We arrived safely in Ahuas, Honduras, on April 7. It´s hard to believe it´s already the 17th! We are settling in to our routine and finally finding a few minutes to borrow a computer and write a post.
Our day starts around 5am when either the sunlight streaming in our window or the zoo outside (roosters crowing, parrots squawking, dogs barking, geckos chirping (I don´t know how to describe the sound they make) wake us up. Sometimes we go for a walk or run, sometimes put in earplugs and try to sleep for a bit longer. Devotions with Dr. Rudy and his family are at 6:30, then breakfast, then start hospital rounds at 7. During the day, Carrie works in the administrative and accounting office updating their accounts and financial records. She enjoys trying to decipher illegible handwriting in a foreign language and then asking questions in that foreign language to clarify!
Andrew rounds on hospital patients (lots of births, trauma and injuries, a woman with a stroke, a woman with appendicitis that we operated on, a boy who tore open his scrotum on a nail head, etc). Then clinic during the day – although it is not really a clinic, it is an ER because people don´t have appointments and they show up any time of the day or night. Interesting stuff – many people with malaria, parasites, injuries, pregnancy, etc. Completely different from what I´m used to.
The food has been good, the people are hospitable (we eat breakfast and lunch with Dr. Rudy´s family and dinner with a family in town), the weather is hot, 80’s to 90s but not too humid and nice in the morning and evening. And yes, Mom, we´re slathering with sunscreen.
Overall, there have been many challenges and frustrations, but God has provided and we´re being led to grow. Carrie had some nausea on the ride in the tiny airplane from La Ceiba to Ahuas (just the pilot and us 2 with our headsets and microphones) but otherwise no major medical problems. We´re looking forward to the next 2 weeks here as well as to returning home to see all of you! Vaya con Dios, Andrew and Carrie