After an entire week of caring for sick animals, I returned to Antigua to resume my schooling. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last three weeks, school in the morning and studying in the afternoon. My Spanish is definitely improving. I also got to meet with the two teams of married couples that passed through here on consecutive weeks. I can now say with certainty that I know how to drive to the airport and back. The president of SI, Dave Hansen, and his wife also were here for the two weeks, so I got to meet them for the first time.
Then, Saturday, the day before they left, we all went out to climb the active volca...no, actually, I got sick and stayed in bed all day. But everyone else had a great time evading the lava.
Last Thursday evening, I started to feel not so good. By Friday afternoon I was running a fever, and other things not fit for publishing. Saturday I slept. Saturday evening I felt better and joined the group for a post-volcano pizza party—bad idea. Then there were ups and downs all this week. I finally had a parasite exam yesterday, and the result: lombrices. If you really want the English translation, don’t look it up at mealtime. But, two chewable tablets later I feel great.
Today, I move back out to Magdalena with the Mendez family for two weeks, before three more weeks of school. Then, before I know it, it will be time to go back home to Oregon for Christmas.
Happy All Saint’s Day
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Injections
Monday, October 06, 2008
Although I will not be able to post this entry for a few days, I wanted to get down what I experienced today for the first time while it is still fresh in my mind.
We had a late 7:30 breakfast this morning on account of the kids being done with school. Ingrid decided they deserved to sleep in. While we ate, Mario enlightened me about the upcoming day’s work. He, his son Mario and I would continue their regular circuit of the surrounding farms and give injections to pigs and cows.
Mario’s veterinary ministry covers quite a large area in and around Magdalena. He gets all of the medicine donated, so he doesn’t charge the farmers anything. He doesn’t carry vaccinations, though, because they are too expensive.
We started out within the town itself, making the rounds to women whom Mario has helped to start small businesses with chickens and pigs. Mario inspected and showed me the chicken coups they have been building. Then, we began the injections. Mario put me in charge of the vitamin B12. All of the pigs and cows received this. I had to fill the syringe with the amount he specified for each animal, help hold the animal, and then give him the syringe to inject the medicine. Mario Jr. did the same with the anti-parasite medication, and with antibiotics if necessary. Pigs can squeal very loud when they’ve got a cable around their snouts and up to 8 cc’s at a time of medication going into their necks.
When we began making our way around the outside of the town, the houses became farms, and the chickens and pigs became pigs and cows. The cows received pretty much the same treatments as the pigs, albeit in larger doses, up to 12 cc’s to a syringe. The difference here was that while Mario and a farmer held the cow, Mario Jr. and I took turns quickly doing our respective injections ourselves. I was actually expecting a little instruction prior to plunging the needle through the skin, but I guess hands-on learning is best. I quickly got the hang of it, after I stained my hands yellow.
Of course, a great deal of our time was spent visiting with the people we were serving. Mario seems to know and have time to talk with everyone in town. He spent the longest time speaking with a man who had just accepted Christ a couple weeks ago after being an alcoholic for many years.
By the time we finished with the last house, we had given injections to 35 pigs and cows for about 15 households, plus one sick dog whose owner stopped us as we were walking up the street. Then, as we exited the front gate, there were three girls standing there with two puppies, along with medication they had just purchased at the pharmacy. Mario donated a syringe, medicated the puppies, and sent them on their way. All said, then, 38 animals and about 5 miles walking in 7 hours. And by the end of the day, my new boots were feeling…quite nice, actually.
Monday nights are family nights at the Mendez home, so I finally got the formal introduction to all six kids, shared a bit about myself, understood a surprisingly significant amount of their Bible study, listened to them sing, and prayed with them for the family, the church, the ministry, and the Kingdom.
Although I will not be able to post this entry for a few days, I wanted to get down what I experienced today for the first time while it is still fresh in my mind.
We had a late 7:30 breakfast this morning on account of the kids being done with school. Ingrid decided they deserved to sleep in. While we ate, Mario enlightened me about the upcoming day’s work. He, his son Mario and I would continue their regular circuit of the surrounding farms and give injections to pigs and cows.
Mario’s veterinary ministry covers quite a large area in and around Magdalena. He gets all of the medicine donated, so he doesn’t charge the farmers anything. He doesn’t carry vaccinations, though, because they are too expensive.
We started out within the town itself, making the rounds to women whom Mario has helped to start small businesses with chickens and pigs. Mario inspected and showed me the chicken coups they have been building. Then, we began the injections. Mario put me in charge of the vitamin B12. All of the pigs and cows received this. I had to fill the syringe with the amount he specified for each animal, help hold the animal, and then give him the syringe to inject the medicine. Mario Jr. did the same with the anti-parasite medication, and with antibiotics if necessary. Pigs can squeal very loud when they’ve got a cable around their snouts and up to 8 cc’s at a time of medication going into their necks.
When we began making our way around the outside of the town, the houses became farms, and the chickens and pigs became pigs and cows. The cows received pretty much the same treatments as the pigs, albeit in larger doses, up to 12 cc’s to a syringe. The difference here was that while Mario and a farmer held the cow, Mario Jr. and I took turns quickly doing our respective injections ourselves. I was actually expecting a little instruction prior to plunging the needle through the skin, but I guess hands-on learning is best. I quickly got the hang of it, after I stained my hands yellow.
Of course, a great deal of our time was spent visiting with the people we were serving. Mario seems to know and have time to talk with everyone in town. He spent the longest time speaking with a man who had just accepted Christ a couple weeks ago after being an alcoholic for many years.
By the time we finished with the last house, we had given injections to 35 pigs and cows for about 15 households, plus one sick dog whose owner stopped us as we were walking up the street. Then, as we exited the front gate, there were three girls standing there with two puppies, along with medication they had just purchased at the pharmacy. Mario donated a syringe, medicated the puppies, and sent them on their way. All said, then, 38 animals and about 5 miles walking in 7 hours. And by the end of the day, my new boots were feeling…quite nice, actually.
Monday nights are family nights at the Mendez home, so I finally got the formal introduction to all six kids, shared a bit about myself, understood a surprisingly significant amount of their Bible study, listened to them sing, and prayed with them for the family, the church, the ministry, and the Kingdom.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Three Weeks Later
Yesterday, I finished with my first three weeks of language school. Although only four hours each morning, it is rather exhausting. My professor, Harvey Toledo, gave me hundreds of vocab words and about a hundred new verbs. We also touched on 12 of the 14 verb tenses, spending hours on each of the major 7. Just as when I was learning Spanish in high school, I have found that my understanding of the English counterparts to Spanish grammar has increased as well. I even came up with an example of the subjunctive voice in English (that requires conjugation): "The teacher demands that the student finish his homework." It sort of falls between the present and future tenses, "the student finishes," and "the student will finish."
Enough of grammar, although I'd bet a select group of you find it interesting (now I'm seeing subjunctivity everywhere). During the past weeks I've met up with more of the SI staff, including Oscar, who was sick the first week I was here. I've been able to spend some time getting to know Nic and Maurine Bekaert. They invited Fernando's wife and kids and I over for crêpes after they moved into their house. Nic had to call his mother in France for the recipe. We also all went to a big fiesta last Sunday; one of Oscar's daughters had her fifteenth birthday. The coming of age ceremony was like a slightly scaled back wedding. There was a ring bearer and a pillow girl, and vows were exchanged. The quinceañera knelt on the pillow while her father and pastor blessed her. There was food also. Lots of food. And a church service. It was enough to wear me out.
I don't believe I mentioned that Fernando left for the States a few days after I arrived for a two-week fundraising and relationship-building tour. How this most affected me, is that since Fernando's wife has a hard time with the clutch, I got to have my first foreign driving experience. Saturday before last, I drove the whole crew to the capital in the rain (actually, it has rained just about every day since I got here) for a YWAM lunch. It turns out that Fernando and his wife met while in YWAM, lived and worked for years at the base in Guatemala City, and raised their children there. They were all getting together to talk about a youth magazine they want to start.
More about the driving. At first glance, it seems that here, like in most other cities of the world, traffic laws are rather loosely interpreted. People drive extremely close to one another, so they have no qualms with squeezing their cars into a not quite car-sized opening in the next lane. Also, pedestrians never seem to have the right of way. But, since few here have insurance, they are also very attentive. It's amazing how fast so many cars, vans, buses, jalopies, and motorcycles can fit down a road when everyone is concentrating on the road. Driving is relaxing by no means, but neither is it heart stopping.
Back to the present, I leave Antigua today to live and work with pastor and veterinarian Mario Mendez for one week in Magdalena, the town where most of the SI ministries are located. When we met at the first staff meeting, he told me that I should come and work with him for a while, that we could go and vaccinate some cows. He said this in a joking voice, but I'm not sure...
Anyway, I return to Antigua on the 12th to resume language school, and possibly any and all communication with the outside world.
Once again I thank you all for your prayers, your support, and your love.
Enough of grammar, although I'd bet a select group of you find it interesting (now I'm seeing subjunctivity everywhere). During the past weeks I've met up with more of the SI staff, including Oscar, who was sick the first week I was here. I've been able to spend some time getting to know Nic and Maurine Bekaert. They invited Fernando's wife and kids and I over for crêpes after they moved into their house. Nic had to call his mother in France for the recipe. We also all went to a big fiesta last Sunday; one of Oscar's daughters had her fifteenth birthday. The coming of age ceremony was like a slightly scaled back wedding. There was a ring bearer and a pillow girl, and vows were exchanged. The quinceañera knelt on the pillow while her father and pastor blessed her. There was food also. Lots of food. And a church service. It was enough to wear me out.
I don't believe I mentioned that Fernando left for the States a few days after I arrived for a two-week fundraising and relationship-building tour. How this most affected me, is that since Fernando's wife has a hard time with the clutch, I got to have my first foreign driving experience. Saturday before last, I drove the whole crew to the capital in the rain (actually, it has rained just about every day since I got here) for a YWAM lunch. It turns out that Fernando and his wife met while in YWAM, lived and worked for years at the base in Guatemala City, and raised their children there. They were all getting together to talk about a youth magazine they want to start.
More about the driving. At first glance, it seems that here, like in most other cities of the world, traffic laws are rather loosely interpreted. People drive extremely close to one another, so they have no qualms with squeezing their cars into a not quite car-sized opening in the next lane. Also, pedestrians never seem to have the right of way. But, since few here have insurance, they are also very attentive. It's amazing how fast so many cars, vans, buses, jalopies, and motorcycles can fit down a road when everyone is concentrating on the road. Driving is relaxing by no means, but neither is it heart stopping.
Back to the present, I leave Antigua today to live and work with pastor and veterinarian Mario Mendez for one week in Magdalena, the town where most of the SI ministries are located. When we met at the first staff meeting, he told me that I should come and work with him for a while, that we could go and vaccinate some cows. He said this in a joking voice, but I'm not sure...
Anyway, I return to Antigua on the 12th to resume language school, and possibly any and all communication with the outside world.
Once again I thank you all for your prayers, your support, and your love.
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