A Realistic, Typical Day

Life as a Wings of Hope field director in Nicaragua can be very exciting and interesting at times. But with every life saved – or harrowing flight into unknown weather – there are days that are filled with redundancy, waiting, frustration … and more waiting.

It's 5 o'clock in the morning, and I am awakened by the sounds of my neighbor’s rooster. I crawl out of my mosquito net, silently praying that this is the day that the rooster becomes my neighbor’s dinner. With coffee in hand, I think that it would be nice to have something happen today that I could write about. I haven't had an emergency flight request for almost a week now, which is definitely a good thing. Because as an emergency medical relief pilot, when I'm not flying, people are healthy. I rarely like to sit around and wait for a call, so I decide to do some errands. I recently bought a vise clamp for my work bench at the airport. The first errand is to buy four bolts and nuts to mount it.

I get on my motorcycle and drive to the closest hardware store. Halfway there, I am met with a huge mound of sand and a bunch of workers. They tell me that the road is closed for repair. There aren't many roads around here, so I figure finding a detour shouldn't be too hard. After 45 minutes of driving through dirt paths and people’s backyards, I decide to stop and ask for directions. A man kindly gives me directions to an alternate road that I have never used before. After passing a taco stand run by an attractive girl, I decide that I like this detour and may use it more often. Although, it seems as if I held my gaze for a little too long. Our eyes met, and I nodded. I might as well have asked her to marry me.

The first hardware store doesn't have the bolts that I need, and the second can only manufacture them. I'm not sure how they would manufacture them, but I know that I don't want to wait for it to happen. With no bolts in hand, it's time for lunch. I pass by a local place and order the first thing on the menu: “aleta de tortuga.” I understand that “tortuga” means “turtle,” which is a popular choice for the people of Atlantic coast. I've never had turtle before, but I figure, “When in Rome...” What I did not know was that “aleta” means “fin or dorsal.” So out comes my lunch, an enormous turtle fin in a bowl of soup with a few potatoes in it. My brain may be saying, “When in Rome...,” but my digestive system is saying, “Why do you hate me?”

With the “aleta de tortuga” churning inside me, I remember seeing some random bolts in a storage shed near my house. The trip back takes me through the detour again. This time the taco stand girl has a friend with her. They notice me right away and wave. I wave back and wonder why I've never had this happen back in the states. In the storage shed, I find one bolt that will work. I then go to three more hardware stores and come up empty. I decide to go to the airport and get the proper dimensions that I need and have them manufactured. As I enter the airport, I mention my predicament to the security officer. He quickly tells me of his friend who sells bolts. Halfway through his explanation of where his friend lives, I stop paying attention because I stopped understanding him two sentences before that. I understood “near the baseball field”; that will get me close enough.

Of course, to get to the baseball field I have to pass the taco stand. I hope I can sneak by without being noticed, but that's not happening. She's wearing makeup now. I think, “Why did I nod?” I get to the baseball field, which is surrounded by random shops. Half of them are closed since it's coming up to the end of the day. I stop by a few of them that look like they would sell bolts. None of them do, but they point me to an alley and tell me that the second house on the right does. I enter the alley and find the second house on the right. Sure enough, there is a sign about the size of postcard that says “nuts and bolts.” I knock on the door and show the man what I need. He lets me in his house, and on the floor are about a hundred different kinds of bolts. He has the kind I need; the only catch is that he doesn't have nuts to fit them. I figure that's OK, I can spend all day tomorrow finding the nuts. Maybe I'll get some tacos, too.