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.