So I have been getting pretty bad bug bites herenin Punta Gorda, byt Guatemala bugs top this.....I got home from our waterfall hike in the rainforest and noticed that I had a large bubble swelling on the inside of my foot. It felt really deep, and a lot of pressure when I walked on it. I didn't want to complain to much because no one gets these bites like I do, I must be more allergic to them or something.
So the night of the hike I woke up balling my eyes out because this stupid bite on my foot hurt. I cleaned it out some more and put some anti histamine on it. in was awake all night because it hurt so bad. We woke up the next morning and got on our boat back to Punta Gorda. I took my first shower in days which felt amazing. When I got I covered my bites in rubbing alcohol to kill any germs. I tried not to think about them, but that night I tried watching a movie but could not even concentrate on it because my foot hurt so bad. I went to the bathroom to clean it out again with rubbing alcohol.
What I found..
The swollen bump once a bug bite had somehow gotten into my blood stream. It started put on the outside of my right foot, but now a vein was red and swollen in a lone across the bottom of my foot. I completely panicked and started to freak put. I showed Johannah and Haley who immediately told me I was going straight to the hospital.
Miss Elena (my house mom) happened to have here nephew and hose friend over at the house, so before I knew it we were in the car and the way to the hospital. I didn't bring my camera in the rush of things and I'm bummed about this because I feel only a picture can describe this.....
Punta Gorda Hospital
Probably one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life....We pull up and the two guys drop Haley, Johannah, and me off outside this concrete building that looks nothing even remotely like a hospital. A guy comes up to us and tells us to sit on this bench and wait for them to call me in. So we sit there and look around.....old rusted hospital beds and mattresses are behind our bench with a ton of other trash. A man missing teach is the "hospital attendant" sitting next to us.
I finally get called in. A lady takes my temperature with an old school thermometer in my arm pit, wipes it off with a tissue and puts in back in her drawer. She asked me a series of questions including the name of church I go to, then tells me to go back outside and sit down. After a while I get waved in to another room. I sit down in front of my doctor who is wearing old jeans and a blue polo shirt. He asked me what is going on. I explain about my foot and he takes a look. In broken English he tells me the bite got into my vein and that's why it is swollen, which I already knew.
The place looks nothing like a hospital, concrete walls, hand written signs that say things like "don't forget to weigh babies when they come in," and old hospital equipment shoved in corners.
Then a nurse walks in (wearing no gloves) holding a container of brown urine. She tells me that this man for sure has hepatitis(pointing back into another room). Then she sets the pee down on a table next to me. The doctor then asks her to prepare a shot of hydrocortisone for me. Still no gloves, no sink, and no soap. He allows me to have Haley come in and hold my hand. Once I sit back down the nurse wheels over a tall metal thing, and I see her hang an i.v from it. I ask what is going on I thought I was just getting a shot. He tells me I need a few...but not what they are. Haley and I look at each other and keep prying for more information. He tells us one will be for swelling, and one for itching, the I.v for hydration, and one for pain. The nurse used a plastic glove to tie off my arm between my wrist and elbow. I am completely freaking out. My entire body is shaking uncontrollably, and I may have peed my pants because I was soaking wet. Really I was sweating like crazy. My teeth will not stop chattering and I start balling.
She then sticks in the I.v. The first shot she puts into the I.v starts to burn so bad. I'm screaming and asking why it hurts when he then decides to tell me this will be painful. When it is in he will give me another one for pain. When the I.v is done draining, the nurse disconnects the tube from where the needle is entering the top of my thumb. My blood drains all over the floor but they could care less. Sanitation is obviously not a priority here. While all of this is going on the doctor's cell phone rings. He answers it and walks to the door laughing.
After all the shots are in the doctor leads me through another door to lay down on a bed....aka an old ambulance gurney. I lay there completely traumatized and crying. Laying on a bed in the same room is the old man with brown pee who has hepatitis.
I lay there for about fifteen minutes when a man in jeans and a yellow polo I have never seen walks in. He is holding a rubber glove and a needle. He walks up to my bed, and without saying a word starts using the glove to tie off my other arm. ( I still have the I.v needle in my right arm above my right thumb) I start pulling away and asking him what he is doing, but he doesn't answer me and keeps going. I am screaming and crying and telling him to stop. The other doctor must have heard and came through the archway. He says "stop stop stop! Not her...do him" pointing at the old man next to me. So the guy turns around and starts to take the old mans blood. I am crying and shaking and I ask the doctor what just happened. I am still confused if it was a mistake, or if he wanted to take my blood to test it being that my vein was swollen. I guess I will never know, but the doctor told me he won't prick me again.
Worried, I try to explain to him that if he needs to take my blood to test it he can, that I just didn't know what was going on. I didn't know who that guys was and he didn't say a word to me. After a while of laying there some more, the doctor comes in with a silver tube of hydrocortisone. He squeezes half of the tube on my foot and starts rubbing it in. He gives me a tube to take home with me allow with little baggies of pills. Written on them are what they are and when to take them. He said one is strong ibuprofen for the inflammation, and the other is called Priton, and allergy medication.
With this we are gone. Haley walked out to tell Johannah what had been going on because we had been gone for about an hour. By the time I got outside, Jo told me Haley ran home to find us a ride. Miss Elena's nephews come back with Haley in the car, and beers in hand. I am so thankful we don't have far to go. He goes on about how drinking and driving in Belize is legal, and that this is his first drink in five and a half years. This night could just not get any worse.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Guatemala
Click here for my Adventure!
I don't even know where to begin so I will just start from the beginning. In our group of twelve, seven of us planned to take a trip to Guatemala, leaving early friday morning. In Belize it was Garifuna Settlement day so there was no school across the country. We heard the weather was supposed to rain all weekend in Punta Gorda, but we were hoping for better luck in Guatemala.
When we woke Friday morning we woke up to Grey skies and a light drizzle but made the best of it anyway. We walked to customs in the rain around seven thirty in the morning to catch a boat to Puerto Barrior, Guatemala that we thought would leave at eight as scheduled. Of course everything here runs in "Belize time," so we boarded and took off around nine thirty.
We boarded our little boat after they tinkered around with wires and such which made us pretty uneasy. But so do lots of things in Belize, you just kinda get used to it. We were told prior to getting on that we would be provided with rain gear to keep us dry for the hour and a half ride. As we got on and sat down, large, black, and very wet sheets of plastic were stretched across us. As we laughed we realized that this was our rain gear. We finally set out into calm water, but this did not last long. Before we knew it, it was pouring rain, and the waves in the sea were getting very large. We huddled under the plastic and tried not to look at the
waves that were growing higher than the sides of our little boat. Daisy and I kept looking at each other and just laughing to disguise how scared we were. Sitting next to us was a younger
man from Sweden traveling to Honduras. He turned and asked the two of us if we know how to
swim which did not make us feel any better.
About an hour or so into the ride I started to feel really nauseous. It must have been a
combination of being terrified, and our boat be tossed every which way. I kept wondering how
our captain knew where to steer the boat, every time I thought a wave was going to crash over
us he would somehow avoid it. I could not see land in any direction I looked. For my own
sanity I stayed under the plastic and stopped watching.
Puerto Barrio
I don't have any photos of Puerto Barrior because we were only there for about fifteen or
twenty minutes. Before we left we heard several horror stories from past weekends about
foreign travelers to Guatemala, so we were trying to be very careful. A few of the stories
were about groups of travelers getting robbed at gunpoint on the street and on the bus. We were supposed to walk like we had a purpose and never ever look lost even if we were. Not talk to anyone that offered us tours that was not with an agency, and really avoid talking to anyone that approached us.
As soon as we got to Puerto Barrior we did not feel safe. We walked to the immigration building near where our boat docked to get our passports stamped into the country, then decided it would be the best idea to get right back on a boat and head for Livingston, a city a little more north. We would see if we liked it better there, and try to find a place to stay.
A captain approached us and we were able to get on another boat fairly quickly. We really must have stoop out there for him to find us so fast, which is why we wanted to leave. We felt like we had "rob me" signs on our foreheads. So before we knew it we were so happy to be back on a boat we were so desperate to get off of. The ride up to Livingston was a lot less eventful. We stayed pretty much near the coastline where there were not too many waves.
Finally Reach Livingston
We finally reach Livingston where our captain shows us where to stay, it is a place right where we docked. The hotel/hostel is owned by a family. We meet the mother, father, son who is about 16, and their younger daughter who is about 12. They show us to our rooms and give us the keys for the pad lock on the door. We each paid 25 Q a night to stay there which is about $4 USD.
We are starving so we sit down to get some food at the place we are staying. There is so menu, but Wallace, their son and our waiter tells us they have fish, beef, chicken, and shrimp. I decided I would get shrimp because I love shrimp and what better place to get the best shrimp ever right!? Well...I had a hard time eating it because it stared at me the entire time.
After we eat our Captain stops back to see if we would like him to walk with us around Livingston and show us around a bit. We are so thankful for this even though we feel so much more safe here. He is a really good man who seems to know a lot of people around town, including the family that we are staying with. We walk by a park that has concrete slides, and next to the park is a big stone pit filled with crocodiles...nice park right!?
When we are walking around doing a little shopping, a girl in our group gets a phone call she had been sort of waiting for to find out more information about what was being decided as a course of action regarding a night she had in Punta Gorda. She had gone out one night and got really drunk, and ended up calling a local guy she has been hanging with to help her get home. Anyway, to make a long story short, after we all discussed details from that night, another girl in our group decided to go to a faculty member from UMD when they we here to observe us teaching, and rat this girl out about that night. So while we are shopping show gets a phone call reeling her that she is expelled from the program and must come home right away. She starts balling and crying and is sitting on the street not knowing what to do or think. Our guide/captain friend who is confused and does not speak English finally understands we need a little space to get things figured out. We question wether to go home right away, but the
Weather is too bad to get until Sunday morning. She agrees to make the best of the trip while we are here, so we walk around some more, do some shopping, and stop at a place to get some dinner.
This place is really nice and even has menus! We get a couple beers, and I had a delicious hamburger and fries. Very American of me I know, but after my last meal I just needed some good food!
Day Two
Where the Real Adventure Began
We wake up to a rainy day, and are questioning our plans to take a boat just a ways up the coastline to see these waterfalls. All of us are a little shopped out, so when the rain let's up we decide we has better see some of Guatemala while we are here. Our guide that has been helping us out set us up with his friend who agreed to take the seven of us to these waterfalls for 34Q, which is only about 7 or 8 USD!
One of the reasons we were reluctant to go other than the weather, was another Guatemala Horror story we were told happened about a week ago. A group of travelers, both men and woman, hiked into the rain forest to see the famous Mayan ruins with their guide. On the hike back, they were approached by men who robbed that at gun point and took all of their stuff. Their guide told them that they were very lucky because if they had been further in from the coastline than they were, he feared they may have taken the woman to sell in the sex trade. So he we are, six girls, one guy, and our old man guide, on a boat heading towards shore. I was so scared I must have prayed the entire boat ride! The waves are pretty big, but this guy knew what he was doing to dock us. He was throwing roped and anchors everyday, jumping in and out of the boat, and before we knew it we were at the shore. I am a little confused because I thought we were going to see these waterfalls from the boat, but here we are all getting off.(the whole Spanish, English communication thing was a struggle.)
So we all get off the boat, and our guide tell us to walk up the hill (as he pointed) and he would be waiting Herrera for us when we got back.
So we head we head up the hill oblivious to the adventure we are about to face. We stop at a hut where a man tells us each to pay 15Q to keep going, as if we knew what we were doing. He pointed at a series of pictures and gave us instructions. He said normally it pretty manageable, but due to all the rain, the river is really moving so be very careful. he said to use this rope to the cross the river here, as he pointed, walk up the river for about 15 minutes until you reach this waterfall. And that was it, he sent us off.
We get to the rive and Im thinking "you have got to me kidding me!" Not only "how in the heck are we going to cross that?!" but I was also wearing flip flops, and carrying my purse with money and my camera. It would have been awesome to know we would be hiking up a raging river so I could be more prepared! We considered turning back, but without really discussing it, just kept going! I mean when else would we get this opportunity?! So flip flops, purse and all, I grabbed onto the rope and made my way across trying not to slip and get washed down the river. I had no idea at this point his would be the easiest part of the hike.
So after we get across we have to walk up the river. At some points you could walk along the side holrding on the vines that hung down, trees that stuck out, and bending down to hold onto rocks. dome of the time you just had to walk in the river and be careful to slip!
After hiking a while I have managed to keep from falling so I still have a dry camera tucked in the purse! Then we turn a corner and I look up ahead and see a huge waterfall. I'm thinking there is no way to get around that so we will have to turn around soon.
Another group of hikers that we later found out were from Spain, caught up to us at this point. They actually had a guide with them, so I felt a little more comforted by this. The guide told us we had to cross the rive here, so we did what he said. When we got up to the waterfall there was a rope tied up the left side but I was thinking there is no way we are going to make it up this thing.
You can see a blue rope tied to a rock, and it drops down the left side of the falls. This is what we were supposed to climb up next. And yes, we do!
The guide then climbs up the rope, makes his way to the middle of the falls, then jumps! So of course we want to try it. Darren goes first.....
I don't even know where to begin so I will just start from the beginning. In our group of twelve, seven of us planned to take a trip to Guatemala, leaving early friday morning. In Belize it was Garifuna Settlement day so there was no school across the country. We heard the weather was supposed to rain all weekend in Punta Gorda, but we were hoping for better luck in Guatemala.
When we woke Friday morning we woke up to Grey skies and a light drizzle but made the best of it anyway. We walked to customs in the rain around seven thirty in the morning to catch a boat to Puerto Barrior, Guatemala that we thought would leave at eight as scheduled. Of course everything here runs in "Belize time," so we boarded and took off around nine thirty.
We boarded our little boat after they tinkered around with wires and such which made us pretty uneasy. But so do lots of things in Belize, you just kinda get used to it. We were told prior to getting on that we would be provided with rain gear to keep us dry for the hour and a half ride. As we got on and sat down, large, black, and very wet sheets of plastic were stretched across us. As we laughed we realized that this was our rain gear. We finally set out into calm water, but this did not last long. Before we knew it, it was pouring rain, and the waves in the sea were getting very large. We huddled under the plastic and tried not to look at the
waves that were growing higher than the sides of our little boat. Daisy and I kept looking at each other and just laughing to disguise how scared we were. Sitting next to us was a younger
man from Sweden traveling to Honduras. He turned and asked the two of us if we know how to
swim which did not make us feel any better.
About an hour or so into the ride I started to feel really nauseous. It must have been a
combination of being terrified, and our boat be tossed every which way. I kept wondering how
our captain knew where to steer the boat, every time I thought a wave was going to crash over
us he would somehow avoid it. I could not see land in any direction I looked. For my own
sanity I stayed under the plastic and stopped watching.
Puerto Barrio
I don't have any photos of Puerto Barrior because we were only there for about fifteen or
twenty minutes. Before we left we heard several horror stories from past weekends about
foreign travelers to Guatemala, so we were trying to be very careful. A few of the stories
were about groups of travelers getting robbed at gunpoint on the street and on the bus. We were supposed to walk like we had a purpose and never ever look lost even if we were. Not talk to anyone that offered us tours that was not with an agency, and really avoid talking to anyone that approached us.
As soon as we got to Puerto Barrior we did not feel safe. We walked to the immigration building near where our boat docked to get our passports stamped into the country, then decided it would be the best idea to get right back on a boat and head for Livingston, a city a little more north. We would see if we liked it better there, and try to find a place to stay.
A captain approached us and we were able to get on another boat fairly quickly. We really must have stoop out there for him to find us so fast, which is why we wanted to leave. We felt like we had "rob me" signs on our foreheads. So before we knew it we were so happy to be back on a boat we were so desperate to get off of. The ride up to Livingston was a lot less eventful. We stayed pretty much near the coastline where there were not too many waves.
Finally Reach Livingston
We finally reach Livingston where our captain shows us where to stay, it is a place right where we docked. The hotel/hostel is owned by a family. We meet the mother, father, son who is about 16, and their younger daughter who is about 12. They show us to our rooms and give us the keys for the pad lock on the door. We each paid 25 Q a night to stay there which is about $4 USD.
We are starving so we sit down to get some food at the place we are staying. There is so menu, but Wallace, their son and our waiter tells us they have fish, beef, chicken, and shrimp. I decided I would get shrimp because I love shrimp and what better place to get the best shrimp ever right!? Well...I had a hard time eating it because it stared at me the entire time.
After we eat our Captain stops back to see if we would like him to walk with us around Livingston and show us around a bit. We are so thankful for this even though we feel so much more safe here. He is a really good man who seems to know a lot of people around town, including the family that we are staying with. We walk by a park that has concrete slides, and next to the park is a big stone pit filled with crocodiles...nice park right!?
When we are walking around doing a little shopping, a girl in our group gets a phone call she had been sort of waiting for to find out more information about what was being decided as a course of action regarding a night she had in Punta Gorda. She had gone out one night and got really drunk, and ended up calling a local guy she has been hanging with to help her get home. Anyway, to make a long story short, after we all discussed details from that night, another girl in our group decided to go to a faculty member from UMD when they we here to observe us teaching, and rat this girl out about that night. So while we are shopping show gets a phone call reeling her that she is expelled from the program and must come home right away. She starts balling and crying and is sitting on the street not knowing what to do or think. Our guide/captain friend who is confused and does not speak English finally understands we need a little space to get things figured out. We question wether to go home right away, but the
Weather is too bad to get until Sunday morning. She agrees to make the best of the trip while we are here, so we walk around some more, do some shopping, and stop at a place to get some dinner.
This place is really nice and even has menus! We get a couple beers, and I had a delicious hamburger and fries. Very American of me I know, but after my last meal I just needed some good food!
Day Two
Where the Real Adventure Began
We wake up to a rainy day, and are questioning our plans to take a boat just a ways up the coastline to see these waterfalls. All of us are a little shopped out, so when the rain let's up we decide we has better see some of Guatemala while we are here. Our guide that has been helping us out set us up with his friend who agreed to take the seven of us to these waterfalls for 34Q, which is only about 7 or 8 USD!
One of the reasons we were reluctant to go other than the weather, was another Guatemala Horror story we were told happened about a week ago. A group of travelers, both men and woman, hiked into the rain forest to see the famous Mayan ruins with their guide. On the hike back, they were approached by men who robbed that at gun point and took all of their stuff. Their guide told them that they were very lucky because if they had been further in from the coastline than they were, he feared they may have taken the woman to sell in the sex trade. So he we are, six girls, one guy, and our old man guide, on a boat heading towards shore. I was so scared I must have prayed the entire boat ride! The waves are pretty big, but this guy knew what he was doing to dock us. He was throwing roped and anchors everyday, jumping in and out of the boat, and before we knew it we were at the shore. I am a little confused because I thought we were going to see these waterfalls from the boat, but here we are all getting off.(the whole Spanish, English communication thing was a struggle.)
So we all get off the boat, and our guide tell us to walk up the hill (as he pointed) and he would be waiting Herrera for us when we got back.
So we head we head up the hill oblivious to the adventure we are about to face. We stop at a hut where a man tells us each to pay 15Q to keep going, as if we knew what we were doing. He pointed at a series of pictures and gave us instructions. He said normally it pretty manageable, but due to all the rain, the river is really moving so be very careful. he said to use this rope to the cross the river here, as he pointed, walk up the river for about 15 minutes until you reach this waterfall. And that was it, he sent us off.
We get to the rive and Im thinking "you have got to me kidding me!" Not only "how in the heck are we going to cross that?!" but I was also wearing flip flops, and carrying my purse with money and my camera. It would have been awesome to know we would be hiking up a raging river so I could be more prepared! We considered turning back, but without really discussing it, just kept going! I mean when else would we get this opportunity?! So flip flops, purse and all, I grabbed onto the rope and made my way across trying not to slip and get washed down the river. I had no idea at this point his would be the easiest part of the hike.
So after we get across we have to walk up the river. At some points you could walk along the side holrding on the vines that hung down, trees that stuck out, and bending down to hold onto rocks. dome of the time you just had to walk in the river and be careful to slip!
After hiking a while I have managed to keep from falling so I still have a dry camera tucked in the purse! Then we turn a corner and I look up ahead and see a huge waterfall. I'm thinking there is no way to get around that so we will have to turn around soon.
Another group of hikers that we later found out were from Spain, caught up to us at this point. They actually had a guide with them, so I felt a little more comforted by this. The guide told us we had to cross the rive here, so we did what he said. When we got up to the waterfall there was a rope tied up the left side but I was thinking there is no way we are going to make it up this thing.
You can see a blue rope tied to a rock, and it drops down the left side of the falls. This is what we were supposed to climb up next. And yes, we do!
The guide then climbs up the rope, makes his way to the middle of the falls, then jumps! So of course we want to try it. Darren goes first.....
Monday, November 15, 2010
Boating on the Rio Grande
On the our way out to Snake Caye to go snorkeling, we took a boat ride down the Rio Grande!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Turkey!
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| This is what all of the houses look like here |
Thursday, November 11, 2010
St. Peter Claver School
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| Learning about the stages of a butterfly during science! |
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| Such hard workers! |
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| Classrooms |
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| Our Library (Notice the student mowing the lawn with a huge machete) |
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Where I Live!
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| The addition Elena build behind her house |
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| My room...notice the hydrocortisone on the bed! (it is essential!) |
There is a tin roof, so when it rains it is the LOUDEST thing ever! Animals and birds run across it too which can be really startling!
Last week when we all went to Placencia Elena surprised us and put flooring down in each of our rooms. This is really nice because the concrete got everything really powdery! The flooring reminds me of the rolls of sticking stuff you buy to line the inside of your kitchen cupboards!
Just recently I have been sleeping in the house. Haley is letting me share her bed with her to get away from the bugs.Two night ago we were just laying in bed awake talking and she started saying she felt something moving or crawling. We were using her cell phone as a light to search for what it was. Finally I got up and turned on the light. We would we had been sharing the bed with a cockroach!!
Weekend in Placencia
Our second weekend here we all took a weekend trip up to the town of Placencia.We got on a bus from Punta Goarda around six Saturday morning. The bus ride was about an hour and a half. Then we took a boat taxi to get into the town!
We got to our hotel and out on the beach around eight or eight thirty and it was already sunny and probably close to 100 degrees out!
I put on SPF 50 all over my body! I re-applied about every hour, but still managed to get burned! When we woke up Sunday we had planned to take a snorkeling trip before heading back. The place that was taking us was just a short walk from where we were staying. When we showed up we got our equipment and were all sent to the beach to wait for the boat to pick us up. We were supposed to take off at 9:00 am. We waited around on the beach until almost 11 when a boat finally showed up. We all got in and loaded up our stuff, just to find out they could not get the boat to start up again!
We did not want to get out to this island and be stuck there if the boat didn't start again so we were all pretty worried. After trying to get the boat to start for a half hour they told us another boat would come pick us up. By this time it was close to noon, so we just headed back to Punta Gorda.
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| Getting into Placencia |
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| All of us on the boat that failed to take us snorkeling! |
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| For Halloween Daisy dressed up as a baby! We went to a bar across the street from where we stayed to a place called Barefoot! |
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| Finally a beach! |
Kayaking on Joe Taylor Creek
The first weekend in Punta Gorda we all took a kayaking trip down Joe Taylor Creek. It is only about five minutes from where we live. The river started out really open, but we went further we were under a canopy! At some points it got so tight we had to paddle single file under a tiny passage! The entire river is lined by mangrove. They call it the plant that walks because it never stops growing and looks like legs. The Belize coastline is lined with this mangrove.
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