Saturday

To say this is an adventure to this point is an understatement. Nothing bad has really happened thus far but our initial vow to remain flexible sure has come in handy. The flight finally out of Managua was calm and beautiful. The plane held exactly all 12 of us and the flight was a little over an hour and a half. We were then brought to the airport terminal where we waited for our carry-on luggage, most of us had 2 pieces of luggage which "houses" the necessities, underwear, scrubs, toiletries, etc. Well, it is Saturday and most of us STILL haven't seen our luggage. They say it is still coming, we remain hopeful and flexible :). The food is fabulous and the compound where we are staying is better than expected. Yes, the showers are cold, but it doesn't matter much. It is hot and we are working hard and sweating a lot! Yesterday we toured the hospital which is not far from the compound where we are staying. It is in much worse condition than what any of us expected or saw in the video. I think I can safely speak for the group, that we were and are very humbled and that a lot of us walked around with tears in our eyes when we saw the poverty of the people here. The pictures of the hospital are heart-wrenching. These people are kind and appreciative. Some of the team even got to see a baby be born on the initial tour. The team from California left today so the "ball is in our court". We held a clinic today at the church. We saw approximately 140 people from 8am-1pm. We have established the surgery schedule for the week and will be doing miscellaneous things that come to the hospital during the week as well. We will try to blog when we have electricity and time, not much spare time and the electricity is sporadic. We are safe, feel safe and are enjoying the challenges before us...Tamra