a note about names

okay. so first point: names are VERY important here. hondurans typically have a grand total of four names: two nombres and two apellidos. this gets confusing, because when one asks, "como se llama?" people usually respond with only two names, one first and one last. when you consider that there are 4-choose-2 permutations of a person's name, and then that they may have records in several health centers and clinics, we have a pretty big record-keeping problem. 

punto dos: you, my anonymous reader, probably know me as yuan. but not here. people here can't pronounce "yuan," so in the past week i have been llamada "jew-an" (the spanish pronunciation of my name), "juan," "juanes," "gringa," "muchacha," y lo que es más común, "chinita." today i met one of our employees/old friends of StoS, named delmi. the three of us took turns to introduce ourselves: elizabeth, karla, y yo. when we got to me, delmi asked me to repeat my name once more, and then just shook her head and said, "chinita." y eso es. she suggested that i pick a spanish name that's easier: "delmi?"

claro.

anyway al final, ya estoy en concepción. it has a very different feel than santa lucía, mostly because it's newer and bigger. the clinic is beautiful and the medical equipment is nice, but it's a lot less familial and loving than SL. definitely no marías y valeadas, nor un comedor where everyone hangs out to eat. it's like a place to visit, not to stay. i guess staying in the brigade-room (where we threw a few mattresses on a tile floor) reinforces that feel. plus, there's no rosbinda in the clinic, though the doctors here are young and nice and friendly. but! to satisfy my badass requirement, i'm probably going to try to win over delmi, who is definitely a no-nonsense, won't-take-your-shit character. love her.

tomorrow, me voy al centro de salud with juan, our medical director/new drinking buddy. we bonded over eminem the other night... go figure. anyway hopefully tomorrow will give me a better feel for how to go about working with health promoters and community health volunteers. OR i'll just get eaten alive by the 3-inch bugs here. en serio. or scorpions/tarantulas.

wish me luck,

chinita

p.s. sorry for all the spanglish today. i must have caught the bug from juan... hope y'all (and by "all" i mean like, the five of you--two if you don't include the roomies) can still understand me! 

vaya pues~