down by the sea...

Today we went to the pharmacy to see what meds we could buy here. There was about 50 pages of meds. Ortega owns more than 50% of the pharmaceuticals here. The list will help us stock the clinic in the future. We have a meeting set up Monday with the hospital director (Charissa will stand in for me).
After that we drove to the coast (Pacific Ocean) to Poneloya-Leon and ate by the sea at the Hotel Suyapa. Debra got 12 small fresh lobsters for $12 and Charissa and Mike got fresh sea bass. Of course I got chicken. We then drove to Leon and visited a cathedral that was built in 1797, I believe by the Spainards (history is not my thing). We sat at a cafe on the cathedral square and had a delicious Sundae (the temp got 97 today but the breeze from the ocean made it a enjoyable day).
On the way back to Managua we stopped to buy iguanas for dinner which are sold live with their mouths rubberbanded shut and tied in groups of three (3 for $5) but decided we were still full. I was going to buy them and set them free. I will post pictures once I get home. So it was an incredible birthday- though I missed sharing it with my family.
I leave the hotel at 445 am tomorrow morning and the flight home is about 7 hours. Looking forward to bringing a medical team down as that is what they are requesting- the government and the organization I have been with this week. So, let me know if you want to join me and Hope Without Borders (www.hwb-intl.org).
ADIOS!