lost in translation

i have been asked numerous times what the most challenging part of living in Honduras is. the violence? the weather? the job? the lack of "niceties" that i have grown accustomed to in the states. while i have been stretched to patiently tolerate more than i'm used to in each of these areas, the true test of self has been in navigating the inefficient and unclear "procedures" of living here. from knowing how to pay bills (even the months we never actually receive a copy of the bill) with differing systems dependent on the utility company, to completing at minimum two pages of documentation for each doctor's appointment for insurance reimbursement (that may or may not be granted...again depending on something outside of my control), the day to day routine tasks have definitely presented the most challenges.

this week we expectantly awaited two milestones for Ilona. first, on monday we had her US consulate appointment where we would apply for her Birth Abroad status (eventually resulting in a US birth certificate), as well as for her US Passport. i am planning to write more in detail about the steps we have needed to take in order to prepare for this appointment, so for now i'll give you the much abbreviated version. after literally months of collecting documents, preparing paperwork and meeting with several others who delivered their babies abroad, we were still unable to finish the applications on monday during our appointment. a few of our documents were still incomplete or needing to be updated since the requirements had "changed" (or something) since our friends completed the process weeks/months ago. the most frustrating part was learning that we, and by we i mean jason, had waited in lines for hours in "el centro" to pick up Ilona's birth certificate only to learn during our consulate appointment that we had the "wrong birth certificate". we needed to have purchased a "literal" birth certificate. what? when i asked the consulate officer what the difference was, her only response was that one was "literal" and the other was not. i also asked what the birth certificate that we had purchased was used for, to which she could not give us a reasonable answer. seriously? honduras' system for registering newborns' birth records is for a new mom to wait outside in hot lines for hours in hopes to being seen that day, to ask for a birth certificate that may or may not even be accepted as a legal document. we now have to start over with the birth certificate process and will have to wait roughly another month before we can get another appointment at the consulate in hopes of completing the process. lost in translation.

our second milestone was Ilona's one month appointment today (more on her one month birthday later). we realized today a couple of things that we have previously understood and acted upon were mis-communicated (or in some cases not communicated at all). one test we had performed at her doctor's request was the "heel prick" test in the states to check for auto-immune diseases and the like. they call it "tamisaje". well, we went for her test two weeks ago and had to find the one clinic in the whole, again in "el centro", that actually performed the test. at the clinic we gave our doctor's order/prescription and paid what we knew what too much ($200), but we thought there was no other way. at today's appointment our doctor let us know that we were "gringo-typed" and charged for a full genetic work up, totaling 67 different tests. he laughed and said how unnecessary that was. you think?! still short on patience after yesterday's disappointing turn of events, i made it clear that had someone told us (or written clearly on the order form, ahem.) that we wanted to abbreviated $50 dollar version with only a mere 7 readings, we would have gladly saved the $150. seriously? lost in translation.

finally... we learned some more disappointing news at our doctor's appointment today. we have had Ilona's height statistics wrong all along- including her birth statistics. sorry grandparents who have shared this news with family and friends. sorry wells who already printed enough birth announcements to all our friends and family. we're not sure if we were given incorrect information, or if we converted the measurements incorrectly, or if our overall lack of sleep has caused us to being losing our minds- it's probably a little bit of each. the good news is we received a good report of Ilona's growth and development. it's just very discouraging to realize we have believing things about her that weren't true (and that we didn't even realize) for a month now. another, lost in translation experience.

here are her accurate and most up to date numbers:
birth: 7 pounds, 10 ounces; 19.3 inches long (49 cm); head circumference 13.4 inches around (34 cm)
10 days later: 7 pounds, 5 ounces; 19.7 inches long (50 cm); head circumference 13.9 inches around (35.3 cm)
one month 8 pounds, 6 ounces; 21.3 inches long (54 cm); head circumference 14.6 inches around (37 cm)

sorry for the negatively sounding tone to this blog, but yes, living in honduras is challenging- but not for the reasons you'd expect. i never thought that with my spanish abilities and experience with latin culture that we'd have to navigate so many "translation" type of issues. my parents told me that they have seen a change in me since living here. i'm "slower" or more calm, and much more patient. i haven't felt very patient or calm lately, but the past few days have been harder than most. good thing we have a beautiful little girl we are running these crazy errands for. it so wouldn't be worth it otherwise.

here she is at her one month doctor's appointment. she thought it was a game...no crying or anything!

and now the face that makes it all worth it