First day of work!

So, yesterday was my first day of working at the hospital. We got back to our hotel at roughly 2:30am, and had to be up by 6:30am to go to the hospital. So we ate breakfast and hit the road.

The hospital that we work at is in a much poorer part of town and it takes us a good half hour to get there. I spent the majority of the ride there looking out the window and taking it all in: the smog-ladden grey sky (which has coated many buildings in the city with a dirty grime), the shantytowns built on the side of the mountain, the families who make their homes on the medians of interstate highways. This was a far cry from Miraflores, with its shopping malls, designer stores and glass skyscrapers.

I got to the hospital and quickly donned my scrubs and surgical garb. I still was a little vague on the details of what exactly I would be doing, however I was ready for anything. It was so awesome! I was interpreting for everyone (Im the only one fluent in spanish), going into the pre-op room and talking to the families and asking them questions and having them fill out forms, and then going right into the operating rooms and asking the doctors a bunch of information on the surgery for the charts. Surprisingly, I wasn´t nauseated at all! I was right in there elbow to elbow with all the doctors and was totally fine. I wish I had more of a knack or passion for science because it just is so cool what these doctors do.

Then, they had me taking picures of all of the kids before and after their cleft lip or cleft palette surgeries. My favorite part, however, was taking care of the children in the post-op room. These are kids who are ages 16 weeks to 7 years and they are all scared and in pain and missing their parents, and just need some physical affection to calm their nerves. I rocked babies and fed, cleaned up and played with the kids, and I wished I could have stayed there for hours. It blew my mind how quickly these surgeries go, but what a lasting gift. For these kids, this is truly the difference of a life of being ostricized from society, and not.

I am so excited for this week, but I am a little nervious-- they had two assitants doing this job last week and now for this upcoming week its just little old me. Wish me luck!