5-20-11 The First Flight

The Sunrise in Fargo, Goodbye America!

I'm looking very excited for the long flight ahead

At this point I’m not sure if I should call it 8pm or 8 am on the 21^st  (there is a 12 hour time difference.) Perhaps I have already flown through to tomorrow. I was reading the itinerary and I am anxiously awaiting our arrival…. Even though I have another 7 hours or so. My tractor that I’m crocheting has part of one wheel done and I am over halfway through with “The Light Fantastic” by Terry Pratchett. There is something calming about being on a plane. The stress and anxiety of work and life obligations are far behind me. The only thing that still lingers is that I forgot to chart that I took out that IV from that one patient…. I will look forward to that reminder note that will greet me upon my return.

Brent and Jennifer ready to fly out of Fargo

Last night I stayed at a hotel in Fargo. It was amazing!!! It was only 60 something and I got a suite because they were doing remolding. I must remember to give John and the Ramada a great review when I get back. Swimming was fun and they have a water slide too :)

I brought my “calm music” mix on my small I pod shuffle. Such artists as Celtic women, Simon and Garfunkle, and my brother Paul’s Manatee mix. (You hear that Paul, your music will be listened to on the other side of the world!!! Oh, and thank you… it is really great relaxing music for long plane rides). Although I do wish I had the latest album “February Fables” with me.

In the Chicago Airport, we were playing kings on the corner... I got way too much to eat! I felt full the entire flight!

I’m sad that I slept through Alaska. We traveled north through Alaska, then back down toward Japan. I wonder why we didn't go in a straight line instead. I wonder if we have gone over Hawaii… probably not. Next time maybe I’ll have a window seat. I keep bumping my seat buddy, and people in the isle keep hitting my elbow. Now back to my books, more from this adventure later.

Tractor Pattern

This pattern is for you mom. Let me know if you have any questions :) I crocheted a tractor on my plane trip. It was a lot of fun :)


Size G crochet hook
Color A: main tractor color (green, red, yellow, pink)
Color B: Black (wheel)
Color C: yellow/gold (inner wheel)

Tractor Top
 Rnd 1
With color A Ch 26
Rnd 2-12
Sc in each sc (25 stiches) ch 1 turn
Fasten off, on rnd 12 make two

• sew together both pieces of the tractor top and stuff it so it looks like a stuffed square of sorts... one end of the tractor top goes in the middle of the other and vice versa. I wait to stuff it until there is only one end not connected. (this is why I shouldn’t write out patterns… sorry). Fasten off and weave in remaining yarn.

Tractor Body 1
Rnd 1
With Color A Ch 26
Rnd 2-34
Sc in each st (25 sc) ch 1 turn
Fasten off after rnd 34

Tractor Body 2
Rnd 1
With Color A Ch 47
Rnd 2-12
Sc in each st (46 sc’s)
Fasten off after rnd 12

• sew the tractor body together using color A. Start by connecting Tractor Body 2 to the center of Tractor Body 1’s shorter end. Continue to sew; making sure that the other end of Tractor Body 2 is in the middle of the other end of Tractor Body 1. Wait to stuff until there are about 10 stitches left to sew. Fasten off, and weave in remaining yarn.
• Attach the tractor top to one end of the body with color a. Fasten off and weave in remaining yarn.

Big Wheel (make 4)
Rnd 1
With color C Ch 2
Rnd 2
5 sc in second ch from hook
Rnd 3
2sc in each sc (10 stiches)
Rnd 4
(2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (15 stitches)
Rnd 5-6
Change to Color B
(2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around
Rnd 7
1 sc in each sc around (35 stitches)
Rnd 8
(2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (53 stitches)
Rnd 9
Sc in each Sc around
Rnd 10
(2sc in next sc, sc in next 2 sc) around (71 stitches)
Rnd 11
1 sc in next sc around. Fasten off.

Small Wheel (make 4)
Rnd 1
With Color C Ch 2
Rnd 2
5 sc in second ch from hook
Rnd 3
2sc in each sc (10 stiches)
Change to Color B
Rnd 4-6
(2sc in next sc, sc in next sc) around (15 stitches)
Rnd 7
1 sc in each sc around (35 stitches)
Fasten off.

• with color B, sew the two large wheels and the two small wheels together, stuffing it with fluff near the end (last 5-10 stitches)… be sure not to over stuff the fluff). Fasten off and weave in the yarn. Attach the large wheels on the end with the tractor top at your desired wheel height. Attach the small wheels to the non tractor top end. Fasten off, and weave in your ends… You just made a tractor!!! Pat yourself on the back and grin.

5-21-11 First day in Vietnam

We arrived in Vietnam tonight at 2130 or so. It feels a lot later than that. I did sleep a bit on the plane, but I’m tired. The visa was not hard to get. I had been fretting over what would happen if I was unable to obtain a Visa…. But everything went smoothly. The driver who brought us from the airport to the hotel was driving like a maniac, as was most everyone else. He had a lot of sharp turns, and it seemed like we were mere inches from the other cars, trucks, and mopeds. I remember closing my eyes in fear a lot during that trip.

Hannah said that "it kinda looks like a school of fish"

When my eyes were open I saw hundreds of people on mopeds. All of whom were wearing helmets! It was hard to see much of the city at night. I can’t wait till it is day so I can take a look at everything… but I don’t think I’ll get use to this kind of driving. Oh, and at the beginning of the ride he told us we needn’t wear seat belts. Ah!!!! I can’t imagine. Professor DeJong very kindly said “I will, just because it is such a habit for me.” It was a habit for all of us, especially during this trip.

I was sooo ready to sleep right now.

Tea pots instead of coffee pots

Our hotel is nice, and there is air conditioning. Electricity only works when the hotel card is in a slot in the room… it took us a little while to figure that out. Don’t brush your teeth with the water…. Don’t brush your teeth with the water. I keep reminding myself, but I am afraid that I will forget at some point during this trip. Well, it is time to sleep it has been a very, very long day.

5-22-11 Trip to Danang

Mother With her little boy

This morning we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast. However, we were a bit cautious of what we were eating. I still don’t know what animal made the milk that I put on my cereal. All I know is that it didn’t taste like cows milk. The yogurt was delicious though. After breakfast it was back on the plane for us. Oh, I almost forget. Originally we flew into Ho Chi Ming City. Now we are flying into Da Nang, it will be about a 1 hour flight… compared to the 14 hour flight it will be a breeze.

Our guide showing us all the different types of rice

We arrived in Danang and, after dropping our things off, met up with the students and had a quick 15 min. lunch. Afterwards we headed out into the market where our guide showed us the ingredients we were going to use for our cooking lesson. Then we set off and took a boat to the cooking class.

Cooking Class

We were taught how to make Seafood salad with Vietnamese herbs served in half a pineapple, fresh rice paper rolls of shrimp, fresh rice paper, Hoi An Pancakes, Vietnamese Eggplant in clay pot, and food decorations. It was a wonderful and very interesting class. Before our lesson our guide took us to see the different herbs that they use, and he had us smell each of them (to me, many of the smelt the same). Each time he taught us how to make the meal we would then be able to make it… and eat it afterwards. It was very deliciousJ. Each of us had our own cooking spot with every thing that we would need to make each dish set out for us. Our chef would go around and make sure that we all were doing it right. 

After the lesson they brought us more food. I was so full I could hardly eat anything. And our desert was fruit (we were going to see that a lot). When we were all finished we headed back to the hotel. Dr. Polly Kloster (the nursing leader on this trip) talked to us alumni about the next three service days so we knew what to expect.

Plan for the Next 3 Days

She explained that the nursing students, alumni, and faculty would be broken up into three different groups. Each group would rotate between the three different sites. She let us know that each group would have a specific health assessment area, and educational topics. Group 1, the group I was in, was going to focus on eyes, ears, nose, throat, teeth and lice assessments. We are going to be educating the children, mothers, and staff on oral hygiene and nutrition.

The other groups were going to assess skin, heart, and lungs. The other groups were going to teach CPR, and choking prevention, and hand washing and other ways to prevent and treat common diseases.

Tomorrow we are going to start at the orphanage. I hope that everything goes well. However, right now it is time to sleep. I’ve been ready to sleep for the last hour. Goodnight.

5-23-11 1st service day

I got up and checked my e-mail. They were holding auditions for a play in Lisbon and I really wanted to be a part of it. Polly lent me her lap top, and I was able to use Skype to call the director and have a telephone audition. I think the audition went well. I was able to Google search and find a sample page of the play. We read the page and switched characters. It was a lot of fun!

The Orphanage                           

Hannah Assessing one of the Orphans

After a quick breakfast we headed out to the bus. Our driver got lost so we spent a lot of time with him on the phone and him randomly stopping pedestrians to ask where things were. My group got dropped of first. The orphanage, like all the other buildings in the city, had two buildings on either side of it. I don’t think they had any yard or grassy area in the front or back. They also didn’t have air conditioning. The front was wide open, and closed up kind of like stores in a mall would with a big barred gait. It was usually left open during the day. They had bedrooms downstairs and upstairs, with a kitchen on the first floor. The kids seemed very excited to see us. We set up our stations and the assessments began.

He just loved the cameras!

The children would go through the line. One of the students would look in their ear, one would assess their eyes, ears, nose, throat, and teeth, and one would check for lice. At this point the kids got a hold of our cameras and began taking pictures for us. Sadly, one of the children accidently erased all the pictures off of Hannah’s (the other nursing Alumni) camera. After that all of us were careful and protective of our pictures. I would still let the children play with mine… but I kept a close eye on them.

Rock paper scissors is always fun!

During our assessments we noticed that their teeth were wonderful! Some of the children even had fillings. The caretaker of the children told us that she has them brush their teeth for five min twice a day. Also, they have been able to go to a dentist. Our main concerns were their ears. A lot of the ears were red inside, and I couldn’t always see the tympanic membrane. One membrane appeared ruptured. We wrote all concerns that we had on the backs of the assessment forms, and the children that needed to would be seen by a physician.

Singing and playing the game... you don't want to be the last person whose hand gets hit, or you are out... I was out early on.

After the assessments there was the teaching part of it. We taught them how to use floss, and taught them about the food pyramid. The children put together bracelets to help remind them that it is important to eat a variety of food. After that we played games with the children. One of the students there was a French major, so she taught us different song in French. The children there taught us a song too. I don’t quite remember how it goes… but it was a lot of fun.

We had a long lunch, and afterwards we assessed the rest of the children that had been at school for the first assessment. I also drew out teeth for each of the children and marked if there were fillings, missing teeth, or decay. All too soon our day ended and we said goodbye to the kids.

The Evening

The pool at our hotel

We had dinner back at the hotel. I went swimming that night. I remember floating on my back, looking up at the night sky. All the stars seemed foreign to me. It was beautiful and peaceful. I am looking forward to the next few days ahead of me, and I am enjoying and trying to remember each moment here.

5-24-11 2nd Service Day

Today was a fun day. We got to go to the “Father’s House” which is where new single moms go who need help/assistance. I think there were 8 moms there with their infants. We set up our assessment station once more, assessing both the mother and their child. I was assessing the teeth today. I was sad to see that many of the infants had signs of tooth decay. One baby only had two teeth in and they were already starting to rot away.

Our education session here was very important. We taught them about oral hygiene for themselves and their infants. We taught them about bottle rot; how baby teeth can start to show signs of tooth decay if you leave the bottle in the crib with the baby.

When we were teaching about nutrition, we were happy to hear that the mothers were breastfeeding their infants through the first year. We had the mothers put together the bracelets for the nutrition lesson, reminding them to be careful that the babies don’t get a hold of the beads (I was a bit leery about doing the bead exercise when there were new babies around). We played with the babies and toddlers… and the mothers watched a wonderful movie that shows how four different babies from different cultures were brought up. It was a fascinating movie, and the mothers seemed to enjoy it a lot.

After our fantastic lunch break we came back and the French professor, who was in my group, taught them yoga. After more games and finishing up the movie we had to say goodbye once more. We had supper at a nice restaurant and I quickly drifted off to sleep.

5-25-11 3rd service day

Today we got to go to the hospitals. Even though we weren’t going to do any work as nurses, I was excited to see the difference between the two hospitals. Also, Dr. Polly Kloster, the nursing leader on this trip, asked me to lead one of the presentations at the Danang hospital. I was nervous and excited.

Women’s Hospital

The first hospital that we went to was the Women’s hospital. It is a 50 bed hospital where they do deliveries, C-sections, hysterectomies, assist with fertility, and abortions. Abortions in Vietnam, I was sad to hear, are well accepted. Vietnam has a limit to the number of children you have. You are only supposed to have 2 children.  If you have a third child and work for the government in any way, your pay is reduced and you will no longer be able to have any promotions. Abortions then occur when they are going to have more then two… also, having a boy is preferred over having a girl. Abortions may occur when they are on their second, and it is not the preferred gender.

The hospital was a fair size with 6 floors. There were two birthing rooms and two rooms in the OR. I don’t remember seeing too many nurses at this hospital, however, one of the doctors there gave us a bit of a tour. I was grateful to see and hear about the women’s hospital. I got to see a C-section… which made me never ever want to get a C-section when I have a baby. I’ve heard that the procedure was about the same in America as Vietnam.

I saw the tail end of a birth, and learned that in Vietnamese culture they take the placenta home and bury it under a tall tree, so that after the baby grows up, lived out his or her life and dies, they will be able to find their way home again.

I saw a lot of family members in the room with patients and learned that the family plays a major role in taking care of the patients, even while they are in the hospital. The family members have to bring in food, because the hospital does not provide food for them. Also, the nurse to patient ration is about 1:15-18 on the medical surgical unit, and 1:5 in the intensive care unit. Comparitively, in the US it is 1:4-5 on the medical surgical unit, and 1:1-2 in the intensive care unit. Because of this fact, family members need to help the patients go to the bathroom and clean up, because all the nurses would have time to do is pass pills.

Danag Hospital

The Danang Hospital

After our visit to the Women’s hospital we had had our lunch and set out to see the Danang hospital. One of the nursing students got to see how this hospital was run first hand. He had slid onto a hard surface in the pool, and had a large laceration on his abdomen. Apparently the care in the ER was not that good. The doctor went from one bed to the other, wearing the same gloves, and not doing hand hygiene in between. Also, one of the patients looked like they were dead… and he would go from that bed to the others. They also began inserting gauze that was not sterile into the students abdominal wound. It was at that point that they decided to go somewhere else.

Anti Smoking poster that was up in the hospital

We didn’t get a tour of this hospital. The other two days the groups got to tour and talk about the differences between this hospital and hospitals in America. Today Dr. Polly Kloster was going to present on the Concordia nursing program, and I was going to present on “healthy people 2020.” We had a number of translators there who would translate for us each time we paused. I think that there were about 200 nursing students there to hear the presentations. I had been grateful that Polly was going to go first. That way I would be able to see how it’s done. However, at the last minute they decided that I should go first. Yipes!

I was nervous, and had no experience at giving a presentation that needed translators. Slowly throughout the presentation I learned that you need to sum up the idea as simply as you can. Near the end I remember seeing Polly nodding at me, as if to say “you got it!” That made me happy and relieved. She did a wonderful job presenting on the nursing program. It was fun to see all the changes that they have added at Concordia. There are so many extra things there that I didn’t have when I went to school. Her presentation made me excited that I had graduated from that program.

After the two presentations we took questions. One of the students asked how much nurses in America make. Then, one of our students asked them how much nurses in Vietnam make. They seemed hesitant to answer. Final, one of the translators spoke up. They told us that the first year that they are nurses they have to just volunteer, because the hospitals can’t afford to hire them… after that they make around $70 a month. This was shocking to us. Now we knew why a lot of them were asking us about how they could be nurses in America, when we told them it paid well and we made an average of 72,000 a year.

Evening

The sunset when we left the restaurant

After our presentation we headed out to dinner. Today it was at the Blue Whale, a beautiful restaurant right by the beach. I remember that my meal, a fish, was looking at me from where it lay. I had a few bites, but I was beginning to feel a bit squeamish.

At lunch, some of us were given a ticket for a free ride to Hoi An where there was a night market. The bus left at 7pm, and would be picking us up at 9:30pm. This was the first time that I really got to shop for souvenirs. Hannah, Miranda, and I stuck together and went through the shops. We tried on outfits, and shoes, and picked up knickknacks. The people there were so friendly, and were very good at convincing us to buy things… it was hard to say no when they were trying to sell you something. I bought a shirt, two dresses, and shoes for myself! I also got a handful of souvenirs for friends and family.

9:30 came too soon, and when there was about five minutes to go we all began running back to the bus with our goods in hand. It seemed like forever that we were running, and even though it was dark out, the humidity and heat was still there. We got to our van in time, and enjoyed the air-conditioning on the trip home.

Back at the hotel we enjoyed some Ice cream. I had a shake, that was more like sweet chocolate milk by the time I got it, because all the ice cream was melted. I saw the size of their large Pizza… and it looked smaller than a small pizza in America. Now it is time to sleep. We will travel to Hue tomorrow.

5-26-11 Trip to Hue

Beach by our hotel

This morning I had a wonderful breakfast, and got a pedicure and manicure ($5 a piece). This was the first time that I went to look at the beach by our hotel. It was beautiful… the sand, the waves, and the mountains in the distance. I went swimming for about 20min in the ocean. I would swim out and let the wave push me back to shore, and then I would swim out again. It was wonderful… and not a Jelly fish in site!

she did a wonderful job!

A monkey we saw on our way to Hue

After a peaceful morning we went on the bus… Our first stop was at a marble store. There were all of these marble statues there. It was beautiful. After that quick stop, it was a long bus ride (about 4 hours). There was a beautiful view though J it was nice seeing some of the country in Vietnam. We got to see some bunkers that were left over from the war. Our translator was telling us all about Vietnam, and Vietnamese history while we were on the road. Driving was still a bit scary… they drive very intensely there.

Finally we were in Hue. We dropped our things of and headed out to the restaurant for the evening. I could not eat a single bite. Instead, I went back to the hotel, with my professor accompanying me. I took Imodium and Cipro to try and stop things before it got worse. I quickly fell asleep.

5-27-11 Sick in bed/boat ride with musicians

 Much of today was spent in bed. In the morning I couldn’t even watch TV because it made me nauseous. I was sad that I missed the sight seeing that day. Later on I got better, and I was able to head out that evening on the boat ride.

We went on a short boat ride with musicians who were each related to the royalty that had ruled Vietnam in the past. The music was beautiful! The instruments were very unique, and I was amazed at all the notes they could get.

floating flower candle. Don't forget to make a wish!

three string instrument

Singers

After the concert the boat stopped in the middle of the river. We each were able to take a candle in a paper flower and send it down the river. If it stayed afloat then you got a wish come true, you could choose between wealth, luck, and success in our job. But like all wishes we couldn’t tell what we wished for, or it wouldn’t come true.

I skipped out on dinner again, not wanting to risk it, and fell asleep.

5-28-11 Trip back to Ho Chi Ming City, and Hard Rock Cafe

Today is when I did most of my shopping. I also got to see how well I can barter… which is not very good at all. I was able to talk someone down from $15 to $12 for a pair of pants. After shopping we head out. We were going to take a long ride in a van back to Danang, and from there we flew to Ho Chi Ming City. We got back to the airport over two hours early, and I guess they don’t let you check in more than two hours ahead of time. So we ate in a restaurant outside of the airport and waited. The food was very spicy. I think all the restaurants we had gone to before hand were holding out on us.

Brent and I in the Market... with my hat.

view from bus during our trip back

workers in the field

When we were able to go in we noticed that there were only three gaits for the airport. Our flight then was canceled, and we had to wait for a later flight. When we finally got back to Ho Chi Ming City it was passed 11pm. We were going to get foot massages, but it was too late now. We went to the Hard Rock Café instead. It was a lot of fun. We heard the last set from the band.

Vietnamese airport snacks. Yum!

band jamming out at the Hard Rock Cafe

5-29-11 Back to America/Chicago fun

I finally got to sleep around 2am, and we had to leave by 3:30. I was tired. It seemed to take forever getting our luggage checked in. The lines just weren’t moving! When we got to our gait I sat down, and in my tired state left my Vietnamese hat. I later tried to get it, by asking a flight attendant if someone could go out and find it… but the flight attendants checked for me and said they didn't see it... Alas! (however, after a quick e-mail to my professor who was still in Vietnam, she brought me a hat back with her)

I didn’t sleep at all on the first flight. Instead I crocheted, and watched Psych, and this interesting video on how silk is made. We then landed in Hong Kong. We ate at McDonald's and it was AMAZING! I only eat at McDonald's once every 2 years… it is my own personal ban on them after I saw the movie “Super Size Me.” It was completely worth it this time. I was happy that they had the fish sandwich on their breakfast menu, because that was all I was craving. I was able to eat it with ease.

Back on the plane again, and this time it would be for 16 hours. I was finishing up my dragon. There was a Chinese boy sitting near me, and when he saw the dragon he complemented me on it, and asked if I had learned how to do it in China. I told him that my mom had taught me. He was impressed that I had made it within the course of my trip, and amazed that Americans can make things like this too. He talked about how his mom makes different kinds of things as well (I forget what he said she made). He didn't know that Americans did anything creative.

I maybe slept for 5 hours all together during the course of this flight. I had a sudden urge to crochet R2D2… so in my excitement I didn’t sleep.

Our flight was sent to Minneapolis to fuel up, as Chicago was having poor weather. Then We were flown to Chicago. The landing went alright… but they cancelled our flight to Fargo until the next morning. After much fretting, we decided to make the most of our day in Chicago. Jennifer, Brent, and I were the only ones stuck in Chicago, but we got hotel rooms, and ate at the restaurant “the Blue Line” after taking a ride on “The Blue Line” which is a sort of passenger train. The food was amazing, but I couldn’t eat too much, as I was use to the overly healthy food in Vietnam. The cheesy and thick food placed before me was too much to digest.

When we got back we slept… this time for around five hours. Boy could I tell the difference. It was so much better than the night before where I only slept for 1 hr. Never only get 1 hour of sleep! It feels dreadful!!!

5-30-11 Flight to Fargo

The Chicago airport was very confusing. I’m glad that I was not a foreigner trying to figure out my way through it. It was hard enough as an American… and the staff, I am sorry to say, was far less than kind. However, we were able to make it to our gate. It is veterans day today, and on the flight to Fargo I sat next to someone who had fought in the Vietnamese war. I thanked him for his service, and was able to learn a lot about him and what he’s seen. I showed him some pictures of Vietnam as well. It was a good trip. It was short too! The flight was only 1 hour long.

In Fargo I was greeted by my friends Kristen, her beau Obediah, and my beau Greg. I think I slept for 18 hours when I got back home.

Now I am back to my regular life in America, but I won’t forget the things that I saw and learned in Vietnam. These memories are sure to stay with me for the rest of my life.