Bienvenidos a Antigua!

It is hard to believe that there was a snow day today in Baltimore, while we are here in sunny Guatemala!  Since the beginning, this trip has exceeded our expectations – from the views of the volcanoes and mountains, to taking a historical tour of ruins in the city, to an intimate Spanish class, and zip-lining in the mountains.  We also had quite the pleasant surprise when coming down from our zip-lining tour into a religious procession through the streets of Antigua celebrating Lent. The entire city seemed to be participating in this event so it was quite a magnificent cultural display for us to see on our first day. Though we have just been here a short time, we have already participated in triaging patients,  taking vitals, and organizing the pharmacy at a new clinic in Santa Maria de Jesus. On the clinic’s first day over 200 patients were seen!  We have been fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with a group of nursing students from Northern Arizona University as well as the non-profit organizations People for Guatemala and Guatemala Esperanza.  We look forward to traveling to a rural clinic tomorrow and providing dental hygiene education to elementary school students.

Hasta Luego!

View from Casa del Parque

Santa Maria de Jesus Clinic