I simply cannot believe that there is less than three weeks before I leave Tabuk, it is completely surreal. But before I go into those crazy emotions here is a description of my last few weeks. This is perhaps one of the longest blog In the making as I started writing it after Christmas.
Christmas and New Years
So thus passes my third Christmas and New years in the Philippines. Sadly Christmas day passed without my snapping one photo, part of that is due to the fact that I can only use the clinic camera since my own is having battery issues. Hence why my photos have been few and far between.
after we put up our Christmas tree
As usual I missed the snow, my family and mince meat tarts. I did however make butter tarts again this year, thanks to my friend Keri who got my over two pound of lard in Bagio city, (one cannot find lard in Tabuk). When she brought it home several months ago I was so excited I could only just stare at it! The quantify allowed me to make over five dozen butter tarts. Which were very easily consumed by all personal they encountered. The first batch was made Christmas eve when we had a baking gathering at Georgia’s and I introduced them to the Americans who had never tried them (they are a Canadian thing) while Georgia and I ate our butter tarts our senses were filled of Christmas past and the Americans were awed by Christmas present and all of us had positive thought of Christmas future. That’s the power of butter tarts people.
The second batch I made on boxing day and as I pulled them from the oven I nearly fell over with the sense of being in the Aveley Kitchen with my mama beside me while we baked like mad for the holidays. Okay that’s enough about butter tarts! But I am really people butter tarts does something to the soul.
Boxing day Butter tarts
Christmas day was a really great day. I was up pretty much all night Christmas eve as I was on shift and there was a labour, so I read my novel and watched the clock hit midnight and allowed myself to get sentimental about Christmas day and thinking how neat that I was watching over a woman in labour on the day we celebrate the birth of Christ. When my shift ended at 7 a.m. I allowed myself two hours of blessed sleep. I then awoke and started on the stuffing for the chicken while Ellora made cinnamon roles and Keri and her friends headed to church. (I know, I know Vienna the PK didn’t attend church on Christmas day, granted I had the excuse). Half way through washing the chicken I was called to help with the labour in the clinic as the time had come for her baby to be born and they needed an extra person. So before lunch time on Christmas day a very chubby “little” (as in she was actually a 9 pounder) entered the world on that cold Christmas day which really was quite cold and windy.
After the birth excitement I stuffed the chicken had a cinnamon roll which was Delicious, Ellora and I had lunch in the now quite living quarter. We weren’t complaining; I am only 24 years old but I can appreciate the stillness of a place and relish it.
I allowed myself to rest for a wee bit and then I was on shift again, but due to the fact that everything is in one building it was easy to go from upstairs to downstairs as needed. All the volunteers got together and cooked a Christmas dinner complete with a ham, chicken and stuffing, sweet potatoes casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans and Christmas punch. It’s the one time of year here where I allow myself to splurge and buy Welches grape juice. There is also one place in Tabuk where you can buy Canada dry Ginger ale (actually I should say there WAS a place to buy it as I bought the last two) we added those two things together and ta-da my childhood Christmas punch, when I drank it I had vivid images of my daddy.
We ate like Kings, it was so good, we then sat and watched the first half of the Fellowship of the Ring. We ended the evening with communion.
The next morning after I had the privilege of getting a full nights sleep I managed to track down a place with decent internet and was able to skype my family. It was so wonderful to see and hear their faces. Its hard to believe I will see them shortly.
So I guess that brings us to New Years. This year I was invited by Anie one of the Filipina midwives here and my friend, to come home with her and visit her family. We took a van to Tuguagaro where we went grocery shopping, in order to make yummy things for the holiday, and then got another van to take us to her home town. The trip was longer than usual cause it took us an hour and twenty minutes just to get out of Tugaugaro, (which usually only takes about 5 minutes, but the Holiday traffic was horrendous!!!! you’d think we were in Manila!!!
Anyway we arrived in the evening, in time to attend part of the program they hand in her Barangay that night, we didn’t stay too long just long enough for us to get in on some traditional dancing with gongs and all, which is always fun. And of course I had to introduce myself and they wanted me to sing so I did the go-to and sang Amazing Grace (introducing and singing is a normal thing to do for visiting foreigners)
The next day was spent with visitors, cooking and eating. We were so tired by 9 pm that I went and rested and wasn’t sure I was going to make it to midnight, it was the first time since I was about 8 years old that I thought I wasn’t going to have enough energy to make it till the new year. But a little before midnight Anie and I peered out the door to watch what fireworks we were able to spot. As the clock struck midnight, noise erupted throughout the village and I was struck with this immense awe of how people all around us were celebrating the hopes of a new year. Anie gave me a hug with the words “Happy New Year Vienna, I love you.” And I really did feel loved.
The next day I went to church, the service was great and the worship lively. Again, I sang a song, this time it was “the more I seek you” which went pretty well considering I get pretty nervous singing solo to a group of stranger and I often get off key. We spent a good portion of the afternoon visiting people and eating traditional Filipino Christmas food. When we returned to the house I rested for a bit then started work on the pizzas which we were planning to try and cook over an open fire. I also ate some delicious Graham cake, which just take my word for it, is one of the best desserts ever! Before the pizzas were cooked some friends of Anie came and we all went out for a drive where we visited more people and ended up eating some more, (by this time we were eating to be polite) then we returned to Anie’s place but on our way up the hill we were invited to eat at a neighbor’s house who were having a massive gathering for the birthday of their one year old son. So we went and ate MORE! By the time we got back to the house, there was no way I could eat pizza I hadn’t felt that full in a long time and I had to make a cup of ginger tea and sit in the doorway to get some fresh air. But it was all fun and I am so glad I got to go with Anie to visit her family and have massive amounts of food and all!
Woes of a midwife
Okay so maybe this next section is going to look like complaining and may even be TMI, however as a whole I think its kind of interesting since things like this seem to becoming somewhat of habit for me and I actually find it rather humerous despite the mass amount of discomfort. So here it goes, the woes of a midwife…..
Back in December, I broke my baby toes…Yes that is right, it wasn’t even a great story, I was in the clinic with a patient during her prenatal visit. I got up from my seat walked around the desk and slammed by toe into the outside door frame (which was swung open) I figured I just stubbed it, but then I was praying with the patient and I could barely get through the prayer because my baby toe started hurting like crazy and I was think “what is going on?!” so after I got through the prayer and the pregnant woman went on her way I looked down at my two and sure enough it looked a little off, you know kind of crooked and it hurt like crazy, so we are all pretty sure it broke. I didn’t bother going to the Dr. because, you know, it’s a two, and they can’t really do anything anyway. So Georgia suggested I take Ketorilac to get me through the shift….oh my goodness I guess I am hypersensitive to certain drugs cause it pretty much knocked me out, and I was in this daze for the rest of shift. It was so bad that Georgia said I should probably just lay down after lunch.
Later that day Ellora acted as my nurse and splinted the thing for me.
But my tow ended up being the least of my worries. Around the same time my boils decided to return. Have any of you experienced boils? Okay maybe you are thinking this is TMI but people need to know about this, you know when they talk in the Bible about boils, and you’re like “okay boils I guess that would suck,” No people, they are terrible!! one big boil pretty much put my entire right arm out of service, and there is no pain killer that stops it, cause it hits the nerve and there is little that one can do. I did find that tylanol with codene dulled the pain.
So here I am laying on my bed with boils in my under arm (actually it was only one big boil) and a broken toe and I wanted to laugh because it was really kind of funny. For the first time since being here I actually had to ask to take a shift because I was completely useless. It was all very sad. anyway my toe healed nicely (it is even nice and straight thanks to Ellora’s splinting) and the boils finally healed after everyone prayed for me and I gave up trying to get rid of them naturally and opted for the antibiotics. It all healed just in time too because the morning that I was feeling better and could actually move my upper arm I was able to attend a birth of one the patients I have been with since her first prenatal check up. So I was very thankful for that. Anyway maybe that grossed ya’ll out but it was so interesting and humnerouse….you know in painful funny kind of thing. That I thought I’d just go ahead and share it.
Here’s to January!
So this brings us to January. Ellora and I spent four days in Bugnay a few weeks ago, it was so nice to just go the peaceful village and forget about all the stressful items that needed attention. We visited the falls that are above the village and wow is it beautiful, you can pretty much walk right up to them. We spent many hours just reading novels. We visited our friends that reside in the village and one day went to the city of Bontoc to visit the museum which we only saw part of last time we were there. As always the trip ended too soon and we headed back.
We went to the church anniversary celebration in the village of Pakak a week ago. They had the traditional dancing where the men play the gongs and the women dance alongside them. Its so much fun, and we actually danced enough that my arms were getting sore (there is a lot of arm movement). I just found it so amazing to see and partake in dancing rituals that the people here having been doing for hundreds and hundreds of years, and now they are doing to celebrate Jesus and the church. Its such a great thing to be a part of.
January is our last full month in Tabuk. I have less than 3 weeks left with these midwives and friends…. at least for now. The emotions are not easy to decipher. How does one say goodbye to the people you have been living, working and playing with for the last two and half years? How does one say goodbye to a culture that has been familiar and get ready to re-enter an old one? I think there are very few answers to these questions perhaps the best being, God will guide, but I am not expecting any of it to be easy in fact it isn’t easy, there have been so many “lasts” lately The other day I bought a large tube of toothpaste. That night when I went to brush my teeth, I just stared at it and realized that it would probably be the last tube of tooth paste that I would buy in the Philippines. There are moments when I feel like my heart is been pierced at the thought of saying goodbye and where tears are near the surface. The other day we when were in Bugnay for the last time my heart felt as if it might break. There are other moments however where I am eager to see my family and be among the sheep again. I look forward to eating mutton, having hot baths and playing with my nieces and nephew.
So that pretty much beings us up to date. In three weeks time Ellora and I plan to depart from Tabuk and travel to Manila, There we plan to spend a week each at two ministries that serve women in need. We heard about these ministries a while back and are hoping to be able to experience some of what they do. On March 3rd we fly to Tokyo where we visit a friend of mine and that is where Ellora and I will part ways…for now. We each will take a separate plane to our countries and begin the next chapter of our lives. If all goes as planned I will be back in Vavenby by my 25th birthday
I am hoping to get one more blog post complete before we leave the country however considering how long it took me to get this one written I better not make any promises :)
Please pray for both Ellora and I as we prepare to depart in a few short weeks, prayers for our emotional state and the ability to complete all things that need to be completed
As always please pray for the clinic and all who come through the doors
You can also be praying for our internships and although I am not worried I know my parents are a little nervous about their baby girl being in Manila as a volunteer for a two weeks so you might as well pray for our safety and my parents peace of mind
Love you all!!!
teaching at the labour and delivery seminar about the first stage of labour.
