Home again!

Sorry for the lapse in blogging. Turns out traveling takes alot out of you. In summary, the last week had me saying good-bye to my home for the past two months, returning to my future home (aka Paris), learning to cook from a professional chef, eating (and almost liking) cheese, spending 24 hours traveling home, and being prevented from landing at O'Hare by none other than the President of the United States. But I'm home in Indy, hanging out with family and friends and thoroughly enjoying relaxing and relaying my stories to anyone and everyone who will listen.

Things I've learned (the list continues)

1) I would have made an awesome Charlie's Angel, with Jeanette and Petra of course.

Church w/Jeanette

Meet Jeanette

The auxiliary services of the hospital (ie the lab, pharmacy, radiology, etc) are one side of the hospital while the wards are on the other side. We have Wednesday morning devotions together, a meeting together every other week (a fortnight in British speech), and we often sit together on breaks. The radiology lab is next door to the pharmacy, so I see Petra often, as well as Jeanette, a dayworker from Conakry. Jeanette sits with the patients as they wait for their x-rays or scans, and she translates and explains the process to the patients.

4-weekend! and the rest of the week

After the busy days of Friday and Saturday, I spent Sunday and Monday chillin-out, maxin', relaxin' all cool, all shootin' some b-ball outside the school... It was great to take a nap and chat and play games. Sunday I got to attend ward service for the first time. They have church services for the people in the hospital complete with a devotional and a message and, of course, some singing and dancing. I really love praise and worship here. I don't know why it strikes me so differently than at home, but I can't help but dance when songs start playing. I love that people come to the wards everyday and sing some songs and give prayers. And it's even better that I happen to be checking medications on wards at that time. Win-Win!

4 day weekend!-Saturday

Since arriving on the ship, I've heard rumors of a magical place off the coast of Conakry where unicorns frolic and dreams come true. Roume Island may not have mystical creatures, but it was a definite respite from the constant work at the hospital and pretty close to paradise. 

4 day weekend!-Friday

Yesterday you met my two fabulous comrades in the pharmacy, but for the past week and for this week, we have a visitor, Sue. I'll post a photo of her as soon as I get one, but she's been helping out in the pharmacy and is a super trooper because she doesn't have a pharmacy background. It was a lot for me to take in when I first arrived, and I at least know some of the drugs and what they're used for. But Sue is picking everything up with style and grace and is so enthusiastic. The first time I took her with me to the wards to check meds, a group came to sing and worship while we were there. About halfway through, I could just see Sue swaying with the music, and pretty soon she just jumped right in and started dancing with the singing group. I was a) impressed that she could bust a move so well and b) impressed that she could dance so uninhibited. I was much more comfortable counting pills than praising, but I'm thinking by the time I leave, I might be able to join in as well. So since Sue is here, and you might have noticed that the pharmacy is a bit small, we're rotating these two weeks so everyone has 2 days off. And mine happened to fall last Friday and today, which means a 4 day weekend! Woo!

A day in the life...

Hi friends! I've been trying to put together a sort of journal of what I do each day since I got here, but I wanted to make sure I had photos to describe as well as words. It's been difficult to get photos though because for security reasons, respect reasons, and various others, the photo policy on and off board is very strict. So here's a few to give you an idea, and I'll post more as I can.