Day 32

Sunday, November 6, 2011

I actually woke up early today, that rarely happens on a Sunday I must admit! I woke up took a shower and did some laundry. Today laundry even gave me blisters! After I finished I went and enjoyed a cup of coffee with Bill and Trixy and visited with them for quite some time! I then went up and made some peanuts because I was starving! Then we decided to head to market.

We got a bag full of things today at market, so that was successful. We even got some fresh baked bread and boy was that delicious! As soon as we got back we had one loaf eaten between the 6 of us and a half jar of jelly. So good!

Shortly after we finished the bread we made some cookies to take to Richards house and once the cookies were finished we headed for Richards, they were pretty much done by the time we got there! We sat around for a bit visiting then Richard made us so food so we all ate together! We had authentic African food and it was actually quite good. After dinner Tabby and I were doing dishes and she showed me why she hadn’t finished her whole plate…well that was because there was a worm in her food. I definitely lost my appetite. However, Richard did a great job and the food was really good, he’s a sweet guy and would have been embarrassed if he would have known about it!

After we finished with the dishes we taught them how to play Uno so we played for a couple hours. Africans love to change the rules of the game as we play, so that was very entertaining, but lots of fun! When we decided to head out, Richard walked us all the way back to the clinic. What a nice guy!

When we got back it was late, but fortunately I got to talk to my parents for an hour and then we had a three-way conversation with Brandon and Jamie as well! It was so nice talking to all of them and catching up! I miss them all so very much and hearing their voices just made me feel so much better, it made my night for sure! I also got to chat a little with my best friend, which was really nice as well! I miss you all and love you all very much! I can’t wait for you to come visit!

 Our delicious meal, which it was quite good, minus the little worm after the fact! haha oops!

 Richard did such a good job cooking, everything was amazing!

The group playing Uno together, it was so much fun!

 Richard and his brother, they were great hosts!

Day 31

Sabbath, November 5, 2011

I can’t believe I have been here a month already; it has gone by so fast! Happy Sabbath by the way! Well today we woke up got ready for church and began the long hike up to the church in the hot sun. By the time we got to the church I was sweating, and I thought to myself…I really hope I put deodorant on today, but then I realized it won’t matter because no body wears it here and everyone smells.

Church here is so much different than at home, it is extremely hard to hear because of everything going on and then makes it even harder because it is translated into English or French, so they are almost talking over each other. So today I was about to fall asleep in church, but the man sitting next to me kindly woke me up! Church was forever today, because there was a baby dedication along with the usual.

After church, the family whose baby was being dedicated provided the church family with food. And it was amazing to experience the African cooking, it was all extremely delicious! We even got to enjoy a cup or two of falari (I don’t know how to spell it), but it is an African sweet drink and it was super good!

When I got back from church I sat around and then took a long nap. After my nap I went for a stroll with Bill and Trixy. When we got back I helped Trixy with an ultrasound that she was going to do earlier until the power went out on her. This ultrasound was not however an exciting one, it was an unfortunate one, this girl had had a miscarriage. It was so sad to see her reaction even though she already knew before the echo, it was still hard for her to hear it again.

We then went to market and bought some plantains and fried some up with sugar and cinnamon. We went down to Bill and Trixy’s watched a movie and then after that decided it was time to go to bed. Goodnight everyone!

Day 30

Friday, November 4, 2011

Today I woke up and got to chat with Lizzy for a few minutes, which was really nice. After talking to her I headed down to worship. I helped check people in for most of the morning. I think I may have seen one patient today who was pregnant and complaining of back pain. We took care of her and then the rest of the day, I continued helping check patients in, it wasn’t super busy today. Nadia and Monica then did a presentation for us on taking histories and physicals. I found it extremely helpful to listen to them. I have been learning so much the past month, and it is extremely exciting for me to learn this much! I feel pretty accomplished; I just need to work on my history and physicals.

After work we went and made some grilled cheese and popcorn. The grilled cheese were very good, and a nice change. After we hung out for a bit until Andrea came and got us to head to the orphanage.

We took two taxis to checkpoint and then from checkpoint 7 of us piled in one taxi who took us all to the orphanage. When we got there, all of the kids greeted us and gave us a hug. They then showed us around, but we came at the wrong time because they were just about to sit down and eat some dinner, so we called the taxi back and he took us back to the clinic.

Five of us girls in the back of the taxi! The other two and the driver are in the front!

All of the little kids at the orphanage! I am so excited to go back!

When we got back we made tortillas while Monica and Nadia made veggies and rice. Once we were done making tortillas we all went to Bill and Trixy’s and we all sat down and had a nice dinner together, it was absolutely amazing and everyone enjoyed it. It was a good way to end the week and a great way to start the Sabbath. We even made dessert. We had sliced bananas, with chocolate drizzled on them with brown sugar, granola and a drop of peanut butter in the middle. This was also amazing and the best dessert I have had so far! We all think we should start a restaurant down here because we all cook together so well!

Anyways, it was a great evening with friends, however I do miss my friends and family back home very very much! It’s time to call it a night! I love you all very much! And Happy Happy Sabbath!

I love the Sexy Hair Spray that was used as a rolling pin!

This is our meal all prepared! Homemade salsa, tortillas, and our veggies! It was delicious!

The gang eating our delicious supper that we made!

Day 29

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Well the past few days have really seemed to blend together for me, but they have went really well. I can’t recall everything we saw today, but I know I helped take a few measurements on the pregnant lady and found the top of the baby. I also measured the heart rate of the baby once again. I personally fell like I am getting much better at this. The morning felt kinda slow. We had a patient return, whose knee was super inflamed, and we had already drained fluids out of it, but today it looked much better. Monica went over the knee and how to exam it. It was super interesting and I definitely learned a lot about knees, and what a normal knee should feel like. I then wrapped the guys knee and he went on his way to return next week for another check up.

We then went back to Bill and Trixy’s and made some lunch, we had eggs with veggies, and it was super good. After we ate we made some coffee, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We then just hung out because there were not very many patients to be seen this afternoon. I didn’t go back to the clinic because I got sucked into looking at pictures. After pictures we went to get some flour for supper, but we also went to the bank and to the bakery and got a ton of food. When we go back Trixy had already made the bread dough for dinner.

We had a little bible study, and then when we went back down we made some pizzas on the stove. The pizzas were gone in a heartbeat and they were super good! After pizza we played a couple rounds of apples to apples then I went back up. Before bed I watched Grey’s Anatomy and then fell asleep.

Day 28

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Today was a good day. We got up went to work, had worship together. Trixy and Monica are back, however, Nadia wasn’t there today. Everyone is feeling better, so that is good, but I’m starting to feel a bit sick.

Today we got to do a couple echos and I learned so much. I am now starting to recognize what the echo is showing and what it is. Trixy called me in to feel where the baby’s head was on one of the patients that was at term pregnancy. I found the head, it was at the top of the belly, and the baby was breeched. In this case, we suggest that they get a c-section, however, they can choose. Anyways I thought this was a super interesting case!

I then got to measure the heart rate of the baby on a few patients as well, I love that part, being able to see the patients face light up when then can hear the baby’s heart beating is super rewarding to me and I love it! We then saw a few more patients, which I don’t really remember because I am writing this a few days later than normal.

We then came back to the house and hung out for a little bit, then we went with Bill to pick up the others from the mountain, and then we stopped by the post office…J after that we came back to the clinic. I took a little nap then headed out to Jays Grill. I had potato cakes tonight and they were so good. Since Spencer and Walters didn’t order anything I gave half of mine to them. We then went and go some ice cream. After that we came back and headed to bed.

 My enjoyable potato cakes, but my favorite part were the vegetables on the side! Super good!

Day 27

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Well today was busy yet slow at the same time! All three of the doctors were not feeling well today, however Nadia was least sick, so she came and was the doctor for the day. It was super hard because most of the people that came were either wanting an echo or they were follow ups with Trixy. We got most of them done, but we asked some of them to come back tomorrow in order to see Trixy who they originally saw. This morning we did quite a few antenatal checks, so that was super fun for me because I got to measure how far along she was and I got to find the pulse of the baby and figure out how fast the heart was beating. I love doing that, it’s really exciting for me!

Today we went and got a bite to eat at the spaghetti omelet place, I am becoming a regular there, he practically knows what I want now! After we ate, I went with Bill to the transportation office because I wanted to know where the post office was. We stopped by the post office, he explained to me how everything was done then we headed back to the clinic. Very few people came to the clinic this afternoon, so we went to Bill and Trixy’s and hung out for a bit and visited. I then went up and took a nap.

After my nap we went to market to get some groceries for supper and this week. We then came back and Nadia and Monica made us some dinner. Before dinner I took some time to write a few letters, then I headed down for dinner at Bill and Trixy’s. We had rice, beans, and sautéed potatoes. Supper was delicious! After supper, I did the dishes and then we watched an episode of Castle. It was then time for me to call it a night so I came up to the room, updated my blog and now I am headed to bed! Goodnight everyone! Miss you and love you all!!

Day 26

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween everyone! Today is off to a rough start. I didn’t sleep much last night due to the rain along with getting eaten alive by a darn mosquito; halfway through the night I got 6 bites, and after that I had a hard time falling back to sleep because I was worried about getting more bites! Then to top it off the power went out last night so I had a nice cold shower to wake me up! However, Trixy was a sweetheart and let us go to Kumba with Mary, Tabby and Spencer. So we left after worship.

We decided to take public transportation. So we took a bus from Buea to Kumba, which is about an hours bus ride away. Let me tell you we get nice and cozy in the 15-passenger van with 19 people, it is quite the experience, and a long one to say the least! We meet a really nice college student on the way to Kumba, so when we got there he took us to the lake, and even paid for our taxi over there.

When we got to the “entrance” he even argued with the lady there and told them that we didn’t need to pay just because we were white, and the taxi driver argued as well! Anyways he paid the 5000 francs for all of us and we headed into the park. However, we couldn’t drive, so we all got out and walked to the lake.

It was a beautiful walk to the lake and we took several pictures, it was amazing! When we got to the lake some local told us that we couldn’t “snap” any photos unless we wanted to pay 5000 francs. So we stopped taking pictures until he got out of sight and then we started taking some, but about 20 minutes later he came chasing after us in his canoe telling us we needed to pay him (we don’t really have to pay, this is just one way to get money from us, even the black guy who took us told us that). So Kelly (the black guy who took us there) argued with him for us for 10 minutes and then paid him 2000 francs. Then the other guy asking for money came and told us he felt disrespected and whatever else, it was ridiculous. The bugs there were also ridiculous, my legs were all bloody from the bug bites I was getting, today is just not my day with the bugs!

The bus ride to Kumba with 18 other people! It was great!

 Spencer and I at the lake in Kumba!

 The road to the crater lake in Kumba, definitely not drive-able, at least not right now!

All of us in a little "cave" on the trail down to the lake!

Some of the canoes that we could have taken to one of the village across the lake.

The group (minus me) with Kelly, the black guy that took us down there!

Kelly and I on the way to the lake!

The water running from the lake, it was really beautiful!

We then started walking out of the park and headed back to the place the bus had dropped us off. Kelly found us a bus to take back to Buea and we exchanged numbers with him. He was a super nice guy and not like most people who just want your money, all in all he paid 3000 francs to get us to the lake and we insisted we pay, but he wouldn’t let us pay for that. 

 

Me eating some corn on the cob, tasted a bit like corn nuts that weren't quite hard!

When we got back we bought some things at the little market then headed back to the health center. We also stopped and got some ice cream and then we heard Spencer’s phone ringing…it was Kelly, he wanted to make sure we got back safely! What a nice guy! I cleaned up, finished laundry and made lots of yummy food! We even made cookies! We took what we made down to Bill and Trixy’s, hung out and then got ready for bed. Well goodnight world!

The fried plantains that we made for dinner tonight, they were delicious!

 Cookies that we made for dessert, they turned out quite well for being cooked in a kettle using a stove top!