Today was the first day we did not go anywhere in the Baptisa 15 person van. It was not designed for 15 people, but with plastic chairs you can be creative and squeeze more people in. It is not so bad as Mongolia, where sitting on laps and body contortions are often required for travel in an old, hard uncomfortable Russian van, but it is still tight. It seemed surprising when we came to a police checkpoint coming back from one of our trips that Oscar told me to put on my seatbelt, as there were not any seat belts for many of the other passengers, especially the one right between Oscar and I in the wiggly, moving, sliding, folding, plastic chair that needed protection most of all. But we got thru the checkpoint fine, they were just looking for drugs, and I am glad they did not check our bags because we had many different kinds for the animals, and if you could see the looks on the faces of the pets when they are waking up after their first drug usage, they would probably wish the police had seized all the drugs. In Nicaragua, you don’t notice many police, and it is a pretty safe country, unless you are a pet who lives in a village that a Christian Veterinary Missions team will be visiting, and you happen to be an unspayed female dog or a midnight crooning rooster.
Today we stayed here and people bought their animals to us. We probably treated about 100 animals, mostly dogs, but some cats, rabbits, and horses also. No deer though, I was looking for them, and was ready to jump into action to protect the people from these potentially dangerous beasts. But I will continue to be diligent and if the need arises you can relax and rest assured that you are in good hands. And if you see any of those dangerous fish, like tuna or stripers or lobsters, you should first bring them to me for a thorough physical exam, that I will perform free of charge, just in case they are carrying a dangerous disease that you did not even know about, and I can take care of the disposal of the disease ridden body, which usually requires boiling or grilling, again at no charge to you. I am just that kind of guy I guess.
Another thing that is annoying down here is the internet. It is not as reliable or fast as it should be, and there should be some kind of law against that. But what was really grating my craw today was that everyone else was getting on and I could not. They would say with a smirk in their voice “oh you still can’t get on, that is to bad, I got on right away again, it must just be the clouds or something”. Now Nancy will be worried and think that I got into some kind of major traffic accident because we don’t wear any seat belts, or veterinary drug seizure undercover operation initiated by some ill informed deer owning vigilante, because I did not message her yesterday. But don’t worry honey, I am ok, and still bright, alert, and responsive, or BAR, as we put on our physical exam record of any pet who appears healthy and normal. It is just the illegal lack of access to fast and reliable internet that has kept me from contacting you. Hopefully she will get this blog before she sends Lexi and Sam on a rescue mission, because the only thing they can reliably search for and find is porcupine or turkey poop.
Tomorrow is our last day here, and we have no work scheduled, so we will be doing some fun things that I will be sure to tell you about. And if I ever get on the internet again, maybe you will actually be able to read about it.
Until then, blessings from Catarina
Dr Mike
