May 7th: Traveling to Nicaragua

Wow, I can’t believe this is finally happening. 

We’ve been preparing for almost a year now, and all of our efforts are coming together.  It feels surreal!  Even while I was on the plane, I couldn’t believe that we were actually headed to Nicaragua after all these months of planning. 

For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about—I’m helping lead a hybrid Medical/Public Health Brigade to Nicaragua as VP of Global Medical Brigades at Rice University.  Our team of 32 Rice students is traveling to the community of San Gabriel to host temporary, free medical clinics in addition to following up with sustainable public health projects.  More details to come as we go along!

Although I didn’t blog about it, I participated in a Medical Brigade last year.  Comparing my experiences between this year and last year has been quite interesting so far, even though we've only just started traveling.  Last year, I was very nervous, unaware of what to expect given that I had no firsthand brigade experience.  This time around, I had a good idea of what to expect, given that I helped plan the brigade and have been on one before.  Last year, I looked up to the leadership for guidance.  This time, I’m part of the leadership, and people come to me for guidance. Last year, I felt like I didn’t know my team very well at the beginning of the brigade.  As a leader this year, I’ve gotten to know everyone on the brigade in advance, and I’m not afraid to strike up a conversation.  Last year, I was a lot shyer!

Anyways, after making our connection in El Salvador, landing in Managua (of Nicaragua) was quite a spectacle.  Since it was nighttime, the ground below us during landing was dotted with lots of glittering, glowing lights.  Managua seemed to be quite developed from the air.  After having some trouble clearing customs, meeting the in-country Global Brigades staff was great.  Everyone has been friendly and welcoming.  

Our temporary lodging for the night was unexpectedly quite nice-- the wifi was great, they provided us with shampoo/soap and it even had a pool!  While these are normal occurrences in developed nations, they are luxuries in developing nation.  To imagine all the things we take for granted in our daily lives  All in all, it has been a pleasant experience so far!  I look forward to tomorrow, where we will be preparing for the clinic by sorting medications and organizing our education component!

Stay tuned for the adventures to come.  Thanks for reading!

Jackie and I just before leaving the hotel that GMB@RiceU stayed at temporarily!