Don't be scared by the title, I was not in the hospital, a Panamanian friend of mine was. And let me tell you if you are seriously ill in Panama go no where but a hospital in Panama city.
We showed up at the emergency room around 3 pm and he was admitted right away. An infection in the foot. They let me fill out all the paperwork (I have to fight to let the doctor talk to my mother.) And this hospital looks like it was from the 70's. Old design, outdated equipment, outdated system. After about 2 hours they called me and told me they were going to hospitalize him. So they let me back into the room (again not family) and told me what was going on. They did pretty much nothing except put an IV in, they didn't clean it or anything. He had to wait until the next morning around 10 for someone to clean it. Dinner had passed and luckily I was there to go get food because otherwise he would have to wait until breakfast. Before it was cleaned and bandaged, he got up to go to the bathroom and it started bleeding. It took 4 hours and asking 3 times for someone to clean it up. They would not regularly check on him, leave the IV hooked up unnecessarily, and just not great care in general.
But you get what you pay for. I am not quite sure how the health care system works here, but from this it seems to be the government pays for coverage. You will never guess how much an emergency room visit and 5 nights in the hospital cost.......$5!!!! That's right folks $5. Think about that the next time you get your insurance or health care bills.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The G-word
Gringa.
White girl.
You would think after a year and a half people would stop calling me gringa. Or at least I would get used to it. Neither of these things have happened.
At first it didn't bother me. I called myself a gringa. It was a joke. But seriously people. You know my name. And if you don't say joven (miss) or muchacha (girl). I know I live in the campo but that is no reason for ignorance. I don't say hey panamanian. It just doesnt make sense.
Oh and gringa most certainly is not my first name. "Hola gringa" is simply unacceptable.
End rant.
White girl.
You would think after a year and a half people would stop calling me gringa. Or at least I would get used to it. Neither of these things have happened.
At first it didn't bother me. I called myself a gringa. It was a joke. But seriously people. You know my name. And if you don't say joven (miss) or muchacha (girl). I know I live in the campo but that is no reason for ignorance. I don't say hey panamanian. It just doesnt make sense.
Oh and gringa most certainly is not my first name. "Hola gringa" is simply unacceptable.
End rant.
Saturday, November 17, 2012
I could have been a vet...
Ollie is what you would call a typical male. Fighting, eating too much, chasing the ladies, jealous, and aggressive I finally decided to put an end to this troublesome situation.
Months ago I tried to get a vet to neuter him. I wanted a sedative and painkillers. After back and forth, the vet finally came, but I wasn't there. I got tired of the shenanigans and decided to do it campo style. But my plan was to grab the dog and let the guy do his job while I was far away unable to see. Unfortunately this is not what happened.
I am the only one who can grab my dog without him getting mad. So I did. Then they told me to put him on his back. So I did. Then I had to close his eyes so they could put a y-shaped branch on his neck so he couldn't wiggle his head too much and bite. So I did. All a mistake. Then I had to hold down his chest and grab his back legs while the guy cut. And with my close proximity to the situation I had to look. It was a lot quicker and smoother than I thought it would be. I have never heard a dog cry like that. I honestly didn't know whether to cry or vomit or both. Luckily I did neither, but I did not eat dinner later that night.
Ollie is fine and healing up. He stopped bleeding quickly and has only some minor swelling. They tell me him licking it will heal it.
I helped, but next time I think I'll leave it to the professionals.
Months ago I tried to get a vet to neuter him. I wanted a sedative and painkillers. After back and forth, the vet finally came, but I wasn't there. I got tired of the shenanigans and decided to do it campo style. But my plan was to grab the dog and let the guy do his job while I was far away unable to see. Unfortunately this is not what happened.
I am the only one who can grab my dog without him getting mad. So I did. Then they told me to put him on his back. So I did. Then I had to close his eyes so they could put a y-shaped branch on his neck so he couldn't wiggle his head too much and bite. So I did. All a mistake. Then I had to hold down his chest and grab his back legs while the guy cut. And with my close proximity to the situation I had to look. It was a lot quicker and smoother than I thought it would be. I have never heard a dog cry like that. I honestly didn't know whether to cry or vomit or both. Luckily I did neither, but I did not eat dinner later that night.
Ollie is fine and healing up. He stopped bleeding quickly and has only some minor swelling. They tell me him licking it will heal it.
I helped, but next time I think I'll leave it to the professionals.
Stove Update
We are moving along on the stove front. 10 completely built and 6 bases built with many more work days planned. And 3 stoves already being used!
The process can be slow but seeing results is amazing!
The process can be slow but seeing results is amazing!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Campo Birthday
It's my birthday, I'll kill a chicken if I want to.
Birthdays basically mean you have to kill a chicken. I was very Panamanian about getting on this task, and waited until the last minute. And no one wanted to sell me one. I sort of guilted on of my favorite crazy old ladies into selling me one. So the Sunday before my birthday I stopped by and picked it up, carrying it 30 minutes to Melania's house. It almost pecked me in the face as I tried opening one of the gates. Not cool. Melania was laughing at me as I walked in the house with this chicken, she didn't think I was really going to buy it.
We got to work right away. Melania killing the chicken (I wasn't going to do that) and I was cutting up the veggies. We made arroz con pollo. Rice cooked with small pieces of chicken and cabbage, carrots, onions, and pepper. Potato salad with beets. Fruit punch. Funfetti cake. All the essentials.
No one knew the words to happy birthday. It took about an hour to get them to finally sing to me and then they sang it more or less correctly, with only a few made up parts ie "and blow out the candles." It was incredibly sweet and I absolutely loved it!!
Excellent celebration of my quarter century!
Birthdays basically mean you have to kill a chicken. I was very Panamanian about getting on this task, and waited until the last minute. And no one wanted to sell me one. I sort of guilted on of my favorite crazy old ladies into selling me one. So the Sunday before my birthday I stopped by and picked it up, carrying it 30 minutes to Melania's house. It almost pecked me in the face as I tried opening one of the gates. Not cool. Melania was laughing at me as I walked in the house with this chicken, she didn't think I was really going to buy it.
We got to work right away. Melania killing the chicken (I wasn't going to do that) and I was cutting up the veggies. We made arroz con pollo. Rice cooked with small pieces of chicken and cabbage, carrots, onions, and pepper. Potato salad with beets. Fruit punch. Funfetti cake. All the essentials.
No one knew the words to happy birthday. It took about an hour to get them to finally sing to me and then they sang it more or less correctly, with only a few made up parts ie "and blow out the candles." It was incredibly sweet and I absolutely loved it!!
Excellent celebration of my quarter century!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Junta de Amy
I held my first junta or work day and I have to say it was pretty fun! Out in the campo people have juntas when there is a lot of work to to, like building ranchos, or more importantly my rancho. I set a date and invited the people. I advertised it on the white board at the store. Twelve guys came along with three ladies to cook. In the morning the guys were cutting and carrying the palm. Around 10 the teacher carried the huge load in her car and they started putting it on the roof. Seven pounds of beef and ten pounds of rice late they ate and continued working. As with any good junta there was chicha de maize or a sweet corn drink. Often it is fuerte or alcoholic, but I went for the sweet option. It's Peace Corps people, gotta keep it g-rated. They finished just before the rain came...and guess what...my porch was dry!
Stove 1 Success!
The building has begun!
As part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas grant seminar, 6 volunteers and their counterparts along with several Peace Corps staff came to Los Virotales to build two stoves, and Eco-Justa (the kind I am building for my project) and a tower stove. After weeks of running around like a crazy person trying to organize everything and worrying that something would go wrong, the day was an amazing success!
Everyone arrived at 8:30 am and started off with an intro by yours truly and then the "stove expert" Sixto took over the show. He explained to everyone the process of how to build the stove. Everyone helped a little, whether it be mixing cement or sifting sand or laying the bricks. Asking questions and taking notes. I got the best Panamanian cooks, my host mom and grandma to help cook a tasty lunch of chicken, lentils, rice, and a cabbage and carrot salad. Ollie only fought once.
The second part of the day we built a tower stove, another type of stove many volunteers are using. This type is preferred by some due to the fact that is is free. You need to get some wood to make the molds for the bricks, and the bricks and "cement" are dirt and horse poop. Same thing, everyone got their hands dirty and asked questions.
I was beyond happy with the support of Peace Corps and my community to pull this day off. The families of each stove did their part in providing materials and helping with lunch and coffee breaks. Several people stopped by just to check out what was going on.
Definitely a Peace Corps high!
As part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas grant seminar, 6 volunteers and their counterparts along with several Peace Corps staff came to Los Virotales to build two stoves, and Eco-Justa (the kind I am building for my project) and a tower stove. After weeks of running around like a crazy person trying to organize everything and worrying that something would go wrong, the day was an amazing success!
Everyone arrived at 8:30 am and started off with an intro by yours truly and then the "stove expert" Sixto took over the show. He explained to everyone the process of how to build the stove. Everyone helped a little, whether it be mixing cement or sifting sand or laying the bricks. Asking questions and taking notes. I got the best Panamanian cooks, my host mom and grandma to help cook a tasty lunch of chicken, lentils, rice, and a cabbage and carrot salad. Ollie only fought once.
The second part of the day we built a tower stove, another type of stove many volunteers are using. This type is preferred by some due to the fact that is is free. You need to get some wood to make the molds for the bricks, and the bricks and "cement" are dirt and horse poop. Same thing, everyone got their hands dirty and asked questions.
I was beyond happy with the support of Peace Corps and my community to pull this day off. The families of each stove did their part in providing materials and helping with lunch and coffee breaks. Several people stopped by just to check out what was going on.
Definitely a Peace Corps high!
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