"One learns a great deal sometimes from being sick." - Alan Watts
The past two weeks have been undeniably difficult. I’ve been hit fairly hard by the
homesickness bug, as well as a fevery/sore throaty virus and some
gastrointestinal maladies, which, despite your interest in reading my blog, I
don’t think you really want to hear about. Add to this the fact that it’s currently the rainy season
(meaning gray drizzles every day), and you can understand why I felt pretty
depressed. Not even a (rainy) trip
to the volcano Pacaya could improve my mood. I subsequently had to make multiple visits to the Peace
Corps Medical Office, and one harrowing taxi trip into the heart of Guatemala
City, to visit the hospital lab for a blood draw.
(Long story short, for the medically inclined among my
readers: at my first checkup with the Peace Corps doctor, he noted that my
heart rate was 46 bpm, which caused great alarm. Although this is normal for me (and my family members), he
grew concerned about my thyroid, and proceeded to ask me lots of questions: How
much do you exercise? Do you
handle cold well? How about
heat? Can I touch your skin? My hand is warmer than your hand; can
you feel that? How many pillows do
you use? I’m not kidding; he asked
me how many pillows I use. He then
told me I would need to I report to Guate for a blood draw.)
While I was waiting for my test results, my sweet host
mother was beside herself with worry.
She made me special teas, asked her friends for advice regarding her
“americana enferma,” and fussed over me to no end. In the end, all my tests were negative, and Peace Corps
nurse discovered the cause of my illness: consommé. I knew that my host mother had been flavoring soups with
chicken stock; I didn’t know that she had been using it for every meal, to
flavor rice, noodles, vegetables, eggs, everything. Because consommé contains animal protein, and because I
haven’t eaten meat in 8-9 years, my poor vegetarian intestinal tract just kind
of gave up. I therefore stopped
eating consommé-flavored meals, and haven’t had any problems since.
Serendipitously, the past two weeks of training included both
a study of traditional Guatemalan medicinal remedies and a fair bit of time in
the local health center. I now
know that many Guatemalans rely on chamomile tea, safety-pin crosses, and red
clothing to fight illness. But my
favorite local remedy has to be swinging a dead black duck over a crying baby,
to cure said baby of the evil eye.
To be fair, most Guatemalans don’t buy these “old wives’ tales.” They’re much more likely to report to
the local health center, or Puesto de Salud, with their maladies.
The Puesto is most easily described as an ill-equipped
Urgent Care. It’s staffed by two
nurses and their non-licensed helper; the doctor only comes in on Mondays and
Wednesdays. Local Guatemalans can
come in for lab testing (including Pap smears!), diagnoses, free medications,
and birth control, which means that a lot of locals consider the Puesto their
primary care center. This is
unfortunate for several reasons: 1) the Puesto staff, while delightful, aren’t
doctors; 2) the Puesto isn’t equipped to perform complex diagnostic workups;
and 3) the Puesto is exceedingly overtaxed. They are funded and stocked by the government, and have
currently run out of most of their medications, including prenatal
vitamins. They also have only one
blood glucose meter, in a town (and country) riddled with diabetes.
That being said, I’ve been quite impressed by the good work
that the Puesto workers do. They
keep tabs on all the local health trends, including illnesses, vaccinations,
number of people taking supplementary vitamins, etc. They also go door-to-door to locate pregnant mothers who
haven’t come in for their recommended four check-ups, or to give vaccinations
to children and pets. Their
dedication to and enthusiasm for their work is really amazing. Especially when you consider that they
haven’t been paid for several months.
And on that bittersweet note, I take my leave!
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| Pacaya, one of Guatemala's active volcanoes |
