Fun, Food, and Filipinos

This week I've had quite a few fun little adventures. The past 2 days alone I've done things from pulling teeth at outreach to eating whole, stuffed squid (among other things) at a little side-street restaurant. But let's start where we left off, shall we? I'm often fond of doing things chronologically.
Monday thru Wednesday this week our classes got out a bit early. Monday I went into town and updated my blog, as you know. Tuesday we just hung around the house after class, watching movies and reading.
Wednesday we were told we were getting a couch delivered to our base, which I was very excited about since all we have to sit on here are white plastic chairs, which can get very uncomfortable after a while. In light of this wonderful news, the girls and I went into twon to buy some popcorn, peanut MnM's, and few pirated DVDs to enjoy whilst strewn about on our new, comfy furniture. Alas, our couch didn't show up that day, but we still had some fun figuring out how to make real stove top
popcorn (as we don't have a microwave.) I put what I thought would be a good amount in the pan, but by the time all was quiet on the popcorn front and we removed the top, we found we'd made enough for about 10 people. Anyways, I salted it to perfection and put it in a wok to serve, which it almost fulled entirely. We had a good time watching our low-quality-most-of-the-time-the-soundtrack-doesn't-match-up-with-the-film movies eating our popcorn and MnM's, playing more scrabble, and sitting in our white plastic chairs.
Thursday our couch actually arrived and to our pleasant surprise, it wasn't only a couch, but 2 chairs as well. We didn't really have lessons Thursday because we were going to visit Ruel Foundation, which I'll get to in a second, so we did some
re-decorating, some Christmas decorating, and then sat around on our couch and chairs and did some case studies that Praveen made up.
After that, we all went to town to get all the necessary items for the Indian food dinner that Praveen cooked that night for everyone at Ruel and MercyLink. We had a fun time in the outdoor marketplace picking out our chicken and watching it butchered and walking through the stomach-curdling smells of raw meat and the vibrant colors of all the fresh vegetables. We got what we needed and headed back to Ruel Foundation to have our tour.
Before I get into our tour, I must do a little explaining. We were supposed to visit the Ruel Foundation the week prior, but Pauline, the woman who runs Ruel and also happens to be Warren, the director of MercyLink's, wife was stuck in New Zealand for a few weeks. This is because she went there to visit her dying mother and while she was there she became ill and went to the hospital. The doctors there thought she either had Pneumonia or Tuberculosis. In the case she had TB, she wouldn't be able to fly, thus not being able to return to the Philippines until she got well again. So, our group prayed and prayed and prayed and all her TB tests came back negative. Hallelujah! So, Pauling returned to the Philippines this last weekend, still a bit sick, but glad to be back with her husband and all the kids she looks after over at Ruel.
As for Ruel itself, it;s a Foundation which helps to get surgeries for kids with things such as cleft pallets, face growths, and other minor deformities. Pauline and the people there organize groups of surgeons to come help a bunch of kids at a time. They also have an orphanage which we toured and visited, and is right down the street from the MercyLink office. They can house about 15 kids at a time and do everything from nursing completely malnourished kids back to health, to acting as a safe house for abused kids, to setting up adoptions, usually with overseas families, as Filipinos tend not to adopt. Pauline is also hoping to open a birthing center within the next few years, or whenever they get all the funds they need to build and supply the center. Her plan is to have the pregnant women come in in the mornings for a half our bible study as well as prenatal education classes. They have to attend these to be able to get their free prenatal check ups. Many women here go to one, if any prenatal check ups because of the expense. The women will also be able to deliver their babies for free, which is so wonderful. Right now the poor mothers' only options are the Provincial hospital, whose conditions I've previously explained, and which can cost around 3000 Pesos (an average monthly wage,) or their other option is a one of the local witch doctors, who many women end up going to because it's only 1000P. The downside, of course, is that the conditions are usually completely non-sterile, and that they usually use a lot of "black magic" in the procedure. Yikes.


So, we got a wonderful little tour of Ruel and then we got to play with the kids for a while. I had fun with this little guy, Gilbert, rolling and bouncing a ball around on the grass and digging in the dirt. It started raining after a while, so the kids went inside and Emily and I went in to help Praveen cook dinner.


We had a wonderful spread of chicken curry, egg curry, chicken biriyani, deep fried cheese stuffed chilies, and deep fried green bananas. Everything turned out beautifully and we all had a great time eating(mostly) and talking (between bites, of course.) A little bit of cashew ice cream for dessert made everything just perfect.


Friday. Well, what a fun day Friday was. We had our usual weekly outreach in a place called Baco. I worked in the Dentist area most of the day, as I'd told Warren the day before that I hadn't pulled any teeth yet, and that I very much wanted to do so. Well, as the good word says, "Ask and you shall receive", eh?

Dr. Leo, a Filipino dentist with a snappy sense of humor, guided me through it and all in all I pulled 6 teeth and administered 1 dose of local anesthesia. I actually cracked the first molar I pulled, partly because it was really decayed and brittle, and partly because I pulled it medially instead of distally, which, as Dr. Leo taught me, is the key. After a fun morning of yanking stuff out of people's moths, I served my time in the Doctor's area and saw a good case of Scabies, an enlarged Thyroid, and myself in 50 years, see?
After we saw all the patients, we packed up and headed home. That after noon I finished The Brothers Karamazov, and then Emily, Jen and I watched a bunch of movies from the "Julia Roberts vs. Kate Winslet" pirated DVD that Emily bought. The DVDs will have 10 or 15 movies on them, and they'll usually do funny themes. We tried watching the new James Bond, which is just in theaters in the US. Emily found a DVD with all the James Bond movies on it, and as she loves James Bond, she bought it. We put it in to watch and I laughed for a long time once we realized that what we were watching was some recording from a guy in a movie theater filming the movie on the screen. I think the ceiling of the movie theater gave it away. That, or the guy whose silhouette got up for popcorn. It was pretty funny.


Today we had planned to spend our last Saturday in the town going snorkeling on one of the little islands you can take a small boat to. Alas, it has rained for a week and despite our hopes, today was no different. So I suggested that Warren take us to his favorite little authentic Filipino hole in the wall restaurant that he always raves about. His favorite dish there is the Goats Guts stew. He'd taken Praveen there the week before for some spicy pigs ear, and I was a bit jealous that he hadn't taken us yet, as I'm always up for my fair share of freaky foods. I must admit, I played it a bit safe with my choice of chicken yellow curry, but I simply can't resist the stuff. My other choice though was the stuffed squid.

I'm still not entirely sure of what it was stuffed with (fish would be my best guess) but I ate about half of it and then concentrated on my curry. I also tried a bit of the diced pigs ear, which was nice. It's cooked with jalapenos, onions, and pepper, so it has a good little kick to it.

That about rounds out my week. Next week we have class Monday thru Wednesday, and then Outreach and Graduation on Thursday. Friday we hop on the 5AM ferry and head to Manila for my 1:30 PM flight. I actually get in to LAX at 1:20PM the same day, since I gain a day heading over the International date line.
I should probably have one more entry before heading back home. I just want to thank all of you again for your tremendous support and all your fun emails and comments. They really have meant a lot to me over here. I'm excited to get back home to spend the Christmas season with all of you.

Marleigh loves.

PS Try as I might, my photos are still coming our squirrley. I apologize for this, but I hope you can forgive me, and figure out what was supposed to go where.

Roundin' the bend

Well I've had a nice weekend and beggining of my second to last week here. It's been raining since saturday, but that's ok since we traded having last Thursday off for Thanksgiving for having class on saturday. But I'll get into that in a second.
On Friday, our outreach was to a place an hour and a half away from Calapan. There were a lot of Mangyan people there and I found them to be noticably dirtier than Mangyan people I've encountered on our previous outreaches. The Mangyans here were from a tribe called Tadyawan, which I made sure to write down so that I would remember to pray for these people. Dr. Ryan explained to me while we were assesing patients that it is characteristic specifically of their tribe that if a mother dies and she has a child that is still dependent on her (say, up to the age of 3), they will bury the still-living child with the mother. When Dr. Ryan finished telling me this, he looked up at my face and said, "You looked shocked!" I replied, "I AM!" To which he replied "I am too!" Needless to say, as far as we in "The West" think that humanity has progressed, there is still great need for simple, elementary education in many places in this great, big world of ours.
Anyway, the rest of the outreach went well. Dr. Pravine and I checked a woman for cancer, but it turned out she was just so malnourished that you could feel her lymph nodes under her armpit. Also, there were some of the worst skin conditions I've ever seen. Worms and fungus and Psoriasis, Oh my! We gave away a lot of the topical ointment that we made during our "Herbal remedies" lesson, and even referred some people to the hospital since their conditions were so severe.
As I previously said, on Saturday we had class. We went through a couple lectures, and then we actually got to practice suturing. Warren brought in a bag of pig skin which we nailed onto a board, cut open, and sutured up. The pig skin is very tough, so the suturing needles, created to cut through human skin and muscle, ended up bending and breaking for the most part, but there was much to be learned none the less. And plus, it was a pretty good way to spend a rainy saturday.

Sunday we went to church and then Jollibee, the popuar fast food chain here in the Philippines. I had the first burger I've had in at least a year, if not longer. It was called The Champ, and it was decent after I scraped off the whopping dallop of mayonnaise they ploped on the thing (seriously, it was a good 4 tablespoons worth.)
Last week sometime some of us were having a conversation about funny words, and Dr. Pravine brought up some word someone played in Scrabble, and I mentioned how much my family loves Scrabble. Warren then said that he had it, so since then I've been on him to bring in to the base so we could play. So, finally, on Sunday night Emily, Jen, Warren and I had a good, rousing round of Scrabble. I'm proud to report home that I won not only that game, but the game that Jen, Emily and I played the next night as well. Of course, it must be put into perspective that both Jen and Emily had never played the game before, and thus were no match for my Scrabble playing prowess. (haha!)
Other than that, home is just around the corner. I've found it funny that, well, usually when I travel it's usually only for two or three weeks, and by the end of that I just want to be home in my bed, but while I've been here, I've certainly missed home and friends and family, but I haven't felt "finished" with the country. That's sort of the only way I know how to describe the feeling. I guess God's just keeping me content where I am while I'm here so that I can focus where He needs me to. I just bring it up because I thought for sure I'd start to feel that way around week 3 or 4, but my spirit is marching on. I'm sure next week I'll truly start to long for home, as there is a time for everything, and next week is my time to return home. With that, I'll see you all soon.

Marleigh loves.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well well well... I'm stuffed! Since our little school is comprised of all American students, we talked Warren, the Director of MercyLink, into letting us have today off to cook a big Thanksgiving dinner! Deborah and Ray (Deborah is the woman in my class who is a missionary here with her husband) opened their house to us to cook all day, so that we did! It could not ever compare to the meal my mom and grandma will be preparing a few hours from now, but it was pretty good.
Dr. Pravine (our current teacher who I introduced a few entries ago) cooked up some Biriyani and Curry, and we had all the usual Thanksgiving spread as well. We had people representing America, New Zeland, Holland, Denmark, India, and, of course, the Philippines! So, it was a regular American get together.
I'd just like to say that I'm so thankful for each of you faithful friends and family and all that you bring to my life. I wouldn't be who I am without you, so THANK YOU!

With that, I'll leave you guys with the video of Mike and I killing the giant spider in our kitchen. I was able to upload it today.
Also! I uploaded A BUNCH of pictures to my Flickr from my time in the hospital, as well as our vacation in Puerta Gallera, and some other fun pictures. So enjoy!


(Hey Mom and Dad, how much do I sound like Weston when I shout "NO!" at about 35 seconds in? Hahaha!)


Marleigh Loves! And is SO SO Thankful for all of YOU!

In the past week...

I worked 4 shifts in a crazy hospital in third world conditions
I delivered a baby and assisted in a few others
I assisted in suturing a woman back up
I witnessed things you never would in any medical clinic or hospital in the US
I held hands with some very scared women in a lot of pain
I cleaned up quite a few newborns
I administered medications and vitamins to lots of poor, sick Filipinos
I ran my own doctor's table at our outreach
I went 4 days on 7 hours of sleep
I slept 16 hours in one go last night.

It's mid-way through my medical mission school in the Philippines and I have learned and seen a lot. We have a 4 day weekend now and I'm going to the beach.

If the computer I'm on wasn't taking so long I'd upload a picture of myself with the baby I delivered, but you guys will just have to wait til next time. Sorry!

Marleigh loves!

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are definitey singing "Santa Clause is coming to town" over a techno beat right now...

...in the internet cafe. I'm laughing because it's just so quintessentially "Christmas in America on crack."
The internet cafe where I regularly write to you all from has only just begun playing Christmas music. This is actually quite late in the season for Yuletide Cheer for the Phillipines. They generally start celebrating around SEPTEMBER. And you thought Christmas was crammed down your throat. ; )

Aaaaaanyways, Christmas is little more than a month away, and home is a little less. Today marks the half-way mark of my time here, and I definitely feel that it has been time well spent.

Monday we got a new teacher, who will be with us through the rest of the program. He is a Doctor who grew up and lived in India until 2004 when he moved to New Zeland where he now resides, teaching and practicing. He went to schools in Germany and France through a program the EU started, so he has a lot of knowledge on medical programs in all sorts of countries. Also, he's only 33. Makes you feel really accomplished, right? haha. He's a very nice guy and really has an idea of the complete difference in practicing medicine in first and third world situations, which I really appreciate.
So our class has been getting to know him as he's been getting to know us in our delirious states, as we're all exhausted from working crazy shifts at the crazy hospital.
I actually had monday off, so after class, Jen and Emily left for the hospital while Mike went to sleep in preparation for his overnight shift, and I hung around the house and read for a while and then went out to our front porch to watch the sun set behind the mountain that we see from our place. It was the only day I've been able to see the actual top of the mountain, since it's always covered in clouds. So I watched the sun go down, and then decided to sit and stay for the arrival of the stars. I must have sat on the porch for a good 2 or 3 hours just watching as one by one all the stars took their places. There wasn't a cloud in the sky all night, so it was really quite breath taking. I just love to look at a sky full of stars, espacially since it's quite rare for me; coming from southern california and all of its hustle and bustle.
Anyways, after that I went inside and ate dinner while watching Monster's Inc., which I love. When that was done, I looked over to find a little frog hopping alongside the wall. So I scooped him up and found a little jar and named him Ferdinand, and he now hangs out on the dresser in my room.
After that, I found a gigantic Cane spider on the celing of the kitchen, so when Mike woke up we went in and killed it. I have a really great video of our battle (complete with machete!), so I'll have to get a good chunk of time and a really good connection so that I can upload it and you can all laugh at our screaming. But seriously, the spider was probably a little smaller than my hand. I'm not exagerating.
So that was my day off.
Yesterday was my first shift at the hospital. Everyone came back with pretty good stories of smooth deliveries, so I thought that it wouldn't be as bad as I had expected last week. So after class, Emily and I put on our scrubs and headed to the hospital. We just walked in and down to the Maternity ward and into the Labor room. No one even questioned our being there, which I thought was just so backwards from how it is in America.
Now, there are two different labor and delivery areas. There's one for "regular" women, and there's one across the hall for women with infectious diseases... or so they claim. Upon further discussion, most of us students just feel that it's for the Mungyan women, as those are the only women that are put in there. I don't think they screen them really, they just tell us that they have Hepatits and then point and call them "Minority". We've slowly become very aware of the actual racism between the Tagolog and Manyang people. The Mungyan have their own ward in the hospital, and the nurses in the maternity ward, although they're snippy with all the women, are particularly snippy with the Mungyan women.
Another strange cultural difference here is that the women giving birth are expected to do it 1. Quietly and 2. By themselves. That is, without thier husbands or boyfriends or anyone but the midwife and nurses in the room. Well, them and possibly any other woman who may be giving birth at the time, as there is only 1 delivery room with 4 beds in it.
So, no one familiar in the room, and, oh yes, I mentioned that they are expected to be quiet throughout the experience. (yeah. you read it right.)
The nurses will tell the women to be silent and will even close the womens' mouths if they cry out. They'll even tut their tungs and the women as if to say "for shame" if they cry. IT. IS. NUTS.
So yesterday Emily and I get to the hospital and go in to find a women giving birth in the "infected" labor room. We go in and the nurses are all chattering and one of them is showing a catalogue of clothing and pillows that she's selling to all the other nurses. There's little nurses up on stools around the woman pushing on her stomach as if to push out the baby (WHICH YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO!!!), and every now and then one will pull out her phone to text someone. The baby finally comes out with the chord wrapped around it's neck and I thought it was dead. Thankfully, it was not. He was fine, and I was thankful that the first birth I'd ever witnessed was not... well... a failure. Although, it was pretty mind-boggling.
I don't have the time to explain my entire time there, as I really have to get back to the house and sleep, but I'll just say that if you're a parent whose child was born in the United States, you should be very very thankful. Because the conditions here I could go on about for quite some time.
All in all yesterday, I witnessed 2 births and 2 deaths, I suppose you could say. There were quite a few women there who had miscarried and needed to be... cleaned out? I guess that's the nicest way of putting it. It was very sad, to say the least. One of the fetuses, which was 4 months old when it died, was simply put in an old, plastic medicine bottle and then one of the nurses took it into the labor room where there were 3 other women who were preparing for the same operation. Goodness. It was a heavy day, and I'm not sure if I've shared too much with you all, but if anything, I hope it makes you thankful for where we live.

Anyway, I'm running short on time, but I wanted to update since I probably wont have many opportunities to write til next week.
I'm working the 11pm-7am shift tonight, get home at 7.30am tomorrow, leave for out medical outreach at 8am, go do that til mid-afternoon, go home and sleep, and then work another 11-7 shift.
Good thing I'll be able to sleep in the car on the way to the little tourist beach village where we'l be spending our "Holiday Weekend" for our mid-school break. I'm not sure if we'll have internet access there, but if we do I'll be sure to let you know how my marathon medical experience went (If I get through it in one piece!)

Sorry for the lack of pictures this time, I've been backed up in my uploading since the connection's been slow, but I did manage to get up a few new pictures.

Alright, that's all, I'm going to get some sleep.

Marleigh loves!

There is no word for "War" in the Mangyan language.

Well well well. I hope you enjoyed my little poem there. Of course, I miss many people (and Gracie dogs) much more than salsa, but the poem came to me the other night (Wrote the whole thing in my head! ; ) ) and I thought I'd share it with you faithful folks.
Well what have I been doin? Gosh, the weeks are just goin by faster and faster and I can't seem to keep up. But I think where I left I was talking of how we're going to the hospital next week and all. Well, we did our Ob/GYN classes with a lovely little doctor lady named Dr. Lotus. She was good, and probably the best spoken of our teachers so far.
Anyway, on Thursday after class, we went to the Provincial Hospital where we'll be working next week. Man, oh, man. If you're prayin people, please do pray for strength and steadiness of mind, spirit, and body for me next week. I uploaded the pictures I took from our visit onto my flickr, so you can get a feel for my much needed strength in the week to come. The hospital is in a very old, musty building. There are beds in the hallways and crammed into the few rooms, and the labor and delivery room looks more like where they do autopsies. It's going to be... interesting. I guess it will be a good first hospital experience if I do ever work in a remote foreign hospital again. The hours are also going to be a little different that what I was told originally. We will work two at a time during either and afternoon shift from 3pm-11pm, or an overnight shift from 11pm-7am. I'm going to try and grin and bear for at least 1 overnighter, so, again, Strength! Cause I will still have to be awake for our classes the next day (8am-2pm for next week.)

On a lighter note, we had our second medical outreach this past Friday. It went very well. We didn't have as many patients as the first time, but that gave us time to really learn and help out in diagnosing. I was able to hear asthma and stridor with my stethiscope on 2 children, and emphysema on an older gentleman. I hung out with Dr. Ryan for the most part, whose been our teacher for about the past 2 weeks. He's very funny and talkative and really wants us to learn. He has a big heart for people, too, so it was nice to talk with him. Here's a picture of myself, my team mate (and room mate), Emily, and Dr. Ryan when we had a little downtime.

He went back to Manila on Friday night, so we had a little dinner that night at Deborah's house (She's the woman on my team who is also a missionary here with her husbad.) There was spaghetti, chips, salsa, cheese, pancit, and salad! Man alive, I've never been happier to see chopped lettuce, cucumber and tomato. I have not eaten a fresh, non-cooked vegetable since I left, and I had certainly noticed. Also, despite the tortilla chips being quite a bit on the stale side, I've never been happier to eat chips and salsa. The cheese and chips they had to get from Manila, since they don't sell those items here in Calapan, and the salsa was freshly made (minus cilantro, but you gotta be thankful for whatcha got.) I learned recently that Mindoro is one of the most "remote" of the popluated islands in the Philippines, so basically we're living in the boonies. At least it's pretty.

Speaking of Calapan City, last night was it's 58th anniversary, so there was a big 'ol party downtown. Emily, Jen and I left after lunch to do some shopping at a little outside craft market that was going on in the parking lot of the post office. There wasn't too much there, so we walked into town and stopped into little shops along the way. I got my first official "nurse's watch", as I like to call it. It's huge, cheap, colorful, and has a second had, and is therefore a nurse's watch. I just remember all the nurses at the doctor's office I went to growing up having the silliest watches. So anyway, I now have something to accurately take pusle and respiratory rates with.
We hung around town all afternoon while people set up for the festivities, and after a while in the internet cafe, we went out and walked thru the closed off street. Emily and I found a Schwarma vendor, which we happily took part in. Meat, tomato, and cucumber doused with a tahini sauce and hot sauce and wrapped in a warm, soft, pita-type bread. Mmmmm, mmm! I was in heaven.




We then walked to the stage area and stood around waiting for the show to start. There was a gated off area around the stage with tables and chairs, which were very appealing to us since we'd been walking around all day. We figured it was expensive to get in, so we just stood around some more, but at last I figured we might as well at least ask how much it was. So, we went over and asked and it turned out with was 50pesos a person (us$1.02), PLUS you got a free beer.
Beer + chair '/. $1 = AWESOME

So we each chose our local beer (all of which pretty much tasted like Budweiser or Bud light, or whatever your crappy beer of choice may be.) Emily and I chose San Miguel, which boasted on the side of the can that it is "the only beer that nourishes the Filipino friendship." So we got our beers and went and got a table to enjoy the show. Enjoy it we did. There was a fireworks display to the city's anthem, a flame-juggler/dancer dude, and not 1, but 2 terrible bands, which the announcer kept referring to as "Our Local Talent!!!" The first band actually wasn't too bad. They ended their set with "You give love a bad name" and "Sweet Child of Mine" and a good, good laugh was had all around. The second band... well, they were pretty bad. So bad that we left after their terrible version of "Santaria" by Sublime. A song, which, if you haven't heard, you shouldn't go to the trouble. But I will say, 'Thanks a lot, Long Beach." (That's where they hail from.)
I have video of both, and if I can ever upload things faster than the snail's pace things have been uploading, hopefully some of you can get a good laugh.
Today I went to the small church that Deborah and her husband, Ray attend here in Calapan. The pastor gave a sermon using the passage where Jesus says "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for the rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." A passage which you'd never hear in any church in Orange County. It was refreshing.
Afterwards our whole group went to a restaurant on the beach with a beautiful view of some little islands. It was a beautiful setting, and very relaxing. I took it all in since I know the next week won't be relaxing in the least.
I'll try a new way to end it today. I started The Brothers Karamazov last week, and in a certain passage, The old Father Zossima said something to a woman that reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, which has been sitting with me all week, perhaps in preparation for my mind and heart for the week ahead. It is from Dorothy Day, a very interesting and inspiring woman, indeed; she became known for her social justice campaigns in defense of the poor, forsaken, hungry and homeless, and founded the Catholic Worker Movement. I've since found that she was quite fond of The Bro's K. Anyways, the quote goes,

"Love is a harsh and dreadful thing to ask of us, but it is the only answer."

Be well, friends.

A poem

Entitled, The Missionary from California's Lament


Oh, Salsa!