Thursday was mostly uneventful. I didn’t feel well utilized at all, though there were a fair number of patients. In the afternoon, I joined K & B with the pediatrician. I couldn’t help much, but it was good to see how the visits go. A key difference between here and clinics in the US is that the parent is expected to help–to hold the child still during the doctor’s examination, to take the underarm temperature (keeping the thermometer in place until it beeps, then alerting a nurse), etc. In US doctor’s offices, parents often expect nurses to do these tasks. The clinic closed at 2pm because it was St. Anthony’s day, so most of the town would be at the mass (3pm) and procession (4-6?) all afternoon.
One of the doctors I hadn’t yet met had invited K & B to go with him to a nearby hotel/farm, and they invited me to go along (okay maybe I invited myself). I had initially agreed to join the procession, just for the sake of seeing a cultural activity and seeing people outside the clinic setting, but didn’t feel totally comfortable actively participating in a Catholic religious ceremony and much preferred the idea of going to a farm. It started raining around 4, so the doctor didn’t come til almost 6. B was in packing mode, so just K & I went with him. The place was a short drive away, and is owned by a fellow Cuban. This, I presume, is why the invitation was extended, since K is also Cuban. In any event, it was a really nice, relaxing evening. We were shown around the place, heard about his life (in Cuba, in Miami, and apparently in Mexico), got a tour of the very-empty hotel, and sat outside drinking passionfruit juice. The conversation was interrupted from time to time by the peacocks, which make a very peculiar sound. (For the uninformed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWTABEOFYoY)
Milkmobile
K & B left Friday morning. I spent most of Friday in pursuit of patient/community health data that could inform the mHealth program I’m supposed to help develop, but found that what I expected to be readily accessible may not exist. This still baffles me; how can such a well-run nonprofit clinic not collect information in an organized way about the patients it services? How can a clinic work to improve rates of breastfeeding if it lacks aggregate data about who breastfeeds and for how long?
At the end of the day on Friday I went back to the clinic to clock out and have maybe a little social interaction to get out of my own head. I think Berkys felt bad that I was all alone, so she came over to the house for a few minutes before heading home. Also out of pity, she offered to show me around the town this weekend, since no one had done that yet. Before she left, I gave her the giant papaya that was sitting on my counter, since I hate papaya (and the way it was making the whole area smell like papaya as well) and knew it would go to waste otherwise. A bunch of fruits and vegetables have already gone bad, even though Teresa just bought them on Tuesday morning.
When I skyped with home on Friday evening and mentioned that the fridge wasn’t very cold, my dad told me to check behind and under the fridge to see if the coils are dusty. I didn’t find the coils, but I saw the pan was totally full. This probably explains the puddles of water on the floor we found on the floor all week and attributed to the freezer door not shutting all the time (which probably contributed). I ended up spilling most of the water as I carried it to dump outside, so I then learned to mop with bleach water. I guess it felt good to be learning about household things, but rather than being empowering it mostly made me miss Katie, with whom I would’ve been able to laugh about my inability to carry a shallow tray of water 15 feet and complete ignorance when it comes to taking care of a house. Chatted with Steph, Sophia, Jessica and my cousin Zack online on Friday helped me through my first day & night alone here. In particular, talking with Steph was comforting because she too often feels lonely (in Berlin) and also hasn’t had much substantial work at her internship. We both know it will get better though–both socially and in the office.
One Response