Oh the simple things

I made baguettes and they turned out totally cute! When I made a starter of yeast, flour, and water to set overnight, I found an entire spoon in the mix the next day!



Check out the pretty fresh-cut flowers for my kitchen!


The maid likes to leave me mangoes sometimes. :)


H claims to have never had a pot pie. His first response: 'It actually looks like a pie! But where's the pot?'


He makes up for his incessant teasing by saving me cake! In a labeled bag!

Fadipe clinic

Some seriously medical business happens here.


The clinic is gorgeous! It was opened in February 2006.


This is the view from the front door.


There are only two floors, but the building sits on a hill. This is the side view from the road.




Yesterday, I visited the Fadipe surgery clinic with AMSA. It was simply a-mazing! The way procedures are run are completely different from the States and I enjoyed the bigger role I am permitted to play.

For instance, the first case was a ten year old with a growth on his penis. He was also circumcised to prevent future incidences. The poor guy was in such agony! A local anesthestic was used for the surrounding tissue, but he had feeling in the penis itself. To exacerbate the situation, Dr. F was teasing the patient to no end: with the foreskin was removed, he said the the penis was chopped in half. That boy cried with such passion!

I held his hand the entire time. There were three volunteers: Chris, Megan, and me. Megan stood far, far away in the corner the entire time. However, as soon as all of three of us walked into the room, the patient was prepped, the staff was ready, and the crying had already begun. Poor guy. I went straight to the table to hold his hand and didn't let go until after it finished.

The next cases were removal of abcesses on a man's face and another on the back of the neck. There was a six year old girl that was actually put asleep for the umbilical hernia removal. The last case was buckshot sprayed allover a man's body.

All in all, in was an excellent opportunity to see, learn, and visit. I'll be back.

Salybia Health Fair

Today, I went to Salybia in Carib Territory where the natives live to volunteer for the group Salybia. It was awesome! I'm exhausted, but there were so many patients and I adored the ones I worked with:

Michael, 21, chest pains that was given antacids and some doctor's orders for healthy living

Ophelia, 53, back pains, headaches, and blackouts, was given something for her weak blood pressure

Rachiel, ?, edema of left foot from previous infection

Brianna, 5, atopic eczema was given corticosteriods and preventive measures for calm the itch.

I loved them! There are so many patients to be seen and only two doctors, so that I end up spending much time talking to them. I love getting a glimpse into their life; thank goodness I've been lucky enough to have people that like to share.

Plus, the people I work with are amazing. The only downside to working with Salybia is time: that one-hour drive each way is long! Also, I know that if I had signed up with AMSA health fair this weekend, I would have snagged a T-shirt for a few hours of work! That's another missed free shirt even. :: sigh ::

In the morning, I went to market with Nick and picked up a pound of marlin for $7EC! I marinated it for the entire day while I was at Salybia, but it was still tough. H, I'll make it up to you, I promise! Though, I still maintain that honey ginger dressing is an okay mix.

Diabetes Clinic

This morning, I went to Portsmouth hospital to shadow Dean Coleman in her diabetes Clinic. My trip was sponsored by REMA, the Ross University Emergency Medicine Association.

It was awesome!

Today was her last visit to see patients, as she will be moving to Miami soon to oversee clinical education. How lucky am I! As a first semester student, I got to interview patients and sit-in on their sessions with the doctor.