Snippets From My Day

5:00am moonlight

My day started last night because I have absolutely no internal clock. This midwife thing has shredded it completely to pieces. I worked on school all night (besides a couple youtube breaks) and snippet one is when I noticed the full moon outside the kitchen window just before going to bed.

One of the perks of being nocturnal

Snippet two shook my world. Literally. I was almost asleep when my room mate on the bunkbed above me started moving an awful lot. Then I remembered that my room mate had gone on a trip into the mountains and wasn't even in the bunk bed. It was an earthquake. I haven't felt one in a while. I looked it up later and it was 5.8 magnitude. Enough to swing the bathroom door a little and make me wonder if I should get dressed in case it got stronger. But it didn't.

So long as earthquakes stay small I think they are kind of cool. It's not like I would ever feel one in West Virginia. 

Snippet three was quite horrifying. I got up with my alarm and got dressed at 9am for my patient's scheduled prenatal. Then I laid down to sleep a little longer until the clinic texted me to say she was there. But I didn't wake up when they texted! I felt so bad. She must have sat there about a half hour before they texted again and I woke up. That's the second time that happened to me this week so when I got back home afterwards I searched all the settings on my phone to make the ring longer and louder and more than once. Hopefully it doesn't happen again.

Snippet four is something that has never happened to me before. I woke up again about 4pm and started making a list of things we needed from the market so I could go before it got dark. One of the girls from the other dorms who happens to be British was in the kitchen. She and my housemate were planning on watching a movie. We were just talking some and she walked over and gave me a hug out of the blue. Then she pulled my ear and said, "You're a good egg." I've never been called a good egg before. I guess maybe because I've never had British friends before.

Snippet five is actually something that happens quite often but has never lost it's entertainment. The jumping, screaming, squealing dance girls do when they see a cockroach. Yes, we have a lot of cockroaches. And we have a lot of girls. I was putting things away from the market run when the squeals first erupted from our visitor in the bathroom. Despite being a 'good egg,' I couldn't help laughing and laughing at the thought of the poor girl stuck on the toilet with the cockroach flying around. She didn't take her endearment back so I assume she forgave me for laughing.

I have started a photo album of cockroaches. My friends think I'm crazy but
I think they need to be documented as part of the Philippines experience.

The last snippet is right now. I'm eating peanuts and blogging on night shift. No labors yet and the postpartum patients are sleeping. Going to get back to school work as soon as I'm done writing this post. Like my outfit?

These scrubs are not the most comfortable or best fitting but they do have the MMC logo on them which is kind of cool. The lip shimmer is from my sis from so long ago she probably doesn't even remember and can I just say, I love pink camo!   :)

My Favorite Word of the Day

Francophile: a person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the French

howjsay francophile

Yep, it's a real word. Just came across it while researching an author for a book report. I am not necessarily a francophile but in this age of limited vocabulary, It's pretty cool that the word exists.

Philippines Picture Post II

So what the missionary family does is the father goes to all the schools in the area and shows gospel films, then he also gives a talk and hands out bible story books. He has one of these film showings about 2-3 times per week. After they have been to all the schools in the area, the family moves to a different area. While I was there I helped them move to a town with more Muslims. Although 'evangelists' are not allowed into Muslim schools, a 'drug-prevention program' is so they found a drug-prevention video to show along with the gospel talk.

I heard that the house they were in when I got there was pretty rundown when they bought it. This sand the kids are playing with was left over from repairing the house.

The building materials are very different from here. There is a lot of bamboo and concrete. For roofs, they have tin or thatch like banana leaves.

These are some of my little friends who called me Ate Amy and who tried to teach me all 4-5 dialects at once. :)

The family got some new book shelves while I was there which made lots of excitement!

They also got a missionary box from some friends in the states. That was even more exciting!

We girls all made an excursion to the mall one Sunday after church. The girl I am standing with is older than me so I called her ate which means big sister. She thought it was funny that the tall white girl called her that.

These are the men's "suits" of the Philippines made from pineapple and banana leaf fiber.

This is the women's version also made from banana and pineapple leaves.

I told my Ate that I could get my wedding dress in the Philippines. Now I just have to find the guy! :)

The mountains were really lovely and reminded me of home. So did the corn fields.

Can you see the ocean way out there?

Of course, even the mountains were not exactly the same. Can you see the volcano in the background here? There were quite a few of them spread around.

And this, my friends was the first normal bathroom I saw in a couple weeks. It was at a McDonalds (that sold rice!)

• It had a flip-down seat
• It had toilet paper
• It had a trash can
• It was semi-clean
• and even though it didn't work, it had a sink

Just had to take a picture.

Air conditioned busses went from city to city. They were ice-cold. It was almost nice to get back into the heat.

At the bus stops venders were everywhere. This lady saw me take the picture and I was immediatly offered all kinds of snacks by every vender in sight.

This is another kind of trike that wasn't quite so popular.

This man came to the house one day selling raw honey strait from the comb.

Since we were packing up to move everyone to the new house, there were lots of cardboard boxes which, I discovered, are a favorite toy for kids on the other side of the world too.

As we packed we encountered ants everywhere. I mean everywhere. Mostly they were normal black ants that just tickled but some were red ants that pinched or at least felt like it.

Besides moving, I was able to help the family when some of the kids got fevers. I stayed in the hospital for awhile with the youngest to give the parents a break and fixed supper once or twice.

One day the dad of the family paid some fishermen to take me and one of the kids for a 30min ride on their boat. That was lots of fun.

And the last picture for this long, jumbled post:

This is a phone that only cost $10. I could call all the way around the world with it for 1 peso (2 cents) per minute! The cheapest we could find to call from home was 12 cents/min. It wasn't that hard to hear either. I was impressed.

A long jumbled snap-shot post with a bad phone camera

You won't hurt my feelings if you skip this post.

 This is what I saw when I drove in from work one day. It brings back memories.

 This spring when we first let the cows out. It is hard to believe summer is half way over.

 Not long after we put in the second bathroom, the first one acted up. I thought the sign was cute.

 My girly-tom-boy sister

 I may have posted this but isn't it lovely?

 I think I take the most pictures at the barn.

All the kids at Bible School. No, I'm not in there I was a teacher's helper. We had the sweet little ones in front.

 Waiting for La to finish milking

 Brothers are so much fun!..

...aren't they Kate?

 Joshua is doing a great job working at the barn. He may have his own cow some day.

 Joshua's new kitty, kit-cat.

 The barnyard seconds after a big storm.

 on the way up after the storm

 We take turns carrying the milk on the way back to the house. Someone must have decided it was the slow people's turn.

 Amanda and Zach turned into clowns one day thanks to Laura.

 milk cow Mocha

 Summer has a scarf!

I am convinced Laura is truly in another world when she is reading. If there is a book over her nose you have to yell or push it away to get her attention. She does make a cute picture though.

the view from the manger while waiting for the milking to be finished (I should have been shoveling)