Long Day's Work

This post will be brief; I have to wake up at 5:30AM tomorrow for another clinic, so forgive its length.

Today was another clinic day, our second in a row. Today we went to a school about an hour out from Hanoi. On the bus ride there, the scenery outside was quite a sight to behold: an amalgam of country living and city life. On one side, you could see a farm with crops, tractors, and even cows, and on the other you would see modern buildings and many, many mopeds. It was an interesting parallel, on the left the country and the right the city, and seeing this helped me to realize that the Vietnam I had been experiencing for the past couple days was not the whole story. I napped on the way there and awoke when we arrived at the school we would use as our clinic. The rooms were more rundown and smaller than the ones yesterday, so the work was much more cramped and, despite the cool weather, hot hot hot. The sanitation machine I am in charge of, the autoclave, uses water to heat instruments to make them safe for patient use. Therefore, my station is overwhelmingly hot and almost unbearable at times. But seeing the patients reminds me what I am doing. Today, all our patients were children. At the beginning of the day, the rundown room seemed to be holding up well, but after lunch, it became apparent its size would soon present a problem. The power surged, and apparently all the surrounding area lost power. Luckily, the power returned within 45 minutes, allowing us to return to work. However, the break in work had allowed patients to stack up, and we quickly fell behind. The power surged again, this time causing a small fire in the outlet near my station. Dazed, hot, and exhausted, I had no clue there was an actual fire within 10 feet of me. It was taken care of quickly and we returned to work. The schedule said we would be done with the clinic at 3:00PM. We finished all our patients at around 6:30PM. Exhausted, we returned home.

The older Vietnamese team members have all taken to me because of my good work ethic and kind and friendly personality. They strike up conversations with me and help me practice my Vietnamese which is getting better everyday!

Going to bed. More insightful posts to come when I have more energy. Having the time of my life!