Pigs on School Buses!

ok...so the last couple of days have been full of vacation and lacking internet access so let's catch all you wonderful readers up on our vacation time....and yes...the last couple of days have definitely been an incredible vacation. So last time we left off, we had overcome Mombacho (eh...give or take a few falls)...

Friday the 20th marked our last day of Spanish Language school. I tried to have my last awkward, more charades than speaking conversation with my wonderful teacher Veronica and the rest of the gang learned a lot of grammar. We finished off with Salsa classes for April and I and a visit to the cigar factory for Kamal and Kristine. (yes...think back to your anatomy and those black tarry lungs!) It was fun to dance despite the stiff legs from the hike. That evening we met up with Andrew and Dhruti (who got to Granada the night before) and had pizza and drinks with the whole gang! We got to hear about Andrew being called a chinito by a little kid (making Andrew rather mad since he was CLEARLY bigger than the kid!...I believe his exact words were..."I'm 2x your size!") Being the typical medical students, we ended our night and the late late hour of 10:30 and went back to get our beauty rest!

Saturday the 21st, April, Kristine, Kamal met up with Mia and Alicia in the central park at Granada. After picking up our luggage and giving presents/saying bye to our host families (which was so sad because they were awesome!) we had a DELICIOUS lunch by the islands formed by Mombacho volcano. I gotta say, I was surprised that my cooked fish still had a head! During dinner, we had a surprise guest...the BEE trying to STEAL my coke! I would have gotten mad, but it got stuck in the bottle so that was it for my 'better than States by far' coke! We then took a boat ride tour of the islands, followed by Alicia doing some master driving to San Juan del Sur, a little down on the coast of the Pacific. In addition to passing about 50 cars, we stopped by a roadside stand and got fresh coconuts! (They had mangoes too, but I figured that may get a little messy!) At San Jaan del Sur, we saw the little villa Alicia had reserved and it was AMAZING! The place was a secluded gated community with a private indoor and outdoor pool, beautiful 2 story floor plan, and very nice staff. We ended the night by taking a trip to the beach, followed by dinner and a dip in the pool under the stars. Mia and Kamal tried to teach me how to swim...and yea, we'll just leave the rest of that out =P

Sunday, we relaxed more at the beautiful villa and in the afternoon, got a neon orange bikini for me since I wasn't smart enough to pack a bathing suit, visited the pool and finally, drove to catch the ferry to Ometepe Island. Alicia showed off more of her driving skills trying to drive our car onto the already too full ferry! Despite some sea sickness and rain, we got there safe and sound. After finding a hostel, we met up with Dhruti and Andrew for dinner at their hostel. After some good convo, sippie cup drinks, avoidance of bugs and full tummies, we headed back to our place.

Monday was the day of physical activity. Just so we've established this, I've done more physical activity on this trip than the last 23 years of my life...COMBINED!! We started the morning with kayaking about 4 Km, starting at lake Nicaragua and going into Rio Istiam. (Yes, I don't know how to swim...let's get past this point ppl) On the way, we saw beautiful birds and... MONKEYS in a MANGO tree! The cutest family of Mono Congo (Howler Monkey). I was ready for the monkeys to throw mangoes at us but apparently Nicaraguan monkeys are more well behaved than indian monkeys. The little babies just stared at us as we stared at them (although the papa monkey was getting a little agitated with us). After coming back from this nice little exercise expedition, we all realized that we had managed to get sun burns on our legs...all except April and Alicia. Kristine is definitely the most red, but all of us are not too happy with our sunblock lotioning skills! After eating a nice lunch to recuperate, we decided to follow the advice of Andrew and Dhruti's hostel guide and take the and I QUOTE " EASY walk to the Mirador" So, all of us got geared and ready to take this easy walk which ended up being more like a tortuous hike to about 700 m of Volcano Maderas. As we got to the view point, it started raining and we realized our path was now just very slippery mud with intermittent volcanic rock. For all those med students thinking this sounds like a dramatic ER episode waiting to happen, you are correct! Dhruti and Kamal took some mud to the gluteus maximus and I took a nasty fall onto my left hip (k 2nd yrs...name possible bone injuries...GO!) So, I hobbled down with the rest of the gang as we got soaked and muddy (on the upside, people lots of money for mud baths...we only paid $5 for ours!) Next time I'm in Nicaragua, I'm visiting that guide book with a Sharpie...easy walk my @$$!! haha, j/k ;)

Tuesday the 24th we packed a 5 seater car full of Alicia (our driver), Andrew and I in the front seat, Druthi, Mia, Kamal, April and Kristine in the backseat, luggage of all in the trunk and top of car and drove the 1.5 hrs to the ferry. On the way, we stopped and asked a bus driver how he managed to get a giant pig on the top of his bus (he was probably thinking about asking us how we got ourselves in that little car!) The ferry ride was full of rain and random 80's music videos (Grease lightning, Beatles, and so on). After leaving Andrew and Dhruti to catch the minibus for leon, the rest of us made the drive to Alicia's house in Managua. We've been running errands and just chilling here for the day. Tomorrow we go to see the market in Masaya and maybe volcano number 3 before heading to Leon!

wow...that was a lot of typing but we're all caught up! And as a reward for making it through this post...enjoy the pictures below!

Adios!
Neet

I promised pictures...here they are!

Picture 1: Las Chicas at La Merced
Picture 2: Neet pretending to like her caballo, which was trying to drop her constantly!
Picture 3: The group at peak 1 of Mombacho Volcano

Volcano 4, April 0

Hola! Before I explain the title, I´ll do a quick overview of the last couple days. On Wednesday we visited Miador De Caterina, which is almost like a clif and you can see all of Granada and the nearby lake. We also got to experience the wonders of Cabillo (horse) riding. Kristine´s horse was a little older so it was lagging behind until it decided to run. April and Kamal´s horse took mini breaks to poop and my horse kept trying to eat the guide´s hand and i really thought I would fall off in the process. All in all it was a lot of fun and I got to see a Mango tree on my way there!!

Yesterday we took a day trip to Mombacho, the volcano! We went on a 4 Km hike that took about 4.5 hours. We met a few more tourists, including 2 guys here from Souther California for thier friend´s bachelor party--male friends reading this, don´t get any ideas, the poor groom has an inflamed eye from all thier surfing expeditions! As for the volcano, the inclines were definitely tough on the legs! About an hour and a half in, it started raining, making the slippery stones even more slippery. That resulted in 4 falls for April, no major injuries, even though I was ready with my first aid kit just in case! Every one had one or two minor slippery moments, but we came back in one piece! The volcano actually has a ton of vegitation, so it was like hiking through the woods more or less but with a lot more incline! Pictures to come later!

Today we have class again followed by Salsa classes! We meet up with Alicia and Mia tomorrow to go visit the islands nearby and eventually make our way up to Leon. Hope everyone is doing well in the States!

Hasta Luego,
Neet

Managua!

I arrived in Managua last night after about 12 hours of traveling. Six of those hours were spent sitting in a parked plane in Miami airport. Miami had a bad thunderstorm with lightening in the afternoon so all the ramps were closed because the lightening made it dangerous for the ramp workers. Alicia´s uncle, Julio, picked me up from the airport around 9:30 PM. I felt bad that he had to wait almost 2 hours for me to arrive.
So far I´m enjoying the trip. I woke up at 5AM this morning to the symphony of birds outside my window. The house has a ton of outdoor lounging area, including a hammock! Managua reminds me of where my grandparents live in China- people don´t drive exactly within the lanes. The city buses are recycled school buses with gigantic fume pipes in the back. Periodically, something familiar catches my eyes, like an ad for ¨sports center¨and ön the run¨gas stations.
I have to extend my Nicaraguan visa since I´m a Chinese citizen who is staying in the country for more than 30 days. I´m not quite sure how that´s going to work out. Julio called the immigration office in Managua today and they said that I´m good until July 19th, but then UNAN has to apply for an extension on my behalf. I could be wrong since my Spanish is barely passable. Keep your fingers crossed for me anyway! I´m looking forward to Alicia´s arrival tomorrow! I think we´ll meet up with the girls in Granada soon after that! Hasta luego! - Mia

ahhh...mangos!

So as Kamal said, we have been taking trips to the market and the main part of Granada everyday as part of the Language school´s activities. Yesterday we visted a museum that had paintings and sculptures from the indiginous people of the area. On the way over there, a dog (un perro) decided to come along. He followed us for like 2 blocks! Needless to say, I was not too pleased with the new addition to our tour group! There are dogs everywhere! Most of them stay to themselves so it´s not really problematic. But that particular one definitely freaked me out. We went into a bank and I was really happy to get rid of him...but when we came out, he not only found us but followed us to the next bank! boo perro! btw-- this happens the day after Francisca´s dog kept us up all night by barking for hours in the middle of the night!

I also got my first taste of trying to buy something without very indepth knowledge of the language. I have been looking for mangos since we got down here, and finally found someone selling whole mangos (since the travel clinic said unless you peel it yourself, don´t eat it!). I tried to ask how much they were but we couldn´t understand the answer, so we all thought we were getting 2 mangos for 12 cordobas....until the lady kept piling mangoes into the bag...which is when we realized we had bought 12 mangos instead! good thing i like mangos!

We visted another church today and got to climb the bell tower and take panoramic pictures of Granada. Tomorrow we visit the volcano and I´m super excited about that. Other than that, everything is going well. I am learning some spanish, but am definitely not capable of speaking with local ppl yet because they talk super fast, including the host family we stay with. Hope all of you are doing well. Hasta luego, Neet

Arrrr, We Be After Some Booty!!

Yes, that´s right folks - there are pirates in our midst!! We`ll be sure to upload pictures of these one-eyed thugs soon.
All is well here in Granada. The city is beautiful and the people are incredibly warm and welcoming. April, Harneet, Kristine and I have language school each morning starting at 8. The lessons go until noon, at which point we break to go home for lunch. We return at 2 for an activity in the city. We`ve been to the central area of the city for the past two days and it is awesome. On our first day here, we stopped by a place called ¨Chocolate¨ and enjoyed tropical drinks (made with thrice-filtered water - I love touristy areas :) ) and Fantas while surrounded by fountains, beautiful architecture, and exotic flora. We visited the local supermarket which April compared to grocery store in NYC and stocked up on essentials like Pepsi and Gatorade. On the second day, the gang went to visit a local museum while I went to see an Opthamologo (sp?). It was a dollar´s taxi ride outside of the city in a private hospital. The place seemed clean enough, and they had a water cooler of triple-filtered water for the waiting patients to drink. We got there a bit early, but the doctor came in about 40 minutes late. He came in eating an ice cream cone, but! he must have had an awesome ICM teacher b/c he washed his hands before coming near my face :). His ophthalmoscope was out of juice, so he used a room lamp and special glasses to check ouy my eyes. It was difficult communicating with him, but with charades we got our points across. All in all, I must say we are damn lucky to have all of the amazing healthcare facilities we do in the States - it´s easy to take it for granted when you don´t know anythihng different.

Alas, my time on the computer is up. I hope wherever you are, you´re doing well. Hasta luego :)!

In Granada!

Buenos dias! So 3 flights and a full day of traveling later, we are safe and sound in Granada. After a wonderful dinner with Bekah, Hoss and Mia, we went and watched movies at Kamal´s place so that at max we got about an hour of sleep before we woke up at 3 am so Alicia could be wonderful and take us to the airport. The flights weren´t bad at all because we were all super excited. All of us are doing well except for Kamal who is having an allergic reaction to something. Since we are experts at diagnosing --or because we stalked a doctor at the san salvador airport and he told Kamal so--we think she is having an allergic reaction to some lysol that accidently got into her eye Saturday night. We´ve been flushing it with saline solution but if any of you medical students reading this have suggestions, let us know! We´re going to try to find her a doctor here this afternoon. Other than that, there haven´t been any problems thus far. A taxi met us at the airport from the language school and the hour drive from Managua to Granada wasn´t bad at all--reminded me a lot of India actually. Kristine and Kamal are staying with a family that lives about one block away from the family --Francisca and her husband and daughter--that April and I are staying with. Before my lesson this morning, I just looked at everyone speaking Spanish and smiled awkardly! And ofcourse used the three phrases that my wonderful travelmates had drilled into me during our flight--no habla espaniol being the most handy thus far! We´re having a great time and have access to internet at the langage school so please keep in touch!

hasto luego,
Harneet

ps--the language school has a resident gato and our host family has a perro...and those of you who know my ´love´ for animals know how I feel about that! haha. oh and our host family has a papagayo too...and I swear I heard a rooster this morning! haha =P

A little background information

Hurricane Felix

Nicaragua is among the poorest countries in Latin America and has been struggling to recover from almost three decades of armed conflict and natural disasters. Hurricane Felix, which affected the northern Atlantic Coast, is the latest in this series of setbacks. The area of Nicaragua most affected, the Región Autonoma del Atlantico Norte (RAAN), is historically isolated and underserved due to a combination of factors. No paved road connects the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. Additionally, the two coasts are culturally and linguistically distinct. The scarcity of resources in this nation combined with the geographic isolation of the Atlantic Coast, have resulted in an especially vulnerable population. Felix, a Category 5 storm, added to this burden (September 4, 2007), affecting over 180,000 people in Nicaragua and leading to over 100 deaths. The destruction of homes, public buildings, and water facilities by Hurricane Felix has led to lasting public health issues and exacerbated disease burdens.

Collaborative Sahsa Health Initiative (CSHI)

The Collaborative Sahsa Health Initiative (CSHI) aims to use a geographic surveillance system to asses the household health care needs in the Sahsa area of Región Autonoma del Atlantico Norte (RAAN) in Nicaragua with an emphasis on the burden of diarrheal diseases. This project will complement current efforts by the University of Nicaragua, León (UNAN). During the summer, 8 UNC medical students will work in an integrated team with UNAN faculty and students and local community health workers to collect household data through developed questionnaires. Following the data collection, the Geographic Information System will allow for the integration of data into a map which can then be utilized to pinpoint disease and health patterns. Analysis with ArcGIS software will provide a foundation for the design of future interventions by UNAN, UNC, and the community. The Center for Epidemiology and Health (CIDS) within UNAN has utilized this methodology for their surveillance system in León, and thus, has extensive experience. Additional information will be collected on the existing health infrastructure through interviews with community leaders and brigadistas (health promoters). Finally, a series of public health workshops will be conducted for these local volunteer health workers on topics including malaria and water sanitation.

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to the weblog for the Collaborative Sahsa Health Initiative! This is a group started by eight UNC students committed to the development of healthcare infrastructure, clean water programs, and other public health initiatives for the Sahsa area of the RAAN region of Nicaragua. Our project will allow us to work closely with the people in the community to get a sense of their health needs, on what sorts of development projects it would be desirable and beneficial for us to collaborate with them, and to offer workshops on basic practices for improved health. We also plan to work with the University of Nicaragua to engage medical students, faculty, and deans in providing means for improved health and welfare in this region. The members of our group are set to leave for Nicaragua throughout the month of June, some traveling or participating in Spanish immersion programs prior to the start of their work. We'll keep you updated on our travels and adventures from airports, net cafes, and any wireless hotspots we can find! For now, check out the introductory posts from the students who will be participating in the trip.