How interesting it is to look back at the first impressions I had of the group of volunteers I was to spend the next ten days with in an intense medical mission in El Salvador! Mary, a nurse in the ICU, drove up with me on Friday afternoon. Debra Goldstein C.N.M., was my roommate in the SEATAC hotel. She had a “Practical GYN” book on her bed when I came in before leaving to see my brother, John, at Seattle U. I had no idea that we would spend 8 hours a day together for the duration of the clinic with me serving as her interpreter.
While I was having a tasty dinner with John at the Honey Hole, the other volunteers packed up the 35 tubs of vitamins, meds and supplies. All of us could only bring a carry on with us so I packed very light.
We left SEATAC at 8:30AM without any problems for the 4 hour flight to Houston. As we waited for the plane, I started meeting the other members of the team like Dale, the pediatrician from Orcas Island; Bob, the optometrist from Ellensburg; Heather, the optician from Seattle who would be my roommate at Ayagualo; Brit, the OHSU med student from Eugene; Leanne, the nurse from Bellingham; and the list could go on and on. We came from all over the Pacific Northwest and came from different faiths, with the majority being Catholic. Some had gone on previous missions.
During the layover in Houston, we ate at a fish restaurant where Dale introduced me to New Orleans cuisine with a shrimp Gumbo. It hit the spot. Then, we separated to make final calls to family before a brief orientation led by the mission director, Kathy Garcia. Adios a los Estados Unidos!
We arrived in El Salvador around 9:30PM, tired from a long day of traveling. The airport looked like any other airport, though obviously it was a lot warmer. I happen to be the first to go through customs with Norm, a tall, lanky pediatrician from Alaska, so I served as his interpreter. The customs officer asked me to stay at his side to interpret for the rest of the group. Poor Deb and Charlotte (ER doc) were one of the unlucky ones who had to get their luggage x-rayed (You are chosen at random). After waiting an hour for the tubs to go through (only one was lost and was sent to us the next day), we loaded up the truck and climbed in the bus that was to be our transportation for the duration of the trip. Hernal was our dear, talented, and ever-considerate-about-our-water-supply bus driver.
The drive to the Ayagualo Retreat house that was about an hour away passed quickly and we were asleep by 1 AM.
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