Pictures

One of the girls who was on the survey trip with me posted pictures and stories on her blog. I highly recommend it. 

http://teaguemeyer.blogspot.com

"The Open Road"

I had an enjoyable time on the roads of Angola. These, like everything else, were destroyed during the war and are just now being repaired in some places. Most roads are dirt potholes one after the other. The ride is less than cushy to say the least. Not to mention the mode of transportation is different. The taxi that we hired to drive us the first week and a half was a blue and white van (the standard taxi and form of transportation for everyone). Imagine bumping down these washboard roads – they are everything you imagine and more – catching a foot or so of air pretty often, and then landing back down on “seats” which are metal bars covered with vinyl whose stuffing probably fell out years ago. The drive took you back in time as well because every-so-often there are police checkpoints where you are pulled over and your paperwork is checked. Mostly they are just hoping for a bribe. Fortunately, our drivers were usually able to talk their way out of it – as we were not going to pay one. We had this driver take us in his cab from Luanda the capital city to Bengala, about a “6 hour drive” down the coast. Here is how our “6-hour journey turned into a really long one.
So, we arranged with our driver to leave the capital city at around 10am after he had made a few needed maintenance adjustments. So he arrived promptly at 1.15pm and we packed in our bags to set off, so we thought. But we made a stop and took on a spare tire, a 10 gallon container of water, a large bag full of spare parts, and an extra passanger. I felt the anticipation building and prepared to enjoy my African journey. We pulled into the unsurpassed traffic of Luanda, took a few potholes in stride, and heard a rattling sound from the back of the taxi. I turn to see the back of the taxi fly open, and the luggage of the whole team spill into the busy streets and go gracefully bouncing down the road. Robert no-less gracefully hurled himself over the back seat and into the busy street to rescue our possessions while we all yelled for the driver to stop. (Whoa translates into any language). The other guys piled into the streets and helped pull our luggage to safety. We then re-load our now battle-scarred luggage and rope the back door shut. And we are off. A little ways down the road we stop to take a picture of some amazing coastal views of the slavery museum and note our random passenger filling the radiator from the water supply under the seat. Mystery solved, our new passenger is a mechanic who has come along as the maintenance was not all done prior to leaving. From this point on, our poor little van needed water added to the radiator about every 30-45 minutes. Fortunately this only involved everyone piling out of the car so the front beanch-seat could be lifted up as the engine and all other important mechanical parts were located underneath. Let me tell you we got it down. ☺ At one stop we had to let the van cool a while so we took a stroll down to a nearby beach and got to see a beautiful sunset. We drove as the stars came out and it was a breath-taking sight. The Southern Cross was so bright, and the stars were so numerous and just went on and on forever. We hit a town and we started smoking from our left front tire area. The mechanic said our wheel bearing had gone out. No problem though because we happen to have a spare in the bag of parts in the back. So we took turns holding flashlights while this was repaired. On the road again. Around midnight we are approaching a town and we start smoking from the right front wheel area. So we decided to call it a night, find a hotel, and head on again in the morning. We were about 2 hours from our destination. We made it in the morning and had a wonderful day.
(I will probably have more on the road trips later)

I fought Malaria and the malaria won!

I wrote an e-mail about my experience with malaria once we got back to Luanda in hopes of sending an e-mail – a hope which never materialized.

“I fought malaria and (let me assure you) the malaria won. And the malaria may still be winning. If it is indeed truly malaria. That is a constant question here. Malaria looks like 50 different things in 50 different people. By the time I had a test (which was negative) I had already been on a treatment regimen for three days. So, besides the fact that the test only tests for one type of parasite, it probably wouldn’t even have shown positive because of the medication. I think I am on the road to wellness now. For several days I tossed Jonah at least once an hour, usually more frequently. Since yesterday afternoon however, I have only thrown up after actually eating something. This is a vast improvement for which I am very thankful. I can now obtain a little sleep/rest. I am now simply longing for the day when I can eat again. And on to the silver lining: while malaria is not very pleasant (to say the least), it is much more effective than the diet I was going to go on when I got home. I should be fitting into all those clothes I was hoping to wear again.
And another blessing was that the day I came down with the worst of the side effects we were in a town with no guest houses, so we had to stay in a very nice hotel where I had my own room. We were there for three days, so for three days I had a very comfortable bed, air conditioning, a room to myself, and a clean bathroom with running water (both hot and cold). All of these things are quite rare, and in combination I have not yet had them during our travels in Angola. So to have them when I needed them most was a huge blessing. Needless to say I saw nothing of the town called Malange, except what was seen going to and from the airport. I did watch lots of Portuguese television in a half-alert state. I am waiting to see if all those studies about learning a language in your sleep prove to be effective in my case.”

When I wrote this we had returned to Luanda and I was still in a semi-exhausted state which caused me to take a nap about every other hour. But the next day I bounced up and began eating everything on site and in sight. I was blessed with rejuvenation of both body and spirit. I was able to finish the rest of our trip with a renewed interest and with renewed energy, which is normally so low at the end of such a long period of travel.

Angola Summary of Sorts

Hello to all,
I have safely returned to the States after all my time of travel. It was an exhausting journey, but a very wonderful one. I have learned so much about myself; the others on my team; and of course about the country, people, and culture of Angola. I felt God enlarging my heart and making room for Angola in it. ☺
The 28th of May I flew off into the wild blue yonder with an eventual destination of Angola, Africa. It is located on Africa’s West coast right above Namibia. I have been praying seriously about joining a mission team bound for this country for the last year and a half; and so I joined them for a month-long survey trip. The team consists of three couples and one other single, as well as a two-year-old (who came with his parents). I am hoping that this time in Angola, as well as with the team members, will help me to determine if this is where God would have me for a while. While I am still seriously praying about the final decision, I feel certain that I was led to be on the survey trip. God made that quite clear to me both before I left and through the experiences that I had while in this country.
The country of Angola is one in desperate need of aid. About 6 years ago this country emerged from approximately 47 years of war. The first 20-some were to gain their independence from Portugal, and the latter half was fought between the differing political factions for control of the newly independent country. Needless to say, the people and the landscape are severely scarred by what they endured for so long. Because of this recent history the country has become a largely urban one - everyone moved into the cities for protection and to escape the minefields that are still shockingly extensive. I was privileged to be able to visit a minefield in Luena (the province most severely affected my numerous minefields) in the process of being de-mined by MAG. It is a painstakingly difficult and long process, but I am so thankful for the NGOs that are in here doing this great work. It was an eye-opening and surreal experience to walk down the narrow pathways marked as safe between huge expanses of mine-infested fields. It also brings home the reality when you see people begging on the streets who have lost limbs to these awful tools of war.
The object of our trip was to collect data and make contacts that will aid us in deciding on where we would be able to best minister to people and how much it will cost us to do this. We acquired lots of information about cost of living, housing, goods availability and cost, schooling options, and transportation. We also met countless wonderful people that God placed in our paths to encourage and aid us, both at the time and, I believe, in the future. Many of them were seemingly by chance – but I know God had the appointments all set up, we just didn’t know about them beforehand. ☺ An example: One evening we had become stranded pretty far off the beaten path and a car drove by and kindly agreed to take us back to our temporary residence and even enlisted his brother to drive a second car so we would not have to cram in. He turned out to be a very well-connected man whose family had been Portuguese plantation owners before the war. It was very interesting to hear his perspective of the country and he was very informative.
The trip: we started in the capital city of Luanda (loo-WAN-da) for several days, then drive to the sister port cities of Lobito (low-BE-too) and Bengela (ben-GAY-la). Here we met with Reverend Chipenda and his wife Eva, church leaders in Angola who had much advise to share with us. They were quite hospitable, and shared with us many opportunities for outreach. We then traveled by bus to Lubango (loo-BON-goo) – this is quite a tale, I will elaborate later - where we met with some missionaries, and toured a mission hospital and SOS orphanage. We got around this city on moto-taxis (motorcycles that you hop on the back of and tell them where you want to go) and it was so fun. At this juncture we traveled the rest of the way by plane as the roads are terrible or practically non-existent. We flew to Huambo (WAMM-boo) which is a city that was greatly affected by the war and met with a former BBC journalist who lived in Angola to cover the end of the war and was back to do some research for his thesis. He knew so much about this county. We then went on to Luena where we toured a missionary–run clinic and met with a refugee church. On our last day in Luena I started getting sick with malaria. We went on to Malange (ma-LAWNGE) but I don’t remember much about it, and then we went back to Luanda to do some more research and meet with some already existing churches. I wrote an about my experience with malaria once we got back to Luanda in hopes of sending an e-mail – a hope which never materialized. I will post it in a later entry.
When we returned to Luanda and I was still in a semi-exhausted state which caused me to take a nap about every other hour. But the very next day I bounced up and began eating everything on site and in sight. I was blessed with rejuvenation of both body and spirit. I was able to finish the rest of our trip with a renewed interest and with renewed energy, which is normally so low at the end of such a long period of travel.
The last week of our trip was spent back in the capital city of Luanda bettering our relationship with and our knowledge of ICA - the church group in Angola who sponsored our invitations and who were are thinking of working with here.
Thanks to all of you for putting up with this really long update. I don’t have any pictures to send at this time as my camera was taken in Angola. However, I will be getting them soon from the others on our trip and will send you an address where you can view them.

Recap of things other than mean old thieves

Hi everyone (aka: those of you who read this blog whose number I can count with one 5-digit extremity. As opposed to all my six-digit ones of course.)
I had one of the best weekends in a long time at Harding. I got to see so many wonderful people that I love!!!!! The only problem was that I didn't get to see any of them long enough and I wanted to cry when I said goodbye to them all. It was really nice to be in my old bubble for a little while. I miss my little comfort zone in Searcy, AR. Mostly I miss the amazing people I like to call my family and friends.
I got to be there on Friday for classes and so got to visit a couple of College of Nursing classes and see everyone. I got to speak in the Leadership class (senior second semseters) and at the Harding Nursing Student Association meeting. Those who are leading this organization by the way are doing such a fantabulous job and wowing me, bye the way. In this meeting it was such an amazing feeling of being home. I loved to talking to all my friends and trying to convey my love of nursing. I laughed, I cried, I wandered of endlessly, and they were so kind to listen to me. Sometimes I think I want to be a public speaker. I love encouraging moral and sharing my love.
I have my first few days with multiple patients since the last time I wrote on this blog. They didn't all go well, but they were all learning expereinces. Hopefully I will get my really bad days out of the way on orientation. Nice wish huh? Here's hoping. :) We got our new schedule for the next 5 weeks today and I almost started feeling sick and thought about hyperventilating. :) Because after the first 3 weeks on that schedule I start my own schedule independant of my preceptor. AHHHHH!!!!!!! (breathe). It is nervewracking but actually very exciting. Today I pulled femoral cathaters in the cath lab. That was exciting for me. One that I observed actally had retroperitoneal bleeding and that was a really good learning expereince. Kind of not good for her though. :) (That means that instead of the blood flowing through the artery like it did before the introduction of the cathetar, the blood was pooling in the stomach cavity. You could feel it and it was really painful for her. The one I pulled myself had no complications thank goodness.) We have to pull the sheaths at night on my unit so I need to know how to do them when the cath lab is closed. These are the caths that are done to explore the heart function and output to determine blockages in the coronary arteries and perform interventions to help open up blood flow. It is pretty much one of my favorite things to watch because when the MD injects dye into the cathetar it flows through the arteries, out lines the heart, and you can watch it beating on an x-ray screen. God is amazing and artistic is all I can say. It is breathtaking. Well, enough about that. I guess if you had really cared you could have googled it, huh. :) Sorry. I think I will stop for now. When I think of more I will add it later.
I had a breakthrough last night thought and slept soundly in my room. I wasn't sure how well I would sleep because I had been falling asleep on the couch and staying there all night every night since the break-in. I think sub-consciously I didn't want to sleep in the room where the thieves broke in. But I finished cleaning up the room and slept soundly in it. I am fine about it know. I mean, I guess it happens to thousands of people. Our landlord really wants us to get a dog though.
I hope you all have a lovely day. I wish I could see you all. I will just have to content myself with thinking about you. If you have time, I would appreciate your prayers for learning at work and for understanding for the lesson to be found in our recent break in.

Thievery and the dramatic effects thereof.

Tonight I heard a beautiful African song in Swahili and I cried. I cried because it was beautiful and because a wave of homesickness for Africa crashed over me. I think that God may have Africa in my future. I am so strongly drawn to the countries and the people. I am amazed by how I can be homesick for different places, places other than those I have lived for long periods of time. I can be homesick for any place where I have left a piece of my heart. The homesickness that overwhelmed me for Africa tonight is the same that I feel when I really want to go to Calico Rock to see my family and house, and the same as that which overwhelms me when I am longing for the beautiful city of Firenze. I think homesickness can be magnified by a burden. I know there is definitely a burden in my heart for the people I saw in my travels in Tanzania. There is also a burden in my heart for the people in inner-city _____. Hmmm. I wonder what is in store for me? Where will God place me next?
The phrase ‘inner city’ reminds me of my own recent experience with life in the ghetto – life entirely different from that in Calico, where we don’t even worry about locking up so much of the time. When I came home from my weekend at Harding, which was a wonderful one, I walked into my house feeling like something might not be right. Rachel and I both had a kind of joking uneasiness driving home, but thought we were just a little too scary. We got home about 12.45, looked over the house and saw that all our electronics were still in place and so proceeded to bring our stuff into the house. When I walked into my room and noticed that my printer (which sits on a trunk below a bedroom window) was on the floor, my brain then registered that my curtain rod had fallen down and the curtains were hanging from one corner. I then realized that my blinds were pushed to one side of the window and that they were broken. It then hit me that my drawers were all opened and there was jewelry spilled all over my dresser. I called my cousin into the room and then stated that I thought someone had been in here. We looked at each other wide-eyed and I could feel the chill-bumps rising. I pulled back the blinds a little more and saw that the glass was broken out of my bedroom window. I was shocked. It wouldn’t register. I felt scared. I felt violated. Who had come into my room by breaking my window? Why would they have done that? How could they wait until they knew for sure we were all gone and then break our trust in humanity like this? I reached out to touch my drawers and then pulled back my hand because I realized that they would probably need to fingerprint them. I looked in one drawer and noticed that my jewelry box was gone. I kicked my bottom drawer back in and almost started crying. I was so angry and upset. I kept thinking “why would someone do this”?
We looked in Claire’s room and saw all the drawers opened and a few things on the floor. Rachel looked in her room and noticed some things gone and messy. We called our landlord and he said he would be right over. We tried to call Claire but she didn’t answer. We tried to call some people from church but they didn’t answer. Rachel called some people from school so we could talk to sane people. Our landlord said he would call the police because we couldn’t find the non-emergency number and he knew it. They said they would be there within two hours. All the sudden I realized I was missing spots of vision. I hadn’t gotten a migraine in 2 years but of course I had to get one now when I needed my faculties. Bulent whistled for his dog, put some insulation over the window and then sat with us. Rachel made tea. I couldn’t drink it because I was feeling sick. Rested in the dark for a while. Threw up and then felt much better. All I can say is thank you Lord for medicine. The policeman came. He filed a report, told us who to contact, how to get with our detective, listed things stolen we remembered so far. He told us we really should get a dog and we should check the pawn shops tomorrow. He also said that CSI would be there after a little while, he thought before 6.30am. Rachel and I looked at each other – never thought we would have a CSI agent visit our place of residence. But hey … if the FBI can carry out a sting in Searcy, AR, I guess anything can happen. The policeman was really nice but then he left. Rachel and I piled blankets on the couch and snuggled in there together to wait for the policeman. Bulent cut a new piece of glass for my window and put it in. We told him to go home, that we would be fine waiting for CSI. We were a little high-strung, and couldn’t really sleep. We put on Mighty Joe Young for background noise. CSI agent came about 4.30am or so. Interviewed us again, dusted my whole room with lead-based fingerprinting dust and took tons of pictures. Told us to wipe up dust with dry cloth and then wet cloth, it would make a mess with wet first. Put on Shrek 2 because Mighty Joe Young is really sad – wasn’t helping the mood. Don’t really remember anything else. I floated in and out of alert consciousness for the next hour and a half. Shrek 2 makes for some weird dreams and waking memories. The alarm went off at 7 and we left for school/work at 8. Thank goodness it was a class day and not a floor day. I was a walking zombie I think.

Catch up

Hello to all of you this evening. It is very much fall here today. I caved about being frugal and bought a fire pit today. It was grey, drizzling and actually quite cold - a real soup day - and I wanted a fire. So I bought a large metal bowl in which to make one. It went against my grain, 'cause at home we can make them on the ground, but my landlord wouldn't really go for that option in the middle of a neighborhood. I miss the good old country. I don't really like conforming to living as a city girl. I miss my wide open spaces and the ability to wander where ever I want by myself without worrying about safety. I need to get up into the mountains. We were supposed to go camping this weekend, but it turned rainy and cold so I am here holed up in my house. Which isn't so bad really.
So this week in my little world has been really exhausting, but also good. I feel a little more like a nurse than I did last week. I like the people I am working with and enjoy getting to know them a little more. I also love the orientation program I am in that connects me with other new grads. One of the girls in my group is 32 weeks pregnant and she was afraid that her water broke while we were having class. If you would like you can say a prayer for her, I haven't heard the result of her Dr. Appointment later that afternoon, but I know she would appreciate the prayers no matter what.
I started my EKG (heart monitor strips) classes this week. I have homework again, not bad but homework none-the-less. The class itself is a great review and I am glad they have us take it. Thanks to Dr. Sullivan (one of my nursing instructors from Harding) I am well prepared for this subject.
Work itself is going well. Last Tuesday right as I was finishing up my charting for the day at 7.30 pm the secretary at the desk yelled, "get down to room 24 now"! We dashed down the hall and the patient's sats (oxygen levels) were WAY down because he had managed to pull his O2 mask off, his pressures were dropping rapidly, and his heart rate was falling by the second. We all started starting IV fluids, O2, trying to rouse him, taking blood pressures, calling the rapid response team and pushing some meds. He thankfully came around fairly quickly and his numbers started climbing slowly. When it was over I realized I was shaking as I came down off the adrenaline high. I am realizing more all the time that I love the fast pace of nursing some times. I have a feeling I may be an ER nurse at some point when I figure out what I am doing a little more. :) I can't wait until I feel like I know what I am doing. Right now I do what people tell me and get equipment, someday I will be the one asking other people to get me this or that STAT.
I love working with families of patients as well. The other day I was able to do a lot of teaching with a family because they were trying to make a decision with their mother and didn't really understand everything that was transpiring. It is such a great satisfaction to see the light go off in people's eyes when the get what you are saying. It is so rewarding to figure out ways to help the patient and their family receive what they need on top of the medical nursing care. I love wholistic nursing - treating not just the physical need but the social, psychological, and spiritual. :)
I am still obviously in the honeymoon stage with my new job because I am seeing the word love in reference to my work a lot. However, I like to think that if I remain where I need to be in my personal life in relation to God, I should love whatever I am doing and hopefully glorify HIS name while doing it. Today I had a horrible gut-wrenching feeling when I was meeting with my unit nurse educator and she made the comment that I would be off orientation the first week of December. That is not far off and I definitely experienced some panic. Here comes that feeling again. I know I need to not worry about it, at least not yet. I am learning daily, and will hopefully know ALOT more by then.
I have to tell you about a funny coincidence on my unit. I feel right at home. My preceptor is a dark-haired, dark-eyed, 5'3", one of three sisters who are always taken for triplets nurse whose father had a massive stroke when she was nine. The similarities between us are astounding really. And the funniest thing is that people confuse us all the time at first glance. I get called Andrea all the time and they think she is me too. Not only are we look-alikes with our sisters, but with each other as well. So I once again have a twin here in my new home, and still answer to a name not my own. (That has an poetic, almost tragic ring to it, don't you think. I will have to include that in my novel, or at least my autobiography).
The other day in my GAP class we got the results back from our Meyers-Briggs personality tests. It is so amazing and helps me understand myself so much when I go over the material they hand out. I haven't changed personality-wise since the last time I took it. :) I am still an INFJ. Oh yes, still an introvert. My assistant director was interestingly surprised by this information however. Shows that I have changed somewhat since I entered college. :) I have really worked on becoming more verbal and open because it is really very helpful in my profession. Wow. That sounds so cool. I have a profession now. That reminds me that it is really weird and hard transitioning from student to professional. My whole identity has changed in a way. The way in which I relate to the world around me has altered. And that reminds me that the lifelong quest of my personality type (according to M-B) is "Who am I?" - what is my identity? Nice segway grouping, don't you think. (It is interesting for me to read these blogs, as I am sure it is for you, because I just kind of follow my thought patterns. I have never communicated in this fashion before so it is a real experiment. Usually when I write I focus my thoughts, but on this blog I just kind of follow where they meander or leap. I guess this is me when I am simmering on the back burner. I realize that it is not an impressive representation of my communication abilities, but at least it is a humorous and relieving thing for me. ) I found out in this previously mentioned post-personality analysis debriefing that my personality type keeps their humor and creativity dormant for the most part, but extroverts tend to draw it out of me by drawing me out of myself. Interesting ...hmmm....
Last night I babysat for a couple at church. They have three little girls who are a lot of fun to watch. We danced with lights out and glow-in-the-dark bracelets accompanied by Disney music. What more can you ask for. We had a lot of fun. The couple went to Harding when they were in school and were a Chi Sig and Regina couple.
On Sunday mornings we have been discussing the fruits of the spirit one-by- one at the church we are attending. At the college group one Sunday night we broke off into small groups and talked about which fruit we needed most in our life right now. Don't get me wrong about this, I need all of them, but I think that I need faithfulness most at the moment. I need to increase my dedication to remaining faithful about keeping God first in my life. It is so easy with early mornings, late nights, and busy schedules to let the truly important things slip. I don't want this to happen more than it has already, and I want to correct what I have already allowed to slip. If you are looking for something to pray for, I would be grateful for your prayers that I might remain faithful in my spiritual walk. It sounds kind of selfish to ask prayers for myself, but I think that if there is one thing we should be selfish about it is our time with God. Actually I think selfish is the wrong word choice completely, but I think you know what I mean.
Tomorrow our landlord has promised that we are going to work on our fireplace, so I am excited about maybe having a normal looking living room. I guess I will go and pretend to work on my homework for a while. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Be blessed. Wait on Him.