Friday

Friday morning we got up early, in preparation for our trek into the small village of Corazon.  Corazon is about 90 minutes away, and the only way to get there is to travel the unpaved roads deep into the jungle.  We were headed to Corazon to participate in the health fair that was being sponsored by the Belizian Ministry of Health.  The roads seemed to get rougher and rougher the further that we went.  Even the two elecetrical lines that lined the side of the road disappeared as we made a turn about 30 mintues into our journey.  We finally arrived in Corazon at about 9:00 AM, only to find that the health fair had been postponed one week, due to the possibility of the hurricane.  Dan, the NP from Hillside, suggested that we make the most of our visit - and do what we can since we had come all this way.  He went into the three room school (actually, 2 rooms inside, and one outdoor covered area) and spoke to the prinicpal.  We were welcomed into the classrooms to do some more health teaching.  These children were perhaps the most polite of all the groups that we had taught to during this trip, greeting us in unison "Hello Doctors!"  It was easy to smile in the presence of these children.
Once the teaching was complete, we made our way back to the Land Rover, to see that Dan had set up a table for us in the middle of the main road.  Next, we did health screenings.  Bette, Bobbie Jo and Nanette went door to door with the Peace Corp volunteer to let people know that we were in town, and would be doing screenings.  It wasn't long before Heather, Afsaneh, Kim and Deb had lines of people waiting to have the blood pressure and blood sugar checked.  Bette, Bobbie Jo, and Nanette mad their way through the town quickly, and joined the rest of us doing screenings.  Just as we were finishing up, the school let the children outside for recess.  They quickly came to join us, spending their whole recess listening to their heartbeats with our stethescopes and posing for pictures.  A few kids even tried their hands at photography!
On the ride back to PG, I think it was unanimous - We LOVED this day!  And it lived up to the message that we had heard many times before from Dan - "In Belize, the only predictable thing is that the day will be unpredictable!"

The evening time brought some more culture.  Bette, Bobbie Jo and Nannette joined some Hillside staff at the High School for a talent show.  Deb, Kim, Afsaneh, and Heather had a Belizian meal of Red Snapper (the whole fish!) and then headed into town to hear the Garifuna drummers at a spot overlooking the sea.  Everyone was in bed by 10:30 - this was an awesome, exhausting day!