For the last two weeks we’ve had a full complement of students at the clinic. It’s made things a bit more interesting than the first two weeks. We’re actually getting lectures two days a week although I didn’t make it on Wednesday due to some gut bug. Fortunately, I started feeling better that afternoon and was able to make it to the clinic on Thursday. On Tuesday the San Pablo clinic was as busy as ever but there was some sort of funeral in Totonicapan on Thursday, which made for a slow clinic day. The last patient of the day was a young boy who had a pebble stuck under the skin of his left elbow for two years. We don’t have too many opportunities to do procedures so extracting it was a welcome break from the routine.
On Thursday I made a break for Antigua instead of heading back to Santa Cruz. I spent the night at Hotel San Miguel worrying about bed bugs then caught a shuttle at 6 am for Volcan Pacaya. The short climb to the side of this very active volcano was one of the best hikes I’ve ever had. It’s hard to describe what it’s like standing between two slow-moving rivers of lava. Awe-inspiring is the only word I can think of.