World Vets - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua, 2010

Hello! I'm am writing to you from beautiful San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua! I am here with World Vets, a volunteer organization that performs no-cost spay and neuter clinics all around the world.

I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua around 2pm local time on Saturday, May 15. I was the first to arrive and met Dr. Amanda Thomas and Dr. Robert Bruner, the couple leading the trip, right away. Also on my flight was a couple from Fort Meyers, FL. We spent the day at the airport and the neighboring Best Western waiting for everyone else to arrive. Although it was a long day, it was great to meet them and swap stories. The airport was interesting. There is a pharmacy there that sells EVERYTHING over the counter - from Clavamox to Viagra, Vicodin to Penicillin. Totally different from the US. Also, there were two different customs stations. One like you'd expect where you have to get your passport stamped, and then another station where they scanned your bags again - this is new. The previous day when Amanda and Robert had arrived, the customs officials confiscated five large duffle bags of medical supplies. Fortunately, the site we are going to be hosting the clinic at has been established and has some supplies in storage, but Amanda and Robert are here for 4 weeks. A representative from World Vets is headed down today to help sort out the customs mess and get the medical supplies back! We'll be set for this week, but they need the supplies for the following three weeks!

The last members of the group landed around 8pm and we met our driver and headed to the San Juan del Sur. We took two vehicles to SJDS, about two hours away. The first vehicle was a small bus, and the second was a 4 wheel drive truck. We're staying at Finca las Nubes (Farm of the Clouds) which is an organic farm with livestock and HUNDREDS of fruit trees. The house is at the top of a mountain only accessible through one gate, up a mile long (maybe a little longer) dirt road. Dirt road = we really needed the 4 wheel drive to kick in to get to the top! The man who lives at the bottom of the hill and guards the house is extremely nice and has a dog and two pet monkeys!

We finally arrived at the house about 11:00pm and got our rooming assignments. The house is absolutely beautiful. The house is set up in a horseshoe with a large kitchen/dining/family room at the base of the U and several bedrooms set up around the main living area. I am rooming with a girl named Fallon from Alabama. The rooms are comfortable, each with two beds and connected to a shared bathroom. The water at the house is said to be drinkable (but I'm not chancing it!). In the middle of the horseshoe is a large outdoor patio area with lounge chairs, hammocks, and a pool. All of this is overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. Because we're so high up, there is a continuous breeze that helps combat the humidity and 85+ degree temperature.

We had a brief meeting last night about the plans for the week during which a preying mantis made himself at home on one of the couch pillows. There are TONS of bugs here. To sleep, we left all of the doors and windows to the rooms open with the fans blowing and slept inside bug nets. Despite the amount of bugs, I slept very well - the bug net made a HUGE difference.

I fell asleep to the wind rustling in the trees and monkeys making noises in the night. It was very weird. Needless to say, I slept like a rock and awoke today to a wonderful breakfast of fruit and eggs. After breakfast, we all piled into the back of the pickup truck (in two trips) and headed to the local grocery store to buy breakfast stuff (most meals besides breakfast are included, so we had to get stuff for breakfast - i brought plenty of Cliff Bars with me, but got a pack of oreos, a few big bottles of water, and some pringles (total American!) ). On our way to the store, we stopped by the gate house and met the two monkeys - Panchito and Juanito. Panchito is a baby and is VERY friendly - he jumped from one of us to the next holding hands and stealing sun glasses! Juanito was slightly less friendly and decided to nibble on my finger! He liked to swing from the chain that tethered him to the gate. Both had received baths this morning!

The town is pretty similar to most typical Caribbean towns - there is a small stretch that has "American" bars (read: Pirate themed with coors light and bud light decals) and a beautiful beach, and the rest of the town is comprised of locals' houses. The houses are really pretty different. Some are well built with several rooms, and some are simple one-room shacks with dirt floors and tin roofs held in place by cinder blocks. There are dogs that roam the streets and skinny cattle, goats, and horses that roam wild on the side of the road.

At the grocery store, and pretty much everywhere now, everyone speaks Spanish with very limited English. So far, I've known enough to communicate effectively - it's definitely good practice! We met two dogs at the grocery store - the first one ate a bag of cheetos one of the girls gave her. Once we saw how hungry the dogs are, a few people went and bought 10 lb bags of dry food. We left a big pile on the sidewalk and will bring the rest to the clinic on Tuesday for the animals in post-op.

Now we're hanging out by the pool. In about an hour, we'll head out for a sailing trip so we can all get to know each other better. Tonight we'll have dinner at the house and hang out.

Tomorrow, there is some free time in the morning, and then I'm going to go with Amanda and Robert, and maybe another volunteer or two, to help set up the clinic for Tuesday. We'll run the clinic Tuesday through Thursday and have another free day on Friday. Saturday, we head back to the airport and head home.

While here, I have no cell service, but have great internet access - however, it's ALL IN SPANISH - didn't expect that! I am taking tons of pictures, but I didn't bring the cord to upload them with me, so I'll do that when I get home. For now, I hope you enjoy reading about what we're up to. I'll do my best to post every day and keep track of what we're doing.

Hasta Luego!