Say a little prayer...

Sorry it´s taken awhile to post the story behind this picture... my computer had a run in with my friend´s cup of tea and i´m afraid to say the outcome has not been good. Also sorry for the errors in this post - I´m using a german keyboard that is not quite the same as ours.

Anyway... this is a picture of one of the many church service groups who come through the hospital from the US to give the children small gifts and the pray for them and their families. I´m still not sure how I feel about these groups. I´ve been able to watch them from afar because for whatever reason when i´m wearing my white coat people dont recognize me as a foreigner. Most of the people who come through do not speak Spanish and I can see all the wonder and some fear in their eyes - it reminds me a bit of the slum tourism I´ve heard about in other countries where people pay money to get the "third world experience." I am probably being too hard on them but I cannot help but feel protective of my patients when I feel as though they are being looked AT instead of looked after. 

Of note, the woman here in the blue shirt did give me quite a large monetary donation to help buy some supplies for the hospital. I will be asking out department chair to make a list for me and then we all can see just how far $100 will get you with medical supplies here.

From the personal side of this trip, we spent an amazing weekend in Granda and Masaya taking the time to enjoy to expat spa life and get some shopping done. Now I just have to figure out how to fit my hammock in the resident room...