MINSA, Jalapeño chips, and Toothpaste

I haven’t written in a couple days so I’ll catch up now.
Monday was a pretty normal day. It consisted of time in the MINSA clinic, like usual, and we went to go visit a lady who had a small machete wound on her foot. Her foot was sooo swollen! Mindy cleaned it up and we gave her some antibiotics and Ibuprofen to help with the infection and swelling. Her husband, Pedro Hitler, was the cutest old man. He was like 70 and about 30 years older than his wife. He was enthusiastic for 70 though and was a real sweetheart. He wanted to practice his English on us and I told him that was fine as long as he would teach us Miskito! I’m pretty sure we’ll become good friends haha.
Afterwards, Mindy, Bridget, Ruth, and I went out on the town in search for our favorite Jalapeño tortilla chips. Ruth showed us the four different little shops we had in Francia that I had no idea about! We went all the way out by the high school and saw a beautiful sunset. I realized (as I have been a lot more lately) it really is pretty here sometimes. Out past the town square is more of a serene, secluded area. Mindy and I talked about going out there sometime to watch a sunset or sunrise sometime. Out there was like on a hill that overlooked pretty much Nicaraguan “jungle” and right on the horizon you could see the sun. It was pretty nice!
Tuesday started off like normal as well. After working in the clinic we went to visit our friend Noelia. We first met her after we found out that she had lost her baby that we couldn’t hear a heartbeat for a while back. We befriended her and her brother, Fernando, who always seem to be giving us stuff. The first time we visited her she gave us a bunch of plantains and promised us some papayas. The next time we went her brother gave us a bunch of papayas and some sugar cane. This day was no different. As we were leaving, Mindy complimented Noelia on her earrings. She smiled and asked, “Does she have her ears pierced?” I answered in the affirmative. “Does she wear earrings?” I said yes. Immediately she pulled the earrings off of her ears and handed them to Mindy. We were both amazed at her kindness. I just thought to myself, “Why is it that this lady who has so little compared to so many people is still so willing to give?” I was humbled.
After we left there, we came back to the hill to pick up a goodie bag that we were going to give to a new mother. This was a 15-year-old girl that had just had a baby the week before. The first time I saw this girl in the clinic I couldn’t believe she was even pregnant. That isn’t the first (and I’m sure it won’t be the last) time I felt that way. When we got to her house, we were followed by a flock of children. There were probably 10 random kids that just walked up behind us. Sometimes stuff like that happens around here haha. We got followed or we get stared at. I’m thinking that may stop eventually but I’m not so sure. Anyway, we gave the girl the gift and they were very grateful. I like it that we’re starting to get to know people around here. It definitely changes the way I feel about here. The more I get to know people, the more it feels like home.
Wednesday morning we went to MINSA, but things were really slow. The doctor and nurse from Waspam were back so they were saying most of the patients that were coming in and there weren’t that many coming in the first place. Mindy and I left early and headed back to the hill. Later that afternoon we went to do Bible study. That’s been going slow lately because we haven’t been able to catch Francisco and Anamelia at home probably because everybody is out getting rice in their plantations. We can’t talk to Zanaida so we usually don’t do much over there. This time, though, Mindy and I decided to take a beach ball to play with the kids. So we went and played with the kids for about an hour. Then, we all got together and had a word of prayer before we left. We got to know a bunch of them and they really seemed to take a liking to us. Just a little while longer we were walking down the street and ran into those kids again. Some ran towards us and gave us hugs, while others greeted us with ear-to-ear smiles. That made my day! Again, feeling like I’m getting to know people makes the world of difference here.
Today (Thursday) we went to Santa Clara to teach about tooth brushing. I was excited about it and it turned out being even more fun than I thought it would be. I thought it would be kind of intimidating going up in front of those kids since I hadn’t really prepared, but it was fun! The kids were quiet for the most part, but it was surprisingly rewarding when they did respond. Even more rewarding was when we heard some kids walking down the hall singing the song we had just taught them. Not only that, but we saw a couple of little girls afterwards with gobs of toothpaste running down their chin. It’s kind of nice to know that the effort we’re putting forth is making a difference, even for just a little while.