Bleeding Cows

Wednesday Kyle and I had an amazing day.  We were both working on the ranch with Jorge, planning on giving a trail ride in the afternoon.  Jorge started out by letting us rope some cows, and then we decided that we wanted to milk a cow.  We went over to Denis who let us try and milk the cow.  We both got milk out, but then Denis took over and got a ton out.  I decided it just takes practice.  Then the most exciting thing happened!  The vets from San Marcos came and had to take blood from the cows, Kyle and I watched, and probably looked like we really wanted to try.  So the vets asked us and of course we said yes, Kyle went first and tried to stab the needle into the cow's jugular vein.  It practically bounced off, so he tried again.  No luck, so the vet took over and showed us how to do it again.  Then he let me try, I couldn't get the needle to even pierce the skin!  Kyle tried again, stuck it once, bounced off, stuck it again and hit the vein immediately.  Blood started shooting out of the cow, so he collected it amidst cheers from the rest of us. 

The vets and everyone else decided that I really needed to do it, so I kept trying.  Every time I failed the vet kept encouraging me, telling me that it took him twelve years to master veterinary medicine, and that he started out just like me.  Finally, after being told numerous times to try harder, I got it in, but I didn't hit the vein.  At this point I was so pumped that I couldn't not get the vein, so I simply dug around in the neck until blood started shooting out, I'm pretty certain I screamed in excitement.  After I collected the blood, the vet and everyone else clapped for me.  It was one of my proudest moments of the entire summer.  Who knew that it could be so hard to stick a cow???? The day finished up with two trail rides, and then washing horses.  What could be better?

Katie

last week of work

So, it is Kendra once again. It was a wonderful week and I learned a lot. My favorite two days were Wednesday and Thursday. I spent them on the ranch and took measurements on the legumes for the forage study. Also, on Thursday I was able to work with Don Porfilio one last time. We spent a few hours weeding and moving seedlings around. I have a great deal of respect for him and have learned so much about work ethic from him. He has a steady and peaceful spirit that I find quite refreshing from the busy life that I know in the United States. God has taught me a lot about peace and being still this summer. He has taught me about not fretting and having total dependence upon him. I am not the quickest learner, but God has been very patient with me. I am so thankful for all that God has revealed to me this summer. He is so great.

Well, I am excited about Roatan. It should be amazing. Then I will hopefully be flying home a week from tomorrow. I am excited to see my family, boyfriend and friends. It has truly been an unforgettable summer.

Coffee Plantation

Once again, Kendra reporting on her summer. This week has been wonderful, but yesterday was an especially good day. I went to the Mission Lazarus coffee plantation with Gustavo and a few others. On the way up, we spoke of the dairy production at Las Palmas and I learned a lot about its operation. Once we got on top of the mountain, Gustavo showed us around the coffee plantation for about an hour. It was amazing. He took us to this one mountain overlook which was beyond description. It was so beautiful. The landscape unfolded before us and all over to the left we could see Nicaragua. I could even see a small Nicaraguan town nestled in a mountain valley. Over to the right, I could see parts of Choluteca. All I could do was gasp in amazement at the great beauty my God had created.

Later, we had bean soup and tortillas for lunch. It was absolutely amazing. I was amused because the Hondurans were surprised that I liked it. They told me that most Americans do not care for this particular dish. Oh well, guess I am weird. I really will miss Honduran food when I leave. So much, that I may just have to attempt to learn to make tortillas.

I was able to speak with some of the farmers on the mountain. It was so cool interacting with them and learning about their agricultural practices. We ended up having an indepth discussion about the root causes of problems for Honduran farmers and what could potentially be done to solve these problems. It was a thought provoking discussion and I am pleased with what I have learned.

It was also amusing because the first man I interviewed wanted to play a joke on the others. He told them I was a nurse and I wanted to give them shots. They were afraid and did not want to come speak to me. Gregorio had to go and explain that I only wanted to interview them about agriculture. It was a fun time.

God taught me so much yesterday and I am still thinking about some of the things that happened. He has completely surprised me yet again. Personally, I think that he enjoys doing that.

Cattle

Haley hung out with me and the horses on Wednesday. This was awesome because after we caught all the horses Jorge was about to go herd some cows. I decided that I wanted to go along, so I hopped on Parnaso, and Haley got on Muchacha and then Jorge let the cows out and sent us out. Note that he didn´t come with us! We had NO idea what we were doing but we did know the cows were heading the wrong way. I trotted up to head them off (or rather, to see if I could head them off) and Haley stayed back to steer them towards the gate. We had them going in a nice line until one cow broke off, then two others left the group too. Now, I don´t think that it would have been that hard to catch the renegade cows if we had been on flat ground but these cows went over to the rockiest part of the hill and spread out. Parnaso and I headed towards them and somehow managed to get them all going back towards Haley when Jorge finally showed up to help. At the very least, we provided some entertainment for all who were outside on Wednesday morning. With Jorge´s help we had the cows rounded up and in their new pasture in no time at all. It was awesome, and I hope to someday be able to herd cattle like Jorge!
-Katie

Weekends on the Ranch

On the weekends, the interns get to relax and find something to do not involving work.  Usually the weekend starts with the interns riding horses.   This past Saturday was the same as we decided to take an early morning ride.  It had to be the best day possible to ride because the weather was perfect in every sense.  It was a normal ride except for the fact that I had to constantly whip Jorjuito so that he would move and stay on the trail.  When we finished riding, we headed up to Tres Pillas for an afternoon of fun, at least we think it was tres pillas but aren't really sure.  The first waterfall that we saw was about a hundred feet tall with a pool at the bottom where we could swim.  Right beside the waterfall was a cave that is about 8 kilometers long, but since we had no lights, we couldn't explore.  I decided to wonder off on my own a little bit and follow the river down to see what else it had in store.  I discovered another waterfall that I thought we could jump off of so I went to tell the others.  We all made our way down but had to figure out how we could get to the bottom to check it out first.  I decided to walk around which was a waste because by the time I got to the bottom, Kyle had already made his way down.  I was right about the waterfall, we could jump because the pool was deep enough but as we discovered this, it began to rain which brought our fun to a halt for the day.  I'm hoping that we will get to go back before we leave.  On Saturday night, we invited Shelly over to the ranch for the most American meal I've had while down here.  We had poppyseed chicken and green bean casserole followed up by some dump cake that Shelly made.  It was one of the best meals we've had so far.  This Sunday was an exciting day for me because I was expecting some of my friends from school to be here.  I woke up and headed up the hill Sunday to see them before they headed off to work.  Usually on Sundays, Kyle makes pancakes for us but unfortunately we were out of mix.  Sunday lunch at Mario's definitely made up for it though.  I didn't get to eat with the interns the last time so I didn't know how good it actually was other than what they had told me.  After lunch, we hung out in San Marcos until time for church and then went back to the ranch to eat with the group.  Well thats pretty much all that we did this past weekend on the ranch and sadly we only have two more.  As for now, hasta luego amigos!

Loren

Building Banos

This past week a medical brigade from the states came in to provide medical treatment for the people of Duyure. During this time the inturns were pulled off their regular assignments to help with the brigade. The inturns who are here for a medical purpose got to sit in with the doctors and the inturns who are able to speak spanish translated for those who needed it. That left me in a group by myself since I am neither here for a medical purpose or am able to speak spanish. However there were a group of people who came with the medical brigade who came down to build outhouses for the rural community that lives in the mountins outside of Duyure. This was a great experience for me since I was able to take a break from my regular rutine and was able to do some hard work. Building outhouses in the mountins consists of building walls and then hauling them up steep mountin sides. Before putting the walls up however you must pour a concreate slab over the top of the 12 foot deep hole in the ground. The cement mix and gravel must also be hauled up the mountin side. Building the outhouses was hard work, but it was great to be able to work outside for the week, and to be able to provide a service for the people who live up their.
DAVID

Walking Sticks and Waterfalls

It´s Kendra again. Well this past week has been amazing. I was a medical translator for a medical brigade in Duyure all this week. I learned so much about medicine and more spanish. We saw so many people from Monday to Friday. Although, Friday was my favorite day because of what happened. We saw a woman who had fluid in her knee, so the doctor injected medicine into her knee. She could barely walk and it was even harder when she had a numb knee. She had walked two hours to the clinic and the doctor insisted that we find her a walking stick before she left. It was my job to get the walking stick.

While the woman waited in the pharmacy line, I asked the various Hondurans if we could get a walking stick. Danielo, the Duyure school administrator, tried everything he could think of. He even searched his house for a walking stick. We were wondering what we could do when one of the patients waiting in line gave Danielo a machete. It was not the normal machete for cutting wood, but a cumba which is used for weeding. Danielo took it gladly and went around to the side of the church. There was a row of trees growing by the church and he stood looking up into the branches. Finally he jumps up into the tree and starts climbing. He gets about 10 feet into the air and then chops down a branch. Then he proceeds to make 3 different walking sticks from the branch. The woman was able to choose her walking stick. I thought that this was an amazing experience to end the week because Danielo worked so hard to provide this woman with what she needed.

This weekend has been great too. Yesterday we rode horses and went to Tres Pilas, which are some awesome waterfalls. Today I went to church in Choluteca and I will go again tonight in San Marcos. God is teaching me so much here and I am loving every minute.