These past three weeks have gone by so fast. I have been super busy, it's been great! The weather here has changed drastically. I went from wearing leggings, sweatpants, two pairs of socks, a t-shirt, long-sleeve tee, and a hooded sweatshirt to bed to wearing only a tank top. Granted in January and February, it was probably in the low 70's, but now, wow, is it hot. During the afternoon, I literally sweat through my clothes-it's very sexy.
But most afternoons I spend with the doctor of my village. He's great and I've been helping him out around the clinic. I also assist him on trips to the bush to aid in deliveries and around other clinics; and I thought I lived in the bush.
Man, have I seen some pretty crazy things. I even once got so light-headed that I had to sit down and put my head between my legs. The doctor asked if I was scared and I just told him that we do things differently in the states. I will spare you the details, but I'll tell you a quick story that happened last week. The doctor and I were working at a clinic in Lahoya when a man came in and said his wife was in labor. However, the doctor still needed to see other patients, one being a woman well into her 50's who had given birth a year ago through a C-section. So after he literally took out a wire from one of the three skin protrusions below her bell button, we were off. Well, we got there too late. The young woman had already given birth with the help of her mother. There was blood all over the hut florr and the woman was huddled in the corner while the baby was on the bed. The baby girl wasn't breathing so the doctor did a bunch of things, including holding the baby upside down, to get her circulation going. After he gave her CPR, she was fine and able to breath. It was quite the experience and I'm very grateful she was okay.
It has been so great working with the doctor. He is very patient with me and my French and he explains everything. Classes are going well. I've been getting nervous about preping my tenth grade class for the Brevet, a test they have to take before they go on to high school (-like). My English classes are very entertaining. For weeks they have been begging me to sing the Star Spangled Banner. I have come up with many excuses not to like I'm sick, my voice is gone, but this last week we were chased out of the classroom by a swarm of bees. It was like a scene right out of a scary movie. My favorite part of English class is when I let them ask me questions. They have to say "how do you say____ in English?" Well, after some students asked what girlfriend and boyfriend and pregnant were, I had a kid tell me "me girlfriend she no pregnant". I about lost it. I told him that's good, because we don't need anymore Thiernos running around. He is one of those kids ho is a troublemaker, but you can't help but like. He's very smart and does well in class, he wants to become a doctor.
I can only imagine what I sounded like (and still do) when I started learning French. I guess my most embarrassing story regarding my ability to speak French happened in October. I was talking to my tutor about how bad the roads are here- there really not roads- and he was asking me what my preferred mode of transportation was. I thought about how carsick I get here and how biking up a mountain isn't my favorite hobby and then I remembered reading about how some Peace Corps countries get horses so I said le chien. Thinking I had said something brilliant, I continued on why mentioning they were big and strong. It wasn't until later (after I also said if I could be any animal, I would be a chien), when Rachel (who was also there during my chien stories like how I use to ride les chiens when I was younger) and it came to me and I asked her was I talking about dogs? And she said, "more so than anything else." I asked her why noone had stopped me and she said they thought I was being serious. We laughed for days.
So things are still going very well. I really enjoy my girls club. This past week we talked about the relationship between STD's and HIV/AIDs. Anyway, I hope all is well with you guys and I miss you all very much! LOVES.