No me gustan los buses

As the title says, I don’t like buses! Especially, those buses in Nicaragua, because even if they aren’t crammed full of a million people on a hot day, you still feel sick after you get off. Today I had another doctor appointment (follow-up) in Managua, but apparently I reached the limit of my “free Peace Corps rides” so I had to ride the bus instead of being picked up in my town. This was unfortunate because the bus ride is about an hour long and usually in the morning there are no seats so you stand, swaying against people for the entire hour. I was a little nervous to go by myself, but fortunately, the PC volunteer and her husband were heading out this morning on the bus. Yay! The PCV took a different bus to go another way, but her husband stayed with me so I was safe—what a nice guy. It really wasn’t scary, but the bus terminal can kinda be a little dangerous because there are a lot of people there and large buses that go in and out of the large gravel parking lot. I arrived to the bus terminal and saw the white PC jeep so I was relieved. From there, Roger (who is becoming my new best friend) drove me over to the hospital yet again. I know I’m supposed to be learning and practicing Spanish, but it’s a little frustrating talking in Spanish in the hospital because I’m now used to that situation.


I finally made it up to the right office with Roger, who has helped me immensely, and we waited. And we waited. And then the doctor came out and told us she would take the baby patient first because it would only be 5 minutes. Ugh! This reminded me of something I forgot to share about my last experience at the hospital. I haven’t quite figured out the hospital etiquette yet, or if it even exists here, but I ran into some interesting things. When I was here Friday, I was talking to the receptionist for my doctor and several people came up and just started talking to her while she was helping me. Instead of asking them to wait, she went along and helped them. Weird. Then, she was making a phone call for me and they started asking her questions while she was on the phone. Not sure about this. I don’t know if in the States a doctor would take a later scheduled patient first, but I don’t think so. Anyway, I can’t be mad at a baby and it did only take about 15minutes. My appointment however took about 45minutes-1 hour. I was extremely relieved when the doctor started switching between Spanish and English and then asked me if I prefer English. Oh my gosh it’s so much easier to explain this whole ordeal in English, talking about my inner ear feeling clogged… Anyway, we did a couple different tests to check things out. First she put these headphones on me (only one ear) and jammed this other thing into the opposite ear. It then made varying beeping sounds from quiet, to very loud. She then switched and did the other side. Although this was far from pleasant, she found that my left ear drum has limited movement, so it’s a middle ear problem, not something ear drops can take care of. She then proceeded to do another test where I had to sit in a booth and she pushed some buttons, I heard beeps, and had to put a control button when I heard them. Claustrophoebia started to set in a little as I was squished inside this booth wSo, weith two weird headsets jammed around my head and in my ears. If this wasn’t enough, the walls consisted of a million tiny dots, so I couldn’t focus my attention on anything, especially because I felt dizzy from the bus ride. It wasn’t too long in this booth and I started looking out the little window to make myself feel better. The next step was to go back to the other doctor’s office to give him the results and hopefully get a prescription for new medicine, pills, not drops this time. Well, what do you know, the doctor never came in today. Perfect. So, we had to reschedule for Wednesday. After my appointment, I told Roger he should have brought a book or a movie, and he chuckled. I told him that I will have to buy him a milkshake sometime because he’s been my personal chauffeur. We’re BFFs now haha

Just as the dizziness and bus yuck was wearing off, Roger dropped me off at the bus terminal. I got on the bus, but I had to wait awhile until it filled up. Tons of vendors came on and tried to sell their baked goods, pirated dvds, and bagged juices. A young girl came up and sat by me, which I thought was weird because there were a lot more empty seats. I immediately thought, oh great, I’m gonna be part of some scam. I decided I wouldn’t make conversation because I’ve heard too many stories about people scamming gringos on the buses and it usually starts out in a friendly conversation. I hate having to be like that because I’d like to think the best of everyone and take on the “innocent until proven guilty” mindset, but it’s just not possible in big towns and buses here. Fortunately, nothing bad happened on the ride home. She actually bought some candy from a vendor about 45 minutes into the ride and offered me one. I declined it politely because we are warned not to eat any homemade street foods. The candies here usually aren’t very sweet anyway.

I landed in the roundabout in Catarina, so then I walked to San Juan. By this time I felt absolutely miserable. I had been gone for about 5 hours and I was tired, hungry, and had a horrible headache. I hadn’t slept very well the night before because I kept worrying about the bus ride and missing my alarm, which didn’t happen. I arrived home and one of my “host sisters” asked me if I wanted to eat lunch, I and said, yes please! I felt sick to my stomach, but I had to eat. I ate some rice, beans, and chicken, which was delicious. I then took some Ibuprofen and laid down for a nap. Well, with all the kids here and the TV blaring cartoons, my nap didn’t go as well as I would have hoped, but I feel much better now.

Sorry this blog is a little bit of a downer, but I’m going to be optimistic. I’m just a little frustrated with these back and forth medical trips. I’m thankful to God that I’m not worse and that my ear seems to be getting better. I’m being taken care of and it’s a little cooler today because of the rain :) If you think hard, there are always several things to be thankful for, even on those down days.