies and pain.  One of the most common complaints was stomach pains with weight loss so we treated them for parasites (yes - they have worms in their intestinal tract)!  We handed out lots of vitamins, played with the children, and handed out candy too!!

We ended our evening a lot later than planned, but we returned back to the hotel on our giant yellow school bus and had chicken and hot dog shishkabobs (spelling???), more rice, and plantains.  We had a short debriefing of our team and planned for tomorrow.  Headed to bed now to get some much needed rest for another busy day!

Blog you later!
Andrina, Katy, and Michele

Warm Welcome to Nicaragua!

   We started the day early and with a hearty, authentic breakfast. Then we packed up all our supplies and headed off to the school to set up for the clinic we will be holding the next few days. The group went on a tour of the neighborhood surrounding the school where we were able to see the living conditions of the locals. We were greeted with open arms, smiles and people full of hope. It was such an eye opening experience for everyone.
   After the tour of the village, we returned to the school and had lunch provided by the school staff. Also to fill up on water and HYDRATE! Then together as a team we unpacked and organized donations and medical supplies for the days to come. We then came back to our hotel and to cool off, many went for a swim to cool off. We even had a mango fall into the pool for a nice snack!
   Thus far, Nicaragua is a beautiful country with many welcoming people. We look forward to the experiences that are to come (:  Pictures will not upload due to wi-fi slowness so stay tuned for tomorrow. 
Clinica day #1 tomorrow.
Carla, Melissa, and Stephanie

We made it!!

We  made it safely to Nicaragua! It is late and everyone has had a long travel day. We are excited for our adventure for the week so we will be getting a good nights rest. 

tomorrow we will be taking a walk in the barros and visit the Lifelink school. More to post......stay tuned.....