Yesterday was no exception. It started out as a normal day. I went to class in the morning (was a bad student as I couldn't remember anything) and then spent the afternoon studying. I returned fairly early to the house. The plan was that we were going to be making baleadas (tortillas with beans, egg and cream) and I was to help!!! It was to be my first baleada lesson. As I sat on the couch, I heard a loud crash from the kitchen. As I ran in I saw Rudy (dad) holding his foot as blood spurted from a huge, deep cut. Beans and blood were everywhere. By the way the blood was spurting I figured he had cut a vein or worse an artery.....I am proud to say I sprang cat like (or in spanish....como un gato) in to action. I was yelling at the kids now in my worst spanish to get me towels, a belt and a chair. I think at one point I asked Leo the 5 year old for "a size" (in spanish "talla")rather than a towel ("toalla)....it's all in the pronouciation....but he got the point as Rudy (dad) re-yelled my instructions. Rudy and I knew he needed a doctor but it was running through my mind that they don't do "911" here. An ambulance costs about $200 so nobody uses them. No matter the medical emergency, people ride to hospitals on buses, in neighbous cars or in the back of pick up trucks. Dunia ran to phone thier friend Alex tto bring their car. As Dunia doesn't handle blood well, as she told me later, she was glad that I was there. Friends, Alex and Vanessa, arrived and we carried Rudy to their car while trying to stop the blood flowing. Then they left, leaving me, Keren and the boys. Returning inside I asked Keren how she was with blood. Unlike her mum, she is a tough cookie when it comes to that, and after making sure the boys weren't too upset, we got to cleaning up.
We all then settled in to watching the Sound of Music in Spanish......love that movie! Usually I would sing along but couldn't as of course we watched the Spanish version. I will say, I was impressed by how fast Rudy and the clan were back...possibly two hours...from start to finish....he needed 18 stitches....8 to repair the vein he cut and 10 to close the wound. Health care such as this is not free so they had to pay. On a side note, some things in hospital are free, such as certain operations, and there are some free (ish) cliniics for those people that can't afford to pay anything. Rudy will now be off school for two weeks (Rudy, like Dunia is a teacher, but in a bilingual school on the edge of Copan).
This morning after class, I wondered in to town and met up with Ellen. We were on the hunt for water melons. Tomorrow (I am having class in the afternoon) we go, with her assitant Marel, to two communities....Boca del Monte and La Laguna. It promises to be a great morning. We will be delivering all the toys and school supplies at Boca and have bought enough water melons for every child in both schools to have a slice. it is a healthy treat as the kids don't get to eat water melon. Ellen tries to give healthy snacks as the kids have severe problems with their teeth which is due to lack of any dental care. Most kids in the rural communities do not clean their teeth, babies are given coke to drink and so by the time they reach school age, many have black, rotten teeth. This is the end of water melon season but we found a truck infront of the market. We tried and tried for a discount but they wouldn't budge. We ended up having to pay 30 lempira for each...about $1.65 for each water melon. Again, a thank you to my friends and co-workers as the money used to buy the water melon came from the raffle that was held before I left. There will be a lot of happy faces tomorrow and I promise to post lots of pictures. When I met Ellen earlier she was with another teacher from a different community. She had received a small "beca".....donation....so was shopping for some food for her students. Ellen told me her kids are particually malnourished so I spent a little extra and bought water melons for her school as well.
Water melon anyone?
The market
Plantains
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