Travel Day – Feb. 12

It was highly uneventful. I woke up 18 minutes late, at 4:18 a.m., and took exactly 12 minutes to get ready because we were supposed to leave for the airport at 4:30, but we didn’t wind up leaving until 4:45.We got to the airport and checked our luggage, two bins full of mission supplies. We had to carry on all of our own personal belongings, went through security without problems, and then went to the mini-Borders. I bought a book. Then I read part of it on the first flight, then got off in Houston, and waited a couple of hours. We boarded the next flight a half hour late. When I looked out the window, the stars looked like they were in the atmosphere. I began to think of Peter Pan and, “Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning!” Then we landed in Managua, went through customs, listened to the group that played music and sang for us, then rode the bus for a couple of hours to get to San Ramon. Then we go to the quinta, got settled, and went to sleep. The end. I did say it was uneventful.

Clinic Day – Feb. 13

If I wanted to lie and make it sound like this journal is a daily sort of deal, I would start with “Today….” however, I am going to be honest and let you know it is actually the 17th, if I did my math right.

Anyways, The day started for me around 7 a.m., but I’m not sure, because I rarely look at clocks here. It’s something we like to call “Nica Time,” which basically means “sort of at whatever time was specified, but nobody’s really quite sure because we’re in no rush.” Then, after I got up, I took a shower, got dressed into my beautiful scrubs, and went to breakfast. The buses got here Nica Time, and off we went to El Naranjo. It was about a 20 minute ride on bumpy, unpaved mountainish road. When we got there, I set up my height and weight station (scale on the ground and measuring tape duct tapped to the wall) and height and weighed people after they went through triage and before they sent them in to the doctor. I pretty much did that most of the day, and handed stickers out to the kids for a while before we left, which was around 4 or 5. When I got back, I changed out of my scrubs, walked into town and bought this cuaderno, then helped make goodie bags until dinner. At this time, I ate dinner then hung out in the girls’ dorm until bedtime.

(I forgot to mention we were in a school for the clinic.)

Clinic day – Feb. 14

As I write this, it is 1:05 a.m. when I’m supposedly getting up at 7… more of that later. Before I get into day 2, I must admit that most of this journal will be completed on the plane rides home.

So, day two started much the same as day one. I got up, took a shower, ate breakfast, and off we went on a 20 minute bus ride to La Garita. As we found out when we got there, we were going to be working in a church. Quit picturing a grand Spanish cathedral type deal.

This church was smaller than your average American classroom. The floors were concrete, it was one room and the chairs were plastic, like the ones you sit in at the pool when you aren’t lucky enough to get a lawn chair that you can lay down in.

I did height and weight in a corner and made friends with a girl who translated normal speed Spanish into turtle-slow Spanish for me. Then, the day ended much the same as the one before, and that is how I spent Valentine’s Day.

Clinic Day – Feb. 15

This time, the Purple Team (the one I am on) got split up and added to the two other teams. I went to the Blue Team. So, when we went to El Ticaro, I got to do my height and weight job with my fellow missionary friend, Lindsay. The day, again went much the same as the one before, again. Except for lunch. Something got lost in translation and the cooks made peanut butter and jelly and jalapeno cheese sandwiches for lunch. But then they took the cheese off and it was totally fine. And it was really hot that day. Also, we were in a school that day, and there were soooo many bugs that day. When I was done working, I got to interview some kids about their lives, too, for my little brother’s homework.

Giant clinic day – Feb. 16

This day was not a routine clinic day. All three teams got together and went to one village. Before this day, I had never ridden on top of a bus. This time I did, and it was extremely fun. Once we got there, after a 50-minute bus ride, there were hundreds of people there waiting. For most of the teens and a few adults the day started as “children activities.” This means that we walked in the street (dirt path) to a large intersection/crossroad. There, we played games for four hours, pretty much making it an entire vacation bible school day, in the bazillion-degree sun, in Spanish. I got burnt, but had fun. When that was done, I went and finished my height and weight job then helped out in the la farmacia. When I rode home on the top of the bus at about seven, the stars were a million hopeful souls smiling down at us. We learned about metaphors in English today.

Day of rest – Feb. 17

Words cannot describe the amazing beauty of Selva Negra. It’s like a pearl in an oyster of poverty. I wish I could look out my window and see it everyday.

Last clinic day – Feb. 18

The roads to La Suana were so terrible, the bus could hardly make it. The level of poverty there was insane. The school was broken and old, with holes and cracks in the wall, and basically just sticks and stones in place to fill the large gap between the rood and the sad, tired wall. I won’t go into too much detail about my work except for when I got to work in the pharmacy. This time, I actually was able to fill prescriptions. I felt so useful. The day went quick and easy, an excellent way to end an excellent trip.

Traveling back

We rode on the bus for the two hour ride to Nicaragua, and went to the airport. I had a Nica-Subway-sandwich, then got on the plane and headed home.

Customs was a pain in Houston and the fire alarms were going off for no reason, but I was happy to see American bathrooms and American food again. I arrived home at midnight and took a long, hot, bugless shower. And I’m already thinking about going back.

Hope conquers all.

Editor’s Note: Emily Lewis is an eighth grade student at Tahoma Junior High. She kept a diary of her experiences with the Corner of Love’s mission to Nicaragua in February.