It’s July 12th, 2019. Just another Sunday night for a classy little lady like myself.
I get my face mask on.
I Brew my tea.
pop a jolly rancher in my mouth (cherry of course)..
I leap onto my unmade bed (yes I know, I’m not as perfect as you all thought, how disheartening)..
and open up my indubitably cracked IPad Pro (again, far from perfect).
Terribly written?
Why would I EVER willingly choose to degrade myself in the comfort of my own...
..blog?
Well, to be fair, I only say this is TERRIBLY written because, as previously mentioned, it is not, in fact, the original.
See, what had happened WAS, I had someway, and somehow, with whatever god given TALENTS OF FORGETFULNESS I have been so GENEROUSLY blessed with, managed to LOSE the ~original~.
Virtually.
Pretty evident that I really truly AM a one of a kind type of gal huh..
:)
I know.
So,
ladies and gentlemen!
Boys and girls!
Heffers and Heffets!
I wrote this intro to simply inform you all that I am sitting here
well..
Recumbently so,
"WRITING A BLOG THAT I ALREADY WROTE"
:'(
As I lie here
Vanquished
&
Subdued
I implore you all to cut a girl like myself some slack on whatever bit of critique you may or may not bestow upon my, somewhat, brief telling of the trip I took to Bocas Del Toro, Panama.
I call it..
De Ja Vu Panama
(This was our airport. LAX has nothing on this gem.)
_______________________________________________________
I am not going to sit here and write a prolifically long and monotonous post about how endearing this trip to Panama may have been for me.
..I did that last year.
Instead,
I am just going to provide you all with a brief telling of how this trip, similar to my previous endeavor, further amplified my perception on how privileged this life we all live truly is.
How the people we meet, the experiences we come across, and the relationships we build all shape this beautiful entity we call
~life~
We start on base.
Base
A somewhat utopian oasis one could even argue.
Hammocks.
Crossfit.
Meds.
(I think I sweat out an EZ 3 hunnid calories packaging acetaminophen for two hours.)
Equipment.
But you see,
Not because Pina coladas are served right at your finger tips!
Or because the UV index hits an 11 and a half each and every day and we come back to the states perturbing this unfamiliar glow!
This is a utopian oasis for reasons far beyond those justified by aesthetics...
This place also has exploding kittens!
**scroll if confused**
Better?
(Tania and I found this game. Never really learned HOW to play but still, a really dope concept don’t ya think?)
Yes, I may have gotten mauled by ruthless amount of mosquitos during my time here.
(Inconsiderate mosquitos, if I do say so myself..)
And yes, It may have made this trip a little more adverse for a valley girl like myself.
BUT,
As Kelly Clarkson had once said:
Well, sang***
"WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER"
And man oh MAN do I feel like I could whip out a smooth 47 pull ups, with an uncanny ease, right about now!!!!
(Though don't be fooled. This is me in the midst of yet another failed attempt at trying to do just one. 47 is a bit far fetched now that I think about it. But, I mean, hopefully you get my drift.)
Anywho,
In ALL seriousness, there is something truly exhilarating about being surrounded by individuals who share the same aspirations and beliefs as your own.
These providers, staff members, and students all embark on this not-so-luxurious trip whilst leaving any and all dispositions at the door.
They come with a single purpose and a single purpose only...
To salvage whatever bit of coconuts that these community goers so generously (but unpurposefully) leave behind!
(A first year med student mid-juggle. Cool ain't it?)
Oh!
And I guess to selflessly provide medical and dental care to individuals who are given absolutely NO ACCESS to such.
Base is a place we only get the privilege of experiencing for one night, and one night only. We then ship off to the community assigned to us.
Goodbye Base and HELLO BISIRA.
_____________________________________________________
En Route
The community we attended was most notably addressed by the name "Bisira".
To get to Bisira it was voiced that a 3 hour boat ride would be most efficient.
Three hours.
Just three :).
Three.
WANNA HEAR A FUNNY STORY THOUGH!!!!
(look, Lindsey thinks its funny too!)
This boat ride did not actually take three hours.
Good right!?
Welp,
Wrong.
It took five and a half.
Five and a Half hours.
Five,
AND A HALF.
As the waves grew larger and the boat moved slower the ocean sickness prevailed!
BUT, contrary to popular belief,
I SELDOM get ocean sickness.
In fact, I can’t seem to put my finger on a time where I have ever truly BEEN ocean sick.
Or is the correct terminology "sea sick"?
I guess the world will never know..
..Or will they?!
This is what I found for the definition of "Sea Sick".
This is what I found for "Ocean Sickness"
So, for the sake of this longer than expected post, and in an attempt to put our minds at ease..
I'm just going to use the phrase "motion sickness".
:)
*SIDENOTE* I hear meclizine works WONDERS for those of you who suffer from ‘motion’ sickness.
(To all you weak folks out there, you can thank me later for that fun fact).
Four hours later and we had finally arrived at our first stop.
(In order to safely get to the island of Bisira, it was recommended we switch boats and be directed by a driver who was more familiar with the dangerous, unpredictable, and rapid-like route that embodied white water rapids unlike anything you had ever seen.)
Scary right!
This is where we stopped, PRE boat swap.
This is where we continued.
(Feel free to take a guess as to what Tania is so adamantly thinking about back there. I think plantains, but I could be wrong.)
_______________________________________________________
Bisira
We had arrived,
FINALLY arrived.
"Motion Sickness" had NOTHIN' on a savage like myself.
HA.
It thought!!!
("It" being my "motion sickness" for all you uncultured swines).
We were greeted by an array of Bisiran community goers.
____
Well, actually...
not greeted, per say..
but rather, 'surrounded'.
We were somewhat 'surrounded' by the Bisiran community goers**.
Ya.
"surrounded"
There we go!
I like that word better!
____
It was quite nice, you know, feeling like somewhat of a celebrity.
All eyes were on us.
The ~gringos~ and the ~gringas~!!
(I channelled my inner Jennifer in case you all were wondering).
I say celebrity status because, when living within such a secluded culture, the people in these communities are hardly, if at all, ever exposed to such diversity.
I mean,
I walked off that boat with my clothing completely and utterly drenched,
my shoes completely and utterly ruined,
and my hair completely and utterly RECKLESS, as if I had truly just brushed that thang with an egg beater.
(as many of you are more than familiar with)
BUT DESPITE ALL THAT,
They STILL took it upon themselves to take interest in how I looked, in the way I spoke, and in the ways I interacted with my group.
What a way to invigorate someone’s sense of self-confidence!!!
Though, now that I think about it, they may have just been mesmerized by the ways in which our group had resourcefully maneuvered the equipment from one location to the next..
...and I had just so happened to stand in the way.
Typical.
Despite such an unfortunate epiphany, I will forever stand by the notion that there is something ever so humbling about immersing one's self into a community far different than that of their own.
It is highly recommended.
Should really become mandatory, if you ask me..
But you probably weren't going to ask me any way.
So again,
HIGHLY. RECOMMENDED.
___________________________________________________
Stereotypically Misconstrued
"Dentists have such boring lives"
"Dentists have bad backs"
Dentists have the highest rates of suicide amongst all professions"
Hi,
To those of you who look at Dentists as a boring, unambiguous, spontaneously lacking collective, PREPARE to be amazed.
This is Richard.
"Dr. Rich" we liked to call him.
If you thought the older fella from those Dosequies commercials was "the most interesting man in the world"..
..well folks, you thought oh so WRONG.
Dr. Rich is.
(fully aware the checkmark is subpar. Reiterating that I am very, and I mean VERY, far from perfect.)
Rich is a dental whiz who encompasses this combined sense of brilliance and free spirit, far beyond anyone I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Get this!
To most, a common misconception is that the average dentist must work a typical 9-5, is unfortunately plagued by, none other than, an aching back, and ultimately slaves for nearly all weeks out of the year.
Boring wouldn’t you think?
Maybe, though I guess it is all relative.
What one might perceive as gruesome, the other may perceive as wholesome.
To each their own.
For Rich, however..
YES.
VERY BERRY BORING.
He works in Northern England six months out of the year and owns a flat with which he voluntarily rents out for the other six months.
Though why rent it out?
WELL..
I’ll tell ya!!
Rich is NOTHING of what you’d expect him to be.
He IS, in fact, the most INTERESTING man in the world.
Well, for me at least.
Why?
Imagine traveling every year to some of the world’s most amazing beaches and surfing some of the worlds most amazing waves!
That, my home skillet buiscuts, is Richy Rich.
Oh, and he’s a stellar diver too, if I do say so myself.
For those of you who may or may not be interested in seeing it for yourself, I attached a progression below.
A performance of considerable virtuosity, wouldn't you say?
______________________________________________
Cold World
Water.
Fresh,
Filtered,
Purified,
Water.
A buck fifty in panama, give or take.
Coca Cola, ON THE OTHER HAND, is a mere fifty cents!
No give no take.
Just fifty.
Consequently, when times are hard and these families scrape, and I mean SCRAPE, by in order to make ends meat, Coca Cola really truly IS the MOST logically attainable beverage.
Though, these families then wonder why diabetes, high blood pressure, lightheadedness, and even fatigue, is so prevalent within their communities.
I mean, imagine you were never shown an image that visually conveys how much sugar is ACTUALLY USED to make that sweet sweet taste of Coca Cola so undeniably addictive.
We, too, would make that smart financial decision to pocket the fifty cents, and purchase the soda!
These underrepresented communities lack education in two of life’s most important categories:
Sexual Ed and Health Ed.
I mean, ya we may hit the juul more often than we sip on water, but unlike these individuals, we are not blind to the detrimental effects it poses on our overall health.
mm mm mm.
When we were 14, our worries consisted of salvaging the $10.75 worth of change, in order to attend the premiere of "The Fast and the Furious 4", whereas at the age of 14, these woman, or shall I say girls, worry about how they are going to feed their children in 9 months time.
Pregnancy is most common in woman between the ages of 14 and 16.
In fact, it is ACTUALLY expected.
Contrarily, in places such as the United States, programs like
&
pose ratings that go far beyond those of Courage the Cowardly Dog or Ed, Edd, and Eddie, SIMPLY BECAUSE pregnancy, in and of itself, ENCAPSULATES absurdity at such a young age.
Reality tv at its finest.
In addition,
HIV has become a new illness that is spreading throughout the indigenous Panamanian population in mass numbers.
But how?
How does a disease that posed little to no existence, prior to this generation, all of a sudden come into fruition?
Younger men within the household take it upon themselves to go work in the city of Panama and concurrently, night life culture is more than prevalent in that SAID city.
aka Panama.
Panama is that "SAID" city.
Just to clarify.
Even moreso, as these younger men take it upon themselves to enjoy this very prevalent night life culture, they ultimately contract the HIV virus and further bring this incurable disease back into the communities.
Count your blessings ladies and gents, because the medicinal resources that we have in this beautifully developed and undeniably privileged country of ours, is nothing but a distant dream to those suffering beyond the bounds of the U S of A.
____________________________________________________
Los Dentistos en el Panama
This year was a bit different than last.
Rather than servicing two communities, we serviced one.
The cases were fairly similar to those from last year’s communities, though what was pretty profound was how efficient Dr. Rich was in times where resources were absolutely and undeniably..
scarce.
Riddle Me this:
Imagine you are watching television, recumbent across your, more than comfortable, sofa.
You had just flipped the channel to Law and Order: SVU in order to pass the time that these commercial breaks never seize to inconvenience us with.
(Commercial breaks from none other than the bachelorette, of course.)
It was just two minutes prior, that you found yourself screaming "FINALLY" at the television.
...Hannah had just told Luke to get the f*** up out that lovely little Greek Villa they were so ‘romantically’ and so ‘lovingly’ dining in, you know, until he, yet again, said some reckless, unempathetic, psychopathic-like comment that ‘finally brought [hannah] the clarity that she had been more than deserving of’.
***Sidenote: I seldom watch the bachelorette and even I hate Luke***
Anywho,
*2 minutes pass*
You maneuver your right hand to where you had THOUGHT you placed the remote.
No remote.
*abruptly gazes down to the right*
"omg.."
No.
Remote.
In.
Sight.
You’re flustered.
The commercial break is MOST DEFINITELY OVER, but
WHERE
IS
THIS
REMOTE???!
Gone.
(Temporarily, of course. It will come up..
..during a time where you have never NOT needed that piece o’ plastic more in your entire life! HA!).
But what now???
Well, my fiends (not friends, fiends)
This is where you have to unfortunately settle for the one, the only, the infamous (I might add) ..
~television control box~
"Now I’m forced to get up every time an OxyClean commercial comes on so I can simply cater to the BOREDOM that these next two excruciatingly LONG and COMMERCIAL-FILLED minutes will invoke upon me??"
Yes.
How inconvenient and how non-resourceful.
hehe.
Now, I say this in hopes of painting a somewhat comprehensible depiction of what it is like for Dr. Rich, along with all of the other medical providers on this trip, to go about providing what ever form of medical care that is needed for each patient.
The control box is there, it functions in a way that allows you to effectuate the task at hand, but, unfortunately, it is not done so in an ideal or preferred manner.
In these clinics,
There is no electricity.
There is no 'state of the art' dental equipment.
Resources are completely and utterly deficient..as mentioned once before.
Though, despite ALL ODDS, the man..
the myth..
the legend...
(otherwise known as Dr. Rich)
STILL managed to make this ‘control box’ situation his B****!
*drops mic*
*pics up mic*
On day two (8am-4pm) Dr. Rich catered to 35 patients.
THIRTY FIVE.
and out of those THIRTY FIVE patients, he MIRACULOUSLY managed to extract a tooth, if not multiple, from 34 of them.
If you have EVER gotten a wisdom tooth extracted, take into account the morning long endeavor that entails for JUST yourself..
a SINGLE patient.
Rich saw 34 of "you".
34.
In an 8-hour, single day, clinic.
Insane in the membrane!!!!
I know!!!!
_______________________________________________________
Ugh FINALLY, the end..
I know guys. I SINCERELY apologize.
Although, I can confidently argue that I DID, in fact, use FAR MORE PHOTOS in this bad boy than I did in my previous write up..
But REGARDLESS,
This blog WAS a bit different than my last.
I did not delve, as deeply, into the poverty epidemic that remains prevalent amongst these under represented communities.
Instead, I chose to address the instances that helped shape this once in a lifetime typa experience.
Corny, I know.
This year it was the individuals I had encountered that reminded me why the world we live in, despite being so unbelievably discombobulated, poses an uncanny amount of hopefulness.
It dawned on me.
We all live separate lives.
Each at 100 mph give or take.
(Most likely, give)
We all come from different backgrounds.
We all have have a different set of morals and beliefs.
Though, after embarking on such a brigade, our perceptions, of the world and those around us, start to intertwine.
Human beings are all the same. We are the same species. Ethnically we are different and racially we are different, though evolutionarily, we are all..
.. the same.
We feel.
We feel sadness.
We feel hatred.
We feel love.
We feel happiness.
We feel pain.
We feel stress.
We feel angst.
We feel excitement.
We feel.
Floating Doctors is an organization that indirectly caters to the notion that we all essentially
‘feel’
Otherwise, why else would people come to provide such services whilst expecting absolutely nothing in return?
To selflessly provide such expensive care at no cost
( to communities that would, otherwise, never be able to afford such high order favors)
can only be justified by such a grand sense of understanding..
E M P A T H Y
We become blind
(Not permanently, of course)
to the notion that people beyond the confines of this 'American Bubble' of ours ARE, in fact, struggling.
We understand that such conditions are prevalent.
We just seemingly forget.
We forget because life, again, moves at 100 mph, and we have our own stresses and dispositions to worry about.
It doesn’t make us selfish.
It just makes us human.
What these trips do, however, is they force us to acclimate to a situation far beyond the confines of our own comfort zones.
They expose us to a lifestyle far different than one accompanied by filtered water, Beyond Meat Burgers, and all things ibuprofen.
Humbling, to say the least.
We live in the most privileged of times in one of the most prosperous nations. Of course we’d look at life in the ways that we unapologetically do.
It is all relative.
Our ability to take 8am classes, wake up (ever so abruptly) to the inconvenient sound of yet another fire alarm, or even drink a musty looking glass of water from a California faucet, could easily be categorized as:
But how about for those living with only 35 cents to their name?
Global Poverty is real!
Global Poverty is saaaaad!
Unfortunately, contrary to what I had mentioned at the top of this very endearing though very monotonous post, this WAS, in fact, STILL quite long..
so for those of you who have made it this far,
I LOVE YOU
3
0
0
0
:)
To those of you who didn’t,
Well,
I’ve said it once, and I’ll SAY IT AGAIN..
DIDNT
👏🏼
WANT YOU
👏🏼
TO READ IT
👏🏼
ANYWAYS.
~#Sorrynotsorry~
..
With my sincerest regards,
Tal [No Middle Name] Sahar
___________________________________________
Siavash thank you for the sick a$$ photo editing skillz you were oh so blessed with
&
Cece. Here’s the shoutout I promised you. Love n miss u gwrl.