This blog will be all over the place and chaotic because that is exactly how that day went. I had to sit out of work the day before because of an ingrown toenail that was progressively getting worse, and wearing my tennis shoes was not an option. So march 11th, our host, Basillio, told me to get a ride from our translator into Nicoya to go to the clinic. He told me they would give me a cream to kill the infection, so I thought that can’t be bad, why not. I spent the morning waiting for translator Ellie to arrive cause you never know when to expect her. Finally around 10:30 she gets here so me and cat get into the car. Cat had to come so that the buddy system was still in place. We had about a 30 minute car ride into Nicoya which was so pretty. When Ellie finally parked the car we got out and she was just wondering around, turns out she didn’t know where the clinic was herself. Once we find it she surpasses everyone else and has the doctor see me immediately, even though I had no appointment. I am unsure of what even happened the first few minutes because Ellie and the doctor just talked back and forth about unrelated things. Finally the doctor sits and looks at my toe and says something to Ellie and she confidently goes, “ohhh surgery.” As if those words weren’t terrifying enough she keeps going with a couple other english words like, “cut.” Suddenly were rushing out of the clinic and back into the street. At this time I am in full panic mode and Cat cannot seem to stop her uncontrollable laughter. Ellie then joins in on the laughter while asking what is so funny. Then she tells me it’s funny that I am worried. In a moment of trying to console me she tells me, “it won’t hurts because I will have anesthesia.” Before I knew we had different definitions of anesthesia I was thinking, “anesthesia??????? I need to be put to sleep for what??” Anyways, at this point we are off to the other clinic to do the “surgery” and im trying to text my parents and my leaders and somehow try to understand and explain what’s going on. As I am walking into the clinic my leader, Lauren calls and says that Insurance has to be done first and I can’t let them touch me. To set the scene you should just imagine being in a chicken house, full of chickens, trying to walk across and not let a single chicken touch you. Also Cat is still laughing hysterically and videoing everything. At the new clinic the front desk lady was less than amused by us. She and Ellie argue for a bit and I leave on a wild goose chase for the bathroom. To visualize this clinic it is just one long hallway with lots of doors on both sides of the hall and a chair at the very end of it all. So weird. I find the bathroom, kind of. I find the men’s bathroom, but it works. By the time I come out of the bathroom Ellie and the nurse are waiting for me to throw me into more rooms. They explain that Cat can’t go with me and she has to sit in the chair at the end of the hallways. Cat tries to argue that she has to hold my hand, but the nurse was not budging. So I head into the doctors office, alone. He has Ellie explain that the surgery won’t be today because he has other things to do, but he will examine me and we will plan it. Exhale. Okay, so no one is cutting on me today, I have time to run. The doctor then kicks Ellie out of the room and has me lay down on the examination table. No cares in the world about how much pain I am in, he starts squeezing my toe and turning it all different ways to look at it. You should know my phone is beeping constantly, cat is still trying to get into the room, and I am crying on the table. Then instead of just opening the door to have Ellie translate he beings typing on his computer with google translate. Watching this grown man type with his index finger was new. After he finally got it all typed out it reads that I have a bad infection, obviously. I have to keep my “finger” as clean as possible and take antibiotics until I can come back Monday and he can preform the surgery. He is honest and tells me the anesthesia will hurt, at this point I know he is talking about the shot they give to numb the toe, and once it’s numb he will cut out the toenail. I am then escorted out of his office, but the chaos wasn’t over. I am taken to the front desk where I am asked for my debit card and ID. Okay check, check. I have a million things in my hands and I am not sure what is what. Ellie gets my prescription paper, runs into the next room to get that taken care of. She then runs back rushing me for my debit card that the front desk lady still has. Obviously in a hurry she asks me for cash, that I don’t have. I get my card from the front desk and run it to Ellie who is now arguing with that desk lady. Waiting for my antibiotics things slowed down a little bit. We had more of a game plan so I ask Ellie if she can pick me up Monday morning at 8 to get me back to the clinic. She then responds with “maybe, 8 is very early for me.” Ellie is our only transportation anywhere out of our little town of La Vigia so I had to renegotiate for 9am. We are walking back to the car when we see the time, and realize that the church had already fed the team and cat and I have missed lunch. We ask Ellie to run us somewhere to get food and she seemed confused for some reason. I am not sure, but I convinced her by telling her I would buy her lunch too. Next thing I know we’re in the KFC parking lot?? I have never had KFC in the states and I am fixing to eat it in Costa Rica??? Food review: gross. The day just went on from there and KFC was beyond eventful since we were there for over an hour. It was exhausting and I am tired just thinking about it. So until Monday I am stuck in the church keeping my toe clean and spending lots of time journaling about the whirlwind this week has been since moving and planting ourselves in the tiniest town, with no english speakers except for our team. Hoping Monday this toe looks phenomenal and he doesn’t go through with the surgery because I am petrified of needles. Wish me luck for Monday, and as this week has gone, for the rest of the trip too.
