Quinine shots, sugar cookies and lots of laughs...

Bonjour friends and family!! I hope that the title of this particular blog has caught your attention. It sums up my day pretty nicely. I woke up today and went to the clinic. Today was my first day to actually be an active participant in the clinical activities, so my assignment was the pharmacy. My job was to fill prescriptions and to give shots when prescribed as treatment. So that is what I did. I filled plastic bags with a variety of different meds. Much of them were for treating malaria. All the shots that I gave were for malaria. Quinine, the main drug used, act as a fever reducer, since malaria causes such high fevers. So I gave the shots to some very cute, sad, children. I could say that it was fun, but that would not be the right thing to say. I do not enjoy giving shots, however, I do love the medical field and being able to do exercise that in some form was very satisfying. I also was able to see Dr. Bledsoe work on a man's hand. He had got it caught in some sort of machinery and it had cut off two of his fingers. He went to the hospital and had it stitched up but the stitches and stitching were not done very well and it was infected. The infection had actually even killed some of the skin which is not good news. It was very interesting. I felt bad for the poor guy though he was in a lot of pain. After the eventful morning at the clinic we walked back to the house, (by the way walking here is as common as eating, and somehow because I am here I don't mind it at all, wish it was this easy to exercise in the states!) had a delicious lunch and then started on the next project. As you all know tomorrow is the fourth of July and the missionaries here always get together and do something special. The tradition includes games and lots of American food. So this afternoon we had to make that food for tomorrow since tomorrow morning we will be busy in the clinic. So me and a couple of the other interns here made sugar cookies. They were from scratch of course, the only option here, and they turned out great!! It was a lot of fun to just hang out and get to know them better. Tonight we had a lecture with Dr. Bledsoe. We will meet like twice a week for him to lecture on different tropical diseases. Tonight he talked about the anti-retroviral drugs given to HIV/AIDS patients. Very complicated, interesting stuff! Anyway, it has been a busy day, wrapped up by playing a board game with the missionaries and laughing a lot because we are all really tired. Please keep Bernie and Kellie Bledsoe in your prayers. They are the missionaries I am working with and they do so much here. They give so much and it really is exhausting just to watch them. I have tried to help and be a help as much as I can. Their son Isaac is from here and he is adorable and so much fun to play with. Anyway, I am rambling at this point... I need to go to bed. Enjoy the pics. a sample smattering from the day. Happy Early fourth of July!!! Love and miss you all!!! Me