Today the team went to Antigua for team day, designed to promote team bonding before the intense week of surgery. I'd been there two or three times before, but it's an interesting place to visit if you don't mind the crowds. There is also the unending parade of vendors offering scarves, jewelry, flutes, blankets and drums. Small boys and girls carry trays of candy and gum and circle around you chanting, "chicle, gum, dulce, candy, carefully avoiding eye contact where they might have to acknowledge that you've declined. After a very nice lunch in the outdoor courtyard of a hotel restaurant sponsored by Pepsi, a big supporter of Operation Smile in Guatemala, we wandered some more before returning to the busses for the trip back to Guatemala City. A group of about eight of us rode in a smaller van as we had to go to the hospital to organize tomorrow's charts and make sure the lab results were all in and held no surprises. The ward is really nice with great beds, clean bathrooms, and nurses who are happy to have us on their ward. My apologies for the dearth of photos - I promise they will appear tomorrow.
The 45 minute drive back took over two hours due to weekend traffic. Since I was riding in the van instead of the larger bus, and was in it for a long time, I took notice of a man who has been riding with us since we arrived. He's tall, clean-shaven and well-built, dresses in a black suit and tie and has very well-shined shoes. Turns out he's our security guard and James, one of our project coordinators refers to him as "Steely-eyed Dan." Two years ago when I was on an Op Smile mission in Guatemala, we had a soldier who looked about 12 years old standing in the doorway of our bus. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, and looked for all the world like someone's kid brother. Last year they apparently had a more convincing soldier on the bus, and people complained, so this year, it's Dan. We also have a "follow truck" with armed guys. All of this is done at the request of the Op Smile Foundation in Virginia, perhaps because of the press coverage in the US, or maybe because Guatemala is fairly high on the most dangerous countries list. I always feel safe here, but I'm not out wandering the streets. I generally leave the hotel at 6:30am and return from the hospital between 8:30 and 10:00pm, so my "out and about" time in the danger zone is pretty limited.
Tomorrow the action starts with the first day of surgery, so I'll stop here and get some sleep. Just one observation and a quick story. I really like this team and it's been fun catching up with some of the people I've known from prior missions. However, I was wandering in the shops with three women, and two of them were haggling prices just "for the fun of it." I know it's supposed to be "part of the fun," and that the prices are raised for the tourist trade to take the haggling into account, but it bugs me. The artisans are charging so little for their wares in the first place that it seems wrong to try to pay less just as a game.
The quick story is that yesterday, Alessia, the Italian anesthesiologist left screening to go set up the OR. She found a box with endotracheal tubes - used to put in the trachea of unconscious patients to breath for them - but they were all big adult size. After searching for a long time, she came back to screening and asked the surgeons and other anesthesiologists if they knew where the smaller tubes were. Everyone was busy and distracted and gave her quick shakes of the head or negative responses. After further searching through all the boxes, she still couldn't find them. She returned and asked more forcefully and got a bit more response, but still no real interest. Everyone was sure they were around somewhere. Then at breakfast this morning, she came into the dining room and yelled, " OK! EVERYBODY STOP CHEWING, STOP TALKING, AND LISTEN TO ME! THERE ARE NO ET TUBES FOR CHILDREN HERE!!" and then walked out. After a short silence, the anesthesiologists left as a group to search all the boxes again and finally found them in a miss-marked box, so they all went on team day happy.
Tomorrow - first surgical day.
The 45 minute drive back took over two hours due to weekend traffic. Since I was riding in the van instead of the larger bus, and was in it for a long time, I took notice of a man who has been riding with us since we arrived. He's tall, clean-shaven and well-built, dresses in a black suit and tie and has very well-shined shoes. Turns out he's our security guard and James, one of our project coordinators refers to him as "Steely-eyed Dan." Two years ago when I was on an Op Smile mission in Guatemala, we had a soldier who looked about 12 years old standing in the doorway of our bus. He had a rifle slung over his shoulder, and looked for all the world like someone's kid brother. Last year they apparently had a more convincing soldier on the bus, and people complained, so this year, it's Dan. We also have a "follow truck" with armed guys. All of this is done at the request of the Op Smile Foundation in Virginia, perhaps because of the press coverage in the US, or maybe because Guatemala is fairly high on the most dangerous countries list. I always feel safe here, but I'm not out wandering the streets. I generally leave the hotel at 6:30am and return from the hospital between 8:30 and 10:00pm, so my "out and about" time in the danger zone is pretty limited.
Tomorrow the action starts with the first day of surgery, so I'll stop here and get some sleep. Just one observation and a quick story. I really like this team and it's been fun catching up with some of the people I've known from prior missions. However, I was wandering in the shops with three women, and two of them were haggling prices just "for the fun of it." I know it's supposed to be "part of the fun," and that the prices are raised for the tourist trade to take the haggling into account, but it bugs me. The artisans are charging so little for their wares in the first place that it seems wrong to try to pay less just as a game.
The quick story is that yesterday, Alessia, the Italian anesthesiologist left screening to go set up the OR. She found a box with endotracheal tubes - used to put in the trachea of unconscious patients to breath for them - but they were all big adult size. After searching for a long time, she came back to screening and asked the surgeons and other anesthesiologists if they knew where the smaller tubes were. Everyone was busy and distracted and gave her quick shakes of the head or negative responses. After further searching through all the boxes, she still couldn't find them. She returned and asked more forcefully and got a bit more response, but still no real interest. Everyone was sure they were around somewhere. Then at breakfast this morning, she came into the dining room and yelled, " OK! EVERYBODY STOP CHEWING, STOP TALKING, AND LISTEN TO ME! THERE ARE NO ET TUBES FOR CHILDREN HERE!!" and then walked out. After a short silence, the anesthesiologists left as a group to search all the boxes again and finally found them in a miss-marked box, so they all went on team day happy.
Tomorrow - first surgical day.
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