India. I’ve been here for two weeks, and it has yet to set in. Perhaps it is because we’ve been working very hard to finish all of our lectures before Christmas. I’d like to proudly say I took my last Birth Attendant Exam today. It was rough. All on Post Partum Hemorrhage, and let me be the first to say, that’s no easy topic. But it has its benefits. Like practicing taking blood for blood samples and inserting cannulas. It was a bit terrifying, but when I successfully withdrew blood from Hollie’s median cubital vein I was so pumped.
My cannulating Hollie was slightly less successful, but cannulas are tricky. You have to not only get the needle in, but there is also a tube around the needle that stays in the vein after the needle is removed. The cannula stays in the skin/vein allowing you quick access to the circulatory system for IVI’s, medicine, blood transfusions or plasma expanders. It’s so important to be able to insert a cannula successfully. Its wild really, how a small piece of plastic can end up saving a woman’s life.
(Mom, please do not worry, as we are good midwives, practicing aseptic technique, using sterile needles, gloves, and the rest of it. We’re safe, healthy and happy.)
Other than lectures, we finished reading through the bible out loud, and FINALLY got settled into our permanent rooms. I love mine. It has a lot of natural light and high ceilings. Not to mention it comes complete with an ant infestation (taken care of now) and heaps of cockroaches. Bless their little dying hearts. It’s really quite relaxing; especially since I was put in the “chill-quite-early-to-bed” room. We have no storage, and really no room other than under and at the end of our beds. We went to this fruit stand on the side of the road and got some old, beat up, wooden fruit boxes to use as dressers. As I was walking home I had to drop one to the ground as a little eight legged friend came out to say hello. I rinsed them when I got home, covered them with scarves, and they are now serving me faithfully as nightstands and dressers. It’s really nice to have the feel of a home. And what’s better than a feeling of a home, I started to boil a kettle of water and pour it into my bucket. So, my breath taking, cold bucket showers are now wonderfully enjoyable warm bucket showers. Since I’ve been running laps around this dirt lot, I need showers more often than not. Running in India is actually quite comical. It’s unheard of really, but the dirt field is right next to where we are staying, away from the road, and we go at nine o’clock at night, so it’s dark. Even then I need to wear a punjabi. It’s beautiful in the evening here, around 75 degrees, and it’s the dead of winter. Ask me how much I love running in a few months when it’s 95 degrees at night.
We also were able to go to the zoo for Australian Eve’s birthday. It was really fun. I have this fear of monkeys resulting from a scare in Nepal involving a terrifying little money and my dear sister Danielle. Since that moment as I watched that monkey attack her punjabi I haven’t been the same. However this time at the zoo may have brought some healing. It was a wonderful treat.
Every Wednesday since the beginning of our time in Cairo, we’ve been having this time we call a “Love devotional”. A few months ago each one of us drew an aspect of 1st Corinthians 13 description of love out of a hat. We were meant to think about what it means to us, and how Jesus displayed it using the book of Luke. This Wednesday was becca’s turn. She shared on “love does not seek its own”. It was so powerful. She used the passage where Jesus is in the garden and he is asking that the “cup may be passed from his lips.” He chose others over himself. Peace over dissention, the lives of others over his own, the idea of community over self preservation. This is the way I wish to love. She asked us to think of ways we misuse power in order to preserve ourselves. I was convicted and humbled as I realize it may be one of my greatest struggles- “self preservation”. I desire to be one who chooses peace over dissention, the lives of others over my own, and the betterment of community over the betterment of my own life. A topic which, I’m sure, will take a life time to understand, but how I’ll grow in the process. Jesus help me love
My cannulating Hollie was slightly less successful, but cannulas are tricky. You have to not only get the needle in, but there is also a tube around the needle that stays in the vein after the needle is removed. The cannula stays in the skin/vein allowing you quick access to the circulatory system for IVI’s, medicine, blood transfusions or plasma expanders. It’s so important to be able to insert a cannula successfully. Its wild really, how a small piece of plastic can end up saving a woman’s life.
(Mom, please do not worry, as we are good midwives, practicing aseptic technique, using sterile needles, gloves, and the rest of it. We’re safe, healthy and happy.)
Other than lectures, we finished reading through the bible out loud, and FINALLY got settled into our permanent rooms. I love mine. It has a lot of natural light and high ceilings. Not to mention it comes complete with an ant infestation (taken care of now) and heaps of cockroaches. Bless their little dying hearts. It’s really quite relaxing; especially since I was put in the “chill-quite-early-to-bed” room. We have no storage, and really no room other than under and at the end of our beds. We went to this fruit stand on the side of the road and got some old, beat up, wooden fruit boxes to use as dressers. As I was walking home I had to drop one to the ground as a little eight legged friend came out to say hello. I rinsed them when I got home, covered them with scarves, and they are now serving me faithfully as nightstands and dressers. It’s really nice to have the feel of a home. And what’s better than a feeling of a home, I started to boil a kettle of water and pour it into my bucket. So, my breath taking, cold bucket showers are now wonderfully enjoyable warm bucket showers. Since I’ve been running laps around this dirt lot, I need showers more often than not. Running in India is actually quite comical. It’s unheard of really, but the dirt field is right next to where we are staying, away from the road, and we go at nine o’clock at night, so it’s dark. Even then I need to wear a punjabi. It’s beautiful in the evening here, around 75 degrees, and it’s the dead of winter. Ask me how much I love running in a few months when it’s 95 degrees at night.
We also were able to go to the zoo for Australian Eve’s birthday. It was really fun. I have this fear of monkeys resulting from a scare in Nepal involving a terrifying little money and my dear sister Danielle. Since that moment as I watched that monkey attack her punjabi I haven’t been the same. However this time at the zoo may have brought some healing. It was a wonderful treat.
Every Wednesday since the beginning of our time in Cairo, we’ve been having this time we call a “Love devotional”. A few months ago each one of us drew an aspect of 1st Corinthians 13 description of love out of a hat. We were meant to think about what it means to us, and how Jesus displayed it using the book of Luke. This Wednesday was becca’s turn. She shared on “love does not seek its own”. It was so powerful. She used the passage where Jesus is in the garden and he is asking that the “cup may be passed from his lips.” He chose others over himself. Peace over dissention, the lives of others over his own, the idea of community over self preservation. This is the way I wish to love. She asked us to think of ways we misuse power in order to preserve ourselves. I was convicted and humbled as I realize it may be one of my greatest struggles- “self preservation”. I desire to be one who chooses peace over dissention, the lives of others over my own, and the betterment of community over the betterment of my own life. A topic which, I’m sure, will take a life time to understand, but how I’ll grow in the process. Jesus help me love
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