I have now been in the US for nine days. It has been a little easier adjusting to being home this time (mostly because it didn’t snow three feet in the first week). I’m not in as much culture shock, for example when I go to the food store, and I’m not sick (praise God). I’m eager to start working though, because, although it’s been a nice break, I have a lot of time to think about how much I miss NLCH and my fellow interns. I find myself thinking almost daily things like, hmm it’s 6:00 in Guatemala. Everyone is getting ready to eat dinner, or the kids are just getting out of school, or right now we would be having our intern meeting. The kids, staff, and interns have once again left quite an impression on me and I am extremely grateful to them for their part in helping me grow these last three months.
So what’s next? I’m not really sure. Next week, I’m moving back to Pennsylvania, where I will be working at my previous waitressing job while I look for a job in my field (biochemistry). I am also planning to apply to school for next year. Here is where I would especially appreciate your prayers. I’m not sure which programs I’m applying to, whether medical school, physicians assistant, nurse practitioner, or clinic psychologist, or maybe some combination. Please pray that the Lord will make this decision supernaturally clear to me and that he will provide a way for me to get there.
As for NLCH, I feel like a part of me is still there. Please pray for God’s direction about and provision for returning. Also, please pray for patience for me as I am in the US.
The doctor that I work with is trying to start a hospital in Guatemala City. I am trying to help her find investors for this project and also some medical equipment that she needs in her two clinics that she has now. If you or someone you know would like to help in some way, please let me know. You could also help by sponsoring a child. Each of the 51 kids needs 12 sponsors, but only one actually has the required amount.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement during this journey. I have felt them every step of the way. I know that several of you have been praying for me since I was born and for this I am eternally grateful. For those of you that attend Trinity, I will be there this Sunday, August 17, and would love to talk to you. For anyone else, my email address is dbertozz@eastern.edu and my cell number is (603) 809-9183 (although it is turned off till Sept. 1). I hope to hear from you. Thanks again and God bless.
Con cariño,
Danelle Bertozzi
Friday, August 15, 2008
Our Despedida and Saying Good bye
Like the other interns and teams before us, we had a despedida, or send off, right before we left. We were surprised when we walked in to dinner and saw that they had arranged the tables in a square so that the five of us could sit at the head and see everyone. Astrid sang and Michele danced to my favorite Hilsong worship song. Some of the kids stood up and thanked us for different things that we had done with them and at the end, Kendon said something about each one of us, which was very touching. Lastly, we got to stand up and thank them. We wrote in advance something that included our favorite activities, some of our new favorite Spanish words, and some verses (Ephesians 2: 4-10 and Psalm 91:11-12). We were really hoping to communicate how much we enjoyed getting to know them and also our desire for them to grow in their faith and to know that God loves them. After, we handed out an award with a superlative and a note and verse we picked out for each one. Some of my favorites were “the best hug giver” to Juan David, “the sweetest” to Iris, “fearless leader” to Kevin, “the best listener” to Jenifer, and “the best colorer” to Randy.
My last day flew by for me. At 4:00 am, we left to take Jessica, Rachael, and Kelsey to the airport. Before going to the clinic that day I said goodbye to Mark (and learned that Jessica was back because her plane had been delayed for 24 hours because of the hurricane). After the clinic, I went with Wendy and Staci on my last food shopping trip. It was pouring so hard that it flooded and, on the way home, we had to drive under this bridge where the road was covered in water. We made it through ok.
By the time we got everything unloaded it was almost dinner and I spent the rest of the time trying to say goodbye. After dinner (my last beans, rice, and tortillas for awhile), we made meat pie with some of the older guys and hang out for awhile.
The next morning, I got to say one last goodbye at breakfast and then, two of the older guys, Jon and Oswaldo, rode with me to the airport, reminding me again that in so many ways these kids are such good friends to me. It took me about 17 hours to get home, but everything went really smoothly. I had a lot of time to think about the last three months. God’s provision was evident throughout and He answered prayers time and again. Along with this, I am sure of something else. These kids are so dear to me and I know that I will remember with joy my time with them.
My last day flew by for me. At 4:00 am, we left to take Jessica, Rachael, and Kelsey to the airport. Before going to the clinic that day I said goodbye to Mark (and learned that Jessica was back because her plane had been delayed for 24 hours because of the hurricane). After the clinic, I went with Wendy and Staci on my last food shopping trip. It was pouring so hard that it flooded and, on the way home, we had to drive under this bridge where the road was covered in water. We made it through ok.
By the time we got everything unloaded it was almost dinner and I spent the rest of the time trying to say goodbye. After dinner (my last beans, rice, and tortillas for awhile), we made meat pie with some of the older guys and hang out for awhile.
The next morning, I got to say one last goodbye at breakfast and then, two of the older guys, Jon and Oswaldo, rode with me to the airport, reminding me again that in so many ways these kids are such good friends to me. It took me about 17 hours to get home, but everything went really smoothly. I had a lot of time to think about the last three months. God’s provision was evident throughout and He answered prayers time and again. Along with this, I am sure of something else. These kids are so dear to me and I know that I will remember with joy my time with them.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Our Retreat at Panajachel
The five interns, Kendon, Wendy, (their son) Ian, Staci, Lee, and little Michelle went to Panajachel for three days for our retreat. This was a great time of souvenir shopping, kayaking, roasting marshmallows, playing frisbee (causing some unfortunate bee stings) and crocket, watching sunsets and sunrises, and hanging out. We talked about what to expect when we returned to the US and each of us had a time to talk about what God taught us, things we liked and disliked, and how we were going to apply what we had learned to our futures. It was such a great time. For a gag gift, Wendy gave the girls this purse that had a picture of Texas embroidered in it (proving that Texas is everywhere), and Mark these brightly colored slippers.
Words of the Day:
Cuanto cuesta? (quoo- ahn- toe quoo- eh-stah)- How much does it cost?
Eso es muy carro. (eh-soe es moowe cah- roe)- that is really expensive.
Lago (lah- go)- lake
Cuanto cuesta? (quoo- ahn- toe quoo- eh-stah)- How much does it cost?
Eso es muy carro. (eh-soe es moowe cah- roe)- that is really expensive.
Lago (lah- go)- lake
Friday, August 1, 2008
Teaching English
One of my favorite things to do each week is teach Franki (19) and Oswaldo (20) English. Oswaldo has a job in the city in the afternoons and nights, so it’s sometimes hard to find time to do it with him. Franki works at the Home during the day, so I teach him Monday-Friday for an hour before dinner. Lately, we have been spending the majority of the hour just talking in English. This is really encouraging, because in school, they mostly learn just vocab. A lot of our kids understand some English, but don’t like to speak it, because the accent is difficult. Franki can now have conversations about what he did that day, work, what he is going to do that night, and the things that he likes to do. Franki and Oswaldo also learned some verses and can say them perfectly.
This was also a great way to improve my Spanish. I have spent a lot of time looking up different topics and trying to figure out how to teach English concepts in Spanish. They also teach me new vocab. Their excitement and persistence gets me excited to improve my Spanish.
Cultural differences:
Oswaldo was telling me about a friend from work who showed him a picture of Boston. He was talking about the differences in Boston and Guatemala City, when he suddenly got uncharacteristically excited. He said that his friend told him that there are little animals that run around Boston and get really close to you. This of course confused me and I told him that there are no little animals running around Boston. He assured me that his friend said that they’re everywhere. I was trying to think of what he could possibly mean when he said, “They’re called squirrels!” I tried to explain to him that they are sometimes pests, but he remained convinced that they are pretty cool.
I guess it’s a little like how we Americans get so excited when there is a lot of smoke coming out of the volcano or how you can see the lava at night when it’s clear. The kids always make fun of us for this, because they are so used to seeing it. I never thought of squirrels as exciting, but I guess they would be if you had never seen one.
This was also a great way to improve my Spanish. I have spent a lot of time looking up different topics and trying to figure out how to teach English concepts in Spanish. They also teach me new vocab. Their excitement and persistence gets me excited to improve my Spanish.
Cultural differences:
Oswaldo was telling me about a friend from work who showed him a picture of Boston. He was talking about the differences in Boston and Guatemala City, when he suddenly got uncharacteristically excited. He said that his friend told him that there are little animals that run around Boston and get really close to you. This of course confused me and I told him that there are no little animals running around Boston. He assured me that his friend said that they’re everywhere. I was trying to think of what he could possibly mean when he said, “They’re called squirrels!” I tried to explain to him that they are sometimes pests, but he remained convinced that they are pretty cool.
I guess it’s a little like how we Americans get so excited when there is a lot of smoke coming out of the volcano or how you can see the lava at night when it’s clear. The kids always make fun of us for this, because they are so used to seeing it. I never thought of squirrels as exciting, but I guess they would be if you had never seen one.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Another Amazing Surgery
Once again, the pictures and description below may be a little graphic.
The last couple weeks, a lady with a large mass in her leg has been coming in. We were finally able to remove it last week. It was pretty amazing. I got to assist in the two hour surgery that we performed in our little clinic.
First, we injected her leg with a local anesthetic. Next, we opened up her leg and injected more anesthesia as we cut deeper into her leg. Then, we ran out of it. Then, the doctor told her that she needed to be brave, because we didn’t have anymore anesthetic. That’s when I started to worry. The patient, however, took it in stride and we continued with the surgery. The patient was rather overweight and the mass was embedded in the muscle so we had to stick our hands way down in her leg. We took out two masses, one fairly small and the other about 11 cm long. While closing her up, it was a little difficult to stop the bleeding, so almost an hour was spent just stitching. As usual, the doctor told the patient that she had to run and left me to clean the wound and bandage it. I’m glad that she trusts me to do this. It’s exciting to receive more and more responsibility while helping her.
It was pretty amazing that she was awake the whole time. Guatemalans are super tough. Even just the sound of us digging around in her leg would be enough to make most people squirm. The next week we received the biopsy results and, praise the Lord, it is not cancer.
Words of the Day:
Punto- stitches (also means spot, point, mark, etc.)
Masa- mass (also means dough)
Tejido- tissue (also means cloth)
The last couple weeks, a lady with a large mass in her leg has been coming in. We were finally able to remove it last week. It was pretty amazing. I got to assist in the two hour surgery that we performed in our little clinic.
First, we injected her leg with a local anesthetic. Next, we opened up her leg and injected more anesthesia as we cut deeper into her leg. Then, we ran out of it. Then, the doctor told her that she needed to be brave, because we didn’t have anymore anesthetic. That’s when I started to worry. The patient, however, took it in stride and we continued with the surgery. The patient was rather overweight and the mass was embedded in the muscle so we had to stick our hands way down in her leg. We took out two masses, one fairly small and the other about 11 cm long. While closing her up, it was a little difficult to stop the bleeding, so almost an hour was spent just stitching. As usual, the doctor told the patient that she had to run and left me to clean the wound and bandage it. I’m glad that she trusts me to do this. It’s exciting to receive more and more responsibility while helping her.
It was pretty amazing that she was awake the whole time. Guatemalans are super tough. Even just the sound of us digging around in her leg would be enough to make most people squirm. The next week we received the biopsy results and, praise the Lord, it is not cancer.
After 1 hour and 5 or 6 levels of stitches
The larger of the two masses
Also, earlier that day, a woman came in who had fallen a month earlier. She has a wound in her leg that goes down to the bone and fractured her femur. To treat her, the doctor filled her wound with honey and put a slice of apple over the top. She came in a few days later and surprisingly it was much better. The doctor continues to do this every few days.
the white part is bone
Words of the Day:
Punto- stitches (also means spot, point, mark, etc.)
Masa- mass (also means dough)
Tejido- tissue (also means cloth)
Monday, July 21, 2008
Pool Day
Saturday, we took the kids on the highest behavior level to the pool. It started to rain right before we left, and stopped right when we were ready to get in the water. This turned out to be such a blessing as we were almost the only people there. This pool complex was pretty cool. All the pools are heated by volcanic activity. There was a little one for kids, a medium one, and one with a deep end. The pools also overlook the beautiful Lake Amatitlan and gorgeous mountains. The majority of our kids don’t know how to swim (it’s a cultural thing), so I was a little nervous, but everyone was safe.
This was a really fun day for me, because I got to play with all ages of kids and spend time with a lot of different people. I love going to the pool with kids, because you get to play around and act silly. Some of my favorite times were races with the older boys, trying to teach (19 year-old) Edgar how to float, teaching Alex the butterfly stroke, racing to find the coin with the younger kids (they are pretty hardcore. I almost got knocked out a few times), splashing with Jorgito and Randy in the baby pool, looking at the scenery with Jenifer, and getting to hang out with Katie (one of the interns I was with last time and a good friend from school who was visiting for a week).
On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds. I don’t know if you’ve ever ordered for almost 40 people, but it wasn’t easy. Luckily, Lee and Staci came up with a good system and almost everyone got what they ordered.
Later that night, Chad and Marlana (a couple that is in language school right now) took us interns out for pizza and we had a nice night with them. They have really encouraged us and I’m super excited for them to finish language school in October (six months total) and start at the Home. Please pray for them as they finish up and adjust to a new life once again.
Words of the Day: today I’m going to tell a joke:
¿Qué hace un pez? Nada
What does a fish do? Nada (nah- dah)- nothing, but it also is the third person singular of the verb nadar, which means to swim. So, the punch line means, nothing, but also, he swims. Hehe.
This was a really fun day for me, because I got to play with all ages of kids and spend time with a lot of different people. I love going to the pool with kids, because you get to play around and act silly. Some of my favorite times were races with the older boys, trying to teach (19 year-old) Edgar how to float, teaching Alex the butterfly stroke, racing to find the coin with the younger kids (they are pretty hardcore. I almost got knocked out a few times), splashing with Jorgito and Randy in the baby pool, looking at the scenery with Jenifer, and getting to hang out with Katie (one of the interns I was with last time and a good friend from school who was visiting for a week).
On the way home, we stopped at McDonalds. I don’t know if you’ve ever ordered for almost 40 people, but it wasn’t easy. Luckily, Lee and Staci came up with a good system and almost everyone got what they ordered.
Later that night, Chad and Marlana (a couple that is in language school right now) took us interns out for pizza and we had a nice night with them. They have really encouraged us and I’m super excited for them to finish language school in October (six months total) and start at the Home. Please pray for them as they finish up and adjust to a new life once again.
Words of the Day: today I’m going to tell a joke:
¿Qué hace un pez? Nada
What does a fish do? Nada (nah- dah)- nothing, but it also is the third person singular of the verb nadar, which means to swim. So, the punch line means, nothing, but also, he swims. Hehe.
Javier
Kevin and Nancy
Staci and Lee
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Water Day
Saturday, we ate my favorite Guatemalan lunch: grilled beef and guacamole. Beforehand, I helped Rony in the kitchen. Here, I learned how to make tortillas, which is actually really hard. The dough always sticks to your hands and it’s really hard to make it perfectly circular and to get the balance of thin enough, but without holes. I think I may need a few more days of practice (let’s just say that later when I was handing them out at lunch, I could tell which ones I made). Rony also dared me to eat a jalapeño (which did not go well) and we raced to see who could eat half a lime the fastest, while making the least amount of faces.
We had a water day after lunch. The garden has canals and a fountain and every once in awhile, we pay a water trunk to come fill it up with 2,000 gallons of water. This is always super exciting for the little kids (and the big kids too, but they won’t admit it). The water was cold and dirty, but I pretended that I was a little kid and didn’t care. I had a blast splashing around and watching the kids have a good time. One time, when it was just me and four little girls in the deepest part, I suddenly realized that I was the only one in the fountain. I looked up at the girls all lined up peering gravely down at me. I asked what was going on. There’s a worm, was the calm response. Now, I’m not usually afraid of worms, but this one looked suspiciously a lot like a leech, so I too vacated the water pretty quickly. Wendy has since informed me that there are no leeches in Guatemala. One of the boys got a stick and fished it out and we were soon back to splashing in the water. Some other highlights: Kelsey (an intern) chasing Nancy and doing a face plant in the grass, one of the home parents telling her version of Kelsey’s fall (involving Kelsey pretending that she was superman), Michi dropping water from the top story of the school onto the girls below, Ramsis avoiding everyone that tried to get him wet and then jumping in the pool, the sunshine (what a perfect day!), the water balloon fight, and seeing little Jorge trying to avoid all the little kids who were trying to pick him up and put him in the water.
Words of the Day:
Meterse (may- tear- say)- to get into (for example, the water)
Tortillar (tor- tea- yar)- to make tortillas
Globo (glow- boe)- balloon
Gusano (goo- sah- noe)- worm
We had a water day after lunch. The garden has canals and a fountain and every once in awhile, we pay a water trunk to come fill it up with 2,000 gallons of water. This is always super exciting for the little kids (and the big kids too, but they won’t admit it). The water was cold and dirty, but I pretended that I was a little kid and didn’t care. I had a blast splashing around and watching the kids have a good time. One time, when it was just me and four little girls in the deepest part, I suddenly realized that I was the only one in the fountain. I looked up at the girls all lined up peering gravely down at me. I asked what was going on. There’s a worm, was the calm response. Now, I’m not usually afraid of worms, but this one looked suspiciously a lot like a leech, so I too vacated the water pretty quickly. Wendy has since informed me that there are no leeches in Guatemala. One of the boys got a stick and fished it out and we were soon back to splashing in the water. Some other highlights: Kelsey (an intern) chasing Nancy and doing a face plant in the grass, one of the home parents telling her version of Kelsey’s fall (involving Kelsey pretending that she was superman), Michi dropping water from the top story of the school onto the girls below, Ramsis avoiding everyone that tried to get him wet and then jumping in the pool, the sunshine (what a perfect day!), the water balloon fight, and seeing little Jorge trying to avoid all the little kids who were trying to pick him up and put him in the water.
Words of the Day:
Meterse (may- tear- say)- to get into (for example, the water)
Tortillar (tor- tea- yar)- to make tortillas
Globo (glow- boe)- balloon
Gusano (goo- sah- noe)- worm
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