The day we sorted stuff.

Saturday

We started off the day at 7:45, I hit snooze a few times and put on my scrubs that got me out of work last Saturday.

They didn’t work this time.

And I really really wanted them to.

Oh well.  We got to the clinic at 8:30, right on time for outpatient clinic.  The day started off terribly, just like yesterday.  We were ready to quit almost instantly.  We got books for patients and took their vitals since it was just us and Maria at the clinic.  She was shocked we already knew how to do it.

Why would we be capable of doing something?!?

Ridiculous.

But, I forgot to write the year on one of the books, and we were quickly reprimanded.  It’s ok though, because I was super careful the rest of the time to mark units and dates and give everyone their cards.  And I said some nasty things to her under my breath, threatening to quit and all.  Then she would have to do all the work.  But that’s not how I’m supposed to act, so I took a deep breath and moved on with life.

I felt really mature.

Then, Poolie, the lab tech started seeing the patients.  He’s pretty legit so I asked if I could watch.  He asked me what I thought the first patient’s rash was…

Man, I’m really bad at rashes in America. 

Any PA’s reading my blog (I know there are a few of you!) know how hard rashes are.  They’re like my kryptonite.  There were some round lesions, maybe a half a centimeter across.  Then there were some spots.  I had to rely on my observational skills instead of my history-taking skills as the girl spoke little English.

Worms.  Ringworms.  That was my guess.  I don’t know much about them, but I know ringworms leave round lesions.  And I remember reading a lot about worms in my international medicine class, so they have to be pretty prevalent here.  Or something.

But no, it’s not worms.  It’s chickenpox.  Which they don’t vaccinate against here yet.  We do in America so I didn’t see legit chicken pox on my pedi rotation.  And dark skin shows things differently.  The big clue was that the rash was itchy.  So for treatment, Poolie gave her an anti-histamine.  It wasn’t one that was in my pharmacopeia, meaning we don’t use it in America or Cannada.

We saw a bunch more patients with him.  We ran 3 malaria tests and one rapid test for syphilis.  None of it was positive, thankfully.

Poolie was legit!  He told me to register a patient to be seen at 11:30, even though the clinic closed at noon.  Maria yelled at me, saying that clinic is only half-day on Saturday, I shouldn’t register more patients.  But Poolie is her boss.  And he told me to.  And I vote we see someone who just walked 3 hours to get to clinic.  Why not?

Our ride showed up at noon just as we finished with the last patient.  Good timing!  I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera so I don't have pictures from the clinic, because I really wanted one of the medical records room and the syphilis test.

We got home to find unexpected guests.  Very unwelcome guests.  But we learned their secret point of entry and helped seal it off with our new, good friend: Deet.

[what did we do wrong?? we washed it all out!]

I took an afternoon nap, which lasted a good hour.  I love naps!

Then, we assisted Joseph, the politician/pastor/good-deed-doer that’s married to Mary, with sorting clothes and shoes for donations.  We filled 80 trash bags with at least 3 pairs of shoes each and 10 pairs of assorted clothes.  Ties, pants, belts, dresses, shirts…

There was SO much to sort!

I thought about the pastor’s tie last week and how it was green and wrinkled, but it almost looked styled that way.  My guess, after seeing how the things were sorted, is that it wasn’t meant to be wrinkled.  But I think the style could catch on…

Frances had the wonderful idea of listening to music while sorting, so we did: Mat Kearney and Matt Nathanson.  We’re kinda in love with their music. 

We’re also kinda in love with some of the t’shirt sayings that went into the donation bags.  Each bag got a new t-shirt with a crazy saying.  Joseph said that the people here probably wouldn’t understand them.  Our favorites:

I refuse to get in a battle of wits with an unarmed person

Someone pissed in your gene pool

You’re an inspiration to idiots everywhere

Never underestimate the power of idiots in large groups

If I were getting smart with you, how would you know?

[Frances and I with all the bags]

[Joseph and I with bags]

People here like their picture taken.  We’ve decided we want to print them and send them back because people love pictures here!

Frances and I stopped sorting for a Gig’em Gameday Photo!!

[Gig’em!]

Too bad it didn’t help us win the game.

We watched the first half and we were quite excited.  We did push-ups faithfully whenever Arkansas scored.  We did WAY too many push-ups in the second half.  WAY too many.  But my personal trainer, Frances, says that if I’m a bride my arms have to look good.

I just hope we don’t have any more games like this one.  My arms are going to fall off, and then I would not make a cute bride.

We only managed to watch the game through Skype (because ESPN.com was smarter than us and knew we weren’t in America.  Lame) with help from my Dad. 

[Thanks Dad!!]

Right now, Ryan is getting ready to watch one of his best friends get married.  He sent me pics of him in his suit, and I have to say that I’m getting married to the sexiest man in the world!  I feel I’m qualified to say that since I’m not in the same continent as he is right now.  This is the first weekend I’ve felt really homesick though.  I just want to be IN his strong arms, dancing with him at the reception, and making memories with him instead of just looking at pictures.

But he’s so sweet to keep me up to date on everything that’s going on there.  I just have to be careful not to start drooling on my computer when he sends me his pictures.

Frances and I are excited for church tomorrow.  We're going to a different one and we're stopping by the funeral of a Dignitary on the way.  I'm hoping I'll be better able to understand what they're saying and excited to hear God's word.  Frances is excited about the Broadway-worthy singing.  Neither one of us is looking forward to getting introduced, but both of us are looking forward to looking our best!

[church attire]

Tonight, as I go to sleep I’m praying for Seth and Jennifer, that their marriage will be strong because of their faith in the Lord.  That their wedding today would go as planned and they'll make many happy memories to share for their whole life.  I love you two and I wish I could be there.   And that the bags we sorted will go to the right people and the clothes/shoes would be a good fit.   And that the Aggies play better football next week. 

I love you Jesus :)