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Saturday, July 26, 2008

A Real Update

As a bit of an update on our life, Joaquin delivered his first baby last week. He was so excited and he got a Nulligravida (medical term for first time mother). Better for him (experience wise) not so good for her. So the baby took a while to come out (as in 6 hours from the start of labor) and he was basically the person who REALLY delivered the baby. I was and still am so proud of him. I delivered my first baby over the summer, but I was only an Assist nurse. That basically means I am like the typewriting person in the court room. No real action, just paper work. And my baby's mother was already on her 4th child, so I barely got to see the baby come out (I was too busy writing down the stupid time). So, I am looking forward to when it is my turn.

They have been sending us to all different parts of the Philippines. Some parts are REAL hot, and you just want to sit in your room with two fans on you and pray that you get the afternoon or night shift. And other parts are REAL cold, and you still just want to sit in your room curled in a blanket and sleep. But I find it to be a good travel experience. During our off time, we visit local rivers, go hiking, go to the local beach or just shop at real cheap stores because we are students on budget.

Besides my new found vegetarianism since January, I have also started to do yoga every Sunday for exercise. And YES it is exercise with a full on workout. It is not the "Pilate" kind, it's called Hatha Yoga. It concentrates more on stress relief and different positions. But just holding those positions are enough to make your muscles scream the next day. My abs ARE getting stronger (this is really for my mother and Lola who think yoga does not work on my abs). I have also been practicing doing chin ups...well, not really, I pretty much just hang there for about 10 seconds. At first it was just 5, but now its 10 and i move my legs around for a bit to work on the abs...again. Which, btw, I am only doing for the members of my family who complained because I think "washboard" abs on women is kinda gross. Joaquin, on the other hand, puts me to shame with his 20 chin ups a day, and he does those push up clappy things. Oh, and we both lost about 40lbs since the last time anyone has seen us, and still working on a bit more.

Let me tell you, losing weight is no BIG picnic (in my opinion anyway). For example, we sleep on real hard beds when we go to duty. And I don't mean the USA standard firm mattress with box springs. I mean, we sleep on plywood or the floor. In the beginning it wasn't so bad, because I had so much extra padding in all my bony parts. But now, I have the worst sleep because my hips, butt, and shoulders would ache so bad. And then, on our way home from our last duty, our group shared a van (12 altogether including our clinical instructor and not the driver). With the "Filipino vans" you should be able to fit 4 Filipinos in the back seat (3 Americans). Naturally, Joaquin, myself and our friend Ray sit in the back seat. We assume that we need all the space, and it used to be a bit of a comfortable tight fit. But this time around, I kept getting flung all over the back seat and I could not sleep a wink. I had to squish my legs up on to the chair (a move I have not done since 1998) just to become somewhat comfortable. And still to this day, I keep thinking that I look one way and I expect to see that in the mirror. But, I am totally wrong and I get this awkward feeling that I am in the twilight zone. A person can develop a mental disorder this way. Not that I am complaining, or am going to try to gain it all back. HA! Just saying it's weird and needs getting used to. I would love to provide pics, but the battery charger for our AA batteries blew up (literally, by being put in 220volts) and it's not worth buying Philippine batteries. So, I am going to leave it all to your imagination.

Monday, July 21, 2008

A Philippine Joke that I Made Up

Use "Neighbor" in a sentence....


Ah, Neighbor mind!




Use "Jello" in a sentence...


Don't be Jello-s of me!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

More things that I learned in Nursing

1. If you hear someone say outside your window "Ah Bebbo Bebbo!!!" It means:
a. Balut
b. Taho
c. Chicharron
d. Puto
> if they add "....ah Plastik!!" after a few minutes, they are just collecting your plastic bottles.

2. Good things do come in small packages...from the sari-sari store.

3. You can buy ANYTHING at the sari-sari store.

4. If you get the "Lavender scented Mosquito Coil" instead of the regular one, you are "Soshal". *The regular one costs 8 pesos and the Lavender one is 13 pesos.*

5. It's an OUTRAGE if the jeep raises their fare by 50 sentavos.

6. Giant Crazy Tarantulas, Scorpions, Cockroaches and other spiders DO EXIST...usually in your house.

7. If you see a naked person running in the street, just ignore it.

8. EVERYONE can sing.

9. If you feel like singing in a crowded elevator, just go ahead.

10. Even though the capacity on the elevator says max: 13, you can still fit 2 more. Filipinos are small! It can't possibly mean them.

11. Conformity really does get you more friends
*note* Individualism = "Maarte"

12. You eventually get used to the barking dogs and crowing roosters.

13. Halls = CANDY

14. You can individual wrap ANYTHING and sell it e.g. halls, mentos, cigarettes, etc.

15. Joaquin is a Filipino in a "white guy" outfit.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Things I learned in Nursing

1. The Philippines is Predictably UNPREDICTABLE
2. Keep candles in the right spots in the house so that if your lights go out during the night, you know how to find them.
3. Always keep a bucket of water in your house because no lights = no water = no flushable toilet.
4. Life is too short to care too much.
5. Joaquin and I are surprisingly probably the most adaptable people that we know.
6. You can still hand wash white uniforms, and they will still be white :)
7. There is a way to sit on the ground in a way where you are not touching the ground and its as if you are hanging in a mini hammock chair. And you can sit there all day long.
8. It's always good to keep a mini umbrella in your purse. It could rain or be too sunny...
9. How to get creases in a pair of pants that are so sharp that they still stay on the pants even after several washes.
10. You can keep white shoes white with toothpaste.
11. 50 pesos can stretch longer than 3 days.
12. How to individually pack clothes in case cockroaches manage to sneak inside your luggage.
13. Toiletries should go inside hard plastic containers so that they don't get wet in the shower.
14. You don't need a shower if you have a bucket and a pail.
15. You don't need a flushable toilet if you have a bucket and a pail.
16. How to easily injure yourself carrying Joaquin on your back while crawling on the floor.
17. How to NOT move passed an inch while carrying Joaquin on your back while crawling on the floor.
18. This is not the best country to be in if you are trapped in a burning building.
19. If you fail a student and you pass out on the ground, expect to still be in the same spot an hour later.
20. Chocolate still tastes great no matter what mood you are in.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

BLS and more

What is BLS you may ask yourself? Basic Life Support. As in CPR and stuff. Last week, we had to go through our BLS training. And I have been saying all along that we should have been taught basic first aid and CPR. So when I heard we had to do this, I was quite excited about it...until I learned the truth.
Well, first of all, I pretty much already knew CPR and the Heimlich just from a CPR class I took before we moved to the Philippines. So, yes if you were choking and I just stood there, it's probably because I hate you....
CPR was day one, but after that, I thought we would learn other basic first aid...like putting on a bandaid if you get a minor cut, or using hydrogen peroxide...But nope, its not like that at all.
We were taught TRIAGE. And here, I thought they stopped teaching that to people in WWII. Well, I guess it's kinda nice to know that if my friend fractures a leg, I know how to tear up a shirt into a triangle, fold it into a bandage like strip, and bandage using the perfect square knot...all in less than a minute. It might not be the prettiest thing, but hopefully it would be effective. I would not really know because they demonstrated it to a class of 100 students in the middle of the room, with 30 different procedures, and not repeating one. Then they left us a alone to "practice" and basically teach ourselves.
I thought it might be cool to know these techniques, except now I don't remember any of them. Currently I am using the bandages (which we had to have made by a tailor within 24 hours) as my pot holder. Those pots are damn hot!
The other part of our training was EMERGENCY and RESCUE. I guess it sounds real cool, but when you think about it, it's quite ridiculous. They expect me, a person who can not even do an inch worth of a pull up, to run into a burning building, throw someone on my back and crawl out. Wouldn't I leave the fire stuff to...hmm I don't know...the firefighters?! If I saw a burning building, I would just stare at it, just wondering if everyone is ok. I might call the fire department, but there is no way in hell I am going to risk my own life inhaling a bunch of smoke, to "rescue" someone. Isn't it "women and children first"? Well Im a woman. I can help out with my pot holders...I mean bandages...if only I could remember which direction to fold the damn thing...


Oh well, I can just do CPR on the other guy.