blessed

Yet another few days have come and gone. Our excitement has begun to transform into exhaustion. BUT we still feel blessed by every day we have been given here and every experience presented to us.

Chinese New Year...what is there to say?! For these people, New Year's Eve is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year, and the 4th of July all mixed into one. Sonya and I were met by Dr. Lai and his son at our dorms and they drove us the 3-4 minutes to their home to spend New Year's Eve their family. Both Dr. Lai's mother and mother-in-law live in the home with the family. He was quick to point out how very different this is from families in the United States, as we tend to place our loved ones in nursing homes. Dr. Lai, however, has two young Indonesian "house workers" in his home. They virtually act as cooks, housekeepers, and caregivers to the elders in the home. But the love and appreciation these people have for the elders of the family is relevant, evident, and, quite frankly, beautiful. Although we may not take it to the extreme of ancestral worship as these people do, I think Americans could learn a thing or two about the respect these people have for the patrons and matrons of the family. Many of the family members that arrived (about 15 people, in all) were not introduced and did not speak English but seemed interested in the 2 blonds in their home. One of Dr. Lai's brothers was very eager to help Sonya and I learn new Chinese words, eat Chinese food, and play traditional Chinese games. This same brother is married to the nurse manager in the MICU so I had met her 2 days prior to the New Year. It was nice to see a familiar face. This brother and sister-in-law have a 5-year-old son whose chubby little face and high-pitched voice provided the entertainment for the night, despite a language barrier. As I have already said, being a vegetarian in this country is virtually impossible. I was fed fish balls, chicken ass (excuse my language, but that is the literal translation), cow stomach, pig foot, shark fin, cow tendon, and a few things that could not be translated for me. Dr. Lai's aunt is a great cook and worked in the kitchen throughout the whole meal, producing more dishes every 10 minutes or so. This is the reason I equate the New Year to Thanksgiving. I was STUFFED. Following the meal we went into the family room for tea and conversation. The tea here is unbelievable. The doctor and his wife and brother explained various teas to us, how they are grown, picked, prepared, and served and we were given cup after cup of the stuff. We were supposed to be delivered back to the dorms no later than 9pm because we were scheduled to work at 8am at the hospital and because the New Year in Taiwan is known as a night for drinking just as it is in the states. Yet, as 9:15 rolled around, Dr. Lai insisted we were having much too much fun and called Karen, the nurse who had hosted our professors for the night, and received permission to have us back by 10pm. Dr. Lai's wife works as a nurse for the government and she gave Sonya and I small red envelopes with two $10 NT coins in each. These were commemorative coins that are collectibles and considered particularly lucky. Then Dr. Lai presented us with red envelopes that had $600 NT in each (currently, currency exchange is about $30 NT to $1 US). Finally, we pulled out Majong, a popular Chinese game. We only had time for one round, but I am proud to say that I won. Before we knew it, it was about 10:30 so we were rushed out the door after pictures and another present of a big box of tea. Our professors, although slightly worried, were happy to see us arrived safely back at the dorms. Between all the tea that I had to drink, my too full belly, the excitement of the evening, and the incessant sound of fireworks erupting outside, it took a couple Benadryl for me to finally fall asleep.

The next morning, I groggily awoke late and quickly dressed only to walk downstairs with my Uggs on. Silly me. Everyone in the group had to wait in the lobby while I ran back upstairs to put some proper tennis shoes on. Needless to say, I was a little tired. I spent my first day in the Emergency Room with two wonderful nurse preceptors. They explained that on New Year's Day the Emergency Room is often very busy. Although the people do not celebrate Valentine's Day on the 14th, they knew that it was Valentine's Day for me and the nurses jokingly lined up a few dates for me with the young ER doctors. I was able to hook-up and read a couple 12-lead EKGs, witness some skillful IV insertions, perform an enema, and many more pleasant things :) A man arrived complaining of shortness of breath and dry cough and his x-ray showed a substantial amount of fluid in his right lung. Unluckily for him but lucky for me, I watched as the doctor inserted a "pigtail" into his chest. This is a type of chest tube drain that, after insertion and removal of the stent, curls up into what looks on an x-ray to be a pigtail (go figure). Lovely yellow fluid immediately began to poor out and, after about 800mL, was cut off because of fear that the draining of too much fluid too fast could cause harm. Also exciting to see was an older couple, presenting to the ER with severe dog bites. Their large dog had gotten into a fight with another dog and, of course, they tried to break the fight up. Without success. The husband was covered in blood and the dog had nearly bit clear through his hand where the webbing is between his right thumb and forefinger. The wife was less lucky. Although her wounds were smaller, she had suffered an open fracture on her right thumb. I watched as the physician cleaned both wounds. He then injected a local anesthetic to the woman's thumb and roughly cleaned then asked her to flex and extend to ensure that the tendon was still in tact. Fortunately, it was. Since dog bites are unclean and her break was severe enough, she will be admitted to the hospital for about 5 days so they can continue to cleanse the wound. Neither will have their bites sewn up for 5-7 days to ensure that the wounds are clean. The ER doctor laughed at the fact that the Taiwanese are careless people and never wear gloves; whereas, in America, he noticed we wear gloves for EVERYTHING. To add to that, the people here have a significant fear of respiratory illness. As a result, everyone wears masks everywhere all the time. Present a Chinese nurse with blood or pus, urine or feces, she won't typically even bother with gloves. A little saliva and two pairs of gloves and a mask are on before you can blink an eye. Another highlight to my day were more red envelopes. Although this is a huge holiday, a lot of people will work on New Year's Day because all the big wigs in the hospital come around with red envelopes for employees and if you aren't working, you don't get one. I received an envelope from one of the Superintendents of the hospital and one from the ER Department Head...$700 NT total. I made out like a bandit in less than 24 hours. After 6 hours in the ER, I snapped a few pictures with my sweet nurses and returned to the dorms. On Sunday evening we simply relaxed. We celebrated Alona's birthday with cake, candy, and presents. Then we just napped, caught up on homework, watched movies, and made fresh steamed veggies and grilled chicken for dinner in our tiny kitchen on the 6th floor. Fireworks were going off, of course, from the time it go dark until late into the night.

Today we had the day off. Five of us went down to the movie theater, grabbed coffee, then saw the movie Valentine's Day; in English with Chinese subtitles, mind you. The theater is located on the 4th flood of a small department store so we walked through that department store and the larger one right next door. At 3:50 the other half of our group met us on the sidewalk of the smaller department store because...drumroll, please...we had reservations at the Chili's located on the 2nd floor. The pastor from Taipei International Church and his wife also met us for dinner. After Chili's chips and salsa and a quesadilla explosion salad, my tummy was happy. We then walked with Pastor Kim and Stephanie to their 2-story apartment about 10 minutes from the restaurant. There they told us about their ministry and Stephanie, a dietitian, told us about a special study she had done about culture and diet. We watched a short video their son had made when they were working and living in the Philippines. This couple has been doing missions work for 16 years. Six years in Africa, 4 in the Philippines, and they are now in their 6th year in Taiwan. We felt at home in their cute little apartment. Stephanie made us homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream and chocolate chip cookies. My oh my. It was delightful! We prayed for them and said our goodbyes and they graciously sent us home with the leftover cookies. We then made our 30 minute or so walk back to the health building. After a game and devotions, we returned to our rooms to quickly finish some homework and catch up on emails.

Fireworks can still be heard outside. Most of the shops were closed today and will be closed for the rest of the week in celebration of the New Year. Clearly, it is a very exciting time.

It's after midnight here and I am tired. I will be back in the ER tomorrow and we leave for a 4 day trip to Southern Taiwan on Wednesday so the rest of this week should fly by.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! And Happy Chinese New Year!

fearfully and wonderfully made

A lot has happened in the past couple of days! I hardly know where to begin.

I suppose I can start off by sharing about the Shilin Night mMarket. This was QUITE the experience. We were told to keep our belongings close, stay in small groups, and prepare for a crowded place where thieves are rampant. Perhaps I am too naive but there wasn't a moment where I felt frightened. As a matter of fact, I have felt safe throughout this entire trip. Even the other night when a group of us got lost. I suppose I just look at times like these as adventures. Getting lost and finding our way on our own was a part of our adventure. Back to the market story...the Shilin Night Market is famous and we quickly found out why. We took the MRT from Mingde Station to Shilin Station and before we even walked out of the train station we could see that the streets and sidewalks were jam packed full of people. First we crossed to a sort of restaurant section, covered with a pseudo roof under which dozens upon dozens of small restaurants were set up. Food is prepared right out in the open. Most stands did not have seating. Every few feet, the scent of the air changed. Talk about sensory overload. I found something particularly interesting during this time...as we walked by one stand, Julie, my nurse preceptor from the first day pointed out a stand and explained they were preparing a type of Chinese medicine. She said "Yuck! It smells like medicine". But I LOVED the smell. Clearly, all humans associate certain scents with different things. What smelled like gross medicine to her was a whole new smell to me that I found beautiful. After quickly walking through the rows and rows of chicken skewers, Chinese jell-o, and starfruit, we came out to be greeted with the most gigantic piece of fried chicken and a milk tea. The chicken, although I could have never finished it, was delicious...it was the famous Two Peck chicken that we had tried a couple days prior, but in different form. As we were standing enjoying our snacks, two groups of teenage girls approached us and asked for a picture with me. I am not entirely sure who they thought I was but it was sweet how shy they were. Julie told me I should start charging money for my photograph and autograph. A large group of nurses (and their families) joined us on our jaunt so as to help us barter and, most importantly, to keep any of us from getting lost. Alicia, Laura, and I were joined by my buddy Julie; Sammy, one of the head nurses, and her husband and two young sons; and finally, McDreamy, as we so lovingly named him. You see, this cardiologist in his late twenties is the youngest Assisting physician in the hospital and Julie explained to us that all the nurses at Cheng Hsin are in love with him. He was the doctor that explained the catheterization on the new machine to me my first day in the hospital. Julie teased me the whole time saying that the only reason he came was because he thought I was cute. But that is neither here nor there. There is no possible way to explain the Night Market. One has to experience it for themselves. Essentially, it is ally after intersecting ally of tiny shop after tiny shop. None of the stores have doors. The entrances are as wide as the stores themself and people walk in and out of this busy place with ease. McDreamy told us that if you come during the day, it is almost completely abandoned. Most of the stores were filled with clothing, shoes, or jewelry. I bought an adorable pair of flats for less than 12 American dollars and then Julie convinced McDreamy to buy each of us a scarf. Our guides explained that every night market begins with a temple. Down one of the allies we found a small Buddhist Temple and we were told that once a temple is built, people begin selling food around the temple, and it eventually spreads like wildfire until, a few decades later, it becomes what we saw the other night. After a couple hours of walking we met at Shilin Station again to take the train back home. We arrived back at the dorms after 9pm. It was my turn to share for devotions and, although slightly underprepared, it went alright.

On Thursday and Friday I moved over to the Medical Intensive Care Unit which is on the same floor as the Surgical Intensive Care Unit where I had spent my two prior days. Chou, my nurse, was amazing. My patient was a 79-year-old Chinese man who came into the hospital about 3 months ago because of a pressure sore he had developed on his coccyx (tailbone). Shortly after admission, he developed aspiration pneumonia. He had to be placed on a mechanical ventilator and was transferred to the ICU as he worsened. He also has Type 2 Diabetes, chronic renal failure, hypertension, and a slew of other conditions. Chou explained to me that his EKG has twice shown ventricular tachycardia, resulting in her having to perform CPR and defibrillation...yes, I said TWICE. I was glad it didn't occur while I was there. Although he could not communicate, he nodded slightly when Chou asked permission for me to be there and he slowly reached out his hand to hold my own. I was able to do a lot with Chou that I had not had the opportunity to do in other settings. She explained everything she did and why, making my days there amazing learning experiences.

Friday morning, upon arrival to the hospital at 8am, we were told that a heart at the Veteran's Hospital in Taipei had just become available and that at about 10am we would be able to watch a heart transplant. I spent the first 2 hours with Chou on the MICU and then eagerly met my colleagues to change into scrubs and enter the OR. The Cardiology department now has a brand new, state of the art, gorgeous niche of the hospital with several operating rooms. So new, in fact, that they just opened on Monday! When we first arrived, they were prepping the patient, so we went next door where another cardiac surgeon was performing a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). While the physician's assistant was harvesting the patient's vein that the doctor had just removed, he busted out the whiteboard to explain to us the details of a CABG. He then told us what would occur during the transplant and then calmly excused himself, explaining that he needed to complete his surgery. It was surreal. We were then divided into a couple groups and were able to move between operating rooms. First, I watched the beginning of the heart transplant. Three surgeons and one nurse stood over the patient as they opened his chest wall and hooked him up to the bypass machine. As I stood and watched I could not help but think how gorgeous the blood flowing out of his body, through the machine, and back in was. I think God likes the color red. Although it was one of the smaller rooms, at one point there were over 15 people in the OR at once. I then moved over to stand on a stool above the head of the bed of the patient receiving the CABG. The doctor, again, explained as he went. To sew on the vein, he used the smallest suture I have ever seen. It was one of the most delicate, complex, and beautiful things I have ever experienced. The OR nurse preceptor grabbed a few of us again and brought us into the angiography room. They had just received the new heart and needed to see how well it functioned before they transplanted it. An angiogram utilizes x-ray to test the patency of the blood vessels and chambers of the heart. The x-ray picks up short video clips as a contrast medium is injected into the heart. Although the donor was older and a smoker, it was a beautiful, healthy heart. In the time it took for us to remove our led vests, a doctor had returned to the angiography room with the old heart. The patient needing the transplant had diabetic cardiomyopathy so his old heart was about 3 times the size of his new one. We all put on gloves and handled his still-warm organ. Even more wild than the fact that it was still warm, was the fact that, although it was no longer in his body, electrical impulses were still being transmitted. In essence, his heart would still occasionally attempt to beat. It moved like it had a mind of it's own. Wild! We were then all invited to return to the operating room where the transplant was occurring and remained there until almost 3pm. We watched as they attached valves, arteries, veins, and nodes; shocked the heart; and, quite violently, shook the patient to remove air from his heart. One of the most amazing things that I learned from this procedure was how they get the heart to stop and start. After removed from the deceased patient, they insert a cardioplegic solution; essentially, freezing cold potassium. To get the heart to start beating again, it takes one simple thing...blood. Yes, just plain old blood and a heart will start pumping again all on it's own. How amazing!!! We truly are wonderfully made creatures.

After the procedure we all returned to the dorms to change for yet another amazing opportunity. We had a 4 o'clock appointment with the Ambassador of Nicaragua, you see. A day before, my classmate Laura was working in the Emergency Department when he arrived after injuring his knee. He explained to us that he immediately spotted her blonde hair and was thrilled to see an American nurse in Taiwan where he has been living for over 2 years. He and Laura chatted in the ER and he gave her his email address. She emailed him that night and he invited us to the embassy the following day. William Tapia is an adorable man in his 60s. Quite the engaging and charming fellow, he speaks 6 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, Spanish, and English. We were offered Nicaraguan coffee, cookies, and good conversation. At the end of our time with him, he offered each of us a packet of achievements of the country in the past few years (which he insisted was not propaganda), 2 brochures regarding travels to his beautiful country, and a square crystal for each of us engraved internally with the name and seal of the country.

Back at the dorms we were able to do laundry, clean, and even watch a movie! During devotions, we reflected back on our day and were all dumbfounded by what we had seen and done. We have been given opportunity after unbelievable opportunity. It's baffling. I don't think any of us have been able to fully grasp the magnitude of what has gone on in the short week since we have been here.

It is Saturday here and Lunar New Year's Eve!! Year of the TIGER! At 4pm, we will divide into groups of two to join various families for a New Year celebration in their homes. Sonya and I will be going to Dr. Lai's home. Dr. Lai is the Chief of the Neurology Department. Yes, this will be slightly intimidating but I do not doubt that their hospitality will make us feel welcome and I am sure our time will be wonderful. Our professors insisted they have us home by 9pm because we have to work in the morning. Nothing is open on New Year's Day and most nurses have the day off but we will be on duty in exchange for having Monday off. All I know is I am excited to be getting my red envelope. If you do not know, Chinese New Year is comparable to Christmas for Americans and elder people administer red envelopes to youngsters, such as ourselves. These red envelopes contain money :) I think it is a pretty smart tradition.

I apologize that this was so jumbled and disorganized. There is so much I want to say but my mind can't quite keep up. I know I am not doing my experiences or my emotions justice when attempting to type them out, but I am doing my very best.

I posted some photos on facebook last night but my computer kept shutting off as I was attempting to upload the 2nd album. I'll try to ad more...hope you enjoy. My computer is still having issues, unfortunately, so keep it in your prayers :) On that note, I need to retrieve my last load of laundry from the dryer.

A Grand Adventure

First off, I would like to apologize for not posting anything sooner. Not to say that you (the reader) are sitting next to your computer longingly awaiting my next blog about my experiences in Taiwan, but when the computer is virtually my only means of communication, I know that at the very least my parents are a bit apprehensive about my being away from home and enjoy hearing about the day-to-day. You see, my computer has been feeling a bit under the weather. A couple days after we arrived, it started misbehaving and simply shuts off all on its own about every 10 minutes or so. This is the longest it has stayed on so I decided to bravely attempt a post. If it turns off mid-post, I may cry, but I suppose I will get over it.

Alright, alright, I'll get on with it. Quite a lot has happened over the past few days. The night we arrived, as I said in my last blog, we enjoyed an amazing dinner with the superintendent of the hospital, along with several other physicians and vice superintendents, and a large portion of the nursing staff, including the director of the nursing department and her associate directors. This two hour dinner made us feel so welcome. The people, as I said before, are unbelievably hospitable and everyone seems thrilled to have us here. We exhaustedly had a devotional time and then went straight to bed.

On Saturday morning, a few nurses took us out on a walking tour of some of the city. They brought us down TianMu, the main road near the hospital and our residence. Everyone was thrilled to see the city. I, for one, have already taken a couple hundred photos. They showed us a few good restaurants and places to stop for Bubble Tea (which we have had every day since we've been here). We walked by Taipei American School, where Taipei International Church meets on Sunday mornings. Near the end of TianMu there is a large department store (much like Nordstrom) with a Chili's on the top floor. I'm sure I'll snag some Chili's chips and salsa at least once on this trip. There is a large movie theater next door to the department store which we plan on going to at some point during our stay. We walked back to the hospital where we enjoyed dinner at the Cheng Hsin Hospital's nursing home. Residents and their families were all in attendance as it was their lunar new year celebration.

After we returned from our walking tour and lunch, we had about a 10 minute break before the next group of nurses picked us up for yet another adventure. Apparently, a couple years back, a student was left at the train station by accident so, with about 6 nurses to guide the 10 flighty Americans, we headed to the MRT station in Mingde district. The train is a common form of transportation in Taipei and has been pretty much full on every ride we have taken thus far. The MRT took us to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall where we got off and toured the grounds of the museum commemorating the life of Taiwan's first president and national hero. This is particularly special for us, because Chiang Kai-Shek's wife, first lady Madame Chiang founded Cheng Hsin Rehabilitation Center for polio victims. The rehabilitation center has now expanded to become Cheng Hsin General Hospital. Although rehabilitation is still a big part of the hospital's work, Cheng Hsin now has a psychiatric ward, nursing home, obstetric department, pediatric department, emergency room, operating room, several med-surg and intensive care units and is renowned for it's Cardiology department. We then took the MRT from Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall to Shilin Station where we decided to take a little rest. Here we got "world famous" Two Peck fried chicken and iced lattes with tapioca balls. Yes, everyone, I partook of the chicken and, I must say, it was delicious. We then walked to the former official residence of Chiang Kai-Shek and Madame Chiang in Shilin. They lived on sprawling grounds that are still well-kept. The land is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, since we had missed our tour of their actuall home, we never got to see the inside. By the time we had walked the grounds, we were all exhausted, including the nurses leading the tour. So, they kindly decided to grab a few taxis to take back to the Health Building (where our dorms are). By this time, I think it was after 6 o'clock and, although exhausted, several of us decided to walk to the market we had shopped at earlier in the day. It was raining outside but the air was so warm that none of us minded in the least. After buying a few groceries we came back to the Health Building where we grabbed dinner from the cafe on the first floor. I had a tuna bagel and peppermint tea. So delicious. Then we shared devotions and went straight to bed.

Sunday morning, we met at 9:45 and walked to Taipei International Church, held on the 2nd level of the large American school in Taipei. The service started at 10:30 and we all had the opportunity to introduce ourselves. We felt very welcome and although the service was fairly traditional, I think everyone quite enjoyed it. After church, we walked to a dumpling restaurant that was recommended to us where the sweetest Taiwanese man, noticing our confused American faces, helped us place our orders while waiting for his own food. He explained that he lived in the US while getting his Master's Degree and that he was happy to help us because he had nothing better to do while he waited for his food. Most of the restaurants have menus in English, but unfortunately, this place didn't. I ordered shrimp dumplings. Apparently a shrimp dumpling in Taiwan equates to one piece of shrimp wrapped up with a whole bunch of pork. Hm...who would've thought. But I was starving so I didn't care. After scarfing down our food we quickly changed and met Jenny, the director of the nursing department at the hospital; Jenny's husband, Dr. Jo; and Dr. Tsai, the Deputy Superintendent. The 3 of them drove the 10 of us up to Yangmingshan Mountain in Beitou. The main reason for our visit up the mountain was to see the cherry blossom trees that are in bloom here. I was astounded by the view driving up the mountain. Taipei is a bowl at the base of gorgeous green hills. Quite distinct from the city, in the hills there is much open space. Much of the fertile soil is utilized for terrace farming. After driving up a windy two lane road (not much wider than 1 real lane) for about 35 minutes, we arrive at Yangming Park where we were given time to walk around on our own and take pictures for about an hour and a half. Dr. Jo bought a few of us gelato in the cafe and souvenir shop in the park. I had rock melon and guava gelato. I have no idea what a rock melon is, but it sure was delicious. After walking to another small park that had an unbelievable rooftop view and gorgeous cherry blossoms, we drove to a small town for a special dinner. I have never experienced anything like this in my life. There were 13 of us, total, and we sat at 2 separate tables but each table was provided with dish after dish after dish. About 12 dishes in all...from a whole bass fish, to spicy shrimp, to ginger and sweet potato soup, to bamboo shoots with pork. It seemed as though the food would never stop coming. After a couple meals that had been less than delicious, this meal more than made up for it. It was one of the best dinners I have ever eaten and we all ate until we were stuffed. Fat and happy, we left the restaurant to purchase some calla lilies from a street vendor before returning to the cars for the drive back down the mountain. Our final stop on our way home was a lookout spot. We could see the entire city, all lit up. We enjoyed oranges Jenny had purchased from a street shop while we captured pictures and took in the view. This was, by far, the best day. The funny thing is that we had requested Sunday afternoon off on our schedule, but Dr. Tsai insisted on taking us to the park and, although at first reluctant and a bit upset, we all walked away feeling exhausted while also feeling completely content and immensely blessed. Again, we arrived just in time for devotions, a shower, and bed.

Monday was our first day working at the hospital. From 8-10 we were provided with the condensed version of a tour of this enormous hospital. I was blown away by some of the rooms. For $300-600 more per day, a patient can have a hospital room comparable to a hotel suite...and I mean a NICE hotel sweet. From 10-2 we worked our first shift. Everyone rotates to different areas of the hospital. There are about 2 nurses in each unit that speak good enough English to be our preceptors and are willing to allow us to work alongside them during their shift. I started out on a Medical-Surgical floor that is specifically for patients with various cardiac conditions. Julie was my nurse preceptor and we had a blast together. I got the opportunity to speak with a patient that lived in Bellevue, WA for a short time. He was ecstatic when he found out there were female American nurses working in his hospital. He shared a few stories with me, including telling me the "REAL" story of how Seattle got it's name (ask me sometime...it's a good one). I then visited the echocardiography room. I witnessed two echos and the cardiologist that performed them took me back into the office to show me pictures and footage of various patient's hearts and explained to me their conditions and treatments. After giving me a printout of one patient's echo, he insisted I bring him some "green" next time to pay him for his services :) After lunch, we went downstairs to the area where the cardiac catheterization lab is located. This is also where the operating room is and where the cardiac intensive care unit is. Cheng Hsin just received a machine, much like an MRI machine, that uses a magnetic field to insert cardiac catheters. The doctors sit outside of the operating room, behind a slew of computers and use a mouse and a small keypad to direct the catheter and, in this case, perform an ablation for a patient with atrial fibrillation. This machine is the first in Taiwan and an American technician was there walking the doctors through the procedure. If I heard correctly, this was only the 2nd time they had used the equipment. Although the procedure was not yet finished, my shift was over so Julie walked me back to the 3rd floor. From 2-4pm everyday, we will meet as a group to discuss our day and have a short lecture. On Monday we were given a presentation by Joyce, one of the associate directors of the nursing department. We returned to the dorms and were given free time until devotions at 8pm.

Today and yesterday were the same as far as clinicals go. I was in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. My patient was a 51 year old male that suffered from a subdural hemmorhage (brain bleed) caused by a medication he was taking for a heart condition. They removed the right part of his skull on Monday to relieve intracranial pressure. He has a nice big bandage on the right side of his head indicating that there is a missing bone and he is very heavily sedated. It has been interesting to witness the medical practices in Taiwan. Although they practice very safe medicine, it is quite different from our own in a number of ways. Fenny, my nurse preceptor yesterday and today was very sweet and helpful. Yesterday afternoon, following our shift, we were given a short presentation and tour of the hearing center here at the hospital. They provide a school for young children who are deaf to prepare them for entry into kindergarten. Classes are setup sort of like interrogation rooms so that parents can watch their children and learn from the teachers without disturbing the class. We were able to watch part of a class session and, even though they were speaking Mandarin, I felt the excitement of each child's voice and loved looking into their beautiful little faces as they curiously walked past us in the hall. Today, instead of a post-clinical lecture, we attended a lecture at 7:30am given by the same doctor who did the echos on Monday. With physicians and nurse managers in attendance, the cardiologist gave a lecture regarding the current treatment for mitral valve regurgitation. Although a heavy topic early in the morning, we were provided with a delicious variety of Chinese pastries, tea, and coffee.

Our 2nd night here, Dot McKim (one of my professors) mentioned that she hoped this trip would plant seeds of desire in each of us to travel and witness and utilize our medical skills in other cultures. I immediately piped in, explaining that it took less than a day for that seed to be plopped down in my heart. I love this country and it's people and am excited for future opportunities to do more work here and all over the world.

So, here I am...that has been a small bit of my experience thus far. I promise I will never have another blog as longwinded as this one. My computer has yet to shut off on me! Hallelujah! I'm convinced it's because everyone prayed for my computer last night after devotions. I know it sounds silly and petty, but I think God wants me to keep in touch with friends and family as much as I want to. I'll be sure to post some pictures now that they have all downloaded onto my computer.

Day 1...or 2...?

Our flight left Seattle at 12:50am on Thursday the 4th and we arrived in Taipei at 5:30am on Friday the 5th. I took a few children's Benadryl on the flight and for about 7 hours straight I couldn't open my eyes. Just kept waking up uncomfortable, changed positions, and fell right back asleep. If you ever get the opportunity to fly EVA Air, do it. Free headphones and slippers, personal tv, tons of leg room, and amazing french toast :) After such a long flight, I left with cankles and puffy feet (not as bad as yours after the India flight though, Britt). Taipei City is about a 45 minute drive from the airport. Our accommodations are amazing. We are staying in a dorm-like building right next to Cheng Hsin, the hospital we will be working at 5 days a week for the next month. We have big 2-person rooms and bathrooms with a shared living room and small kitchen on every floor. The 5th and 6th floors (which we are staying on) are occupied by physicians and single nurse managers with other floors housing recovering mothers post-delivery, families of patients, and so on. The people have thus far been unbelievably hospitable. They prepared breakfast for us and stocked each room with Chinese goodies. After a brief orientation, we were given a short break to unpack followed by a 2 hour jaunt around the city. The street markets are a sight to behold...the scents are tantalizing. I wanted to eat at every single cute little restaurant we passed on our walk. After grabbing a few essentials from the 7/11 next door, we are back in our rooms for a rest and a much needed shower. We are attending a welcome reception from 4-6 tonight with the hospital administrators, physicians, nurses, etc. and will be receiving our "first real Chinese meal" as one of our amazing hostesses told us. The drive from the airport was amazing. I wish I had been able to take more photographs. Taiwan is a very very beautiful, green, tropical place. The rice paddies and fields are surrounded by green hills. The area in which we are staying is considered the "ritzy" part of Taiwan but amongst new, beautiful buildings are even more old buildings. The country and the city are equally beautiful and have an almost magical feel to them. It's warm, humid, smoggy, and bustling with people and I LOVE it.

The best surprise for us was that each person was provided their own ethernet cord and connection so all my worries about not having internet access were washed away. Unfortunately, however, facebook seems to be inaccessible so it seems as though there are some people I won't be able to communicate with using that route. All in all, I'm already in love with this place and it's people.

More to come, but for now, it's naptime.

Off to the ROC

It is mind-blowing to think that in about 14 hours I will be boarding a plane for Taiwan. I have to leave for the airport in less than 11 hours and I have yet to start packing. Surprise surprise. I am going to try my best to update this as often as possible (primarily for the sake of my parents) but I don't yet know what the internet situation will look like or how much time I will have. In addition, I tend to get bored with this sort of thing (that's why I don't journal) but I'll do my very best to update at least every few days. 

I'll begin by explaining why I named my blog as I did. Around the end of the 16th century, when the first western ship passed an unknown island in the Pacific, a Dutch navigator on a Portuguese boat exclaimed, "Ilha Formosa", which means "Beautiful Island". The name "Formosa" became the official title of the country we now know as Taiwan.

Taiwan is just off of the east coast of China. Original inhabitants were of Malay-Polynesian descent but those aborigines make up only a small part of the country's population today. Influences made by the Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese discovery of the island can still be seen today.

From what I know, the people are hospitable beyond belief and will keep us busy night and day. A month is a long time but I have no doubt that this will be an unbelievable opportunity to grow and learn and I am so thrilled and blessed to have the chance to be a part of an adventure like this one.

Yesterday I printed out my nursing license application. As I was walking to my car with the document in my hand it suddenly hit me that I am an adult. I will mail the application out today and, in a few short months, I will be a registered nurse. (It's okay, mom...don't be sad...) The past 3 1/2 years have flown by and I know that this finally semester is going to do the same. 

Despite the 16 hour time difference, I will do my best to keep in touch as often as possible. If you don't have Skype, get it! 

I appreciate your love, thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement. Better get to packing!