Day 25

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Today was off to a slow start. Last night it was super windy and rainy, we lost power several times. When I woke up at 8 this morning it was still raining out, so we went down to see if we were still planning on heading to the beach, but everyone was still sleeping. So Sarah made pancakes and I went back to bed until 11 because there was no power. When I woke up Mary and Tabby came up a few minutes after and since it had stopped raining, we decided to go to the beach. At this time the power was back on, however there was no water. TIA, either you have electricity or you have water, but not both…at least not today!

I went and took a shower down at Tabby and Mary’s because they actually had water and it was even warm! After my shower I went and got ready to go and we headed to the beach! We first went by the Limbe Wildlife center to get something to eat. The food was so good, we had a pizza and bunny chow (sandwich with fries, avocado, lettuce and tomatoes).  We even had a smoothie, which was also good. After we ate some went through the wildlife center but some of us went to the bakery.

He's posing for us!

The group that went to Limbe at Arne's Cafe waiting for our food.

Spencer, Tabby and myself with our meals.

Arne's Cafe, it was super good!

After the bakery we went to the beach and walked around, it was a beautiful evening and really neat to walk around. We got to see the people and a ton of fishing boats and Tabby and Spencer even rode some horses on the beach. After walking around near the beach we decided it was time to head back.

When we got back to Buea, the whole town of Buea was out of electricity, it was super eerie. We lit some candles in the house got out our headlamps and played a round of Dutch Blitz (fyi) I won. After the power came back on we watched Bride Wars with everyone. After the movie we had a party eating junk food at Mary and Tabby’s then we headed up to go to bed. I tried skyping, but the Internet wasn’t very good, so I decided to go to bed, until the rain started…that made it hard for me to sleep! Anyways time to put my laptop away because I don’t want it to get rained on if it decides to rain extremely hard.

At the beach in Limbe.

 

 Tabby and Spencer on their horse at the beach!

Monica, Nadia and myself on the beach in Limbe

 An oil rig in Limbe...? What!? The sunset was so beautiful!

Day 24

Sabbath, October 29, 2011

Well today, I woke up later than planned, but I still made it down to Trixy’s on time to go to church and I even got to Skype my best friend! When we got down there she wasn’t quite ready so we decided to go to church instead. So I came back skyped a little more and then headed for church around 10:15. We got there around 10:45. The pastor talked about mockery; church here feels like it lasts for forever! After church we shook every ones hand then headed back down. All of us girls ate lunch together and we had rice and beans with some bread and guacamole and banana chips, it was interesting. I got coffee today and it was sooo good!

After lunch we came and took a little nap and then took Jordan for a stroll. Wherever Trixy took us it was super beautiful! When we got back we dropped off what we had brought and then went up to the market. I bought some colored pencils and they looked for costumes to wear to the Halloween party tonight, that wasn’t very successful, but it took forever!

We then came back and meet Spencer and visited with Tabby and Mary. Then we went and got ready to head to the LMFAO party. I wore my hair up to the side and a bandana; I’m not so good at dressing up! We drove the party. We meet a ton of people and most all of them were white because they were all peace corp volunteers. I felt like I was in America tonight, so when I saw a black man I felt like saying “black man” because all we hear here is “white man”. They had jello wrestling tonight in a little kiddy pool, haha it was interesting to watch and quite entertaining. It was a lot of fun to get out tonight. Spencer even did the jello wrestling!

When we got back I skpyed my lovely parents for a little bit along with Lizzy and her family, at least until the power went out. It was super windy and rainy out. I think its going to be a long night, all I can do is pray that the rain won’t come through the ceiling. Well I’m going to try and sleep through this storm. Goodnight.

Sarah and I in our "costumes"

Pumpkins...? Nope, someone carved the shuffle out of a watermelon, good idea huh!?

 Trixy and I dressed up at the LMFAO Halloween party!

Day 23

Friday, October 28, 2011

I can’t believe today if Friday already, where did the time go? Well today Bill, Tabby and Mary left for Douala and Trixy wasn’t feeling well, so it was just the two interns and Sarah and I along with Christane for medical staff. However, Trixy was there most of the morning helping out with all of the questions that everyone had. We saw a little boy who was super sick, not only with a cough, but he also had a really high fever. I told the intern doctor that we should probably do a malaria test on him…and guess what it came back positive; he had malaria, which made me feel pretty good about myself. We then saw a patient and did an ultrasound on her, I was in the room so I asked tons of questions and learned a lot. It was super interesting, and each time I can identify some of the things that we look for in a pregnancy. We also had a guy who had hepatitis B and we found that he had an enlarged liver, so Monica taught me how to feel for it and what it felt like, I had never felt out before. After that examination I had tons of questions so Monica went over exams and what it each quadrate of the abdominal divided. I learned a lot from her and it was really exciting.

After work Monica, Nadia, Sarah and myself went and got some spaghetti omelets. It was super good, but I was sooo full after eating there! We came back and sat down and feel asleep for about an hour. We were going to head up to the bank with the other girls but then went to the governor’s house because someone was really sick. So Sarah and I trucked it up the hill about 2.5 miles to the bank. It was exhausting but we made it. On the way down we stopped at Clerk’s quarters and got chocolate filled bread, quite good. As we were headed back to the hospital someone grabbed me from a taxi and I was like “what the heck!?”, haha it was Prosper, he is the accountant at the hospital!

My soda balancing skills at the spaghetti omelet place!

A sweet old bus I saw on the way down the hill, looks like it quit working here and this is now where it sits.

Our well deserved ice cream after walking to the bank, it even matches my shirt today!

When we got back we hung out and then went down to Trixy’s. We had popcorn and frozen bananas and watched a The Island with everyone. It started to rain, which made me feel slightly uneasy, but it stopped after about 15 minutes. After the movie we left, I Skyped a little bit and then headed to bed.

Day 22

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Well I have finally caught up with my blog. However, I have not caught up on my own journaling, so this is my journal for now. So today was again a little bit slow. We did several breathing treatments and a few consults. This morning we even tried to do an ultrasound on Milo the cat because she was getting so fat! That didn’t work very well because she had too much hair!

It was exciting today because I got to do my first blood draw! Got in on the first try, so that was good, and like I said super exciting! The clinic was super busy this morning with all of the pregnant women coming in for ultrasounds, so Trixy and the residences were super busy with that!

Today I had top ramen for lunch and it was so amazing! After lunch when I got back to the clinic, I saw one patient with Trixy. Then Mary and I went out and played with Teclaires hair. We spiked it and did all sorts of things with it, it was quite fun. Then after work I helped tutor a little boy in math. That was so much fun and the little guy was so cute! I hope to help more with tutoring because it was really neat being able to help them out. After I was done tutoring, we had a little bible study.

I then went back to the room and was spoiled by a hot shower. We finally got hot water in our room. Ever since Monday we didn’t even have hot water across the hall, but now we officially have hot water in our room and we don’t have to go across the hall to take a hot shower. I must admit were pretty spoiled with the hot water!

Tonight we went to dinner at the Capitol Residence Hotel. It was really good food, and it always fun to go out with everyone; it was Bill and 7 of us girls! After dinner we went and enjoyed some ice cream at Lina’s. We then came back hung out and went to bed.

The spaghetti with crime (cream) at the hotel that we ate dinner at. It was good minus the little bug that was in it! haha oh Africa!

Ice cream #2 at Lina's however this one was strawberry instead of chocolate...but similar taste, but good!

Bill and Mary enjoying their ice cream!

Monica one of the residences enjoying her ice cream!

 And some of us girls at Lina's with our ice enjoying the night out.

Day 21

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Well today was kind of slow again. This morning, there was not much to do, however things in the clinic started to pick up, but the interns were in with Trixy again. I got to do one consult today with Trixy that went pretty well. We worked on a poster this morning for quite a bit. I also did another breathing treatment on the little girl, it’s taking a long time for her to heal and she needs our prayers, she’s only 3 weeks old, poor thing! We then just sat around and visited with each other.

This is Mary listening to the little baby's lungs.

Trixy left for lunch, however Mary and I decided to stay for a bit. A little schoolgirl came in and had a little gash in her head so we needed to put some stitches in. We brought her into the exam room, talked to her and then put her on the exam table. The resident tried cleaning it out and she was getting really antsy. She then tried to put some lidocaine around the wound using a needle and as soon as she got close to her the little girl went crazy and was flailing her arms everywhere, screaming and going nuts. The little girl was out of control! It was quite ridiculous if I might say. When Trixy got back they gave her a rectal injection to get her to calm down. They were eventually able to get her to calm down.

When I got back to the clinic the little baby was there so we did yet another treatment. Then we just hung out and visited again. We then all decided that after work we should go to the bakery.

So after work we went and visited with Bill then got ready to go, we took a taxi down to UB junction where the bakery was. We got a ton of stuff, and it was super cheap. After we ate we came back. We met Bill who was on his way out to stroll Jordan so I decided to go with him. We had a very nice walk, it felt good, I hadn’t been for awhile. Then once we got back I finished my laundry and all of us girls worked on making dinner.

Once dinner was made we took it down to Bill and Trixys and all of us were able to enjoy the cooked meal together. After we ate we visited then decided to head to bed. I talked to my best friend for a little bit and tried calling my momma, but she’s busy. So now here I am writing in my blog…it’s been awhile. Anyways goodnight world. Love and miss you all!

 Another beautiful view of the mountain, it has so many different looks to it.

Day 20

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Well today was super slow in the clinic. This morning we did an inventory of all of the drugs and items that Monica and Nadia brought along. After we did the inventory, I helped with a few consults. Then the baby came in for another breathing treatment so I did that. I then hung out some more, and then went and ate some lunch. Then after that went back to the clinic and sat around again, at least until the baby came back for another treatment. I did the treatment then jumped in on a few more consults with Mary. Ever since the new interns have come, it has been a little slow for all of us “nurses”. 

Another picture of the breathing treatment we have been doing on the little baby girl

After work today, we went shoe shopping with Poclaire. It was a success, at least for me…well kinda. I got a pair of shoes for 7000 francs, which is $14. Super cheap, but then they wanted them back because I paid too little, so Poclaire threw them back at them, but they wouldn’t take them, so I made out like a bandit. Then we walked around the market for a bit and bought some things. We then went further down the street to find some bananas, but instead we got some bread and tartina (which is like nutella). We then headed back. Once we got back, I went and did another breathing treatment on the little girl.

We then made some sweet potatoes for dinner and had some popcorn and banana chips that Trixy had made. We watched Castle with them, then visited and decided to call it a night. Today was slow, which makes it super tiring, but I made it through it.

My "new" shoes I bought for $14, haha couldn't find that in the states.

 The beautiful view of Mount Cameroon! It's amazing!

Day 19 - A must read (if I say so myself)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Well I decided to wake up early this morning, went across the hall to take a shower, and the rain was so loud I could hear it while taking a shower. The hot water was running out, so I decided it was about time to get out of the shower…good thing. When I got back to the room the rain had just started coming through the ceiling. I ran over to my bed because it was coming down where my laptop, phone and ipod were laying by the head of my bed. I put them someplace safe. The water kept coming in and so before my sheets got too wet I took them off of my bed. The water then started flowing to my bags on the floor, so I picked up my backpacks and put them on the desk. Then it headed towards my bags on the floor, so I picked them up and took them out of our room. When the rain stopped, I had a bucked full of water on my bed, and about 3 inches of water on the floor, and a very wet room. It was an exciting morning to say the least. 

This is the hallway full of our stuff, however, it all had to be moved because the hallway filled up with water as well!

The "broom" we used to help sweep out all of the water, and let me tell you, there was a lot!

And do I really have to explain all of the ones above...rain...lots of it!

Everyone was so helpful and then all came and helped us get the water out of the upper floor of the hospital, I was so grateful for all of their help! Now the process of drying everything out when its almost 100% humidity. All of our electronics and sheets we put in Bill and Trixys dry room. This morning was crazy!

Helen is so sweet and let me tell you she worked hard at helping us get the water out of our room! Thanks to her and many others we got it all out!

After cleaning up we headed over to the clinic. Today was such a good day in the clinic. I got to do an ultrasound with Trixy on a woman that was 40 weeks pregnant, I learned so much, I was able to find the placenta, the spine of the baby, the heart, the head as Trixy performed the ultrasound. Since it was Monday the clinic was super busy Mary and I took some people and did histories and physicals. We spoke with one guy today and after examining him we said that he needed to get a malaria lab done along with the white blood cell count. When then cleared it was Trixy and she said that was good. We got the labs back, scanty for malaria and WBC of 6800. He also had nerve pains in his finger. We then wrote out everything that he needed to take and we got it pretty much spot on. Trixy changed one thing, but that was it. Mary and I felt so accomplished!

We also saw a lady whose heart was not working well at all, and I believe she had already had a heart attack; she really needs to see a cardiologist, however there isn’t one in Buea which makes it difficult. In order for her to get better, she actually needs to be admitted to a hospital, so we had a little prayer with her. Also we had a the cutest little boy come back to the clinic for a check up and he was feeling so much better, he was running, giggling and everything, it was so good to see him feeling better!

After work, Bill took all of us to the bank and showed the new girls around town. We also went to Clerk’s Quarters (pronounced Clarks), and loaded up on the Mambo bars here, which are chocolate. We then headed to the gas station and I got some coffee, it was so good! Then we headed back to the clinic.

When we got back we went to grind some soybeans to make some soy milk. When we went to grind them I took a picture and the guy got super pissed I took a picture without asking, I was kinda like whatever. On our way back from grinding, a little baby of 3 weeks came by to get a breathing treatment but the clinic was closed, so Mary and I administered it to her.

This cute little guy was sitting on the sidewalk at Clerk's Quarters!

Haha, sorry bud, I was actually taking a picture of you!

This is Tabby and Sarah in the process of making some delicious soy milk!

 The 3 week old baby that has been getting numerous breathing treatments! Please pray for her!

We then roasted some groundnuts, and took them over to Bill and Trixys, we also made some potato chips at their place and finished Foyles War. Then as I was about to leave I went and grabbed my sheets and shoes out of the dry room. Instead of picking up my shoes, I decided to put them on…without shaking them out…bad idea. So as I slipped my shoe on there as something hard on my foot, no less then 1 second I was out in the hall screaming, there was a COCKROACH in my shoe!!! Thanks to Mary she came and killed it for me! It was disgusting! I learned from this experience to always shake out your shoes before putting them on! I then went up to the room, Put some things away and called it a night. Today was crazy, but it turned out to be a good day, the Lord is amazing!

PS Sorry mom, it took me forever to get this up, but I hope you enjoy ;) lol love you all!

Day 18

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Got to sleep in today so that was super nice, that’s one thing I love about Sundays. After lying in bed and being on my computer, I decided to go take a warm shower, and I have to say it was AAAMMMAAAZZZIIINNNGGG! As I was walking out of the shower (across the hall) I heard the outside door open…come to find out it was Prosper coming to work…it was super awkward let me tell you. I was in my bra and short shorts and when he saw me he started talking to me, I got a little hung up with my words, then just ran to my room, I didn’t know what to do! After my shower I wasn’t planning on doing much but just hanging out. But sooner than later, Bill and Trixy called up to our room and asked if we wanted to go get spaghetti omelets…of course I do! So we all went and got spaghetti omelets and boy were they good! After we ate all of us girls decided to go to Muea market. We walked around the market, got some onions, groundnuts (peanuts), and some other things for making pasta and tea. Trixy took us to market so that was super nice!

This is where our dishes were washed at the spaghetti omelet place!

All of ur girls sitting on 3 stools while Bill took the picture for us while waiting for our omelets!

The 3 pictures above are of the Muea Market every Sunday about 3 miles away from the Clinic.

When we got back we hung out and then Mary and Tabby and I went down the street to get some ice cream. They also got some oatmeal and some baking powder. When then came back. When we got back we roasted so ground nuts and put some sugar on them, man were they good! We then went and hung out with Bill and Trixy and the two new interns, we ate some frozen bananas and watched Foyles War, after about an hour I got tired and it wasn’t close to being done so I decided to go up to the room and call it a night.

 These our are delicious groundnuts that disappear as fast as they come off of the roasting pan! They are super good!

Day 17

Sabbath, October 22, 2011

Well it’s official, today we have been here for exactly two weeks. Today it rained again so we got out of having to walk a mile uphill to get to church. I was super tired after little sleep last night, I pretty much slept through half of the sermon. We were there until 12:45, the pastor just kept going and going! After church, Bill, Trixy, Sarah and myself headed back to the house. When we got back Bill and Trixy invited us over for lunch, so we went up and got some pasta to make for lunch. After eating lunch with them, we visited for a bit. We ate some frozen bananas after pasta, they are a treat for us down here, and they are so good! We then came up to the room; I took a nap and talked to Lizzy on Skype for quite some time. AND I also got to Skype my parents for the first time, which was amazing, and I was so grateful to talk to them! I miss them and love them so much! I even got to see my grandma, which was really nice as well! We talked for a long time and it definitely made my day! After Skyping everyone I hung out listened to music, relaxed and then decided to call it a day. Nothing too exciting happened today that I can remember…however, I am typing this a couple days later, but weekends are usually uneventful!

The Adventist Church in Buea, its a very nice little church, and really neat because after church we all go outside and make a circle and shake everyone's hand! It makes me feel like a family!

Oh I forgot one thing…yesterday was the announcement of elections and everything went fine, Cameroonians are very chill and not much rioting with them. So thank the Lord for a safe day and a safe weekend.