A day in the life..Un dia en mi vida

This is the third time I am trying to post here and if it doesn't work I think I give up.  Yes, here is a day in my life, although I can't say this is a normal day since I don't really know what normal is.  Everything can change in the BLINK of an eye.  
However, my day starts at 6:35 when the alarm goes off.  Freezing cold shower.  Ready in 10 minutes.  Check email, facebook, Philly Daily News.   Spring training is now 17 days away.  YAY.   Here I am on my bed in Room 16 with Baby Mac.

Next up, at 7:00 I head downstairs to the kitchen to have breakfast with the group and the cooollllleeeesssttt jjjjeeeeffffffeeeees ever, Joe and Shannon.  They rock.

At breakfast I begin drinking the first of many many cups of coffee here.  Dominican coffee is just the greatest!

I head back to my room and respond to some emails, do some planning, clean up a little and head to the laundry room to start a load of laundry.   At 8:00 I bid goodbye to this team, which is kinda sad, because they were awesome and accomplished SO much this week and I hope I get to see them again!   In the Guesthouse, I give Margo a hug.  Margo has been working here in the kitchen and cleaning the rooms for 10 YEARS.  She knows EVERYTHING about this place.

I sort through some of the stuff that the group donated, hang my laundry outside...and head to the clinic to check things out.  Here is my first view coming into the side door of the clinic...there are lots of patients waiting for their consultations.

I head back to the OR area and look for Livida.  She is the head nurse here and she knows EVERYTHING about this clinic.

Ernesto does a little bit of everything here.  He is insanely patient with me, especially as I struggle with the autoclave.  I'm petrified of that thing!   And Lily is another one of the wonderful nurses here!

Angel fixes things.  He knows how to fix EVERYTHING.

I love scrubbing in surgery with Dr. Sandy Valdez (this is him and his lovely family).   He and Dr. Cacece have been SOOO kind to me and I feel like I am learning BUCKETS from them about surg. and some great spanish tips too.  

After scoping the clinic scene, I prepare to ascend to the Scary Room.  It's at the top of the stairs.... the double black doors.

This is what I see when I open the doors (after I scope it on the quick side for rats...)

I spent my mornings here when there is no surgical team, organizing (I know you can't tell but there is a small method to my madness), blasting my IPOD, and dancing around boxes upon boxes and bags upon bags.

Can you see me in this shot?

Sometimes I find some interesting stuff in here.....hmmmm

And sometimes....it's OVERWHELMING!   But I DO love it!

When I'm wearing the bedpan on my head...it's time to bail on the Scary Room.

And off I go.  The original plan for today involved me running errands with the Blue Truck.  However, someone else got to it first.  RATS!  So... the plan changes.  I don't have pix of it but I hopped a moto taxi and headed to the bank because I need money for tomorrow.  And then my driver takes me to Danilo and Celeste's house, where I eat a fantastic lunch and catch up with them for a couple hours and hand off some paperwork for my bosses.    I phone Bartolo, my main concho man..and he picks me up and returns me to the Guesthouse.    Grrrrr still no Blue Truck.   I decide I will attempt another chore.  I will try the leafblower per Joe's instructions.  

Leaf blowing was an epic fail.  Just epic.  The leaves definitely were uncontrollable and possibly worse than when I started.  However- I feel good that I attempted the task and will work on appropriate apologies for when Joe returns.  

So it's Dinner time and the blue truck has JUST NOW returned.   I don't know if I'll be quite able to run my errands at this hour but I do have time to run over some upcoming schedules with the Director here.  YAY...some paperwork that is now completed!

Tonight- I will chill out and prep for the next group, which arrives tomorrow NIGHT.  I'm headed to Barahona tomorrow with 2 women who are spending another week here and Olvis and Jon, two of our interpreters.   We are going to check out the larimar mines and hopefully the beach.  Barahona is VERY high on my list of things that I want to see in this country so I'm psyched!   And now- I'll retrieve my clothes, which hopefully are dry after hanging on the line all day.   I'll grab a snack in the kitchen and maybe go visiting friends tonight or check in on the MG crowd.    I'll maybe listen to the music blasting from the disco across the street or spy on the neighbors from my window or catch a baseball game or chat up the guards.  Who knows?   Tranki tranki....

We have 3 surgical teams coming...the first one tomorrow night.  And so this quiet time will come to an end.  I will spend my entire days in the clinic for the next 3 weeks, running around, searching for things, hopefully helping translate,  checking on patients, generally being a "go-fer".   I dig it.     I love it.   I'm happy.  

My new devotional, Jesus Calling,  had this to say this morning:  "As you gaze at me through the eyes of your heart, you can see the world around you from My perspective.  The fact that I AM WITH YOU makes every moment of your life meaningful".     It feels meaningful to me, when I'm getting hugs from the clinic crew, laughing with Joe and Shannon, dancing in the Scary Room, on the back of the moto,  when I'm sitting quietly with friends, texting in spanish, eating rice, checking out my new pedicure, watching parcheesi games.   It all feels meaningful.   It feels RIGHT.

And there's a day in my life.  Let's see what tomorrow holds.   Vamos a la playaaaaaaaaa....

Oh Rats!

I've laughed and hollared a lot in the past days..... I'm cleaning the scary storeroom and yesterday I found two ENORMOUS ( possibly they were small dogs) rats.   There was some screaming before Tony the do-everything-guy came up and kindly disposed of them.  That was better than earlier in the day when a LIVE one surprised me and had me standing on the OR table shrieking "SE FUE!  SE FUE!  It went!  It went!" and pointing out the other door.   I'm sure that I am fodder for much entertainment to my new friends here.   After I was sure it wasn't going to run up my leg or arm, I laughed so hard I was crying.   Poor Tony- I am always calling him to help me do something and I'm sure he thinks I am coo-coo for coco puffs.  He' s the most cheerful person I've ever met, always singing as he goes about his work.   He is an awesome reminder for me to stay POSITIVE, even among chaos or sadness.    And here's a beautiful positive note for today:  I haven't seen a single one!  Yay!  AND there is one very small corner (and I mean TINY corner) of the scary storeroom that almost looks a little bit good.

Earlier this week I was walking in a barrio with my friend Kristin and we went to a house where there was a 6 year old burn victim.   I'm not going to give names here...but I would appreciate any prayers for this sweet little girl who has burns over her back, buttocks, and thighs.    She was screaming during her dressing changes, which we could hear from the street.   It was pretty awful to hear, and phenomenally awful for me to see (this is why I can never work in PEDS).    But I was encouraged to hear later from Kristin that she is improving with some slight plan-of-care changes and new bandages and new meds.   We prayed over her mother...because I cannot imagine what it would be like to rip burn dressings off your screaming daughter while others hold her down.    I am always amazed at how folks can live with pain here, especially when I consider myself nearly dead when I have the flu or a migraine.  Yet another challenge:  how do I help folks carry their burders of pain?   Physical or spiritual or emotional?   How do we DO LIFE together when someone is suffering and I don't know what to doooooooo?   More things that I am pondering........

On another note- It was great to bump into some folks from home in San Juan on Sunday and get the AWESOME packages that mom sent me.  Yay- I have an awesome new devotional JESUS CALLING that I'm so psyched to start...as well as my favorite movie SUGAR to view at least weekly.   Yesterday Jesus Calling had this to say:  "Thank Me when things don't go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials.  Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world.  Expect them every day.  Rejoice in the face of hardship...FOR I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD."

Yay....
Bendiciones amigos... He HAS overcome the world.

and then there were 2 (and a half) months

I don´t know how it is possible that I´ve been here a month already but apparently it`s true.   Today I changed my keyboard to the spanish setting and therefore my punctuation may be slightly lacking as I figure out where all the little exclamation marks and stuff are.  The good news is that now (with the help of dear friends) I have found the ¨ñ" key, which I've been searching for.  YAY.  It's the little things, folks, isn't it?

A fabulous team from Gainesville, GA, just departed this morning- we had a wonderful week!  I feel like I am learning so much from the wonderful Dominican and American providers that work or help out at this clinic.   I loved being in the clinic with them, meandering from pre-op to post-op to the operating rooms to the storage rooms to the pharmacy and beyond.   I love what I`m doing here...grabbing supplies, starting a rare IV, fetching folks from the waiting room, trying to help translate,  running for dry towels or sheets or more meds, generally being a go-fer.  I just love it.  


My spanish is still completely Charlie Brown spanish but I am growing increasingly fearless about using it.   I am settled in beautifully to Room 16 at the Guesthouse and I no longer screetch with my cold water showers.   And I have grown accustomed to the fact that water never just runs from the sink or shower.  It sputters...wildly.  So when you turn on the water to brush your teeth or wash your hands...there might be one drop and then it explodes all over my face and shirt with violent eruptions.   I always look like I have fumbled my coffee all over my shirt when I walk around this place.   I sleep through the roosters and donkeys and dogs and pigeons now, although occasionally I find myself humming with the disco music blaring outside when I wake up or lie down.   I wear sweaters sometimes in the morning (it IS winter here too people...these 60 degree mornings are BRISK) and shudder when I hear news of snow at home.    I buy minutes for my cell phone by handing my cell to the lady at the local colmado who takes down my number, calls it, and somehow transfers minutes from HER cell to mine.  It's just nuts but it works.    I can text a little bit in spanish and occasionally handle about 20% of a phone call.    I crave rice and I dream of guandules.    I AM still waiting to see if a big spider makes it way into Room 16 but so far, so good.  

It seems like I wake up and another week is gone..time is flying by.   I miss my friends and family in the States so much but I feel surrounded here also with kind friends and adopted family.   It seems there is no shortage of invites to "come over for lunch" or "stop in and visit".   And this morning I got lots of hugs when I walked into the clinic.   Overall, I sense God showering me with His mercy here, I'm safe, I'm warm, I'm happy.

Thanks for continuing to pray for me.  It is amazing to see Jesus here in this place....never gets old.

Llego Los Grupos

Yay- the first of 11 or 12 groups (back to back to back!)  arrives tomorrow and I AM PSYCHED!

I've spent this past week getting to know the folks who work in the clinic or for Solid Rock,  organizing some things in the hopes of being helpful to the medical groups who are on their way, and trying to lend a hand here and there.    I was able to see a few surgeries and even scrub in on a few.  For my nurse friends out there- you know I am LOVING this!   Nothing like an open abdomen to get my adrenalin kicking!   The doctors who work here at the clinic are kind and phenomenal and eager to teach and demonstrate things to me.  I couldn't be more impressed!   The nurses are amazing and SOOO sweet and seem amused by my attempts at communication.  Already I've seen things that I would never get to experience otherwise- God is so good to me!   I'm feeling so blessed to be here.  This morning I spent some time in the Medical Supply Closet which is one of the projects for my time here.   I'm going to try to organize it just a little....:)  

I also was able to have dinner (along with my awesome jeffes Joe and Shannon) with two other missionary families in this town this week.   Good times and lots of laughing!   It's cool to see Christ's vision in this town through other folks' eyes too...and get to experience some community as well.   And I crave that idea of community.   I must say that church here is frustrating because I don't understand much...altho I do LOVE the music.   I'm hoping that in three months I will have made some major headway in understanding sermons because I can totally tell that these pastors are speaking The Word and yet, I fumble the understanding all the time.    Anyhoo, that's a great prayer request for me- that I will increase in the COMPREHENSION department.   :) 

This afternoon I swung out to English class at the orphanage..and then sat in on a Spanish class too.  Just so you all know, I got 100% on my verbs which is amazing for me.  Of course I think I was in the 2nd grade class but still....I looked them up in the dictionary and then proudly showed them off to as many people as possible.    If I could post them right now I would.  And tonight I'm heading out with Joe and Shannon for Mexican food!   Yay....

Otherwise, we are gearing up here for the Bigtime, which is to participate in how God will be using these groups to serve the Dominican folks.     I can't wait- although of course I'm nervous because this will be my first surgical team experience.   Thanks for your prayers- I feel them when I'm riding motos throughout the city....and holding a patient's hand....and laughing with new friends...and hearing the loud and heartfelt worship at church...and watching the lizards run all over the walls here...and seeing Ulise hide from me when he first sees me (and then shyly slide over for a hug).    Yeah, it's all good like that.   It is.  

Estoy lleno con amor.

nik

Below is a pic of the med supply room that I'll be "organizing".  There is a small Dominican man in this picture- can you even see him in the mess?   LOVING IT.

Date Brillo cadenita que tu mojo llega - Shine now for your day will come

Hey- I found a web site of "Dominicanisms" and I love the one above.  

I do want to Shine.  And I don't even know completely what that means.  I know I want to LIVE, really LIVE and be intentional about it.  I want to be full of LIFE, and be life-affirming and life-giving.   I want folks to see what Jesus has done for me and continues to do in me, despite me, and around me.    I want to stop sweating the stuff that doesn't matter in the long run.   I want to listen and understand what folks are trying to say to me, despite the fact that I probably understand maybe 20-70% of what I'm hearing in Spanish.    I want to have FUN.   I want to help and serve and watch people start to see the Big Picture of what God IS doing and IS about to do on this ridiculous ball of mud.

I loved today.   I loved every minute of today.  I'm sure that some of my time here is going to be difficult and hard and lonely and confusing.  But it wasn't today.   Not today.  Today I returned to El Cercado and stopped in to check on a friend who had been sick.   In fact, I have been worrying about him for the last few days.   K is a 20 year old paraplegic who lives across from the clinic.  I met him several years ago when I lived in El C soon after his accident and I've stopped in to see him a couple times since.   When we were at the El Cercado clinic on Monday, his mother came down and told me he'd been feverish and sick.   He was unable to come to the clinic (his wheelchair was malfunctioning and he was living in his mother's bed) and so on our lunch break, I took one of the docs up to see him.   He WAS sick, burning up and looking pretty bad.  We left some oral meds for him and decided to check on him the next morning and bring some other medications at that time.  Tuesday morning he was only mildly improved so we gave him an injection of Rocephin and set off for another clinic.  Tuesday afternoon when I stopped to check on him he was much worse and I was getting nervous.   However, the doctor ordered some tests at that time and we were still assuming it was a UTI.   I was soooo happy to see him this morning, up, out of bed and in his chair again, grinning and reporting feeling "SO MUCH BETTER".   We sat and had juice and talked a while.  

The trip to El C was an interesting one anyway.  I started off on a guagua (public bus) from the San Juan clinic and informed them I wanted to goto El Cercado, knowing I would have to change buses in Las Matas (the half way point).    Apparently 15 minutes later the driver realized there was another bus behind us going straight to El C so we flagged it down and I was kicked out of bus numero uno and hopped into Bus numero dos.   Then, about 2-3 miles from El Cercado, there was some sort of "protest" which I believe has some sort of political agenda and a bunch of these protesting folks decided to dig huge ditches and holes in the road and chop down huge trees and place them across the road.    It was sort of like playing a video game, swerving around enormous trees and stuff.   The driver asked where I was going and when I told him where I wanted to get off, they kicked me out of Bus numero dos and put me and another dude and our two bags on the back of a motorcycle.   Ahhhh always an adventure taking public transportation.  But nonetheless, we squished onto this itty bitty yamaha and 5 minutes later I was visiting K and his family.     1 hour, 3 modes of transportation.

I walked to my "family"s home then, stopped to visit some other friends on the way.   And I spent the rest of the day giggling, holding babies, making parachute troopers for the neighbor kids, eating insane amounts of arroz y guandules y carne (Gracias Mariel!), chatting up life with Yudi and Lorenzo and Victor and the girls and the chilluns and the neighbors.   Of course somehow I lost track of time until it was almost 4, when I was supposed to catch my bus back.   I was speedily rushed to the bus stop, where apparently it was up in the air as to when the bus would ever return???    Next stop, the public cars.   I hopped into a SMALL Toyoto with 7 other people and we were off.   In Las Matas I was dumped off at the next station, where I sat in another public car for about 20 minutes until I was driven a HALF OF A MILE to jump into a van which apparently was left over from The A-Team.  It didn't have a door.  There were 8 holes in the windshield ducktaped together.    The driver was possibly 98.  However, I had a WONDERFUL ride as we drove maybe 35 mph for the next hour to San Juan.   I had an enormous view out the entire passenger side of the van and I could see how brightly the sun was shining on the mountains and fields and palm trees.    I kept thinking to myself "Don't forget this minute....impress this picture on your mind" and then I remember how many times I've told myself that and it just washes away and I'm equally as blown away when I see it the next time.   I felt full of life.   I felt like everything was right in the world for today, that God was slaying all my dragons for me right now, that He was laughing at the A-Team van too but so grateful for the great view out of the entire passenger side doorway.  

It might not last, this feeling.   And hey, I know faith isn't about feelings.   I've made this choice in my life, that I want to be with and about Jesus and I'm IN forever and sometimes it "feels" great and other times I "feel" like it's soooo hard!    So feelings...yeah, whatever feelings.   But today was good.   It was pretty darn perfect.   And now you've kinda shared it with me.

So you know.. Date brillo cadenita que tu mojo llega.

quick update

The rain is falling here in San Juan.    So I've decided today is the day to cancel the US cell phone.  There will be no more 610-246-1136 until April.    Til then, try 829-982-1136.  The best way to get me will remain Facebook or Skype or email (phillynic@ekit.com).

Dios te Bendiga!

Day of the Kings

Many Dominicans are celebrating today- it's the Day of the Kings....when the Magi brought gifts to the Christ.   And I am celebrating too.

Today was the last day of the barrio clinics this week with Team One and I must say I've had a blast.  It's been a GIFT to spend time with these guys.    Our first day was spent at the clinic in El Cercado (yay!  a personal favorite of course...and got to quickly slip out to visit precious family and friends...thanks to Pastor Morales and his moto- YAY) where the team saw well over 200 patients.   Day 2 was spent in the campo Sabana de Chen,  20 minutes further west from El Cercado.  Amazing!  And another 200 plus patients.   Days 3 and 4 we traveled FAR west, essentially to the Haitian border...to the towns of Macasias and Pinon (spelling? not sure?).   We were so close to Haiti today that folks were crossing the river border to get to us.   90% of our patients today were Haitians and the poverty we encountered was overwhelming.   I have such a strong sense that God has guided us very specifically to the regions we were in all week.  It was beautiful to see some of the things that I experienced this week:  the gratitude, the smiles, the beautiful babies (you know I had to kiss and snuggle and carry just a few around!), the gift of 4 oranges that one sweet little lady brought us in Sabana de Chen, the competitive boys that I played baseball with yesterday (the tennis balls were a huge hit!),  the old and infirm folks who stumbled their way to the clinics or were carried there by family, the blind people who were led there, the pregnant bellies that I can't keep my hands off of,  the waving, the "when will you come back?" questions.    It's hard to leave.   These last two days, this team would stop at some of the poorest houses and drop off some prepared food bags (rice, oil, onions, garlic, salami, beans).   Several of the houses had absolutely nothing to eat that day and one woman remarked that she had been praying for food when we arrived.    One was a house of 4 girls.   A 9 year old caring for her 3 little sisters waiting for her parents to come home from working in the fields.   It's humbling AND exhilarating, watching Christ in action both through observing this team and observing the folks they are serving. What a gift.   Feliz Dia de Los Reyes.

I'm thinking about how extravagant those gifts from the Magi were.....to Mary and Joseph.  And how extravagant the love of a Savior is to me- He who brought me here and guides me and sits next to me on the gua-gua while we stare at the mountains and sky and bounce over the potholes and rocks.    How extravagant that I get to have these days, however long they last.

There's no place I'd rather be, right here, right now.  

Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Yay!  It's 2011!  I'm having a beautiful time in San Juan- started work on Wednesday and so far I LOVE IT.   I'm tackling the medication room here and after 3 days, well, let's just say I STILL have lots of work to do.  However, organization and rearranging are high up on my list of favorite things (ask my former roomies how many times I rearranged the furniture in the house!) so I'm really enjoying it.  AND I'm learning stuff that I haven't thought of since nursing school.  In fact, I work with an old drug book (thanks Jville!) next to me and I pull it out often and look up the drugs to "file" them in the correct place.  

I am blessed to be surrounded by fantastic supportive folks.  Joe and Shannon, the Guesthouse Host/Hostess, are my bosses and couldn't be any more fun and supportive.   I'm psyched to be working with them.  Also, I've met the doctor and administrator (Dr. Canario and Bienvenida) that I'll be working with, as well as the greatest security detail ever, the guards who hold down the fort here and keep us safe and sound.    And sweet Margo works in the kitchen and in the Guesthouse rooms as well.   Everyone has been excited about what is happening here.  The first team arrives today and I'm EXCITED to get going.

I spent New Years Eve working most of the day and then attending a church service at the orphanage.  Great stuff.  Fantastic way to bring in 2011.  Now I'm up and at 'em.  I want to get my room in shipshape form for the group and do a few other things to prep.   January 1- HERE WE COME!

2010 was a great year- I'm feeling blessed by what God has done and what He continues to do in my life and in the lives of the folks I come in contact with.    Dios te Bendiga!

nik

PS Here are some pix of what's going on...The one of me isn't great but you can see how beautiful it is where I live (my room is on the second floor...kinda above my head in the pic).   And then there is a shot of the medication room that I'm organizing.   GOOD TIMES!