Sweet Seasons

This week I:

Witnessed a conversion "into Jesus Christ's arms, away from the lazy devil", some of the conversion spoken in tongues. All that much more impressive for one of the key parties holding a chihuahua in their lap throughout and it being 2:45 on a Tuesday afternoon.  In a laundromat.

Reunited with spinning after a summer apart.  I love spinning primarily for the fact that it regularly leaves me so out of breath I am unable to summon enough air to suck water through the sport cap of my water bottle.  The pool of sweat under my bike when I'm done doesn't hurt either. 

Love, love, love fall-themed coffee/tea drinks.

Reintroduced my beloved red down vest back into my wardrobe in honor of fall's entrance.  I paid $24.50 for this (children's) vest in the fall of 2004.  I estimate that I wear this vest at least 100 days out of the year.  That would make this vest probably the best investment ever at 5 cents/wear.  4 cents by the end of this fall/winter.

Quickly traded my vest for ice cream when a hard core Indian summer hit town.  Love Captain Softee.

The Union Square farmer's market also couldn't figure out what season it was supposed to be.  Summer?

Fall?

Got a new fish to replace the one that, uh, went to the big fishbowl in the sky while I was in Africa.  Thanks, Jaime, see if I let YOU fish-sit again.  Just kidding.

I took Eskimo along on this trip to Petco and decided as long as I was in the area I should just go to Bed Bath and Beyond for something I needed.  They allow dogs...as long as they ride in the cart.  Eskimo loves this.  Not.  It's pretty embarrassing for all of us involved.

Crossed the Verrezano Bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island...

...to eat in Shira's family's Sukkah (outside hut) for Sukkot (a Jewish harvest festival, more or less).  Ate an appalling amount of dessert, courtesy of the dessert reception Shira's parent's had hosted for her dad's congregation earlier in the day.

Was allowed to give the flu vaccine to a series of unsuspecting patients at my community health clinic.  Nobody cried, so I consider the endeavor a success.

Met with a professor of mine who I am helping to put together a "Global Issues in Women's Health" course.  I'm advocating for a class with three main parts.  First, understanding where money for women's health issues comes from and how politics affect that in the United States (and therefore how your vote can impact a woman's access to reproductive health services in another country).  Second, key issues in women's health (including safe childbearing, access to reproductive health services, fistulas, HPV vaccine and cervical cancer, reducing FGM and other harmful practices, violence against women, and HIV).  Third, what people can taking this class can do to advocate for and participate in improving women's health at a global level, ie frameworks for change.  And of course the complex, overarching issues that affect women's health, like economics, religion, literacy, and women's rights.  I think a lot of nursing students are aware of these issues on some level, but I am hoping this class will give them the details they need to make them truly aware and involved.

Did two prenatal visits with doula clients who are due in November.  They're both first time mothers and very aware and informed, but realistic--awesome to work with.  I'm excited to be at their births.

A Tornado Hits Brooklyn

This week I:

Saw Chris Noth (Mr. Big from Sex and the City) walking down the street by Union Square.  It would have been cooler if he hadn't been using almost exclusively cuss words.  He'd like his &$^&* deposit back, apparently.

Had a tornado.

There's a car under that tree in the last picture.

Started my triathlon training class.  I'm hoping that taking a class will compensate for the fact that I didn't get my mom's swimming genes.  I'm looking for a triathlon to do this spring, and am taking suggestions.

Saw this sticker on the guardrail of the parking lot at the White Caste, which I walk through to get to the subway from my apartment.  I don't know who the creator had in mind, but I think it works for the Marty family, too.

Visited P.S. 1, the Museum of Modern Art's cooler Queens branch.  It's, as its name suggests, in an old public school, and all the galleries are in the old classrooms, which gives it a very different vibe than most art museums. 

It also has an awesome outdoor space.

Had my first paying postpartum doula job.   It's amazing to me that the very people who should be promoting breastfeeding (pediatricians, maternity nurses) are derailing it from day 1.  We spent a lot of the time helping get mom and baby back on track after the baby had received several bottles in the hospital nursery and not received much breastfeeding support.  See?  It isn't just Africa. They'll do fine, though.

Rules of New York #437:  If you take the L train after 10 pm, especially on a weekends, there will be at least one insanely obnoxious group in your car.  Their obnoxious-ness will be directly proportional to your exhausted-ness.  An out of tune, drunken version of Lean on Me at 1 am is NOT CUTE. EVER. Especially if you've been hanging out with a newborn baby all day.  See: postpartum doula job.

Had my first Leadership clinical for school.  It's at a hospital in the boondocks of Long Island, which involves leaving my home at 4 am to get to via public transportation for 7 am report.  I think it will be worth it though, because the hospital is totally different from the Manhattan and Brooklyn hospitals I've been in so far.  The nurses are way nicer.  I'm on a cardiac care step-down unit (one step down from intensive care).

Wandered around Long Island City, Queens for my community nursing clinical project, which involves doing a community assessment for the community the clinic we are working in is located.  It's a giant and diverse neighborhood, with massive subsidized housing developments just down from condominiums with multimillion dollar units, and galleries alternating with abandoned warehouses.

Missed Africa, so dragged my friends to eat Ethiopian with me at Queen of Sheba.  Delicious, but I still miss Africa.

The Last of (this) Africa Trip

My last few days in Africa:

After the day at the Giraffe Center and all around Nairobi, I took it easy on Monday, first in the garden of the lovely Wildebeest Lodge.

I also spent a while at my favorite Nairobi chain, Java House, at the Junction Mall branch.  Excellent people watching.

I stopped at Uchumi, one of the big Kenyan superstores, on the way back to Wildebeest to buy sanitary napkins for the orphanage that the lodge is affiliated with.  It's common for girls to stay home from school while menstruating because they lack the sanitary supplies necessary to attend school without embarrassment.  Some drop out all together.  In a country where school attendance for females is already low, the last thing they need is one more reason not to go.  Providing sanitary napkins can be a way to promote school attendance for females.  Since I've been working at a maternity hospital for the last month, this seemed like an obvious way to to contribute something to Kenya.

Luckily, they were running a back-to-school special on sanitary napkins at Uchumi, and I was able to buy a lot of days worth of school attendance for girls.  Much to the amusement of the Kenyan girls in line behind me at checkout.

The highlight of the day, though, was definitely going to the ultimate Nairobi tourist experience, Carnivore, with some people I'd met at the hostel.  Carnivore can be summed up in one word.  Meat.

My plate, as I began to slow down my meat consumption and it began to pile up.  There's lamb, beef, crocodile, ostrich, and who knows what else (and which parts of what) on there.  It was delicious.

Would definitely recommend the Wildebeest Lodge to stay in Nairobi.  Two resident dogs (Fatty and Barney) and a resident baby (the owner's son Ollie).  Comfy lodgings, interesting people.  What more can you ask for?

 

On my last day, I spent some time wandering around Nairobi.  Felt relieved I didn't meet this end.

 

Stumbled on the Kenyan Anglican cathedral.

 

Saw signs for Kenya's recent constitutional reform.

 

Admired an old-school tow truck.

Thought about staying, but got on an 18 hour flight back to the US.  Saw one last African sunset.

 

Got back to D.C. in time to have lunch with Jess and make sushi with Anthony for dinner.

Caught the midnight bus back to NYC, arriving just in time for my first Community Health clinical.  It's at a community health center in Queens that serves a low-income population, primary with pediatrics, prenatal care and family planning, especially for teens.  Much more interesting and relevant to my interests than any other clinical I've had so far.  

Part of this course is writing an in-depth paper on the community you are working in.  As part of this, we did a community walk during the afternoon of the first day, wandering around looking in grocery stores to see what kinds of food are available, the libraries, what religious institutions there are and so on.

Saw someone on the subway who reminded me why I like New York.  Is that a jet pack?

 

Have been catching up on doula business--I have two definite clients in the next couple of months to do prenatal visits with and several potential clients to meet.

Went to pick up an ecstatic Eskimo in New Jersey and squeezed in a Ridge High School vs. Immaculata High School football game.

Had my friends Nate and Seth over for dinner, partly to catch up after a month away and partly to have an excuse to use the new dining room.