Inglés, por favor

Usted debe aspirar antes de inyectar! Vamos a enseñar a los estudiantes sobre higiene personal. Usted tiene que completar tres evaluaciones de comunidad. Are you understanding all of this? No? Join the club. I thought practicing new skills was challenging and nerve racking…that was before I had an instructor and patients who speak only Spanish. This is a whole new ballgame. Maybe I should’ve spent some time with Rosetta Stone, after all. Thankfully, I have been put in a group with Elizabeth, who is fluent in Spanish. My experience so far in Panama has been enlightening, interesting, challenging, and fun! Oh, and hot. The Panamanian humidity and heat beats Florida hands down, not to mention we don’t have AC. HOWEVER, I am NOT complaining. One thing I have already learned on this trip is how fortunate I am. The community I work in is called Soloy. So far, we have spent two days walking through the community and meeting the people. Their houses are what we would describe as shacks- mud floors, walls made of sticks, roof made of aluminum and sticks, no electricity, no running water, no bathroom. Many of them struggle to have enough food. It has been an eye-opening, and at times, heart-breaking experience. There is also a problem with having adequate transportation. Most of the people walk everywhere. Some of the patients we have seen in the clinic have to walk 4-6+ hours to get there. Talk about getting a new perspective on life.

Another new experience: being the minority. Growing up in Iowa there wasn’t much diversity. Here, in the Soloy group, I am the only blonde hair, blue-eyed person…..I was quite a spectacle to the Panamanians the first day. Despite my inability to speak their language and my “strange” appearance, the Panamanians have welcomed me with open arms. In the United States, I’m pretty sure if a strange looking student nurse came at a patient with foreign words, shaky hands and a needle, most patients would say, “Get her away from me!” Fortunately, they give me the benefit of the doubt. As a result, I have learned many new things and have been able to practice skills such as, administering vaccinations and completing pediatric assessments. I even got to be present for a child-birth. Speaking of the child birth…lets get into cultural differences. Pre-delivery, the “pep talk,” if you will, consisted of the nurse telling the soon-to-be-mother, “It’s going to hurt on your back, your abdomen, and you’ll feel pressure. There will be no crying. You are not the first women to have a baby and you will not be the last. This is normal, the pain is normal. When it comes time to push, you will push and get the baby out.” A bit harsh by American standards, I’d say. For the birth, no family was present, no pain meds were given, the baby was not weighed, and the mother did not hold the baby immediately after. Very different. Other cultural differences: less documentation, no computers, no sterility, one room hospitals and clinics, no patient confidentiality, different procedural techniques, etc., etc., etc.

Aside from clinical and community experiences, I have had to opportunity to explore Panama City, hike a volcano, swim in a water fall, have a mud facial, swim in the hot springs, shop at local markets and visit the Panama Canal. It has definitely been a successful trip thus far!

I have so much I could go on and on about, but I don’t think this blog is supposed to be a novel. After only four days I have experienced and learned so much. I’m eager to see what the next two weeks have in store!