DAILY BLOG
Hospitalito Atitlan
Santiago, Guatemala
Dr. Tom McDonald
February 22, 2023
Day 10
There was no blog yesterday because we got home at around nine-thirty. It was a long day, but a rewarding one; hopefully for our patients as well.
I think I’m getting comfortable here because when I am walking through town, I barely move over now when I hear cars, Tuk-Tuks, and motorcycles racing up behind me. Not sure if that is a good thing. Also, I move around the hospital with ease obtaining items, asking questions, and speaking with patients and staff. It is really a lovely hospital. Warm people, grateful patients, clean rooms, and coffee; really good, locally grown coffee.
We miss Shirley but we have adopted a couple of nursing students from Spain. They are enthusiastic and hard working and I have offered them a job at home. They politely declined. Their Spanish is really coming along too. Usually, I need someone to translate their blindingly fast dialogue into my simpler version of the language, and they do the reverse for our patients.
The things we take for granted practicing medicine in the U.S., they do not here. In fact, many of our “necessities” are entirely absent. Nevertheless, the health care provided here is done so with compassion, excellence, and in a manner that respects the goals and values of the Mayan population.
We plan to return in a year. We even have some patients awaiting us! Thank you to everyone who sponsored this voyage and to those who have followed along. Vaya con Dios y que tenga un buen dia. Utz?
Hey Doc 