Day 2-3 at the Center…Day 1-2 of training…(a little long…be warned)

So Thursday was great, I spent the morning learning a great lesson about this culture. When someone tells you a time it’s a joke (well not literally…but really)…they mean 20 or 30 minutes later. It’s just a culture thing. Times are relative. I’ll get used to it I’m sure…but for now I just have to keep reminding myself to be late to be on time.

I got to spend a little time with Ros (one of the directors). She told me a bunch about life here, expectations, and so forth. She is a nurse from Australia and has been here for 10 years, so she has great information to share.

Then I spent the rest of the day with Erin…I feel like a sponge right now just soaking in as much as humanly possible. There is a Moz nurse who Erin has trained…she works from 7-1 Monday-Saturday. During that time she gives out morning medications, prepares night time meds, cleans some parts of the house, and ensures everyone is relatively healthy (to a certain extent…you’ll see why in a minute). It actually is pretty amazing what she gets done in reference to this culture and what she has been taught as a nurse working here. There is no critical thinking training whatsoever in their schooling…women are the second gender and should just do whatever they are told always without question. I know I know…if you are a nurse or nursing faculty you are really upset about this. I was too, but it’s cultural and that’s the deal. Also their schooling is all memorization. So there is no showing them an “A” and them knowing what it is…they can read it in words and they know their alphabet but that’s it. This was somewhat mind-blowing to me. Anyway, point being I am thankful for her and everything she does!

After she left at 1 Erin and I spent some time looking through the kids’ charts (Erin has added some social and nursing notes for me) and she taught me how to prepare meds for the kids. How very different from school…almost makes me laugh to think about US protocols. I’m learning quickly though that all of those things are out the window. You do the best you can and just forget the rest. Then Erin gave meds last night…mainly because I have no idea who is who…there are over 50 of them…they pretty much look the same to me still…I’m bad with names…you get the picture.

Friday we weighed some of the less-healthy kids that Erin watches their weight every week instead of just monthly. They are either HIV+ or malnourished. One more thing learned! Then we went through more of the notebook Erin has been so amazing to put together for me and whoever comes after…it’s all in English and gives me an idea of what to look for, what meds she usually treats with (because most meds are European…things I’ve never heard of), and so on. Serious prayers would be great that all the kids stay healthy while she is away…I have the wisdom to treat them if they do get sick (doente…yep learned one word!). And that no emergencies occur!!!!!! There is a clinic on base as a resource as well and several other nurses (so I am far from alone). Praise God!

Friday afternoon was filled with more learning from the infamous notebook…and then I prepared meds by myself! I did make one mistake (but only drawing up liquid vitamins instead of pills). I was pretty excited about that! Then I gave out meds tonight. Erin helped me find the kids and then I administered meds…yes like a real nurse! Hahaha…the best part of it all was when Dino (or Mr. Dino as I’ve learned he goes by…he’s maybe as tall as my knees) kept attempting to pull the meds out of my basket while I was tending to another child…then I would say Nao or no and he would just repeat me and lightly hit/tap my arm…hilarious the first few times…5 or 6 kids later…not so funny anymore! But he is adorable and now I know his name! One down…so many to go!

As for other things…

~Funny story- I walked into my room post lunch the other day to find a gecko crawling around inside my mosquito net (probably 3 or more inches long)…I was a little well actually EXTREMELY freaked out. Thanks Mom for always making us catch critters in the house with tubberwear…I was successful in the catch. Then I was informed it is normal for geckos to be in your room…and they eat mosquitoes. I’m ok with the geckos now…just NOT IN MY BED!

~As for Portuguese…I want so badly to be able to communicate. I’m very hopeful this will translate into me working extremely hard on it (when I find time that is)!

~Dinner was cooked for me again tonight (mom, I just want you to know I ate beets…or beet root as the English call them…and it was good…many new things are already tasting good as long as they are food and someone else cooks them!)…I absolutely love these people. Sharing is just a fact! One of the girls says about food, “There’s always enough!”

~Bug zapper…I found out today the “racket” I had found in my room that I was a little confused about (it looks like a tennis racket) is actually a bug zapper. Seriously, it zaps mosquitoes…AMAZING! Straight from the Lord…I’m extremely thankful!

~Internet…not working. Prayers for patience and it to work would be great!

~Church…Thursday night they have a church service with all of the base kids…rocked my world to dance around, sing, and hear God’s word surrounded by laughing awesome kids!

~Favorite kids so far…Lena and Chelsia…they are two girls who just have fat chunky cheeks and make me smile every time I see them. Lucia has already decided I’m her bff and cries EVERY time I come into the room or try to leave. Hope, you would love them (yummy kids)!!!!

~Discovery…if your mosquito net doesn’t touch the floor mosquitoes can get inside…no good! This will be fixed extremely soon! Because my ceiling is angled and my bed is on the side of my room with the higher ceiling the rope attaching it to the ceiling is too short to allow it to reach the floor. For now I’m going to sleep with my bug zapper!

~Oh…hot/warm showers…Thursday Chris made this possible…Friday it was up to me…got it done! It took me awhile, but I learned to light the pilot light and my shower was at least a little warmer than freezing…amazing!

~One last thing…they have granola here! Anyone who knew me freshman, sophomore, or even junior year and ate with me in the dining hall knows if they were out of granola I was upset…it’s like our granola…great! (Most foods aren’t really like ours so I was excited about this…and even in milk-if you could call it that- that can sit out in HOT weather for years and still be good…it tastes great!)