So
where was I? Yes lunch. Very important. Anyways so Dan and I ordered the
pepperoni and salami calzone to split and the Holland chicks (Lelou and
sdfjhasb? Don’t know her name) ordered a normal pepperoni, green olive and
caper pizza. We sat and chatted until the food arrived and I tugged at the
water I was drinking (I would’ve ordered a PowerAde since I was massively dehydrated,
but it cost 37 YES 37 Cordobas (unlike the 20 cordoba cost at the hospital).
Plus the menu said it was Gatorade. Fail. Anyways We ended up talking about a
whole range of topics including what the two had thought of the hospital while
they both had Dengue at the same time (they were in agreement that it was one
of the worst experiences ever). They also then proceeded to talk about many of
the flaws of Nicaraguan mentalities: the lack of incentive to try hard at
public work (the story was about a plastic surgeon working on reconstructing a
man’s face after an accident, but the surgeon didn’t work as hard doing the
public work at the hospital as opposed to his clinic), bad shift hours (it
sounds like doctors do these awfully long shifts at the hospital all in chunks
of four days and end up wasting like 2 hours in the morning each day), not
enough follow through on projects (things getting started and never finished
(which is true as it would take us days to get something done through the staff
at times (getting bulbs for instance))) and bad care of objects not their own
(the story was of a doctor’s house that was built in 2002, but was trashed and
nothing was working because they never kept up the place). Personally I don’t
want to generalize these much more than these incidents because I don’t have
the bid data to support these conclusions for all the people (as I know many
Nicaraguans that don’t follow these stereotypes). Anyways I also hoped online
and worked a bit more on my translation of the manual and FBed a bit. So it was
a pretty solid lunch although we stayed quite late until like 2:30 and then
paid and left with the two girls. They walked most of the way back to the
hospital with us and then wished us well and safe travels before heading off in
their own direction.
Back at the hospital it was time to knock out those last 3 holes and get this
chain project finished. Dan decided he wanted to drill the other hole above the
one I had already drilled and put in the top bolt, so I let him. After some
more tedious measurements and checking of measurements Dan drilled the hole and
it was a bit off, but we managed to correct for it and got the bolt through
without too much issue. After that Dan put the two holes on the outside of the
wall for the other two bolts. I then went inside with all the tools and shifted
those friggin hospital beds around until I could think about drilling the
holes. I had taken measurements and then drilled the bottom hole (which pretty
much nailed the exterior hole. BAM! I then measured the top one and tried the
drilling, but ended up missing by almost a centimeter +, so I had to make an
adjustment for that and then finished the hole without issue. After that we
cleaned out the holes and put the bolts through without further issues. Dan
then went to Constrúmas to get the chains and more washers and nuts (because we
put 4 washers and 8 nuts on each set of four bolts (1 nut and washer per side
and then 1 extra nut to hold on the chain on the outside). In the interim time I
filed down the ends of the bolts to enable the nuts to twist on (as the cutting
process had rendered several of the bolts impassible to nuts). Meanwhile the
alarm for the oxygen tanks (being filled with liquid oxygen in a different
close by area had decided to turn itself on with its irritating whining.
Anyways I was doing fairly well as I would file the end down and then cut a
notch in the top to make a starting thread. I would then clean the threads with
the nut before moving on. I did about two of these and then I decided to go to
the shop and grab the ear protection to try and drown out the annoying constant
buzz of the alarm. I also decided to fix the chair in the laboratory at some
point through the afternoon (as Dan had already done the one in the ER). So I
grabbed the duct tape and headed over to the chair to grab the foam and put the
foam down and then tape the entire seat. This actually worked quite well as I
managed to cover the bad area and I had enough duct tape to basically cover the
entire seat nicely and the seat was much better afterward! BAM! Fixed!
The
chair before FOAMIN' it
The
foam to be added (also the ghost water on my lens)
Chair
is finished
The lab techs also loved
the new chair and were quite thankful (as this is where patients sit to have
blood drawn and whatnot, so I’m sure the patients were also happy). Meanwhile
Dan had been working on the chains and it was going quite well. The lady wanted
me to fix the arm on the same chair (as it was broken and being taped on) and
initially I tried to put in some identically sized bolts before realizing that
the required nut inside the arm was missing. I then almost gave up on the
project and went to file more ends of bolts. A little later I went back to the
workshop and tried some screws which also didn’t work, but I wasn’t quite
content yet, so I went back and found some slightly larger bolts and they fit
perfectly! SO BAM! FIXED THAT ARMREST! Basically all it needed were those and
now it’s tight on there (except for the broken front part, but I can’t really
fix that)! After that I had to make another run to Constrúmas to grab two more
6.5 foot chains because the guy at the store had not cut them for Dan in his
last purchase. After trekking there and buying the chains I said Dan and I
would be leaving San Carlos tomorrow at 8 and said goodbye and thanks to all of
them there. I gave the chains to Dan and then headed to the centro de salud
(after quickly running back about 1/3rd of the way there
to the hospital for some pliers) because I wanted to fix the autoclave (put the
case on) and teach the folks how to use it and give Guillermo the manuals. Rigo
(the lab tech) actually called me to see if I was going there and I said yes
and got there like 15 minutes later. Upon arrival I caught the guy I needed to
teach this morning at 9:30 and showed everyone in the room how to use the
autoclaves (Guillermo, Rigo and that guy). I also gave Guillermo the manuals
and thanked him as he thanked me for all my work at the clinic. I still have to
work more on that manual and send it to him, but it’s good for now. The guy I
had to teach seemed a tad annoyed with me, but I think it was because it was
like 5:30 on a Thrusday. Anyways after putting the case back on the unit (and
maybe breaking two of the screw holders too) I headed to the hospital for one
last time. I also thanked the director again for his help and he was quite
thankful. Popo wanted us to leave all the tools at the hospital for him to use
which was fine as it saved us from having to lug them around and back to the
States. Would’ve liked one of the two DMMs, but hey next time. I did grab the
programming base for the PICAXE that was going to be left there (two of the
actually) as I don’t think they’ll be doing anything with it really as there is
no IC. After that Dan and I said goodbye and thanks to Popo and clocked out at
6 PM. BAM! Long day of work achieved! Secondary chains project completed (Dan
and Popo had worked on enlarging the chain links to fit better on the bolts
while I was at the centro de salud). So basically we are done! That was crazy
amount of work today, but we finished basically everything we set out to today!
After that Dan and I felt elated to be done and ready to head back to the
States right now (darned presentation is still in the way, but that’ll be
tomorrow’s 6.5 hour bus ride). Anyways back at the hostel I packed up
everything and realized I can make it back home with just my LL Bean carry on
(leaving the other bag here in Nicaragua (saving me $25 for the checked bag)).
Anyways we’re taking the 8 AM bus so we have to get up around 5:50 AM and be at
the bus station by 7:15 AM. I chilled for a while and typed up blogs and then
we had chicken fillet, B&R, avocados and egg whites, coke, a salsa like
thing and tostones. So tasty! After dinner we chilled a bit more until like 10
ish when we headed to the Kaoma (we took a quick walk past the Champra which
was so dead the lady wasn’t evne collecting money outside it). We didn’t even
have to pay a cover tonight either at the Kaoma! We walked in and it was much
less smoky than before (I could breathe!) and we headed to the bar after I
stood awkwardly in the corner for a bit. Interestingly enough we actually met
Marlon there! He was just chillin’ at the bar with some of his crew and so we
were pretty good from then on. I also saw one of the SILAIS women form the
centro de salud there too, so it was a good time. Basically Marlon got me a
PowerAde early on when we arrived and got Dan a Toña and we talked to him for a
bit. It was karaoke night again so there wasn’t all that much dancing which was
kind of a shame. I had hoped our host cousin would come dancing tonight, but
she didn’t unfortunately. Anyways I never at any point through the night as I
never asked any woman too in the sporadic dance times. Marlon got pretty drunk
through the night and then got really set on me dancing with the SILAIS woman,
but at that point it had entered the “only karaoke” portion of the night it
seemed and I left before it ended at like 12:55 AM (I have to get up in like 5
hours). A couple of interesting things throughout the time there from 10 to
almost 1 was that Marlon seriously offered us cocaine. We never saw it but he
and this other duded went outside and disappeared for a bit and then came back
(and we don’t doubt that is what he did). Marlon was also hilarious as a drunk;
just wobbling around and being kinda crazy and having short term memory loss. I
also talked to this dude about Nicaragua and he thought it was sick I liked
Gallo Pinto and his mom lives in CA in San Fran. Dan is still at the Kaoma (and
it’s 2 in the morning (O.o)). I headed home to sleep a bit, but that’s not
possible at all. Also it’s presently thunder storming out (which is pretty
cool, but I hope the power stays on). Looking forward to tomorrow and glad that
I’m finally done with work! I had a fantastic time working here in San Carlos
and enjoyed the challenge and new adventures of every day. In total we fixed 20
things in the clinic (most of which I fixed myself as Dan had Dengue) and 31
things in the hospital and did the secondary project of the adding 6 chains
around 3 clusters of oxygen bottles, so BAM! That is a ton of junk fixed. Sure
we had devices we couldn’t fix, but those were usually something beyond our
skill levels or our resources. Anyways it’s been real keeping you guys updated
each day about fixes and repairs and whatnot. I’m going to finish out these
next few days on the blog just to say I covered everything, but I think the
next few days will be less exciting (although I am quite looking forward to the
States again). Peace!
Working
hard with Popo on the secondary project
Pups
on the way to the centro de salud
Look
at that professional work!
Can't
be too careful
The
centro de Salud
The
area by the ambulances with the slope
Pup
just wanting some food on the way to the centro de salud
That
wheel chair (a 4 week project) finally coming to fruition!
Also
additional note, the power went out at 2:18 AM ~.~// stumbling around in the dark
trying to find a table to flip.
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