A Gringa No Brasil

I’m finally back in Cantarranas after spending more than a week in Tegucigalpa for doctors’ appointments. After my nose was sewn up that Saturday, I had follow up appointments with the ear, nose and throat doctor and the neurosurgeon, I had a CT scan, and I saw the plastic surgeon again to have the stitches removed. Once the swelling went down, they confirmed that I won’t be needing any surgery, and now all that’s left is a little scab on the bridge of my nose.

While running around Teguz to all of my med appointments, I visited three different hospitals – two private and one public. The public hospitals are free, except for maybe a couple lempiras here and there for medications. Of course that means that the public hospitals are a million times more crowded. The reason I went to the public hospital in the first place is because I had a quick follow up with the plastic surgeon who works at various hospitals and that was the only day/place she could fit me in her schedule. After my visits to the squeaky clean, nicely air-conditioned, private hospitals, this was like a depressing scene out of some kind of epidemic movie. Doctors and nurses seemed to be outnumbered 100 to 1. There were long lines in front of some doors and others where people gave up on order and just formed a mob, waiting for it to be opened a crack, hoping it was their turn to be let in. Rather than going to a cafeteria for food, the food comes to you. There were women walking around selling snacks, gum, and drinks like vendors at sporting event. Very few doors were labeled and there was no general reception area so I wandered around for awhile asking random employees where I could find the specific waiting room that I was looking for. Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long before the surgeon met me there. She took me into one of the examination rooms via the back door for employees only so that I wouldn’t have to fight through the mob of Hondurans wondering why the gringa gets to cut in line. The check-up was quick, and I was on my way, a million times more appreciative for Peace Corps healthcare.

To celebrate the end of my medical woes, I went to a friend’s site to watch Honduras play against Chile in the World Cup. It aired at 5:30am our time, but we still had a good showing of volunteers that came out to support their host country’s team. Unfortunately Honduras lost 0-1. With a lot of fans, though, the score doesn’t really seem to matter. It’s been almost 30 years since Honduras made it to the World Cup so everyone is just super excited to see the team get a chance to play. I’m sure some people back home are oblivious to the fact that the World Cup is even going on right now, which is why I love that I get to experience it in a country that lives and breathes soccer. On game days, it’s a rarity to see people not sporting the national team’s jersey or at least their colors (volunteers included). I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa right now (which, for those of you living under a rock, is the country hosting the World Cup).