Clinicals, Camels, Morocco, Africa

It has been a very exciting week! Wow it was fun and exciting!  Tuesday evening 3/20 I had a typical Spanish cooking class! I miss being in the kitchen, it happens at school too this isn't a new feeling. I love cooking and baking and anything food. We made pan and tomato- which is toasted bread with garlic, tomato, salt, and olive oil, simple and delicious! We also made a butternut squash soup- we topped it with a shrimp, pan fried leeks, and cheese. I am not a fan of shrimp but I tried it with the soup and it was not bad its just shrimp is not my cup of tea. Tortilla de patata- which is an egg omelet with potatoes, onions, and we put leeks in it. We also made paella! Man that was so good- it had asparagus, green and red pepper, garlic, onion, peas, tomatoes, and chicken. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten! Also we had creama catalana- which is like a custard that has crystallized sugar on top. The chef only knew my name which I thought was funny because he would call me over to help. I was so full at the end of the class all I wanted to do was take a nap but I had to prepare for a Patho presentation. 
               Its Wednesday and it was such a long day. I woke up and I only had to wait for the bathroom once. My senora bought a new kind of cereal, it was so good! Best way to start the morning. Then I went to clinical and I meet up with the boss lady at the hospital and she showed me where I was going to go. Well she took me to the place where they draw blood. In my head I was like man do I really have to watch them take blood for 4 hours. Side note they usually have put me in there while I was waiting for my nurse to show up. Today I asked why they took so much blood because I swear whenever I am there, there is like 100 people going in and out and I was starting Barcelona was full of vampires! So I asked the nurse why they always seem to be taking blood. She said because usually most people here come for preliminary testing but some patients are anemic and it is to see if they are at a normal level and other aliments. Well then I went to the nurse I was shadowing to her room where she meets with patients and does teaching, diabetes testing, ulcer care, and hypertension. It was cool, I like her independence that she is in charge of these patients. The two other nursing girls that go to the same clinic but on another day asked my if I liked going. I was like I really do. Yeah there are times its annoying that I have to wait for them to eat but I like the slower pace, the personalized attention for patients, its a type of location that I am like to work in when I am older. I think I may like the big hospital setting but it seems just overwhelming at times. Well then I had to go to school but I had to get rapidly to go. Well then I had to get the computer stuff to watch the nursing classes and our IP address keeps changing and the firewall at Wesleyan won't let in strange IP Addresses(usually a good thing but not in this case) it happened on Monday too and we missed lecture for Foundations and Patho. But we had that presentation for Patho and we couldn't connect! It took an hour and a half before we could and we still did our presentation but we went through it pretty quickly and we had to go into Foundations. I hate public speaking and I froze during my part of the presentation! It was so bad everyone says that its okay, they are your peers but its different. I was pretty sure I had my material down I was practicing the night before I just got so nervous! Last week I had to do a presentation in my literature class and I didn't feel nervous so I guess I just got a double whammy for this presentation. After nursing I had to work on a group presentation for my art class which we got done. Then after dinner me and my roommate were talking to our senora just talking, she was telling us stories from other students she has had in the past, it was good. Then me and my roommate had to pack up our room because we are getting a different room. Since it is close to the time where students go on Spring Break there are a bunch of students who will be coming in and out of our homestay so she needs our bigger room so she can stick more beds in it. So we are getting a different room. I have accumulated so much stuff!! I don't know how I am going to get all my stuff home! I have a month to worry about that. Waking up at 3:30a.m. to go to Morocco!
             I am not a morning person waking up at 3:30 was not the easiest thing that I had to do but my roommate and I did and we made it to the metro early and had to wait for the metro in the rain. It wasn't fun- cold+rain+4am=a one unhappy Amanda. Well the airport was fine, there was no problems, Take off was not the smoothest I have every been on and nether was all the turbulence, and neither was the landing lol. I swear I will get used to flying. Well we get to Malaga, Spain to take a bus to Tariff, Spain to catch the ferry to Tanger, Morocco, Africa! Cross 3 continents off that bucket list- Africa, North America, Europe! I am in Morocco because my group and I were doing the Moroccan Exchange Program. It is a 4 day cultural exchange to get deep into the roots of Morocco and build a new perception of culture. So now we are in Morocco, we got onto another bus and we drove to a women's shelter, Darna, in Tanger. It is for women to learn skills like sewing and hand sanitation, learn how to read, write, they have computers so they can learn about computers too. It allows for them to gain a skill so that it is easier to get a job. They also have a restaurant so we ate lunch and talked to 3 Moroccan students and talked about their culture and stereotypes we have and trying to learn from them. We then had a three hour drive to Rabat where we meet our homestay families. While driving we made a pit stop and we rode camels! I couldn't believe it. The camel I got on had a loose saddle so the girl that was on it and jumped down. It was super high I can't believe that I did it, but I am so glad that I did. My host mom was so nice. Her husband and her kids live in the US and she lives in Morocco with her mom and her 2 brothers. She is a teacher at a French school. She spoke perfect English, she was the sweetest last ever. Me and another girl from my group had dinner with her and her mom and it was soup and bread it was so nice. It is super interesting they sleep on couches that are backed on the wall.  I slept so well I was so tired.
          Friday: Breakfast was bread with nutella or jam. Then we had a bus trip to a small town outside of Rabat, Sale. Sale has a big homeless population and it has one of the biggest slums. We drove to the Nonprofit organization that helps people get there high school degree so that they can have a better life. See picture to the right. Well we meet 3 students ans we discussed some of the ideas/ perceptions we have of each others culture and we tried to work through them. Then we saw Roman Ruins and they were pretty cool. There were ancient eels that only come out if the girls are not pregnant- luckily an eel came out so the group of girls I was with we are all good. Then we had lunch at our homestays. It was so good. After lunch we had a walking tour of Rabat with students from the University, they showed us the beach, the Parliament, the market, how to write our names in Arabic, and we just got to know each other. Then we went back and we talked to an ex Peace Corp volunteer and a Fulbright Scholar about their experience in Morocco, what they do, difficulties they have. Then we had maybe the most awkwardest experiences in my life. In Morocco and other places they have public baths called the hammam. Well women don't wear tops and all the women are in one room bathing. I was decked out in my bathing suit but it was so relaxing. It was like a steam room and you just sat and bathed. It was a good experience but I don't think I ever want to do it again.
       Saturday it was an early day. We woke up and we had a 3 hour drive to the Rif Mountains. We had a pit stop in a city where we got supplies for lunch and we picked up our cultural translator. We arrived to the Rif Mountains were we meet this guy and his family who live in the mountains. He is a farmer and he lives the most simple but loving life I have ever seen. He didn't speak English but from the little things he did and his family did were loving. We had lunch with them and we talked about how they live and how the drought was affecting his family. He took us up to the Mountain and we saw the most beautiful landscapes. Beautiful! I had to use the bathroom so bad and the bathroom was a hole in the ground man that was the first and last time I hope I have the opportunity to do that.  We then had another drive to Chefchaouen. We walked to our hotel and then we had free time to shop until dinner. I bought a leather camel to signify my first camel ride, and just my whole experience in Morocco. After dinner we had a group pow-wow just talking about our experience. We had to answer 2 questions

• When did you realize that you were in Africa/Morocco/Muslim country.
• I said when we first got to Rabat and my homestay mom, the girl I was living with and I were walking to our homestay. There were no women out and we got weird looks being on the streets. Also there were a lot of streets we went on that weren't lite and it felt like she was talking us through a labyrinth.
• Also what has this experience taught you.

• This experience has taught me everything. I definitely helped me make see that there is a lot of similarities in the values that I have. Also has taught me to try to find the finer things in life. Also there is an extreme generalization in media that does not show the sides of cultures. It has also helped my to see the finer things in life and the things that I take for granted like a flushable toilet, running water, toilet paper. Also Morocco is beautiful!

       Sunday: I woke up and with some people we had a walk to the outside gate that is up the mountain of Chefchaouen. We had beautiful views of the city and the mountains. We walked back, checked out of the hotel. We had breakfast on the bus and we drove to Ceuta to cross the border to the Spain. Spain owns a little part of Africa and then we had to take the a ferry across the Straight of Gibralter it was super windy so our first ferry got canceled and then we had to take the second one, it was super fancy and they played Pink Panther cartoons. Also Spain does have daylight saving so we ended up losing an hour because the time changed that morning. We had a bus ride to Malaga where we got to our plane to Barcelona.
        It was such a good weekend I learned to much. Best weekend ever. To bad reality came back and this week will be super busy with papers, tests, and a possibly the biggest transportation strike in Barcelona on Thursday. Until next time!

          

A little over a week update

       Another week has gone by and I feel more behind in my work then I should. Monday I had a free day so I studied all day at  school. Tuesday was about the same as Monday just studying after my classes.Wednesday I had clinicals and it was nice seeing a different part of the hospital. I really didn't get to see much, it was just sitting around waiting for patients to come in. The nurses I was shadowing were nice but they didn't really do much. They get the urine and blood samples and but it through the machine to test it. But after that the nurses don't really do much. I saw them but a make shift boot on a women: which I thought was pretty low quality. It was like a metal ladder that birds walk on but bigger wrapped in gauze then wrapped in a medical wrap and bent to fit the lady's leg and then wrapped her leg in more medical wrap. Friday I cleaned out my whole computer! I sent it to the original computer settings and it is working fine. But now my original theory that it was the wifi at my house was causing the problem is confirmed because now I can't even connect to it so that is why this post is late because Monday I had to work on a huge nursing project and I didn't have enough time to get it posted while at school. Well Saturday I went to a church talent show and my barrio and I did a dance to Grease Lightening. It was super fun we had costumes and got our make-up done all 50's style. I am glad I did it because it opened more conversation  of the ladies in Relief Society to talk to me! Sunday I went to church and worked on homework. I bought a waterbottle over the weekend, I was excited. Also we got 6 new roommates! They are from Norway and they seem super nice, they are only here for 4 days. But there is 10 of us sharing 1 bathroom!This isn't an interesting post but this weekend I am going to Morocco! So that should be interesting!

Tarragona

AWWWWW. That is how I feel right now. My computer has not worked in 2 days and it is so annoying it won’t load up anything. So I have to do this in safe mode even though I feel like this post is going to be one big rant about how I am 10 seconds away from drop kicking my computer. It was working perfectly before I left and ever since I got here I have to wait an hour for it to completely be able to load so that it will work. Luckily it was after I got my FAFSA done but not before I could send it. Ug this has been annoying. My senora says it only happens to a couple of students and I got to be the luckily one. I just hope that it works properly back in the US. If not at least I have a warranty with Wal-Mart and actual IT people to help me at school.

               Well what did I do all week except wait for my computer to work. I went to church on Sunday. Monday I had a Patho Test and leaving the test I did not feel happy with it but I ended up doing better than I thought. Wednesday I had clinical again and my nurse told me one of the patients we see died. I am not having very much luck with these elderly people. But we ended our time with this cute old guy. He was my favorite by far. That was my last week of going house to house which I am glad because I get to see a new part of the clinic but I liked seeing that personal relationship with the patients. Thursday I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t going to lunch with my group so I went and figured out why, because they complain too much. I know I am complaining right now about my computer but that is something I need to function, most of my homework I have to get online also, I need my computer to stay close with my family, Remember they are my rock. I don’t complain about how I don’t have the right shoes to go with my outfits or how I don’t have enough outfits, or how I miss my closet(that’s the weirdest complaint I have ever heard).

               On Friday we had a group trip to Tarragona. I wasn’t very excited to go because all we were going to go see were Roman Ruins (rocks). But these Roman Ruins were so cool! Tarragona is about an hour and a half out of Barcelona. It is a city built on top of a city. Tarragona was the biggest Roman City back in the day. Then it was a Christian city, the Christians built on top of the Roman Ruins. The ruins weren’t in a stuffy museum they were all around town. Well there was some in the museum but we skipped those. We had a walking tour of the city which the guide showed us the ruins. They were everywhere; there was some in a bank and randomly on the street. We saw the amphitheater, an old horse racetrack, and more. We had lunch and then we went and sat at the beach, I had to put my feet in. The water was so cold but I just put my feet in there we people who went in in and got soaked. I don’t think that was a fun ride back to Barcelona for them… I went to a young adult activity at church and it was super fun. The influence of the music from the US kinda surprises me because I wonder if they understand what the artist is saying well I speak English and sometimes I don’t. Saturday my roommate and I were going to eat lunch at Els Cuatre Gatz where the artists, Pablo Picasso, and more would share ideas but it is so expensive.  I was craving pizza so we found a cheap pizza place and then we got gelato and ate it in Park Ciutadella. Then we decided we better go back and to do homework. That’s when I skyped my mom and got my FAFSA done. Then I went to a young adult dinner and this girl told me her whole life story, I didn’t even know this girl. I guess that’s cool she felt she could open up to me but I barely could understand her she had a different accent, I talked to some of the other girls and they say they have sometimes understanding her too.

              Sunday I woke up for church. Tried to get some of my homework done after but my computer didn’t want to work so that was a no go. Then I was so annoyed that I went to a young adult activity that they have Sunday nights and I was kinda happy I did. The sister missionary made homemade chocolate chip cookies. I know I talk so much of how good the chocolate croissants are but nothing beats a fresh homemade chocolate chip cookie.  The chocolate chips hadn’t even resolidified that’s how fresh they were. One of the girls asked me if we always eat cookies at our meeting and I was like pretty much and she asked about brownies too. I have been bringing up church a lot lately but I am not trying to convert anyone. Before I left my Spanish professor told me to not hang out with the gringos and get to know the people of Spain and going to church was the only way I saw that possible. It is a great experience for me to learn and speak Spanish because they don’t understand English, well a couple do but I usually speak Spanish to them. I even got a Book of Mormon in Spanish so I can read along in class with my English and Spanish version so I can look up a word I don’t know. It has been enhancing my learning experience and making me happier. I just need to find an old lady to adopt me and make me food lol just kidding I have my Senora for that =). This week is Illinois Wesleyan University’s Spring Break so there are no nursing classes so I am trying to work on my 12 page art paper and projects for my Literature class.

March Madness

Before you leave to study abroad you will be told a hundred times that you are going to hit a wall a couple of time and all you need to do is talk to people in your group, talk to your señora, talk to your family well this wall I feel just keeps hitting back. Bring Ibuprofen, Advil, or any specific brand, type that you like. I went to church and talked to an older sister missionary who is kind of going through the same thing, the inability to talk to her loved ones and being in a different country with a language which isn’t your native language. She just said to keep the faith which is true faith tend to gets lost in the drama of the days and unfortunately this week was full of drama.

            Tuesday wasn’t that exciting. Wednesday I had to go to clinical. I had to wait an hour for my nurse to show up. Well I am not sure what regulations I have to follow when I write this next part but let’s just say that there was a lady collapsed on the street by her car. CPR was conducted for 40 minutes where she could not be revived. Paramedics finally showed up and that’s when they called time of death. It made me really consider if I want to be a nurse because we were in front of a hospital and they could do nothing to revive her. I was confused. I have dealt with death before so that didn’t really affect me, not to lie it did but I was more confused on how they could not do anything.  Then I had to take a test for one of my nursing classes, which I ended up doing fine on and glad that the days early events didn’t affect my grade.  

            Thursday was just about as exciting as Tuesday was. So on Friday since I had no classes, I went to the University of Barcelona to do some more research on my art project. Then I went to the Filmoteca to do some more research. My art project is Surrealism Movies. It’s a weird topic but interesting. I am focusing on Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dalí, and Federico Garcia Lorca. Then I had lunch with the nursing majors so we could work on a project, we didn’t get much done in the 2 hours we were together. Then we went to the beach because it was a beautiful day out. I went back to the apartment and it took my computer 2 hours to load before I could do anything. I was frustrated, tired and it was time to eat and while I was eating I decided to go to a church activity and I was glad I did. A lot more people are talking to me and saying hi so it nice and it is helping my Spanish so much more.

            Saturday I slept in. I was so tired. Then I went to Park Guell. Which is so cool! It is so colorful with all the mosaic tiles. It is huge too. Trip is complete! Let’s go home just kidding there are so many things I have to see! I guess there was not too much drama it just feels that way when you are going through the days.