Our Journey Home

Hola everyone! Keisha Ryan here writing from the comfort of my own bed. After a long 34 hours of travel (thanks Aunalee for being our official time keeper) to say we were excited to be back on home soil was an understatement! We began our long journey back to our little island on Saturday with an early wake up and departure from the hostel at 5:30am. We were all down stairs with bags packed eagerly waiting for the bus when Kim Lake delivered the news we were all hoping was a joke and none of us wanted to believe was true; our Toronto to Halifax flight had been cancelled due to the impending snow storm and we would not be getting home as we had originally planned. With messages being sent home and many questions left unanswered we presented the hostel staff with a signed Canadian flag they promised to display in their bar, said our goodbyes to the staff and our United Planet rep Elissa and hopped on the bus to make the 20 minute journey to the airport. Once we arrived we quickly got in line to check in and learn where our travel would be taking us. Many of us were being rerouted from Toronto to Ottawa then flying to Halifax the next morning before having to make the drive home while others would be heading to St.Johns before meeting us in Halifax the next day. After we figured some things out and were reassured we would have time to make connections and would be getting home the next day we went through security where many of us enjoyed a quick pre flight meal of Starbucks or McDonalds and patiently waited to board. After an hour and a half delay and 5 hours into our journey we said our final goodbyes to beautiful Buenos Aires and were finally settled away into our seats and ready for takeoff. The 11 hour flight ended up being pretty uneventful with most of us napping, watching movies and generally just counting down the hours until we were back on Canadian soil again. Once we landed we were greeted by the cold Canadian air but we were all so happy to be back in our home country it barely bothered us! We came to the realization that our connecting flight was boarding just as we were disembarking and we still had to clear customs and go through security again, looks like Ottawa was just not in the cards for us. So off we go through customs where we all breezed through with little troubles, looks like traveling in such large groups has its perks; claimed our luggage and then went to figure out how we were getting home. Our fearless leaders Kim Lake and Belinda Andrea marched themselves to the Air Canada desk where they spent the next two hours negotiating for us to get home. While the interrupted flight saga continued the rest of us went to Tim Hortons to enjoy some good home country snacks. Kim and Belinda reappeared with the best news we had heard all day, we were rebooked for a direct flight to Sydney tomorrow morning with hotel accommodations for the night and food vouchers. We hopped into Ubers and the shuttle service and went to our hotel to get some much needed rest. After another early morning wake up we were again enroute to the airport and a short 2 hour flight to home. After some minor delays with the shuttle and a few missing seats which was dealt with we were finally boarding the plane and on our last leg home. After another fairly uneventful flight we were finally back on Cape Breton soil! Everyone was greeted with open arms by their loved ones at the airport (I’ll see you in a month mom and dad!) and all our luggage made it back with us. We concluded our journey by saying our final goodbyes and all left excited for our own beds and a home cooked meal! I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of all the students on this trip to say thank you to you our readers for following us on this journey as well as SES, United Planet and all their partners for organizing this amazing journey for us. To our families, sponsors and supporters thank you all so much for supporting each of us and helping us to be able to experience this. To my fellow future nurses thank you for making so many cherished memories with me, I’m so excited to be entering the workforce with each of you! And finally thank you to our fearless leaders Debbie, Belinda, Kim and Angela for allowing us the opportunity to partake in this experience, you are all loved and appreciated by us and this trip would not have been possible without your dedication so from the bottom of our hearts muchos gracias!

Yours truly, Keisha 

                            Some editing fun by Nicole waiting for our flights to be sorted out

                                            The map of part one of our long journey home!

Megan trying to get some relief from her sunburn waiting for our last flight 

Trip in Review

Hi everyone, we're missing the sunshine but happy to be home with loved ones. The final blog post has been written by a student working for Caper Times, the CBU Student Newspaper. Check out the post at this link: https://wp.me/p6mBPQ-7l

We couldn't possibly thank you enough for lending your support before the trip and for following along with us throughout this one-in-a-lifetime experience, but we'll continue to try: Thank you.

Warm regards on a cold day,
Daniel

Friday, March 1st, 2019

Hola everyone! 
Lauren Penny and Britney Fitzgerald here. It is our last day in the beautiful Buenos Aires and today the whole group went to Estancia Don Silvano, located in La Pampas. This is a traditional ranch where we had a fiesta gaucho experience (gaucho party-gauchos are like cowboys that are residents of the Argentinian plains). When we arrived we were welcomed with a breakfast of empanadas and beverages (they were delicious). We then either went on a horseback ride or horse carriage ride through the countryside. Throughout the ride we saw lots of animals including peacocks, birds, nandus', pigs and more. After this, we all relaxed by the pool for a while and some attended a mate tea lesson. Some things that we took from this lesson included : 
-The water should never be cold. (It should be between 70 and 90 degrees)
-You should heat the water until it starts to bubble. It should not be completely boiled.
-It is very hot however, this drink itself is not hot the straw is what feels hot.
-The silver straw used is antiseptic. For years and years they have been drinking from the same straw and no one has ever died because of it.
-If you clean the straw it is breaking the sign of friendship.
-The mate gives people energy and keeps them alert. It also has a lot of healthy properties.
And lastly:
-Do not say gracias when you are handed the mate- say it when you are done as it means that you do not want any more.

                                                         Gauchos (Similar to cowboys).

                                                              Mary Beth horseback riding.

                                                                  Horse carriage ride.

                                                           Estancia Don Silvano Ranch.

                                                                Delicious empanada.

                                                                     Mate tea lesson.
Next we had another Argentinian barbecue experience which included sausages, chicken, ribs, fries,  salads etc.. lots of food! And while we ate we were entertained by a folkloric song and dance show with traditional Argentine dances(samba and tango). It was awesome! At one point our whole group was singing “can’t help falling in love with you”. They then had an open mic portion where  our very own CBU professor, Angela Macdonald sang and played guitar. She was AMAZING!!! The staff then got people up dancing and some from our group showed off their moves. After our meal we went back to the pool to cool off and relax and were even joined by a few new friends (3 frogs- haha). Lauren MacDonald taught water aerobics and Belinda got revenge on Alicia for splashing her in the pool earlier. Before we headed out we had sweet cakes with quince jelly and tea. We then drove back to our hostel to pack and get ready to leave early in the morning. It’s safe to say we ended our trip on a high note. Saying farewell to Buenos Aires will be hard tomorrow as we have had an awesome time here. Thank you to anyone who is reading this that has made our time here all it has been. Ciao everyone!

-Lauren & Brittney

                                                                Salsa and samba dancing.

                                                    Nicole dancing with a staff member.

                                                           Kim and Johnny dancing.

                                                  Angela giving her amazing performance!

                                                                  The pool at the ranch.

                                                                     Frog friends.

                                                     A wild peacock roaming the ranch.

February 27th, 2019
Hola from Argentina!  Jennifer Roland Buffett and Chantal Caron here to fill you in on day 13 of our exciting adventure

Our time is rapidly winding up here in Buenos Aires (pronounced Bwen-nous Air-e-ers, and from Aragonese means “good air”).  Today we completed our final clinical hours with the volunteers at Roffo Hospital and the Children’s Hospital.  We have been spending so much time with these wonderful people.  It is so heart warming to think that just two weeks ago we were strangers, coming from very different cultures who did not speak the same languages.  Yet, through sharing the common passion of caring for people, wanting to make a difference, and the life saving App translator, we managed to build a unique and genius bond that none of will ever forget!!!

 We arrived at the Children’s Hospital and split up into groups and followed the volunteers to different areas.  Today would be different than all of the other days for me because I brought in my fiddle.  Through experience I know that music is a universal language that can express in a powerful way that words cannot.  Myself, the volunteer as a guide, and two of our instructors Belinda Andrea and Debbie Cantwell stopped in units all over the hospital we were introduced by the volunteer and then I’d play a few medleys.  It's safe to say Cape Breton fiddle was well received.  We instantly saw the precious smiles of the little faces of the children and their families. Using the translator App our volunteer first introduced us to a little girl who she said needed some positivity as she had many medical problems.  Watching her smile form with the first four bars of the tune was so priceless.  I also played a few tunes in the play area in the courtyard.  The children were so adorable.  One little girl, maybe just 14 months placed her  hands over her mouth as soon as she heard me tuning up.  She didn’t really smile nor did she cry, she just looked mesmerized.  When I finished, she toddled up to me.  I crouched down thinking she was curious to see my fiddle.  But instead she leaned in and kissed my cheek.  This is a traditional greeting by all Argentinians but I was still enchanted that this child just a baby approached me with such sweetness. By this time my heart was over flowing with every emotion imaginable.  One boy who followed us around for a bit brought me a leaf and a big hug.  I noticed he too had a cleft lip as I had as a child.  His mother was bursting with joy because he was so happy.  We also made stops in the ER waiting room, plastic surgery, the medical surgical floor and the intensive care unit.  Here, I kept the music quiet and soothing, as most of the children were not in conscious states.  Again my heart was overwhelmed with emotions. We took some group photo’s with the volunteers.  Many of these volunteers came to do extra days to accommodate our visit.  They simply could not do enough for us and from the first day embraced us with open arms literally.  We finished our clinical day at the Children’s Hospital with a few tunes in the chapel for the volunteers and all of us students.  I truly cannot say enough about these amazing people.  It was a very fulfilling experience to finally be able to bridge both of my passions into a single experience.

Children's Hospital Gang with the Hospital Volunteers

Meanwhile, Chantal was completing her clinical hours at Roffo Hospital:

Chantal) Hola everyone!  Today was our last day at our volunteer placement at Angel H Roffo Hospital.  We had an interesting morning planned, as we were allowed to participate in rounds with the medical residents for the morning.  We visited various patient rooms on a unit that admits patients for short visits, either for some kind of treatment (chemotherapy, etc) or for remediation of side effects of their primary treatments.  Patients will be admitted to be administered antibiotics, fluids, and so on for treatments of side effects.  We spoke to one of the residents for some period of time concerning the indications of use for one of their chemotherapy drugs.  The resident explained that they prefer to give this drug in its oral form, as it costs significantly less than the IV format.  However, the oral form causes much more side effects, which causes many of the patients being treated by medication to be admitted to this unit.  After rounds on that unit we were finished, we made our way back to the palliative care unit we visited the day before.  We met with the head of the department of palliative care, a physician that explained to us the importance of this service within the hospital.  The palliative care service at Roffo truly embodies holistic care for a patient.  Complimentary therapies are offered to patients and include reflexology (mentioned in previous blog posts), Reiki, virtual reality, art therapy, and “music bowls”, a therapy that involves placing wooden bowls on or around the patient and playing them to create vibrations and a tune.  We then went over to the other side of the hospital grounds to visit the newest building at this hospital.  It houses the equipment used for radiation therapy, and serves as a clinic for those receiving this therapy.  We were escorted to a “bunker” where we viewed the inside of a room where radiation would be administered.  While us students were on this tour, our two instructors for the day were heading over to the nursing school featured on the grounds of the Roffo Hospital with some donations for the school, including materials with which the nursing students could practice skills.  The instructors were informed that half of the materials could be used in the Hospital and the other half could be used in the school.  This was awesome news for us because we were so happy to be able to see that our donations would not only be used to help nursing students of the Roffo hospital, but also the patients utilizing this hospital for treatment.  Lastly, our instructors joined us for a farewell lunch hosted by the volunteer staff we had spent time with during our past two weeks.  We tasted some delicious empanadas made by two of the chemotherapy nurses, and were awarded with our volunteer badges from the Roffo Hospital.  Our instructors became honorary official Angel H Roffo “volunterias” as they were figted some distinctive pink shirts all of the volunteers at this hospital wear.  We each received a photo collage of the pictures taken during our placements.  It was a wonderful token of appreciation to us, and I know we will cherish it forever!  It was with heavy hearts that we left the hospital after our farewell lunch, but our times spent at this wonderful hospital was truly amazing.  We cannot thank the volunteers and staff at the Roffo hospital enough for their welcoming ways and for making this an unforgettable experience.

Later in the evening, some of us took in a workshop given to us by our leader in Argentina Micaela Browne on the topic of Volunteering.  It was a 3 hour reflective workshop in which we developed projects, using our critical thinking skills that we have developed as nurses throughout our studies, ( that would be financially feasible) to improve health outcomes at both facilities we visted. The team here in Argentina loved our ideas and would most likely put them forward.

February 24th, 2019

Hola!

Today some of the group had the opportunity to head to another country...Uruguay! We started our day on a ferry (much like the one to PEI for all of the folks from Atlantic Canada), and were greeted by a very nice tour guide who showed us around the port town, Colonia. Here, we walked through markets, along beaches, and past bicycle races. Since this town was once controlled by the Spanish and Portuguese, both distinct styles of architecture were represented here. The cobblestone streets slanted towards the ocean so that rain water could empty without flooding the homes along the street.  In Colonia there were tons of stray dogs, laying in the street, lounging on steps, and chasing cars up and down the main roads. Luckily, Alicia had a bag of dog treats, and every dog she passed was given one, even though most of them are already fortunate enough to eat the leftovers given to them by tourists every day (our tour guide said they were much chunkier now that many tourists feed them their leftovers). For lunch we headed to a buffet, where they served us enough barbequed meat to sink a ship! After lunch, we spent some time in the sun, walking along the beach, and collecting some beach glass. Next, we headed to the lighthouse, and for only 1 US dollar you could climb to the top and have a view of the entire coast line as well as the markets and buildings below. Eventually, all of us ended up at the coastline, because we are all so used to being near the ocean. It felt like home. Around 7 o'clock we headed back to Argentina, and by 10 PM we were all tucked into bed. For those that didn't go to Uruguay, the other option on the table was a trip across town to the Parque Norte waterpark. After two minutes of the cab driver telling us in Spanish that it was too cold to go to the pool, and a 20 minute ride, our group of vitamin D deprived students arrived at the park. Unfortunately while there some of us underestimated the strength of the Argentinian sun... and were quite a bit redder heading home. All in all, it was a fabulous way to spend a Sunday off after a week of clinical, compared to shovelling snow back in Cape Breton. 

Your truly,
Katelyn, Johnny, and Daniel.