Day 6, Saturday, May 24th, 2008: Today was free day and it was a great time! We actually had a day to sleep in a little bit! A few of us girls went to the pool that was located on the causeway. It rained everyday we have been here but today it was bright and sunny...perfect for a pool day. There was a beautiful view of the pacific ocean behind the pool and it was so relaxing. After that we visited the Artisan Market where you could bargain prices for souvenirs. That was an interesting experience. After that, everyone got ready to go to dinner and dancing with the girls from Universidad Latina which is the private university here. That was a blast! We partied the night away but had an early rise the next morning for the head to El Valle!
Day7, Sunday, May 25th, 2008: El Valle here we come. Today was a day that we got to participate in outdoor activities! We all went zip lining which was such a rush! All of us had such a great time doing it and it was so funny to see the nerves of everyone as they were about to go off the first zip line! There were 4 different lines to zip down all with great views. We also went horseback riding but it was a bit depressing because the horses were so skinny! I felt as if these horses couldn't even carry me! Afterwards, our last stop was at the hot springs where we applied mud facials. We failed to get in the hot springs though because we caught a glimpse of someone with ringworm sitting in it. We went back to our hotel to rinse our masks off.
Day8, Monday, May 26th, 2008: We all went to the El Valle clinic today which was an eye-opening experience. Fortunately, we had a doctor that was able to speak English to us that explained to us about the clinic. It was a hands on experience fulfilled with many shots to patients and Lindsay even got to do wound care! It wasn't a very clean clinic but they did use alcohol before giving injections! The disposal for sharps was what looked like an old, used, plastic bleach jug. They did use the sterile technique when cleaning the young boys wound! After the clinic we visited their market where they sold multiple things like cashews, fruit, veggies, and some souvenirs. After that we headed back to Panama City on the awful 2 hour bus ride that consisted of very bumpy and very winding roads. It was all worth it though!
Day 9, Tuesday, May 27th, 2008: WOW, what a trip today! We visited the Arraijan clinic and the amount of people in this clinic was unreal. There were people standing in the hallway and they were from all walks of life! Meaning men, women, children, teenagers...everyone needed some sort of health care. The part that was intriguing about this clinic when compared to home was all fields of health care were at one place. Including, General health, pediatricians, mental health, women's health, etc. The sanitation was even worse than at the El Valle clinic. The health care personal didn't use gloves for vaccinations and there was no running water anywhere at the clinic! That means infection, infection, infection. The bathrooms were shocking! You could not take a fresh breath inside them and there was actual feces on the grounds around the toilets. We had to take the bus elsewhere just to use the bathrooms. It was a great experience though because it really made me appreciate what I do have available at home!!!!
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