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Monday, December 6, 2010

Thanksgiving and a Marketing Workshop (With a Busted Groin)…

Greetings again from Honduras. Since being back to the states, time seems to be shortening here in the Peace Corps. I just got an email today from our administration informing us about our Close of Service conference. Yes, paperwork is already being started to plan my exit out of Peace Corps. Time continues to fly.

I also posted another quick video to show you guys some other cool work I started to do for the local organization I work with here in Santa Rosa de Copán. Check out the video below.

Well, what also happened last month is Thanksgiving. It was another holiday in Central America. I spent it with some great friends and new friends. I traveled out to my friend Kyle’s site in Ocotepeque. The day started off with the Turkey Bowl. Yes, we played a little two hand touch in the cow pasture. I hadn’t played a Turkey Bowl in years, but I am glad the tradition started again, even if outside the US. I ended up pulling my groin on the first play of the game. More on that later.

The power was off for a while that day but eventually came back…then went off again…then came back for good. We went to another volunteer’s house in town where we ate a great feast with 12 other volunteers. We gave thanks and proceeded with more holiday shenanigans…nothing short of how it would be at a family holiday back home. We lit fireworks, slid down banisters, and had good chats. It was nice to spend this holiday in foreign country, though, if not just for the experience. When will I ever get to again? You can listen to “La Vida Hondureña” to learn what other volunteers think about holidays in the Peace Corps. Click here to listen.

So, yeah, I pulled my groin which turned into a funny but also not so great Peace Corps story. It goes like this. The first play of the Turkey bowl on that Thanksgiving Thursday I pull my groin. Its not too bad so I continue to play the rest of the game (bad idea #1). That day and the next I feel pretty tight down there but can get around fine.

That Saturday I am limping around but friends and I decide to go out in my town. We walk all around town and eventually settle somewhere where we do a little dancing (bad idea #2). It feels like its not getting worse but its definitely not getting better.

I decide to not call my doctors because they’ll just tell me to rest anyway (bad idea #3). That Monday I wake up in the middle of the night in extreme pain and do so the next two nights. That Wednesday I give a marketing workshop to some women’s groups (check out the video below). Thursday I finally call my doctor and go to the local hospital here in Santa Rosa.

The doc tells me I tore some muscle fibers in my leg/groin area and need to rest a lot…surprise. He points out the bruising that has occurred…I hadn’t noticed yet. He also gives me some meds. He then asks me if I just want a shot it the butt of anti-inflammatory. I ask him why. He said it would enter the body faster. I say yes (bad idea #5).

As soon as his nurse injects me with whatever it was, my butt and leg muscles feel like they are cramping and I clench the hospital bed with all my strength. This lasts for 30 minutes. Since the injection was in my left buttoc (said with a Forrest Gump accent) I now had two legs out of commission. The doctor says “oh wow, this never happens.” The nurse says “this happens sometimes. Just not that bad.” They both stare at me while I wait for the pain to go away. It does eventually. Now I am resting it. As of the time of this blog, my groin is at about 25%.

Lessons learned…1. American holidays in Honduras are a pretty cool experience 2. Stretch before working out 3. Never take a shot in the butt again.

…until next time


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