El Imposible

Wow, I'm am loving El Salvador more and more every day! Today was our first Saturday and the first time we got to go play :) 2 cool experiences today:

The first was a cool hike 16 of us went on called el Imposible. Yeah, that means the impossible if you were wondering. It was about a 2 hour bus ride to a national park up a huge hill. The park was in a lush rainforest with lots of foliage and animals. We went on a 5 mile hike to see ancient indian ruins and an awesome river we were able to swim in. The beginning of the hike was all downhill and pretty easy but very steep. By the time we got to the bottom our knees were sore and we were sweating like crazy because of the humidity. Don’t worry, that was only the beginning. We stopped at the river to eat and play in the water then hiked up to another spot where we could play in a part of the river where two rivers join together. It was AMAZING!! So beautiful!

On the way home we had to hike uphill to get back to the start of the hike. It was crazy! I have never sweat so much in my life, and my knees are pretty sore today. Our guide told us that there are over 400 kinds of birds there and 300 trees, many of which have only been found in that specific park. There used to be tigers there but are now extinct. There is another animal called a tigrio, which is smaller than a normal house cat, but wild like a tiger. All in all it was a fun day.

The second thing was a chance I had to share my testimony with our microbus driver (like a big taxi). On the way home Mallory and I were banished to the front because we tend to get carsick so we were sitting right by the driver, Roberto. A song came on his cd that I liked and I asked about it. Turns out it was Christian music and he proceeded to tell me about his beliefs. I started talking to him about the gospel and found out that the missionaries used to teach him 5 years ago but had stopped coming suddenly one day. I asked if he’d like them to come by again and he said he would. The conversation proceeded and eventually he committed to coming to church! We talked for over 2 hours about the gospel. He used to drink and didn’t do what he knew he should but a few years ago decided he needed to dedicate himself more to his wife and 2 daughters, who are 3 and 5. Anyway, I was really grateful for the chance I had to share my testimony and I’m excited to see where it goes.

Oh, about Mallory being banished to the front. When we were leaving home we’d been driving for maybe 5 minutes, and Mallory, who was sitting next to me in the middle of the 5^th row of the van suddenly said, “I know this probably isn’t the best time to be saying this but I don’t feel very good.” We offered water and adjusted the AC on her, but she started looking frantic and pointing to the door and the window. Someone yelled “open the window!” so someone did and she jumped over them and threw half of her body out. Chunks started flying, landing on the jeep behind us. People passing by gave us strange looks and the jeep turned on their windshield wipers. She got back in and after a second said “Well that was weird!” She was completely fine after that! It was pretty funny!

Anyway, I’m so excited to be here and am incredibly grateful for everyone that helped me get here! You can still make donations to HELP International with my name in subject line of a check because I wasn’t able to raise all the money I needed. Thanks again and I hope everyone is doing well in the US.

Love, Annette

I'm in El Salvador!

Well, I got to El Salvador on Wednesday! Wow, what a crazy place! Here they have a lot of what we have in America but there's a big gap between the poor and the rich. Here they have McDonalds, Wendys, Pizza Hut, and just about everything else. Here all those place deliver and don't charge anything for it, so that's kinda cool. I don't really plan on eating at those places but it's still cool.

The food here is amazing! Here we eat breakfast and lunch on our own and go to our cook, Estella's house for dinner. So far she's made us chile relleno (a chile filled with cheese and rolled in egg), with rice and beans, tomales con helote (corn), rice, beans and tortillas, eggs and tortillas, and some beef dinner with a cabbage salad and rice, with arroz con leche for dessert (rice with milk). Tonight we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and I got carne asada tacos with tons of hot sauce!! Surprisingly the food here isn't hot and very different from Mexican food so I was pretty excited to eat it!

Right now there are 28 volunteers with HELP and they are all a ton of fun and amazing people! All 28 of us are living in a house we rented and it's crazy! I sleep on a cot in a room with 4 other girls. There's 3 rooms upstairs for all us girls and about 3-4 'rooms' downstairs for the guys. That really consists of the living room, some bedrooms, and the entryway/garage thing. We have a tiny fridge we all share in a small kitchen. It's actually pretty nice and spacious. There's a back porch with chairs and tables, and a back yard with fruit trees. I love it! Apparently some people get internet here but I haven't been able to yet. There's three little spots that work and they've figured out secrets to get it like putting it on a stool on top of the table outside, using it while it rains, or in the morning or late at night. They have quite a system going on. Anyway, there's an internet cafe that a lot of people use with Skype so that's probably how I'll communicate. Cell phones are cheap here too so I might get one to talk to people here for the projects we're doing and to call home. Part of me likes not having one though because it's nice not having to worry about it.

Ok, about the projects finally! So the people that came in the first wave set up a ton of projects and have had a lot of success so far. They just barely got into one of the hospitals called Zacamil the day before I came, so I've been able to start kind of from the beginning with them. So far we've been helping the nurses in the ICU, the MedSurg unit, and the orthopedic unit. They're really understaffed and are busy so it's been nice to help them out. Normally in an ICU there's only 1 patient per nurse but here they have 5 or more! The hospitals here are crazy! They are old and dirty. All the nurses wear white scrubs with little nursing hats. I honestly feel like I stepped back into 1911. I've seen some crazy stuff that makes me wonder about how things work here. Anyway, more later...

There are a few pre=med students with us, a nursing student, and me who just graduated. We're hoping to get into the mother baby unit next week to help with the babies and start a project to improve the patient education for the new moms. All of the projects with HELP need to be self sustaining so we are looking for the best option to really make a difference and allow them to keep it going when we leave. For now just being there and doing a needs assessment is the best we can do.

Another project is teaching English 3 times a week for an hour each lesson. I've been helping out with the beginner class and it is a TON of fun! There are about 30 students who are eager to learn and love being there.

We've been working on a mural at the national children's hospital that has disney characters on it. It's a lot of fun and the people that come through the hospital always comment on it. Apparently a high school did a different mural there a few years ago and it was pretty bad. It was blue and green with big hot air balloons and ugly! This mural's a huge improvement.

Planning is Coming Along!

El Salvador's getting closer and so is graduation! I can't believe how fast time is flying. So far things are on track for El Salvador! I've been fundraising, and thanks to donations from all of you, I am already $300 closer to reaching my goal!! My mom and I got a little teary-eyed after seeing how generous you have been in helping me get to El Salvador. So THANK YOU!

Closer to the end of the month I have my first training meeting with my team for El Salvador. We'll be going over the projects we want to do there and planning what we need to do to make them happen. I already have a lot of ideas and can't wait to collaborate with others.

Once again, thanks for all your help!

I'm going to El Salvador!!

Well, I have good news! I'm getting ready for my next adventure...off to San Salvador, El Salvador!! I'm going with HELP International, a program based out of Provo, Utah. I leave June 8th, about a month after I graduate from SUU.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do this summer, especially since it's the last before I want to get a real job and make real money. I came to a few conclusions that helped me decide on El Salvador:

1. I love to speak Spanish!

2. I love to serve!

3. I love Hispanic food.

4. There's a new temple that will be completed in El Salvador soon.

5. I love to travel.

6. Why not?

Anyway, while I'm there I hope to work on a few projects, including working in local hospitals there, in orphanages, and overall helping eliminate poverty. I can't wait and will try to keep my blog up to date with the whole process.

Blog Updated!!!!

So its been a REALLY, REALLY long time since I've updated my blog. Honestly, I haven't really cared much. Not that I don't like to keep people informed, its just that I've been busy and it hasn't been anywhere near the top of my priority list. And besides, most people I see with blogs are married and have updates on their spouse, their kids, pets, stuff like that. I'm just me, and although I do have a somewhat exciting life, there's not a whole lot to tell. My life really is quite adventurous, and I've done a lot of traveling in the last year, but I haven't felt inspired to document it on a blog. Thus, I have no real reason to update my blog tonight, but yet that is exactly what I'm doing as we speak. No promises for the future, we'll see how far this goes.

So a quick recap of the last year of my life, I finished the first year of nursing school! I wish it were as easy as it looks looking at my blog. I learned a ton and had many early mornings. Over the summer I worked as a Health Counselor for EFY in Texas San Antonio and Denton, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, and Utah (BYU Yellow and Sandy). I spent all but one weekend traveling and didn't get much sleep, but totally LOVED it!!!

I graduate from SUU in May with my BSN, and who knows where from there. I get a little overwhelmed trying to plan my life, so I've stuck to more short term plans for now, and I'm ok with that. One thing's for sure, I want to find a good job as an RN and make a difference in the world. I love nursing and can't wait to get some experience. If you read this, I hope you enjoy!

Nursing School

Well, today was my first day of nursing school, and according to my professors, the first day of my nursing career. Yesterday my mom and Sage helped me move down to Cedar, a 5 hour drivew from Logan to Cedar City, then they made the trip back to Logan after helping me move in.

I'm living in a huge house with 11 girls, all of which are awesome! Its a bed and breakfast for the Shakespearean Festival in the summer and student housing during the school year. The owner is remodeling the kitchen and repainting, so we haven't been able to use the kitchen. Before my mission I left all my silverware and kitchen stuff at my old apartment, so I don't even have stuff for the kitchen yet anyway. This morning for breakfast I found a plastic cup and had cereal in it using chop sticks. It actually worked really well. I'll just be glad when I can cook in the kitchen.

Nursing school seems like it will be intense but fun. This morning we had a welcoming meeting with all the students from all four semesters. They call us level 1, level 2, etc. according to the semester we're in. I coudn't help but feel like Harry Potter on the first day of wizard school nervous to see what I'm going to learn in the next few years.

Well, I have 2 chapters to read for tomorrow from a 3 inch thick nursing book so...that it all for now...

I'm home

Well, its been a while since I've updated my blog, so sorry to those who have been waiting to see what I've been up to. Like my life is that exciting anyway...
I'm back from Spain and am going through adjusting to normal life again. In the two weeks since I've been home I've haven't been too bored though. I've been to Bear Lake with my family, Provo with friends where I went to the Ute Stampede, and all over town on my dad's motorcycle. I'll keep you all updated.