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Butler Volleyball In Nicaragua
May 19, 2008
Butler outside hitter Jessica Wolfe documents the Bulldog volleyball team's ninth day in Nicaragua.
Picture this: a hot, congested room about the size of a small living room, with four beds with unclean sheets. There appears to be dirt on the wall, but someone quickly informs you it´s probably dried blood. Some of the walls are cracked; they need a new coat of paint but it´s only been a year since it was last painted. That is the emergency room of the hospital in San Juan del Sur. The room where newborns go just after birth has no windows so there´s endless opportunities for bugs to come in and out freely. I only recall seeing one I.V. stand and I didn´t recall seeing any actual machinery although my teammate said she did. Karen, Randall, Britt and I sterilized the walls in the hospital. The E.R. was confusing because people were seemingly laying casually on the beds. I was curious as to what was wrong despite the obviousness it is none of my business. Seeing the hospital makes me thanksful for the things provided for me in the U.S. But it also makes me angry because our society is so material based we lose sight of what´s actually important. Because of the transportation strike, the Nicaraguan team was delayed about two hours to our game. We didn´t know but they played another team before us, so they must have been tired. We won in four games, but for me the games weren´t as exciting as the first match. Nevertheless, the national team had been undefeated on that court, so winning was awesome. Steele and I noticed that the crowd was throwing rocks at us. We think it was just for attention, but I´ve never quite encountered that before :) After the game, we had dinner with their team at a nearby bar & restaurant. I tried fish and although I´m not sure what kind it was I enjoyed it.
It was hard to communicate, but there was a girl on their team who is actually attending college in Tennessee so her English was much easier to understand. |
