Encouragement

Last night was a busy one. Though there were only two births at the clinic, the place was hopping all night with women coming and going (one of the last names last night was Bergen, not a normal name for this part of the country, but a reminder of home). As a new student, I had the opportunity clean, do laundry, watch the older students in their work, and also help with some of the exams and check ups. It felt good to be doing something and to be useful, but by the end of the night I was exhausted despite the joy I had in what I was doing. When I got home and dropped into bed, I turned to the post-it my mom had left me, dated for the day I had worked. Looking back that the past 24 hours, I saw the truth of it, as it said: I give power to the exhausted and I strengthen the weak. ~Isaiah 40:29  It lifted my spirits to be reminded that God was the source of the strength it took to make it through the night.

Thankfulness

I don't have much time to write, but at the very least I can put down some of the things I've been thankful for lately.

-a church! I was finally able to have a Sunday off this week and I was so glad to be able to go to a church and be in fellowship with other God-seekers. Until not going for so long I didn't know how much I really need to keep on meeting with other believers

-a house! I just got news this week that I have a place to move into where I can finally totally unpack. While I have been blessed to be in my current home temporarily in that they introduced me to so many new friends, and I know I now have 'grandparents' here in El Paso, I will be glad to unpack and move in.

-my family! My sister and her wonderful family put together a video for me to see how they are doing :) and I was able to skype with my parents as well, and text my brother. It's so comforting to know that even a couple of thousand miles away I have a family who continues to care about me

-I'm also thankful for a college and career group here...which starts in about 7 minutes, so I need to get going to get there on time. 

Hope you all have something in your lives to be thankful for as well. :) May God bless you.

First 24

Well folks, I survived. I made it through my first 24 hour shift at the clinic. Now it's not as bad as it might sound. For the most part being on shift for 24 hours means that we stay at the clinic, sleep upstairs, and only get up if someone comes pounding on the door in labour. So it's not like they expect us to be awake and fully functioning for 24 hours straight...unless it's a night like this night was. After a day of appointments, question after question in spanish, feeling bellies and getting midwives to confirm my findings, and drawing blood for the first time on a client(!!), the student midwife I was to shadow in case of a birth was taking care of a new mother who was waiting for the imminent arrival of her firstborn son. In light of that, my night was spent bringing water, giving backrubs and pressure, and supporting her in any way possible. This lasted till shortly after 2am, after which her son was born and I was able to learn how to administer postpartum care in the midst of doing all the laundry. That said, my first shift was amazing: getting to learn so much about the workings of the clinic, and then getting to see the beautiful messy miracle of birth! what a day!

Hunting

I went hunting last night. Yes. Hunting. If you think about things, it was inevitable. I’m in Texas…cowboy boots, trucks, gun racks. It was only a matter of time before I would join in and be a part of the culture of the state I reside in.  Now don’t you worry, I haven’t become one of those trigger-happy hunters who kills everything that moves. No, I wasn’t hunting for the joy of it; I was hunting with a purpose: to kill this animal before it killed me. What deadly animal was this, you ask? …A mosquito.

Laugh if you will, but you probably know the feeling all too well: the feeling that comes when you are all cozy in bed, you’re eyes are just drifting shut, and then you hear it; that faint but distinct hum of the mosquito. And, in the quiet blanket of night, if there is one mosquito, there may as well be a hundred.

If you are wondering what about this experience warrants a post, especially since I am from Manitoba where mosquitoes are so abundant that we joke about them being our national bird, the answer is not much. The only thing that made this mosquito any different from the ones I have seen all my life is that it is a Texan mosquito. But I do have a tidbit of information for you that I heard first from my dear mother. Just like in Manitoba, there is West Nile Virus in Texas, but there aren’t very many mosquitoes. Good, right? …Wrong. The fewer mosquitoes there are, the more concentrated the virus becomes and the more deadly it is. So for all of you who are not so fond of the overabundance of mosquitoes in your part of the world, there is a bright side to life with migs. 

Getting back to the mosquito in my room, though I could hear it, I was never able to sight it, so I went to hang out in the kitchen for a while, giving it a chance to move out before I went to bed. Since I didn't see or hear it when I went back to my room, so I assumed it had left me in peace. But this morning, what woke me was not my alarm but a faint humming in my ear...

Thankfulness

I woke up this morning before the sun and was able to see the following view (in better quality and colour) while on my way to school for the day.

Being a Sunday today, I think it appropriate to spend some time being intentionally thankful. So here is a short list of things I am thankful for here in El Paso:

-a home to stay in
     (with a couple that includes me and introduces me to their friends)
-a church family
     (even though I haven't been to the church yet, the members that I have met have been so welcoming)
-a car that works
     (though it was making strange noises in the beginning, they have almost totally stopped)
-my family
     (even though they aren't here, they keep in touch and make sure I'm still alive :). )
-and, you already know this one, but I am really thankful for the sky here. It is amazing.

There you have it. I hope you all have a blessed day.

What am I learning?

Well, it’s my day off!  My accomplishments for this week:

-Prenatal appointment in Spanish

-correctly determining a baby’s position in the belly, and finding its heartbeat!

-successfully drawing someone’s blood!

Though a busy week, as per usual, class did get out early one day, giving me the chance to experience the mountain! I drove up the Scenic Drive, stopped on the side of the road, and started my ascent. Though the path was littered with broken bottles, the sky-scape was phenomenal! One thing the has not ceased to amaze me about El Paso is the sky. Coming from Manitoba, I am used to wide expanses of sky and beautiful sunsets, but of the days I’ve been here in El Paso, the combination of clouds and mountains has been awe-inspiring! The presence of the mountains so close and the accessibility of hiking trails has been an unexpected blessing in the middle of this bustling city, and when you add to that the amazing cloud formations and the touch of breeze floating through the streets, it is wonderful!

Though I don't have a camera, before my parents left I did make use of theirs, and when I saw these clouds, I had to take some pictures, even if just because I thought my brother in law would like to see them :)

What a reminder to me that the heavens do declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the works of His hands! 

School, school, school...

Now that I have attended school for a grand total of four days, I can tell you a bit about it. Just in case you happen to be in El Paso trying to visit me sometime, the school is right here:

And right there is where I will be spending most of my days for the next long time. School started on Saturday, and today, Wednesday is our day off for this week. These past four days have been full of orientation, information, and trying to figure out what the homework is before we have to hand it in. Trying to fit all that information into my brain feels like trying to win a game of Chubby Bunny. This school has found a way to fit a three year course into one year, and they overview that year during the first 17 days of class. Our teachers' job is to take us from zero experience to us being ready to do our first shift at the clinic on September 21. This means that in these first 20 days we are leaning everything from a bit of medical Spanish, to how to measure a belly, to how to draw blood, and how to document information. It's a bit overwhelming, but it allows us to get hands-on experience very quickly, which is what I need in order to really learn all these things they are trying to teach us. 

Though it has been busy, and I have a feeling that will be the story of my life as I study here, I have also been able to connect with some of the other students, and also, thanks to my parents, to meet some of the people from a church here. One of my connections to a fellow classmate was not having a suitable place to live. We had taken time to look on Craig's list, we had walked through the streets by the school calling the numbers of all the 'For Rent' signs, we had asked around, but to no avail. Then (and this is where a church connection comes in) after getting in touch with the young adults leader yesterday at suppertime, I was put in touch with a couple from the church that I am hoping to be a part of. They agreed to take me in for a couple of weeks until the grad students move out and leave their places to us new students. What an answer to prayer!

Did Somebody Say Road Trip?

As promised, here is are some highlights from the road trip that brought me down here to Texas. This is also my first try at a blog with pictures :) We'll see how it goes.

My brother and I left from Canada on a Friday, and before we even got to our place for the night we had hit up one of the best tourist attractions of the world, the worlds largest cow:

As you can tell, this cow is afraid of nothing! It is evident that she has seen her fair share of tumultuous weather, and she faces the storm with a head held high.

The cow was an impressive sight, not even topped by a trip up Enchanted Highway to see one of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures:

Our first night we Mennonited Our Way, meeting a very welcoming and hospitable older couple who had been taking in travelers for longer than I have been alive. They were a sweet couple with many interesting stories to tell about others like us who traveled through their home. It makes me wonder what kind of stories will be told about our time at their place :)

The next day, armed with a map from our hosts and looking for adventure, we met up with this guy and his three buddies at this place called Rushmore:

For the night we made it to my brother's former school in the Colorado mountains. I don't know how my brother's night went, but I got to hang out with some young ladies who are working at the school, and I was encouraged by hearing and sharing what God has been up to in our lives.
Though the chat was heart warming, I spent the night in a room with the window open, and by morning there was no doubt in my mind that we were in the mountains. There was even frost to scrape off the windshield before we went out for this delicious-looking breakfast with my brother's friend at Sharky's:

From there we made quick work of the next stretch to my friends' house where we spent Sunday night. The next morning we made our way into New Mexico, enjoying the entertainment of the dose of daily driving pictures:

and even taking the time to stop at the gorgeous white sands park:

We finally made it to Texas, and after picking up my parents and before taking my brother to the airport, we took one final adventure to the hill in El Paso. It cost a bit of money to hike the trail, so seeing as we didn't have much water or time, and we might be a bit cheap too, we opted for a picture in front of the sign for the trail:

I thank God for safety on our trip down, and I thank my brother for bringing a sense of adventure to such a long trek. What an experience!