Bugs

As one might expect, there are a lot of bugs out here. Flies and gnats and mosquitoes are EVERYWHERE! However, I've found a couple bugs I haven't quite expected.

For instance, there's Stinky Pete in the bathroom. We have tried killing him multiple times but he escapes and hides for another couple days. He's a cockroach who likes to camp out near the toilet. Not a very comforting sight in the middle of the night... :-D

Then there is the spider Karissa, my roommate, and I found. He was 3-4 inches in diameter, no kidding. I told Karissa she could have the honor of killing him. Haha... That idea went far. Not. :-D The spider escaped back out the door. We found out that the door has a space where bugs can come in and out. Nice.

Another thing out here is the animals. There are cats, dogs, and chickens everywhere. However, Filippinos don't consider animals to be "man's best friend," so they're usually mistreated and sad-looking. A lot of them look hungry and have diseases. And they aren't friendly. I've gotten used to ignoring the animals, but I find it really sad, especially since I'm such an animal lover.

However, seeing the chickens wander everywhere is absolutely hilarious. :-D they wander all around, even into the birth center. Jennifer said one even wandered into the birth room during a birth.

Anyway, I've only attended one birth out here. Supposedly, it gets quiet whenever a new intern shows up and since Karissa and I showed up around the same time, it got especially quiet. There was a mom two nights ago whose baby I was supposed to catch but around 9pm she decided she wanted to go to the hospital. I'm not 100% sure why (and it didn't have anything to do with me, she didn't know I was the one going to catch the baby). I was a little disappointed, but oh well. Hopefully someone will come in soon (like, today...).

I've been taking some pictures lately with my iPod. I'm sorry that the pictures aren't great quality, but it's better than nothing.

Enjoy!

this little girl's mommy was getting a prenatal but I thought she was adorable. :-D 

this is Halo-Halo, which means "mix-mix." It has ube ice cream, ice shavings, unflavored gelatin, corn flakes, candied fruit, red beans, and whatever else they might have to go in it...Go figure. 

chickens wander absolutely everywhere out here. Here, they're racing around our yard. I've even seen them wander into the birth center a couple times. :-D

one of the midwives knitting a shawl. There's a lady who comes out and buys scarves and shawls from the midwives and sells them in several markets for about $60 USD

they have rather interesting ice cream flavors out here. For instance, this is ube and cheese ice cream. I wanted to buy it but it cost about $8 USD for 1.5 L. I don't need that much and I definitely don't want to pay that much! :-D

cheese ice cream. I'm really curious to try some of these flavors. :-D

our 4th of July celebration at Jeri's house. Even the hot dog buns were grilled! :-D 

candle to keep away the bugs

a S'more. This one belonged to Jennifer, one of the interns. She likes sweets so we like to tease her about it. :-D

Martin, the birth center's cat. He's very photogenic. :-D

Ate Grace checking her scarf

Last sunrise in Davao

Buntis (pregnant women), waiting in line to get their blood pressure taken

this is Ate Helen's baby,  My-My. She's absolutely adorable. :-D

Jennifer taking blood pressure. We take turns doing different skills so the day before, I was the blood pressure lady.

Jeri doing lab work. A lot of women out here have anemia so it's important to check their iron levels regularly during pregnancy.