Good reminder...

(As a disclaimer I should say I stole this from Joey's FB page... ) :)

*There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.*

*The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next** **
**few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.*

*He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.*

*The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.*

*The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.*

I used to wonder if people who are on their furlough or breaks don't blog because they are too tired from running around, or just too many people to see and no time to blog... or maybe it's because it's hard to put into words all the feelings that go through your head in regards to reverse culture shock. I think maybe it's all the above.... although I would be lying to say that I am too tired from running around... but more likely that I am tired from just trying to figure out all the fun 'reality' stuff that people who live outside of the US must deal with when in the US (taxes, house issues, etc)... People ask me if I have been suffering from culture shock... and I'm not sure how to respond. It's a confusing mess to be sure! And I have no idea how to express it to people w/o sounding judgemental (which I'm NOT!) So I mostly just say that yes... it's been strange to be in a place with hot running water on demand, lights that turn on/off at the touch of a button or switch, aircon daily and 5 stores w/in 5 miles of the house. There are not 50 village kids hanging on the fence in the morning pushing each other around to see who will be brave enough to say good morning... no corn drying on the central basketball court and no women washing their clothes beside their house... I can't look out my back door and see the neighbor's little girl pop a squat in front of the door to relieve herself in the morning (I really don't understand this practice... but oh well) How do you not sound judgemental when you observe that pets here in the states live a far more comfortable life than people on the other side of the world? It's not a judgement.. it's just a fact (and heck my pets over there live a pretty darn good life, or so I'm told!) I think there just is no ability to make sense of life... the have's the have nots... I will just keep my eyes on the Father to continue to guide my steps... one day (or continenet) at a time!
So you see... this is why I don't blog... the thoughts running around are complex and difficult to express! :)

Neglectful...

Sorry I have been neglecting the blog... We made it to Portland and then headed to my Grandma's (who doesn't have Internet)... I studied.. .visited, and then headed to my test on Wednesday. It was super fun to see a few of the girls that I went to school with and even catch up with and old friend I didn't expect to be there! I arrived way to early for the test... which suited me just fine, gives me time to get thoroughly nervous beforehand... just kidding!
The test went.... well, it went! There is just n way of telling how one of those tests goes... I think I did ok one minute and then I think back to questions I had about certain things, and think there is no way I passed it!... It's a slightly ludicrous test and I'm afraid that they have failed to actually test if someone is a good midwife, only to see if someone can figure out their strange questions and even stranger options for answers!
Anyway... that being done was a big relief and now we are on to Oklahoma to see my sister... we had really bad news regarding the sale of our house in Wasilla and it doesn't look like it will go through... we are praying for the right answers to land in our lap, because we are slightly tired of trying to figure it all out!
There is much more, as always, but that should update for now for us...
Joe said that they finally have power! The kids started school... Tyler and Meggie were super excited for their first day of school... and Levi decided he wanted to go to (technically he is old enough)... he lasted till they came home for snack time and decided he liked homeschooling better! So now he stays home with Daddy and 'homeschools'... Sam apparently thinks they don't have enough school work since they only school for a couple hours and the other kids in the village are at school all daylong... I'm pretty sure Brian doesn't concur!
Besides a few chickens and a rabbit dying due to the terrible typhoon type whether immediately followed by the high temps... all else is pretty good out there.
Till next time...
Jenn

And away we go...

Well the time has come... we've got our documents in order (knock on wood) and we head to the airport in just a couple hours to fly away... wow... it's hard to believe that it's come to this already! I don't know if I'm ready for the test... but I guess there's only one true test of readiness!!!
To add to all of this... it's that time of year again... the kids will start school on monday! Joziah and Tonia will be doing it in the states with me while Sam and Brian have dad as their teacher... Tyler and Meghan will be doing double duty..... going to both the local school (for a couple hours in the morning) and doing their US homeschool lessons! They will get lots of language integration to be sure... our helper Heide will attend with them at the beginning to ensure it all runs smooth...
Thanks for praying for us and please continue as we travel, I take my exam and mostly for Joe... who is stuck there in Kihan still adjusting to life out in the village where now he has no one else to speak english with.... it gets a wee bit lonely at times!!! (and drop him and email if you can!)

The bizarre quads...

So yes... there is a rumor about me delivering quadruplets... to clarify... I only delivered the last one... the mom did the first 3.
I came out in the morning with the news that there were 3 babies... I went to check and sure enough... mom was tired, but doing well with her 3 little ones.... her tummy still looked a little big, but to be expected I guessed... the day was busy and I didn't have a chance to check on the momma again until the next day... when I found out she had been pushing all night long.... something else was inside! poor little gal was tired as I'll get out! I checked and sure enough there was still something inside... but it was high up, not coming out... wasn't sure if her uterus had twisted or what the problem was. On/off all day we worked to get that little one out, but to no avail... I used rehydration techniques to rejuvinate the mama (including a molasses enema!)... she would rest for hours and then push again for hours... it wasn't until late afternoon that we finally were able to figure out that the baby (long since dead) was sideways... we tried turning, but no luck...
By the next day the mom arrived at my doorstep with a bit of the baby visible... we literally pulled the little guy out (which smelled horrible from having been dead for a couple days) and was dissenigrating in my fingers... YUCK!!!
The head came last and the poor mama screamed... but finally it was out.... she just collapsed... I gave her a drop of rescue remedy... then shepherds purse to stop the bleeding... finally she perked up a little... we started her on antibiotics and gave her drops of honey/water to help hydrate her.... Finally when she got off the porch and went to lick herself clean, we knew she'd be fine.... (did I mention 'she' is a cat?).... unfortunately the 3 little kitties suffered from their lack of a mother for the first couple days... and all died on day 4... :( But at least mom is doing well.... and will live to deliver again! LOL... and besides... I got lots of midwifery practice in! ;)

Just to say that I did make it out of Kihan this morning.... we've had a very FULL day.... but I'm not sure I know what a non full day is like... tomorrow should be our first in a long time.... I will write more then... I would have been long asleep hours ago if it hadn't been for the very nice lady person from immigration fixing a mistake of releasing our i cards to the Davao broker... who kindly delivered them to my guest house door at 9pm tonight! (For those that don't understand immigration here... I needed our icards to leave the country!).... I take back the bad things I've said about immigration.... lol... ;P
For those that heard little rumors flying around about a quadruplet delivery... I will write the story when I'm not so very exhausted.... :)

Last minute this and that

You know how before you leave for a trip there is so much of this and that to finish up and prepare.... well... we're at that stage... it's just slightly more complicated due to the fact that we just moved out to the village..... for example last night I realized that I hadn't yet seen my purse that carries my credit cards unpacked..... so this morning the search began through boxes to find it... (found it!)... unfortunately my US license wasn't inside.... but I can get by with my Philippines one I believe....
We also realized that since I am traveling alone with two of the kids...the US might like to see that I am not kidnapping my own children... so we are looking for a notary to get pages stating I can travel with them done....
We still haven't found an ATM here in Alabel.... so we have to drive an hour and a half to get money out.... kind of inconvenient.... still workin on that issue...
When we returned to the village after our vacation... there was no water again... so I washed our nasty beach clothes in left over rain water.... and we've been stingy with the toilet flushing.... which makes for a stinky bathroom! Today we had water for about 10 minutes... Tonia and I managed a bucket bath... we'll hike down and get water from the pump later today...
Brian got in a little tussle with a caribow.... he lost.... the caribow tossed him over his head and onto his face..... thankfully no broken bones... and not even a broken nose! Although he punctured a few spots on his lips and gums.... but he will heal! I would post pictures, but I'm on Joe's computer and can't load them on here! Another time!!
So... I've been studying pretty much non stop... ignoring the rest of the world.... it's going ok.... hard to study for this test when it's apparently a set up for failure.... it has a 50% failure rate.... and the 'new, improved' test apparently doesn't even have right answers.... however that works!!! You would think they would want to see if we are competent midwives... not if we can figure out if they are tricking us! .... I'm a wee bit nervous.... :( It would be kind of embarrassing to fail when I was the second top test taker in my class!!! So.... pray!!!

The adventure... continued

This is the river before....
And the result of a day and a half of rain....

Like I said... it had already been quite the couple days of adventure... inlcuding finding a scorpion on the back of my toilet (killed by the guys thankfully) and then having a millipede decide my foot was a great place to cross while I was cooking dinner... ew! Anyway... the rain continued...

The next day it FINALLY stopped and the river started going down... after a few hours of contemplating and waiting... seeing more storm clouds rolling in... we decided to chance it. But first we would send the guys and the luggage w/ only a couple kids over... (it's easier to rescue 2 children than 10 if the need should so arise!) So it took them awhile... but they finally made it over (unbenownst to us since there is no contact).... Amy and I with the rest of the kiddos waited... saw the boy w/ the foot problem, waited again, made a make shift lunch w/ the 4 boiled eggs we had (split 9 ways).... then finally we hear boys yelling to us... they said we'd have to walk cause the jeep had gotten stuck.... lovely... we had no idea if we would be crossing the river by ourselves or what... (we had 18mo old up to 12 yrs old)... 8 kids....2 moms and 1 Ate.... But we started walking.... it was a muddy, lovely, affair..... the kids of course had a blast... We met up with Roni (who had gone w/ Joe on the first trip)... he had a couple horses and put a few of the smallest kids on them to take them over... Amy's husband also joined us and filled us in... apparently the jeep made it across all the crossings the first time... but when Joe went to go back he was just a few feet different in his crossing and there was a larger dip and more soft sand in that spot.... and he got sunk in... it took a big dozer to get him out (who wasn't very happy about having to do it either)...

We all walked and they had 2 of their kids and crossed the wide stretch of the river... I had Joziah, Tonia and Tyler w/ me.... Joziah was getting pulled behind Tonia from the current... and the native boys who kept insisting I just let them carry Tyler (these kids looked like 7yrs old)... were holding Tyler's hand (who was still attached to me) and walking fast... so it was quite the gong show... and very scary.... Eventually when we were just past the roughest part when all I could do was hang on to the kids... one of the boys just hoisted Tyler up and chugged the way through the rest of the river.... the kid was apparently 12 yrs old... and butt naked.... lol... gotta love the bukid!

Anyway... after that my pulse was about 150's.... but thankfully the horses showed up for the next few crossings... cause I couldn't have made them... too deep... too swift.... even Jeremy had trouble staying upright... and he's a man... and tall! (Course the little native kids make it look easy and Joziah wanted me to let him try on his own.... uh NO!)

By the time we reached the other side.... all the action was done.... or so we thought..... we spent the next 3 to 4 hours waiting and watching as the jeep got towed back and forth, back and forth in an effort to get it started.... there was water in the fuel, water in the transmission, etc, etc.... it was a mess... and of course it started raining again.... needless to say we had super muddy kids! But at least all the luggage was dry... and all the kids really did AMAZING!!! I was so proud... no complaining (until the next day)... lol

But... we finally made it to where we decided to stay for our little 'vacation'.... although poor Joe has had to spend much of his time 'fiddling' and fixing the jeep.... it's still running pretty rough and we're not sure it's ready for the return trip in tomorrow... praying that he'll be able to fix it in the morning before we head out....

So we have MUCH to be thankful for.... as you can see from the pictures....

More Adventure than one could ever hope for

Our friends from Davao came in on Friday w/ their 3 kiddos.... we were hoping we made it back over the river no problem... we did. The plan was for them to spend a night and then head to our planned 3 days at the beach for some R&R.... that was the PLAN....
The rain started/stopped/over and over.... that evening we had our first 'patient'... a little boy who had stepped on a large piece of bamboo that impaled into his foot (OUCH!) It was a nasty piece that had gone straight up through to the soft part below the ankle bone on the inside of the foot. They had already pulled the piece of wood out.... so we cleaned it best we could with the supplies we had (my friend Amy who is here is a Nurse Practitioner)... gave the boy some of the antibiotics I have in my supplies (I don't have any yet at the clinic) and gave the parents instructions on danger signs.... we also made sure the boy was up to date on his tetanus injections (which he was thankfully!)
We went to bed with visions of the rain stopping.... but no such luck... it escelated into typhoon type weather (or at least the spin off of typhoon since we're too inland for typhoons)... anyway... in the middle of the night I woke to getting drenched.... our temporary shutters (shower curtains) had blown off and the rain was pouring in through our screened 'windows'.... Joe found a board and nailed it across the window.... the other two windows coverings (tarps) quickly followed suit... but we just had to move stuff out of reach of the rain (about 5 ft radius) and deal wiht the clean up in the morning.... and there was LOTS of clean up!
In the midst of cleaning up and watching how high the river was... we had our second patient.... a man with another puncture wound.... this one going straight through his hand.... the object.... a knife.... self defense wound... It was packed with a leaf that helps clot the blood... and was a muddy, dirty mess (it had happened the night before). So we cleaned it up, soaked it, irrigated it.... and dressed it.... he really was bummed we wouldn't stitch it... but since he waited so long that wasn't the best option.... anyway... it was pretty to be sure! lol...
All that day the rained poured on/off.... we ran out of gasul for our stove, so we went to cooking native... over the fire.... we were short of food supplies because we had planned on leaving that day and food left just gets ruined.... we had a native dinner of rice w/ sardines.... we went to bed praying the rain would stop so that the river would go down (it was WAY to high to cross).... the adventure of the next day will be on the next post... with pictures hopefully!!!