Sorry about the gap. I seem to be falling behind in the blog.
Anyway, I have some stuff worthy of reporting to my loyal readership (up to 7 entire people, by now!)
I will first talk about the great mini weekend that my mom treated Karen and I. We had ourselves a much needed evening at the spa, and dinner out. I have talked about spa before in the Philippines, but it is really affordable and quite soul reclaiming. I went for the native foot massage, followed by an epic sauna. Karen got a bunch of other stuff, then we had a nice pasta dinner overlooking the city. What a great little place. THANKS MOM!
The preceding was followed by a week's hospital duty in Abatan, about a 4 hour van ride towards Sagada. This place is "on top of the world" in terms of the Philippines, and as compared to anywhere else. The wind and rain and fog rolls through here pretty violently, but it makes for some breathtaking scenery and of course, as green as it gets. We had the 12-8AM shift, and that was crappy, but somewhat tolerable. We had very "toxic" patients in the wards. My last day, I had a 11 year old kid with acute renal failure (glomerular nephritis). He was swollen like a balloon, with a BP of 180/110. Headaches, nausea, vomiting and of course, no peeing. Poor kid. I talked his mom into going to Baguio General, and did my best to help him out, but really, all I could do was administer IV meds and monitor his vital signs. I though he was going to have seizures, but lucked out. He was in an ambulance that morning and hopefully on his way to better (read:advanced) care. He needed a lot more than this district hospital could provide. He was my first patient that I thought might not make it during my shift.
On the much more positive side, I delivered a baby. We had a 17 year old girl and her family (and the father) in when we started our shift, and I was up for the delivery (my group rotates the procedures among us) . As a typical overenthusiastic rookie, I ran and put my scrubs on. She was a nulliparous, so This was to be a long night, in actuality. We walked her up and down the halls for about 2 hours, then brought her into the DR. Though she was fully dilated, she wasn't effaced, and her membranes had not ruptured. Myself, the midwife and the soon to be mother hunkered in for about 3 hours of regular contractions. then it seemed that she backed off a little. The midwife ruptured the membranes manually, but it seemed like there was not a lot, and it did little to accelerate the process. Then, the contractions came back with a vengeance. She poked the membranes again, and this time a good spurt of amniotic fluid came out. I foolishly thought this was what all the hubub was all about. I was wrong. Also, I thought that my role as "Actual delivery nurse" was merely to assist the midwife, I was REALLY wrong about this. The good midwife basically handed me the steering wheel, and talked me in like a corny pilot passed out/control tower movie ending from 1972. Then I was instructed to dilate the cervix. I will spare the details for the uninitiated. After 3 minutes of the longest 3 minutes of my life, the contractions where coming in like crazy, and though she was not a screamer, she was obviously in a lot of pain. The midwife went in with an episiotomy and then all hell broke loose. First, the REAL bag of water burst. And I am not talking about a little fluid here, I am talking about 12 ounces or more of a giant white explosion (this is the "mucus plug" that I was not really looking forward to). I performed a matrix like maneuver to avoid the discharge, and was mostly successful. Then, with a huge yell (hers, not mine), the head came out. I was then instructed to grab on and pull her out. We got over the shoulders after a short time, then I caught her. (real fast). I passed the clamps and scissors to the MW, and we got a cry as we held her upside down for a few seconds to drain. We passed the baby over to the just arrived Doc and the cord tie/assist nurse. Then, (far, far, from over) I delivered the placenta. At this point, I was in a surreal world of all kinds of fluids and an incredible amount of blood. Oh yeah, and this is normal. We got her uterus to fully contract finally to slow the flow of blood, and then sutured the episiotomy/ repair (this procedure would be birth control if we taught it to our children). After some time, we were finished, and the mother and baby went to their room to their family. I was in a euphoric daze for about an hour afterwards. (similar to my total hysterectomy case a month before, but more profound)
Shockingly to me, I am actually looking forward to my next delivery. I doubt if I will have another great "hands on" experience like I did again, as most facilities do not allow students to do what I did. The experience was amazing.
Showing posts with label Activity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Activity. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Some updates
Well, another couple of weeks, and it will be another year down, and one to go! I can't wait to see my mother and grandmother who will be visiting when we are finished for our mini summer break at the end of this month.
We rearranged our living room, with the help of our landlord who allowed us to store some stuff in the attic area. We have more of a lounge zone, rather than a sprawling living room now, with our Persian carpet as a featured piece, and we closed off the second opening of our hallway to warm up the home, and add some interest to the room.
We spent a wonderful day last week with very "in need" children at an orphanage. We organized a group of the college of nursing officers, got some much needed supplies such as disposable diapers, antibiotics, and other items, and set out early in the morning. When we arrived, the children were REAL amped up and excited to get visitors. The orphanage is an aging facility, with an infant wing of 10 infants, and a toddler/child wing of about 30. These kids are either abandoned, or have been seized by the government due to poor living conditions. When they walked by you, they would touch you as they walked by. Many would just attach themselves to your legs. They really seemed to thrive on human touch. The tireless people running the facility were very thankful and appreciative of our help that day. We went food shopping, and bought a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits, as the facility director requested that they are usually under stocked with such things. The condition is entirely ironic, because La Trinidad is the proverbial capital city of the "Salad Bowl" of the Philippines. We cooked up chicken/pork adobo and chop suey, and left behind 20-30 kilograms of vegetables and fruit. After, we played games, sang songs and held, rocked and changed babies.
Inevitably, one is faced with a plethora of inner thoughts when visiting such a place. Why is the government not providing more for these few numbers of neglected innocents? How could someone have such poor communal or familial ties to allow this to happen? And on and on. Apparently, government funds are dispersed to the orphanage through an agency, that further lines the pockets of several sub agencies until it reaches it's final destination, usually 1/10 of the original amount. If there was ever a good argument against government funding, here it is loud and clear. Ease the taxation of businesses, and allow an orphanage to be directly sponsored by unburdened corporate entities (such as my school, formula companies, etc). The orphanage told us that even though they are a government agency, the majority of their funding and ability to survive comes from private contributions. Considering the huge amount of bureaucratic tendencies of government agencies here and everywhere else, they likely consume most of their government allowance just keeping up with paperwork.
We rearranged our living room, with the help of our landlord who allowed us to store some stuff in the attic area. We have more of a lounge zone, rather than a sprawling living room now, with our Persian carpet as a featured piece, and we closed off the second opening of our hallway to warm up the home, and add some interest to the room.
We spent a wonderful day last week with very "in need" children at an orphanage. We organized a group of the college of nursing officers, got some much needed supplies such as disposable diapers, antibiotics, and other items, and set out early in the morning. When we arrived, the children were REAL amped up and excited to get visitors. The orphanage is an aging facility, with an infant wing of 10 infants, and a toddler/child wing of about 30. These kids are either abandoned, or have been seized by the government due to poor living conditions. When they walked by you, they would touch you as they walked by. Many would just attach themselves to your legs. They really seemed to thrive on human touch. The tireless people running the facility were very thankful and appreciative of our help that day. We went food shopping, and bought a large amount of fresh vegetables and fruits, as the facility director requested that they are usually under stocked with such things. The condition is entirely ironic, because La Trinidad is the proverbial capital city of the "Salad Bowl" of the Philippines. We cooked up chicken/pork adobo and chop suey, and left behind 20-30 kilograms of vegetables and fruit. After, we played games, sang songs and held, rocked and changed babies.
Inevitably, one is faced with a plethora of inner thoughts when visiting such a place. Why is the government not providing more for these few numbers of neglected innocents? How could someone have such poor communal or familial ties to allow this to happen? And on and on. Apparently, government funds are dispersed to the orphanage through an agency, that further lines the pockets of several sub agencies until it reaches it's final destination, usually 1/10 of the original amount. If there was ever a good argument against government funding, here it is loud and clear. Ease the taxation of businesses, and allow an orphanage to be directly sponsored by unburdened corporate entities (such as my school, formula companies, etc). The orphanage told us that even though they are a government agency, the majority of their funding and ability to survive comes from private contributions. Considering the huge amount of bureaucratic tendencies of government agencies here and everywhere else, they likely consume most of their government allowance just keeping up with paperwork.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
On a happier note
Karen and I went to Bliss cafe for Valentines. They held a limited engagement vegetarian buffet, with two sets of music from a wonderful vocal quintet. It was a real nice and romantic evening. We are hoping Jim, the owner, will be able to open his other business idea, a "canteen" style food offering at the Buddhist temple about 100m from our school. The place is great, there is a Zen rock garden, lots of interesting books, real good music and free weekend art films. It is a fairly unknown establishment among locals so it is funny to go there and see all these Swiss and Germans and Americans packed into the place from time to time. Jim is an American Ex-Pat from Chicago. He and his wife have been all over SEA for the past 20+ years, or so. They have settled in Baguio, and now they run what must be the most pleasant restaurant in the city. All the food is prepared by his wife Shanti, and from scratch, on the spot. Even the rice. That makes for a long evening, which actually turns out to be perfect, as the number of local art exhibition, interesting books, posters and artifacts from Jim and Shanti's travels engages the mind in pleasant ways, and puts the prospect of food on temporary hold, at least until it is served. The menu has many offerings, but most notably to me are the set meals. They consist of entree, salad, dessert and beverage for about $5. They are either Indian, Korean, Mexican (yes, Mexican!) or what I don't exactly know called simply and wonderfully, "Heaven" and "Earth", but we love it. There is NO MEAT whatsoever in any of it, and Shanti has a knack for making some pretty accurate interpretations of meat products out of Soy, gluten and who knows for sure. Anyways, we are going tonight to eat and watch "The Elephant Man".
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Sagada 2
Just felt like sharing a recent experience with coffee, and my favorite place in the Philippines. The Philippines has many areas that grow coffee. I just happen to live near the epicenter. As a result, I get all kinds of pretty damn good coffee at laughable pricing. My most recent "find" is the coffee grown and picked from Sagada. Sagada is a twisty curvy half paved, half dirt road, meandering through rice terraces, and a 6.5 hour bus ride away. This sleepy but lovely little town has some amazing caves, waterfalls and many other natural wonders. What makes Sagada, "Sagada" (and keeps me coming back) to me though is the coffee, and my morning ritual.
So here was my daily routine while on my vacation there last week.
It's 5:30AM. Crack of dawn is about half way done, and the sun is just hinting at poking it's head over the green mountain peaks that are fighting a beautiful and silent war with the thick morning clouds that roll in. Everything is in high contrast, Mountain ridges, switch backs and trails easily seen. Pine trees jutting above rock formations covered in thick nearly malachite colored moss... Crystal clear and the only noise is the rooster, starting his morning ritual as well.
I put a pot of the "literally right from a natural spring" water on the stove, and when it starts to rumble, I keep about 2 cups of it in a bowl, then fill the percolator bin about half way with Sagada's characteristic ground coffee bean. A smallish light/medium roasted bean, ground coarsely. Then, back on the stove to bubble for a few minutes, then off. After a minute to allow the settling of the grains, my leather covered stainless thermal mug is filled to 3/4 full. In this coffee, you can absolutely taste the earth, the ground, the mountains, the trees, everything. Cream or sugar is completely forbidden. After a greedy sip, full of air so as not to scald, I place it down on the bathroom sink, and take a short and hot shower.
Out of the shower, that bowl of boiling hot water is ready to do it's part. My travel kit, a Gillette Rubie loaded with a fresh Derby, a QED grapefruit and peppermint shave stick. The shave is gloriously smooth, crisp high pitched notes of that blade leaving a glass smooth face looking back at me.
Mug in hand, 10 steps out onto the balcony at the corner, I sat on small stool placed so that I could see 270 degrees of peace, nature and profound tranquility. Just me, my coffee and the glory of mother earth.
So here was my daily routine while on my vacation there last week.
It's 5:30AM. Crack of dawn is about half way done, and the sun is just hinting at poking it's head over the green mountain peaks that are fighting a beautiful and silent war with the thick morning clouds that roll in. Everything is in high contrast, Mountain ridges, switch backs and trails easily seen. Pine trees jutting above rock formations covered in thick nearly malachite colored moss... Crystal clear and the only noise is the rooster, starting his morning ritual as well.
I put a pot of the "literally right from a natural spring" water on the stove, and when it starts to rumble, I keep about 2 cups of it in a bowl, then fill the percolator bin about half way with Sagada's characteristic ground coffee bean. A smallish light/medium roasted bean, ground coarsely. Then, back on the stove to bubble for a few minutes, then off. After a minute to allow the settling of the grains, my leather covered stainless thermal mug is filled to 3/4 full. In this coffee, you can absolutely taste the earth, the ground, the mountains, the trees, everything. Cream or sugar is completely forbidden. After a greedy sip, full of air so as not to scald, I place it down on the bathroom sink, and take a short and hot shower.
Out of the shower, that bowl of boiling hot water is ready to do it's part. My travel kit, a Gillette Rubie loaded with a fresh Derby, a QED grapefruit and peppermint shave stick. The shave is gloriously smooth, crisp high pitched notes of that blade leaving a glass smooth face looking back at me.
Mug in hand, 10 steps out onto the balcony at the corner, I sat on small stool placed so that I could see 270 degrees of peace, nature and profound tranquility. Just me, my coffee and the glory of mother earth.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Food!
Well, crack the champagne, I think I have finally solved a near 3 year quest that has caused me great pain and discomfort. Yep, I finally figured out how to make “Adobo”…. This seemingly simple dish requires a steady hand, and attention to detail that I have found out through a number of poor examples can easily put this dish on an “Expert only” basis….
So, I will demystify the experience for all here on how I did it.
First, and most obviously, the 1 kilogram of adobo cut chicken. Yes, there is a cut named after the national dish of the
You take this chicken, and first rinse it well. And then start to notice something. This poor wretch of a bird has not undergone hormone therapy and been pumped full of “broth” to increase it’s bulk. Translation? The meat is almost “dry” for better lack of terminology. What this means to you and I is that a good quality Philippine chicken is delightfully susceptible to marination, because all the little porous tissues are empty, rather than full of “filler”… See more info on this here. That is why all the marinating in the world does little good to birds from the US or Canada (my experience with both, not knowing what goes on with Euro-Poultry)... However, I digress.....
SO, you take this wonderful "dry sponge" of a chicken, cut into approximately 20 pieces or so for the average 2lb bird, "adobo cut" (essentially, the whole chicken is cut up, leaving the bones in) and after the wash, put in 1/2 cup of cane vinegar and 1/4 cup of soy sauce, then about a dozen calamansi (or key limes) and put in the "ref" (refrigerator) for at least and hour. Then you take your caldereta (big pot) and add about 2-3 TBSP of oil, and go back to your chicken, and look at how it has absorbed most of the marinade. That is a good thing. Dump the excess out, and then put it into the pot, and get things going, hot and loud. Add 4-5 medium sized potatoes (patatas), two onions (sibuyas) and about 6 cloves of garlic (bawang). Get all that frying up nicely, stirring every couple of minutes. Some "juice" from the vegetables, marinade and cooking process should be starting to come out. After 15 minutes or so, it is time for the serious part, and seemingly benign. Add about an ounce more of soy, and an ounce of vinegar, a TBSP of brown sugar, and a half TSP of coarse ground/cracked black pepper, bay leaf and cup and a half of water. Bring this to a rapid boil, then turn it down to simmer for 45 minutes. When you come back to it, it should be darker in color than when you left. This is good. The sugar, and onions and process made it dark, and the taste should be a little tart, a little sweet, and kinda gravy-ish from the breakdown of the potatoes. You can add a bit more of whatever to balance, and it should be balanced. Serve with rice (duh), and fresh cut bananas, (as learned by "Aunty Lisa") ...
The dish, as far as I know, is known to be rich, if not a bit oily. A good accompanying dish would be the other bane, and as yet unconquered, sinagang. A tamarind based soup that would cut away any excess "grease" from the adobo. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Good stuff!
So, we wrapped up our semester last week. I don't know if it is getting harder or easier, but this semester went by PDQ....
We are planning a short trip to Boracay next week for a few days to R&R before we start our summer semester. Really looking forward to coconut oil massages and laying around, listening to the waves lap up on the shore. Hope the weather holds out for us there, unlike last time!! :)
I am starting a 'USMC" style work out program. Having some trouble sleeping/restlessness and figure it is lack of good old exercise. (Constant studying and computer vegetative states will do that to you).. We get our share mind you, there are more hills and stairways here than anywhere I have seen. And our food is fresh, homemade and relatively healthy. The program is from a rather boring looking book that emphasizes calisthenic type workouts that you can do w/o any equipment. Push ups, sit ups, and lots of "road work", as we like to call it in the corp!! I rather like that because I hate the idea of collecting more "stuff" than we have already. Anyways, I will be going through a 13 week 'boot camp" process. Actually, the way it is explained is simply routine overload of strength and stamina to better complete objectives. There is a bit of a "legend" of it being some kind of grueling accomplishment, but most are probably confusing it with some specialized Navy S.E.A.L. training, etc. Anyways, this new recruit is gonna get fit! "Ooh-Rah!!"
We are planning a short trip to Boracay next week for a few days to R&R before we start our summer semester. Really looking forward to coconut oil massages and laying around, listening to the waves lap up on the shore. Hope the weather holds out for us there, unlike last time!! :)
I am starting a 'USMC" style work out program. Having some trouble sleeping/restlessness and figure it is lack of good old exercise. (Constant studying and computer vegetative states will do that to you).. We get our share mind you, there are more hills and stairways here than anywhere I have seen. And our food is fresh, homemade and relatively healthy. The program is from a rather boring looking book that emphasizes calisthenic type workouts that you can do w/o any equipment. Push ups, sit ups, and lots of "road work", as we like to call it in the corp!! I rather like that because I hate the idea of collecting more "stuff" than we have already. Anyways, I will be going through a 13 week 'boot camp" process. Actually, the way it is explained is simply routine overload of strength and stamina to better complete objectives. There is a bit of a "legend" of it being some kind of grueling accomplishment, but most are probably confusing it with some specialized Navy S.E.A.L. training, etc. Anyways, this new recruit is gonna get fit! "Ooh-Rah!!"
Sunday, October 02, 2005
High yellow
Made my 2nd yellow promotion today. Sparred with a 14 y.o.. He was scared witless, but he did ok. I gave him a few points. In all, we had a good time, Karen got her 1st yellow. We are really looking forward to our vacation back home, and I have my schedule mapped out on my calendar on this blog. We have decided to stay here in this apartment for the time being. Once we finish our exams, we will be leaving the next day, no time lost....
We bought a pirated copy of World of Warcraft, per my sister Rinah's recommendation. The version we have here can be played offline, to basically see if we want the online (real) version. Video games, beer, pizza; ahhh, the life of a student..
Sunday, August 28, 2005
I am a yellow belt!
Made my yellow belt promotion today. It was at least 95 degrees in the dojo where I took the exam. Had to perform the first two "foundations" then do a series of fundamental self defense postures, followed by a personal interview with a Taekwondo master. Passed with flying colors. Celebrated by purchasing some Taekwondo shoes and a t-shirt promoting the "lifestyle"..... We mysteriously have the day off of school tomorrow, so I will be kicking back (no pun intended) reading and probably take in a movie.
Karen and I are planning on hosting a party on our roof top next weekend. She is "allowing" me to take the reigns, though I think she seceretly wants me to be publicly humiliated! Kidding. I was planning on a basic affair with swimming and some games (maybe a clown, ugh) or the kiddies, then some karaoke and food/drinks for the adults later. Mostly, it will be Karen's family, our school mates and Taekwondo friends. Should be fun, I am getting a list together of what we will need. Party catering is a big business here, and it is fairly affordable for us.
I weighed myself today at the gym and noted that I have lost 21 lbs since I arrived in the Philippines 4 months ago. Most of this is a result of dietary change and non stop sweating. The Teakwondo doesn't hurt either. I am going to look into some dumbbells and a small bench just to keep muscle tone. The diet here is kind of lacking in protein, so I eat a lot of eggs and tuna (the easiest and most readily accessible forms of protein here)
Karen and I are planning on hosting a party on our roof top next weekend. She is "allowing" me to take the reigns, though I think she seceretly wants me to be publicly humiliated! Kidding. I was planning on a basic affair with swimming and some games (maybe a clown, ugh) or the kiddies, then some karaoke and food/drinks for the adults later. Mostly, it will be Karen's family, our school mates and Taekwondo friends. Should be fun, I am getting a list together of what we will need. Party catering is a big business here, and it is fairly affordable for us.
I weighed myself today at the gym and noted that I have lost 21 lbs since I arrived in the Philippines 4 months ago. Most of this is a result of dietary change and non stop sweating. The Teakwondo doesn't hurt either. I am going to look into some dumbbells and a small bench just to keep muscle tone. The diet here is kind of lacking in protein, so I eat a lot of eggs and tuna (the easiest and most readily accessible forms of protein here)
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
The Way of the Foot and Fist
Today I had my Taekwondo class. Taekwondo is a Korean Sport and Martial Art. Similar to Karate, but instead of an emphasis on strikes and form, Taekwondo is more fluid and favors kicks to punches and wearing body armor and sparring to performing elaborate pre-determined forms.. You can translate that to " ......'Pop!' Hey, was that my hamstring?!"
Karen is taking it now, too. . She is keeping quiet about her experience to the instructor for fear that he will ask her to lead a class or something, I have found this will be an excellent leverage point to lord over her as in, "If you don't do the dishes even though it is my turn today, I will tell the instructor you are a blue belt!" On Sunday, I am to take my yellow belt promotion. I have taken many forms of Martial Arts in my life, this one is the most challenging. Though I wish it were for the reason of style difficulty, it's more of an "age" thing. I can kick well over my head now though. The methods of stretching would make a medieval dungeon keeper wince.
Ok, going to bed now. Sound sleep is assured!
Karen is taking it now, too. . She is keeping quiet about her experience to the instructor for fear that he will ask her to lead a class or something, I have found this will be an excellent leverage point to lord over her as in, "If you don't do the dishes even though it is my turn today, I will tell the instructor you are a blue belt!" On Sunday, I am to take my yellow belt promotion. I have taken many forms of Martial Arts in my life, this one is the most challenging. Though I wish it were for the reason of style difficulty, it's more of an "age" thing. I can kick well over my head now though. The methods of stretching would make a medieval dungeon keeper wince.
Ok, going to bed now. Sound sleep is assured!
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