Only in Guatemala

This morning we went to Chicabracan for our bi-weekly clinic there. We probably should have known today was going to be interesting when we picked up five women on the way there (still a few miles away) who referred to Heidi as "Doctora". Our second clue might have been the large number of people walking TOWARDS us as we headed down the last stretch of "road" to clinic. The trail, really, to Chicabracan is never good, but today it was quite bad. Typically, we're told, there are a few weeks of very heavy rains in September before the dry season starts. We're in those right now and the roads are suffering for it.

Anyway, we finally found out what was in store for us. Just before our final turn to the school, there was a massive pile of rocks in the middle of the road and a large crane working to move the pile. The guys at the pile guessed that we were headed to the school and told us to go back, take a left, look for an intersection, and take another left. Well, that's what we did, after driving through some yards, some very large mud puddles, and under a few low trees. Thank God for the GPS Heidi's aunt bought us, because this "intersection" wasn't exactly Main and 5th Avenue. Of course, the GPS showed nothing there, which was quite accurate, but since we had "tagged" the clinic, it knew we were west of there, so we turned.

Okay, no big deal. We got to clinic - and only about 15 minutes late, since we were probably going to be a bit early anyway. And we weren't swamped with people, like we thought we might be (even though 5 were in the back of our truck!). It turns out that the women we brought with us in the truck were from Quiche. We're not sure how they found out about our clinic in the middle of nowhere, but....

Grrrr... it did it again. Anyway, the computer decided that you'd like to see this picture now. It was taken after we turned around and headed back up the hill from the rockpile.

One patient we really wanted to strangle, but were prevented by the fact that we are MISSIONARIES, was the man who told us he couldn't work because he got a sore back when he did, but that his wife was just being a whiner when she said her back hurt from carrying two children and washing clothes all day. AARRGGGHH!!!!

Anyway, the second picture is of Heidi trying to get one of her patients to say "aaahhh". This, apparently, is a cultural thing. In the US, we're taught from birth that when a doctor is looking in your mouth, you say "aaahhh". Here, not so much. What's worse, is that they think it's funny and when you finally get them to say "aahhh", they start laughing and everything closes back up again. The struggles of doctoring in Guatemala!

The third picture is of that same very cute little girl showing us her "sonrisa" (smile).

The fourth picture was taken while driving back to the main road. Note the two ladies with their cargo on their heads, passing the ubiquitous "Coca-Cola" sign on the local tienda (convenience store). You can see some livestock tied up in the background (all the livestock here either runs free or is tied on a leash) and some small mud-brick houses.

Anyway, tomorrow is the ASELSI clinic in Chichicastenango. We'll be seeing Laura Hernandez again, the patient who had the molar pregnancy and spent 10 days in the hospital here in Santa Cruz for a 10 minute procedure. Heidi's not sure they even got all of the mole out, so we'll be checking again tomorrow. If not, we may work with Dr. Hoak to get the rest of it.

In additional news, the baby that the Ficker family took in is gaining weight but cannot be removed from oxygen without her "sats" crashing. Leslie is now afraid that the reason the baby is not gaining weight is because she has a bad heart problem that we couldn't hear before because the rest of her chest was so noisy. Now that that's clearing up, she thinks she hears something bad. Heidi will listen this weekend, but pray for this little baby...