Wander Susan Wonder

So this is about the time of year here where it should be cooling down a little. When I say this I mean it’s 80 degrees in the heat of the day instead of 120. I’ve been asking people almost everyday when the cold weather is coming. They just kinda laugh and pick a day out of their head to make me feel better. Well about 4am this morning I woke up and I was actually cold!! I had to put covers on!! Granted it was only one sheet, but it still counts after months of sweating myself to sleep. At work this morning everyone was asking if I was happy because the weather was so much cooler. Bring on the cool season!!

Ok, so I did a blog like this at 6 months…and all those lessons still really apply..but I have some more, so here we go:

1. I can actually make it a year in Africa…sometimes that still really surprises me.
2. I can make an entire cake from scratch….with close supervision from roommates.
3. Take it one day at a time…more than that is too much to think about.
4. Sometimes people have to call you out on your crap.
5. Living with people….even really amazing people takes a lot of grace
6. I read a lot more now.
7. I’m trying to become more considerate…I live with REALLY considerate people so I’m trying to let them rub off on me.
8. I can become genuine friends with someone who is completely different from me…I mean opposite ends of the spectrum different.
9. Things are gonna change…even if you don’t want them to.
10. Goodbyes are hard and I am not good at them.
11. People back home are unforgettable
12. Learning lessons are hard and sometimes I go through them kicking and screaming.
13. I’m thankful I know people who are doing this same thing in different places.
14. Things have a way of working out….even if it’s not a way we thought of or wanted.
15. Vacations are awesome!!
16. I’m ready to see my family, eat a burrito, and visit the beach!!
17. I think I’m still gonna be processing lessons learned from this experience years after I get back.
18.I really miss concerts– Matt and Dave….in 9 months here I come!!
19. There is only One who can sustain me…Him and no one else.
20. Traveling is amazing and I want to do more of it.
21. So many more lessons to go…

Here’s a step by step guide on how to fill a generator with gas:
Step 1: Get the fuel pump out of storge
Step 2: Put the fuel pump into the barrel of gas

Step 3: Place the tube from the fuel pump into the gas tank of the generator
Step 4: Start pumping

Step 5: Keep pumping
Step 6: Check the level of gas in the tank to see how close you are to being done.

Step 7: Continue pumpingStep 8: Take the pump out of the barrel and put it back in the storage room

Step 9: Do a little dance because you’re finally done
Step 10: Wash your hands because they’ve gotten really gross by this point

Well I’ve lived in Africa for almost a year, which is crazy to think about. There are a few things that have become a part of my daily routine here that would be ridiculous to think about doing or seeing in the states:
– Untangling goats: throughout the day they get twisted around their posts and each other until they can’t move and you have to go help them out.
– Being stared at: there comes a point when you don’t really notice anymore
– Staring at white people: I know it sounds insane, but I’m not used to seeing a lot of them, so when I do, I tend to stare too
– Animal Parts: whether it be a skull, some hooves, random bones, or a hide, you usually can see it daily on the street
– Sweating: waking up sweating, falling asleep sweating, sweating in the shower…sweating all the time
– Smelling: refer to above…deodorant just doesn’t cut it most days
– Being hit up for gifts: every kid on the street asks repeatedly for a gift…I’m pretty awesome at drowning them out.
– Dodging cows: about 5 in the evening….watch out because the cows are literally coming home and take up most of the street.
– Bugs: they’re everywhere…you just deal with it
– Eating with my hands: utensils are over rated and I apologize to anyone who eats with me right after I return…old habits die hard
– Cucumbers, Peanut Butter, and hot pepper: don’t knock the combo until you try it

It usually starts out with a local we know getting a call from someone he knows out in the bush. I personally don’t know how this call happens because I have never gotten reception way out of town but somehow it happens anyway. The local then calls one of my teammates because they own a car that could get to the sick or injured person quicker than a donkey, camel, or horse-drawn cart. The driver then assembles the appropriate people to come along with him. For example, in the case of a burn patient, I am the lucky passenger. Well, one of the lucky passengers. It is always hard to say how many people are actually gonna end up in the car. A person who knows where to go is always key, and there are usually a few people who simply want a ride out to the village and always bring a lot of stuff with them.
After everyone is assembled we finally start heading out to the bush.
The ride to wherever we’re going can take anywhere from 15min to one hour one way and you never know which it’s gonna be until you get there.
Now everything in the bush/desert looks the same to me, but our navigator occasionally points in a certain direction, and the driver turns to head that way. Since it’s rainy season right now, at times we have to stop the vehicle and someone walks out to see how deep an area of water is and if we can make it across. No one wants to dig a car out of the mud…but let’s face it, it’s been done here multiple times.
We finally get to our destination, which is three nomad tents this time.
Three tents in the middle of nowhere! My hat is off to the great navigation. We all get out and assess the situation. We decide that this particular patient needs to come in for treatment so people start packing up supplies and putting then in the back of the vehicle. Before we leave, the nomads offer us some warm milk. It was very friendly of them, but warm milk isn’t the first thing I want to drink in the middle of a 90 plus degree-day. My teammate and I are taking turns downing the bowl of milk. This process gets harder when I start to drink chunks of something along with the milk…I know…it gave me chills too.
We’re ready to leave and there are way more people in the vehicle than when we started…it’s gonna be a fun hour long ride back. We have to stop several times along the way to greet people because some of them wanted medicine (which we didn’t have), or some of them just wanted to simply greet us. I know all the stopping should have been avoided since we had a really sick patient in the back, but we were at the mercy of our navigator and he had pointed to go greet the people so what were we to do? After a long ride, we finally make it back to town, drop everyone off and head to the clinic…until the next phone call.

There are a lot of skills needed in the everyday life of a nurse. Some are very practical and measurable. Others aren’t really seen on paper, but highly important nonetheless. One of the more practical skills is the ability to insert an IV. In nursing school, the successful insertion of your first IV is a really big deal. There are announcements to other students, pats on the back, and the eating of lots of ice cream with no guilt. When you get to the working world, you try to become one of those nurses who are known as being “good at IVs.” People ask you for help when their patients need an IV, other units call you over to insert them, and I must admit…it’s a pretty good feeling to have a successful IV insertion especially if the patient is a hard stick, or other people have tried and for whatever reason didn’t get it in. This feeling gets even better when you’re successful with a difficult area of the body like a foot, or you get an IV on a kid, not to mention a kid’s foot (let me brag for just a second…I have gotten an IV in on a kid’s foot one time, and it was an amazing day).
Well a lot of things that I have felt completely competent with in the states scare me slightly now that I live in Africa…including inserting an IV in a patient. The other day I made a house call to a patient who needed an IV. It was getting close to dark, and when I walked into her mud house/room, I couldn’t see anything. A couple people had some flashlights and started pointing them at the patient’s arm. It was no bright fluorescent lighting of a hospital, but I had to work with what I got. I get everything set up. Meanwhile a family member is tying a rope to the ceiling so we have something to hang the fluid from. I get the needle in her arm with the help of a flashlight, but her vein “rolled” a little (common problem) so I had to work a little to get the catheter in the vein. Well apparently I wasn’t going fast enough in my search for a vein, because the patient’s dad reached over my shoulder and began pointing out where the vein was. I guess he thought I couldn’t see it.
My problem wasn’t seeing the vein, but making it stay still so I could get the catheter inserted. I do not have the Arabic skills to explain that to dad, so I bite my lip and try to be patient as dad reaches over me and points the vein out multiple times. And let me just say, it’s a big step for me to be patient and not say anything. Well after a little work I finally get the IV inserted properly and with the help of friends, family members, and flashlights, I get the IV taped down to the patient’s arm. Needlessly to say I was pumped that this actually worked.

Ok so it’s finally started raining around here which means it has gotten a lot cooler. The other day it got down to the mid 80s…and I know that doesn’t seem very cool, but let me tell you….it’s a wonderful thing. What I didn’t really think about coming with the rain was all the bugs:
bugs that are small
bugs that are big
bugs that are huge
bugs that crawl
bugs that fly
bugs that bite
bugs that sting
bugs that stink
bugs that leave blisters if they touch your skin, bugs that eat holes into your clothes, bugs that make the most annoying noises known to man, bugs that are kamikaze and fly straight for your head, bugs that are itchy, bugs that are so small you can feel them crawling on you but you never actually see them, bugs that are very hard to kill even after many blows.
Let’s just say, I have become extremely thankful for window screens….at least they keep the huge ones out most of the time.

A couple days ago, my roommate was on her way to go put some more oil in the generator. She got tied up with a visitor so I said I would do it. I had seen it done before I pretty much knew I had it under control. I opened up the proper spot and started pouring. Well I figure that once I got enough oil, I would start to be able to see it coming near the top of where I was pouring. It never did so I just kept on pouring, until I emptied out our oil container. I then checked the oil dipstick and noticed that the whole stick was covered. Now I’ve never really seen it that high before, so thankfully, I went to ask my roommate what she thought of my oil pouring skills. She immediately shook her head and told me I had put way to much oil in the generator and could really mess it up if i turned it on with that much oil inside (good thing I didn’t turn it on). Apparently you have to keep checking the oil level with the dipstick as you’re adding it…and not just eyeball it. The roomie said she thought I knew how to do it. I told her I thought I did too. Anyway, we had to wait for someone to come drain all the excess oil…and he couldn’t help but shake his head at me too.
The very next day I was doing laundry. I was on my way to the clothes line with a tub of wet laundry when I stepped in a hole and fell down scattering my clean clothes. Well, the hole was there because earlier we had a leaky water pipe in the spot that had to be dug out and fixed. Guess who’s big foot broke the pipe when she fell in the hole and sent water spewing in all directions….yep it was me. I ran and turned the water off, waited for the pipe and hole to dry, then fixed it the only way I knew how…..lots of duct tape. Currently the pipe is just slowly dripping (which I consider a victory) but we’ll see how long my handy work lasts. With my track record, I’d say I only have a few more minutes. I’m starting to get a complex that everything I’m near falls apart.

I pride my self on being from the south. Yeah we talk funny, but it’s a great place to call home. I grew up in eastern North Carolina where in the middle of July and August, you have to cut your way through the humidity. It gets so humid that it takes your breath away when you first go outside, and there is no use in trying to fix your hair because it’s just gonna end up looking like a frizz ball.
Now when I heard about temperatures out west reaching well over 100 degrees, my friends and I would look at each other and say yeah, but it’s a dry heat. I have to admit that we said it with kind of a snooty attitude as well. Sure it was a little hot over there, but nothing could compare to an August day with 125% humidity. I never had much sympathy for those dry heat people until I moved to Africa.
It only took me a couple days here to figure out that when it’s 120 degrees outside everyday, it doesn’t matter if it’s wet, dry, or just a little damp…..it’s HOT and that’s all there is too it. so I’m sorry for all my snooty “but it’s a dry heat comments.” It will take a long time for that phrase to ever come out of my mouth again. When it’s blazing hot, it’s blazing hot…..no matter if your hair is beginning to frizz or not.

I’m on vacation!! I’m out of the desert and have been hanging out in Kenya! It has been so great so far, and so green…..there’s trees everywhere here. It’s been awesome to have a break, hang out,  and eat lots and lots.  The first day I was here I had chicken quesadillas, an ice cream sundae, cheeseburger and fries, and some chocolate pie my mom brought me…I know–amazing. I kinda haven’t stopped eating like that either, but you can’t be ashamed about it during vacation. I’ve gotten to see a lot of friends along the way which has been so great. I’m so thankful for the chance to catch up with old friends….tried to think of something profound to describe the moment, but it’s not really working.

Probably the funniest moment of the trip was when I kissed a giraffe. Yep sure did. There’s a really cool giraffe park right in Nairobi, and you stand on this platform which makes you eye level with the giraffe. They let you feed them and although their tongue is super long and slimy…it’s a pretty good time for everybody involved. Well the guy who worked at the park put a piece of food in his mouth to get a giraffe kiss. I couldn’t let him show me up…