Some little tidibts

Swing shift was pretty uneventful but we did get a TON of gauze folded and ready to be put in the autoclave to be sterilized. As I was leaving, there was a labor patient ready to push but other than that, we sat around and chica-chica'd (chatted) for most of the shift. I worked on some NCLEX questions on my iPod, turns out I'm getting rusty (yikes!!!).

Tonight after shift, as the guard was getting ready to take me and my supervisor home, we loaded some extra bunk beds into the ambulance. We dropped them off at one of the homes of a helper (cleaner/laundry lady) at the clinic. As I rode with two midwives and a guard in the front of the ambulance I had a huge smile on my face. How blessed I am that these people have accepted me into their lives and into their families! They remind me of so many of my surrogate families back home who have adopted me as daughters some point. They share information about their families, teach me new things, pray with me, give me hugs, and share about their culture! While we were piled into the cab of the ambulance, one of them had her hand on my knee as we chatted about my time here and I told her I would be sad when it was time to leave. She assured me I was welcome back at any time and to continue to pray to God about where my life would lead. I haven't stopped smiling since they dropped me off, they are such blessings to my time here!



PS- Some of you have asked questions about things I haven't been posting about so here are just a few things that I wrote down the other day that I have come to appriciate about here and home:

• Toilet paper. We have it at our house but it isn't uncommon for stores or malls to not have it. When we go out, we have to carry tissue with us just in case. Also, the sewer system doesn't quite enjoy toilet paper so we just toss it in the wastebasket. 
• Garlic press. How have I never used one before?! I am in LOVE with this simple tool! 
• Lines in stores. This takes me back to my Fareway days when we made sure to keep the lines moving very quickly. Depending on the time of day, you may wait in a short line here is for 15-20minutes. Tilly and I abandoned ship just the other day because there was a malfunction with the cash register and they couldn't seem to fix it and none of the other lines looked to be moving.
• I enjoy public transportation! Yes, back home I enjoy the freedom of hopping in my car to drive to Target or home but it is kind of nice to not have to find a parking space or fill up the tank. I enjoy interacting with the people here on the jeepney rides and tricey drivers. Many of the drivers depend on customers for their livelihood and to support their family. Also, since I have the main routes I need to take down, it is way less of a headache now. It is super convenient to walk a couple of blocks and hop on a jeepney and be dropped off at the mall.  I shall miss this, and can't wait to explore the buses in Cedar Rapids! 
• Weather forecasts. Now I know that sometimes at home it is hard to tell what the weather will do but here it can be sunny one minute and just a few minutes later it will rain. The forecast always calls for rain based on the humidity but it could be sunny all day. It is so nice after it rains because the temperature generally drops a few degrees and the humidity is cut.

Love you all!
Casey