Voters Anonymous

 The year is 2021 in the young and innovative state of Israel. 

We are a start up nation, we push the boundaries, we have advanced medicine and are the creators of some of the most cutting edge technology that the world has to offer.

Quite the feat for such a young and small country! 

But, do we know how to do very simple procedures such as running a voting station that operates literally every time they hold elections?
No.

Do we as a nation make simple tasks needlessly difficult and complicated for seemingly no apparent reason?
Absolutely. 

I am not a particularly political person. But I do understand the very basics of how to perform the physical steps of voting and do my best to try to properly perform my civic duty.

From my observations over the years it's fairly straight forward...

You figure out where your voting station is either by getting a slip in the mail or checking online. Bring a valid form of ID to the voting station and give it to one of the election workers at the table. They check the ID and find your name on the voters list. Then they give you an envelope and tell you to go pick out your ballot slip.

You take the envelope behind the little booth and choose your ballot slip. Make sure the slip is not drawn on, crinkled or teared. Put the slip in the envelope and then seal the envelope. Bring the envelope over to the fancy cardboard ballot box and put it in.

Collet ID from the election workers before exiting the room.

Tada. 

You did it!

Simple, straight forward.

This morning I decided to take advantage of the hospitals polling station before going home after my night shift. The signs said they open at 08:00am, I arrived at 07:40 and watched them struggle to set up the voting station which is mainly compromised of cardboard cutouts and a few signs to hang up. 

At around 08:05 a woman showed up for her job at the polling station. The other workers asked her what her job was, she responded that she didn't know... They reread the list of people that were supposed to be present (I think maybe for the fourth time) and said "well the only person missing is head of bla bla so I guess that's you?". The woman considered this for a moment and then responded "OK. They just told me to come and I'd get paid.". Everyone nodded their heads, they brought out another chair and made room at the table for her.

Finally at around 08:20am they officially opened the doors and called me in (I was first in line). They check my ID and my slip stating that I'm a hospital employee (only employees and admitted patients can vote there) and then gave me my envelope. 

So far so good.

I went behind the booth, picked out my nondamaged slip, put it in the envelope and sealed the envelope. Came out of the booth and headed for the cardboard ballot box but was accosted by one of the woman from the table who grabbed my envelope and frantically stated that I had done it too fast and they weren't ready yet.

Another worker yelled "Noooooo" because only the voter themselves can touch the envelope to prevent fraud. 

Mayhem. Chaos.

They intensely began to debate how to proceed. Do they throw it out and make me do it again? Do they report for fraud? 

Hospital employees and patients had already begun to gather outside and were forming an orderly mob outside the door (Israelis don't stand in lines, they stand in mobs). The clock was ticking and they were starting to get impatient. There is a very fine line between an orderly mob and an angry mob.

Eventually they agreed to let me proceed with my envelope because everyone saw that it was an accident and she wasn't intentionally trying to commit fraud.

They unveiled the cardboard voting box and let me put the envelope in.

Then everyone clapped and cheered because I was the first official voter of the day and it was all very exciting and clearly a bit overwhelming for all of us.

Time Flies Like An Arrow, Fruit Flies Like A Banana.

This morning I woke up nice and early to head to a mandatory workshop about violence. Before we began, the woman giving the class had us go around the table and introduce ourselves by saying our name, job (nurse/doctor/social worker) and number of years in the field.

Most of the nurses were older and had been working in their wards for 15-20 years. When they got to me I sheepishly admitted that I had been working in my ward as a nurse for all of one year. As we neared the end of the circle I learned that two of the nurses down at the other end of the table had started working as nurses two weeks ago.

Suddenly it struck me that I wasn't the newbie anymore. As we sat there watching various videos of hospital staff being subjected to physical and verbal abuse, I began to reminisce about the past year.

"Where does time go?" I asked myself. Last time I posted on here I was a struggling student wondering if I'd even pass the exam. Now here I am, a registered nurse sitting amongst my peers learning how to protect myself in violent situations.

Don't get me wrong, I meant to post things during the past year. There were many memorable moments where I thought to myself "This would make a great post". Such as that time one of my patients was sobbing inconsolably at 4am because she really wanted a jam sandwich (which I actually made for her only to have her hand it back to me because she didn't like the flavor jam in it). Or that time that a patient incessantly rang the call bell and yelled for help because she wanted me to massage her butt hole (which I did not do).

But somehow, it just never happened.

That is, until today.

Fishing In Spain

A while back my little brother got engaged. Weddings are an exciting time. As is traveling with your extended family. Armed with these two absolutes, the young couple decided to get married in Spain.

The logistics of traveling with a large family and making a wedding in a foreign country are complex to say the least. This was a crucial but unavoidable bit of information that we were destined to discover amongst the frantic festivities.

In our earlier years, before moving to the holy land, we had a nanny from Gautemala that spoke Spanish. She taught us useful words in Spanish like the names of food and how to count at least until 20. One of my sisters took a Spanish course in high school where she had learned some useful words and sayings.

I too took a Spanish course in high school and still remembered how to say some slightly less useful sentences such as, "me omigos ombligo" and "tu eres una chica linda". Both of which I felt could potentially come in handy depending on the situations we encountered while in Spain.

Feeling confident with our limited grasp of the language, there was only a mild amount of panic when my mother announced that we needed to buy salmon for dinner. My sisters and I were heading out to the mall so it made sense that we should pick up while we were out.

No problem.

How hard could it be to find enough salmon to feed roughly 35 people?

Shopping at the mall went off without a hitch. Our international credit cards were warmly accepted. And being the humanitarian that I am, I did my part to help boost their economy.

We briefly checked out the fish selection at the grocery store in the mall and found it to be underwhelming. No worries, there were at least two other places that my mother had recommended we check.

The cars were loaded and we clambered in to head to the next stop. After a brief miscommunication, the two cars drove off in different directions. This miscommunication would later play a vital role in our quest for salmon.

Minutes later the car I was in arrived in front of a tiny kosher store while the second car ended up at a grocery store in a different mall. The tiny kosher store had no fish. I called my sister in the second car, the store at the mall did not have fish.

We were fish-less and running out of time. I tried to ask the man at the tiny kosher store where I could find fish. His English was about as good as my Spanish. Realizing that my Spanish skills were not up to the task, I settled for loudly repeating my request multiple times in English.

An unconventional yet surprisingly effective approach. The man somehow understood what we wanted and sent us to a supermarket down the block. The other car made similar progress and headed to another grocery store in search of the elusive salmon.

We struck gold on our end. There lying on a bed of ice, was an entire salmon. We rejoiced as we ran to the fish counter to try and explain that we needed enough salmon for 35 people. The man at the counter looked confused as we attempted to barter for our fish.

He pointed at the fish and assured us that it was one fish. Yes, one was good but we needed more.

Desperation began to sink in. It suddenly struck me that perhaps The Crazy Lady's ludicrous request for 35 portions of salmon may not come to fruition. I placed a frantic phone call to explain the situation. The Crazy Lady answered the phone with an aura of calmness. She remained calm as I explained our predicament and reduced the needed number of portions to 28 pieces of fish.

I passed the message along and my sister and brother in-law made a valiant effort to convey the amount of fish that we needed. Between the two of them they got the number of portions across and the man at the fish counter began to panic.

He did not have 28 fish for us. Which was fine, since we only needed 28 portions. He struggled to understand. We struggled to explain. Finally he put his foot down, he could not provide us with the absurd amount of fish that we required.

We looked at each other and collectively prayed for salvation. He must have seen the panic in our eyes because he kindly guided us to the pre-packaged pieces of salmon that he had cut up that very morning.

We thanked him profusely and grabbed nearly every tray of salmon that we found. This resulted in an entire shopping basket overflowing with fish. A spectacle that did not go unnoticed by the other shoppers in the store.

There was an elderly gentleman standing in front of us at the checkout line. He turned around to stare at our basket. Then chuckled and remarked "came to Spain for the fishing, eh ?" as he gestured towards the piles of precariously perched fish. We nodded politely as we were once again hit with the absurdity of the situation.

In our panic to get to the store we had forgotten to bring shopping bags. Fortunately, Lori had noticed a display of cooler bags and grabbed one on the way to the register. Alas, the vast quantities of fish did not fit into the one cooler bag, but there was no turning back now. We had chosen our path and were determined to stick with it.

Everyone stopped to stare as we wrestled almost all of the fish into the bag save for three trays or so. Then, with all of the grace and dignity we could muster, we grabbed the bag and remaining trays of fish and made a run for it.

We made it back to the vila right on schedule where we were heraled as heroes for saving supper.

Adventures In Cyprus

A friend of mine started med school in Cyprus this past year. Semester break seemed like the perfect opportunity to go visit her. My friend Chava and I found some reasonably priced tickets and headed off to Cyprus for the weekend.

The flight itself was pretty uneventful. We took off, they came around with a little cart of hot beverages and snacks (non-complimentary of course) and then 20 minutes or so later we began preparing for landing.

The plane landed, we disembarked and clambered onto the little shuttle that was waiting for us. The shuttle took us to passport control where we spent an hour waiting on line to get through.

Next we picked up our suitcases from baggage claim and headed out into Larnaca. Moria (our friend studying in med school) had ordered a shuttle for us so we sat on a bench outside of the airport to patiently wait for it.

Forty minutes went by and we finally saw a shuttle in the distance driving towards us. We stood up to gather our things. The shuttle drove right past us. The driver was seemingly oblivious to our cries and flailing arms as the shuttle disappeared into the distance.

Moments later a man in sunglasses and a hoodie walks over to us and asks us if we're going to Nicosia. Confused, we hesitantly replied "yes".

He nods and says "come, we go now to nicosia. I take you for only 15 euro. It is very good deal.". I look at chava, chava looks at me. I comment that we're waiting for a shuttle to pick us up to which he replies "No, the shuttle is gone. He will not come back. I will take you but we must hurry.".

Its been a long day and the shuttle doesn't appear to be coming to get us. Moria is in the library so her phone is on silent and she isn't answering. The man gestures to a taxi cab and mentions again that we must hurry.

We nod hesitantly. The man grabs our bags and starts heading to the cab. The situation seems less than optimal but the bags are in the trunk and the man is herding us into the car because "we must leave quickly".

We give him the address which he puts into Google maps and our journey begins. I'm pretty sure we're going to die or at least get kidnapped. These are the kinds of situations that your parents warn you about. The sort of situations that you're generally encouraged to avoid.

I'm sitting there staring out the window wondering how I ended up in the back of this strange mans taxi when suddenly the driver breaks the silence. "Girls, I must tell you something. When you are going to do something illegal, you do not think. You must do it very quickly.".

Awesome.

Cool.

This is how I die. 👌🏻

He then continues to elaborate, "we are not allowed to pick up from the airport. But I must go to nicosia to pick people up and I do not wish to drive with an empty taxi. So I give you a good deal but this is illegal because I am not allowed".

Ah, well, that puts things into perspective....

The rest of the ride was much more pleasant. The driver is actually from Greece and has been living in Larnaca for almost a year. He showed us pictures of his home in Greece and said that he wishes to visit tel aviv some day.

He also told us about the festival  that's going on this weekend and said maybe we'll see him there. But he'll be dressed up in a costume so we probably won't recognize him, unless he dresses up as a taxi driver...

Nuts, Its An Egg!

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies. Over the course of the summer Freddie and I have been planting all sorts of exciting things wherever we find room to fit planters. Almost every window houses planters full of various herbs and flowers. 

Earlier this afternoon Freddie opened the kitchen window to harvest some of the herbs for dinner and found a strange oval object nestled between the oregano leaves. A couple of weeks prior to today's event Freddie had found some pigeons trying to build a nest in the thyme plant but chased them away before they got too far. Deterred, the pigeons left, but had they returned to try again?

It had been a long morning and Freddie wasn't sure she had the strength to handle the delicate situation at hand. She texted me asking for advice and having never been in this particular predicament before, I said I'd take a look at it after school.

On the ride home I wondered what to do with the egg. Should I try to find an incubator and hatch the egg? Could I keep it as a pet or would it be better off in the wild? Should I simply solve the situation by sending it over the edge of the planter from the fourth story window? 

When I got home I headed straight to the kitchen and opened the window to see what I was dealing with. The object in question was indeed oval in shape and a light brown color with darker brown markings. I put on a pair of gloves and used one hand to push back the oregano leaves to get a closer look. 

I tentatively poked at the object, nothing happened. 

I sighed and moved the hand that was pushing back the leaves. As the leaves fell back into place the object shifted position and slid towards me, exposing its rounded yet distinctively pointed edge. I don't have much experience with eggs outside of store bought chicken eggs but I'm fairly certain that eggs don't have pointed edges. 

With a gloved hand I picked up the object in question and determined that it was some sort of nut. I hit it against the window frame a couple of times and it seemed far too hard to be the fragile shell of an egg so I tossed it out the window. 

Problem solved I wished the egg-nut farewell and sat down to eat dinner.

Minor Miscommunications

Another year is almost over. How does that keep happening?

I spent most of my time this year hospital hopping from rotation to rotation. A couple of days ago I finished my rotation in a community clinic. It was different than being in the hospital, I was worried that it may be boring there and it almost always was. 

Every morning at around 8:30am people would come to get hooked up to one of our 24 hour holters (we only had two machines). The other morning a Portuguese speaking fellow came in and asked if anyone spoke Portuguese. We had Hebrew speakers, English speakers, French speakers, and Russian speakers but unfortunately no Portuguese speakers. 

With the help of his referral from the doctor we were able to determine that he needed to be hooked up to one of the holters. We got him all set up and told him to come back the next morning so we could take the machine off.

The next morning the old man returned and we took the holter off him. He thanked us and then asked us where he can pay. Fearing that there was a miscommunication because of the language, we explained that he has insurance and he doesn’t have to pay separately. He contemplated what we were saying and nodded his head as he stuck his hands into his pockets and rummaged around for a moment.

“Well then, how about if I pay you in THESE?” he asked as he tossed a handful of candy in our direction before getting confused about where the exit was and accidentally scurrying into the adjacent storage closet. After a good laugh, we helped him out of the storage closet and thanked him for the candy before leading him to the exit.

Tossed Salad

Its that time of the semester again. You know, the lovely time of year when the sun is out, the flowers are blooming and  panic is in the air.

This semester most of my exams are at 17:00 as opposed to in the morning. It's nice not having to wake up super early to rush to the university for an exam (especially since I don't exactly live in the area nowadays), but 17:00 isn't exactly my finest hour.

By the time I'm done with my exam and ready to go home, it's pretty dark out and rush hour is in full swing. The mental stress from sitting around all day trying to cram as much information as humanly possible into the black abyss that has taken up residence in my brain finally begins to take its toll and exhaustion takes over.

As I make my way home I find that I'm just the perfect mix of delusional and disoriented. This precarious balance opens up a world of possibilities for exciting new adventures.

Last night I arrived at the train station just in time for the 19:46 train only to discover that the train wasn't scheduled to leave from the train station that I was in. It turns out that the 18:46 train hadn't left from that station either and there were a lot of very confused passengers that had been waiting nearly two hours for a train that wasn't coming.

An announcement came over the speakers saying that the train would be leaving from the next station. Passengers waiting for the Jerusalem train were to take a train to the next station and transfer there to the Jerusalem train. The crowd surged as one and we pushed onto an already full train to head to the next station.

Propped up by my fellow passengers, I took a look around. An older woman maneuvered herself towards me and asked "Are you also trying to get to the Jerusalem train?". I nodded and she looked relieved. When we got to the next stop I watched as she pushed herself through the crowd and elbowed her way up the escalator at lightning speed yelling for them to hold the train to Jerusalem.

Spurred into action by her reminder that we would all miss the train, everyone began to run. In the most unorganized fashion imaginable we made it onto the train and I even got a seat. 

Knowing that I would be going home on the later side, I had made a chicken salad to eat on the train. There wasn't much in the way of elbow room but I was hungry so I decided to eat my salad anyways.

All eyes were on me as I struggled to retrieve my salad from the depths of my backpack, unknowingly loosening the top of the container. Victorious, I held the container in both hands and gave it a good shake to try and mix everything together. Everyone watched in horror as I showered the guy sitting next to me in my dinner.

My immediate reaction was to avoid eye contact and pretend that maybe no one had noticed. Except it was a crowded train and everyone had watched me throw chicken at the guy sitting next to me. 

Eventually I apologized and tried to be helpful by picking the pieces of chicken and various vegetables off of his sleeve. Fortunately for his jacket, I forgot to dress the salad so clean up was easy with minimal staining. 

He was nice about it. Didn't make a big fuss or anything. Just politely nodded and began intently reading some papers that he had with him. We avoided eye contact for the remainder of the ride as I ate the remaining salad. 

Maybe next time I'll pack a sandwich.

Security Scrutiny

The early morning hours are not my finest hours. I often struggle to find the balance between grace and functionality.

Ideally I like to wake up at a normal time and take my time showering, getting dressed and eating breakfast before leaving the house for the day. When I leave the house before the sun rises, my priorities are a little different. And despite my best efforts to look like a presentable member of society, things have a way of going awry.

The other morning was no different than any other.

My alarm clock went off at precisely 4:45am and I did my very best to ignore it. Five minutes later it rang again, I sighed and made a pitiful attempt to get out of bed. Having failed at getting out of bed I moved on to the next order of business, clothing. Getting dressed consists of me blindly flailing my arms in the direction of my conveniently placed clean laundry basket in order to acquire a pair of pants, underwear, two socks and some sort of shirt and/or sweater and then donning said articles of clothing.

Next I made a more successful attempt at getting out of bed and turned on the light. Satisfied with my choice in clothes I moved to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face in the frigid water which doubles as an extra wake up call. From there we move down the stairs and into the kitchen where I make a cup of coffee in a travel mug to drink on the bus.

As I begin to bundle myself up in my winter gear, I notice a lonely chocolate chip muffin sitting in the cabinet begging to be eaten. After a brief moment of hesitation I grab the muffin and stick in my bag to have with my coffee in a seemingly innocent act. Thus, unknowingly changing my fate.

Mere moments later I grab my bag and head out into the early morning darkness to catch my bus. The first bus ride passes without a hitch. I disembark and make my way to the bus stop across the street to wait for the inner-city that takes me to the hospital. The bus arrived right on schedule and I sat down in my usual seat. My hand brushed against the travel mug and my stomach grumbled.

As I sat on the bus sipping my lukewarm coffee I remembered the muffin. Smiling I reached into my bag and retrieved the muffin. I don't know if you've ever tried eating a muffin while holding a coffee cup on a bus that happens to be driving down a exceptionally uneven road before, but in my experience it is not an easy task.

I arrived at the hospital feeling slightly more disheveled than usual and made my way to security as I do every morning. Each morning the security guard and I have roughly the same conversation...

Security guard: Good morning.
Me: Good morning.
Security guard: Student?
Me: Yep.
Security guard: I have to check your bag anyways because you're not an employee..
Me: OK...
*Security guard checks bag, finds nothing of interest*
Security guard: OK, have a nice day!
Me: thanks, you too.

This mornings conversation went a little bit differently:
Security guard: Good morning student!
Me: Good morning.
Security guard: You've got some coffee on your pants...
Me: Yep.
*Security guard continues to stare at my pants*
Security guard: It's in like, 3 places...
Me: I noticed, thanks.
*Security guard shakes head in apparent disbelief*
Security guard: It's a little noticeable.
Me: Thanks for pointing it out...
Security guard: I'm still gonna have to check your bag.
Me: Enjoy
*Security guard halfheartedly checks bag while still staring at the noticeable coffee stains on my pants*
Security guard: Well then, have a nice day..
Me: Sure, you too...
*Security guard giggles to himself*
Security guard: Maybe next time try to get more coffee in your mouth and less on your pants!

Early Morning Excursions

This year we jumped right into rotations as soon as school started. Each rotation is around 12-20 shifts so we end up switching hospitals each month.

My first rotation was in a psychiatric hospital. The overall experience was as enlightening as it was terrifying. I enjoyed the time that I spent there but was glad to say goodbye at the end of the month and move to Pediatrics.

Pediatrics has been fun. But the hospital itself is a little hard to get to. After a week of trial and error, I resorted to taking the first bus out of bet shemesh in order to get to my 7am shift on time.

I've always been what most people call "a morning person" but rarely have I cheerily woken up at 4:50am to catch the first bus out of the city. I was under the assumption that 5:00am is the time of day where most sane people are tucked away safe in their beds.

Boy was I surprised to find out that I was wrong. It turns out the first bus out of bet shemesh is actually pretty full. Some of the regulars have been taking the first bus for years.

The first time that I took the first bus I thought it would be a somber experience. I was shocked when I got on the bus and was greeted by warm smiles. As the bus drove down the highway unhindered by the inconvenience of other cars, the driver turned up the radio and  I was subjected to my very first 5:30am karaoke.

It turns out that the first bus is a place full of love and laughter. There's a special bond between these veteran early risers forged by sleep deprivation and a lack of caffeine. The bus driver knows them each by name and they share a knowing glance when a newcomer gingerly climbs onto the bus on their shaky legs, exhausted and disoriented from having woken at such an ungodly hour.

It certainly has been an experience and its nice to know that even in the darkness of the early morning hours, there's a group of people lighting up the day.

Today I am greatful for mornings that I get to sleep past 5am.

To Whom It May Concern

Dearest family, friends, cats, and dogs.

I'm delighted to inform you that after years of eager waiting, mainly from my father whom I'm sure had given up all hope and resorted to saying daily prayers on my behalf, it has finally happened. 

I passed my driving test.

It's been a long and trying time but I finally have my licence.

Thank you to all of the people that helped make this possible. I appreciate it more than you know.

Sincerely,

Me 

P.S. Today I am grateful that I finally passed my driving test. Amen. 

Caution, Cows Crossing.

I'm back from Switzerland.

Actually, I got back quite a while ago. I meant to update my blog but it never seemed to happen. The rest of the trip was delightful and coming back to Israel was sort of bittersweet.

Why did the cow cross the road?

The holidays are always a fun and exciting time, lots of family time and an overabundance of delicious foods. They're also a time to think back over the past year and just to reflect on life in general.

My mom started doing this new thing where she picks (at least) one thing every day that she feels grateful for. It's easy to focus on the negative things in life especially when I'm feeling stressed or tired and ofttimes I forget that I actually have an awful lot of things to be grateful for.

With the start of a new semester right around the corner I'm making a slightly belated new year resolution to be a little more grateful for all of the positive things in my life.

Today I am grateful to my mother for reminding me that I have a lot of things in life to feel grateful for (,amongst other things).

Kapellbrücke And Ferrys

On Thursday we went to Luzern to walk around the city and see the famous chapel bridge called the Kapellbrücke.

Apparently it is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe. In an effort to sound well cultured I shall pretend like I knew about it and was very interested in seeing it. Regardless of my previous knowledge of said bridge, it was actually quite impressive.

Part of the bridge had burnt down one fateful summer evening in the year 1993 (one of the most momentous events that occurred that August second only to my birth) and was subsequently restored. It is now one of Switzerland's main tourists attractions, a fact which was made evident by the vast quantities of tourists that we encountered as we attempted to cross the bridge.

The famous Kapellbrücke

 After visiting Europe's oldest wooden covered bridge we got back in the car and made our way to the ferry which took us and our car across the lake.

And herein ends another exciting Swiss-Cheese-Land adventure.

Stay tuned for more, maybe.

Hikes And Toboggans In Sattel-Hochstuckli

On Wednesday we ventured out to a mountain in Sattel-Hochstuckli for a fun filled day of adventures. 

We took a cable up to the mountainside and picked a path to hike on. Things started off well, the sun was shining and there was a crisp breeze. Everyone was full of energy and ready to go.

Posing for a picture after being bribed with treats

Hiking up a mountain with two little kids proved to be more difficult than imagined. Especially when one of the children seems to be afraid of nature while the other is a nature enthusiast that wants to run around and touch everything.

Her royal highness being pushed up the mountain in a stroller because she is afraid of rocks, amongst other things. 

Fake.

Seriously, how is this view real?

After the hike we wandered around and found some more fun activities like bouncy castles and mountainside tobogganing.

If you look really close you can see me on the toboggan.

My favorite part of the day was going on the toboggans. It was so much fun that I went on  three times. 

One day I shall buy a plot of land on a mountainside somewhere and build a toboggan track around my house.

It's important to have dreams and aspirations.

Puppies!

Today we went to the zoo and saw lots of puppies, according to Lavi. 

Happy family

Making friends

Flamingo King

Kuzco

Boating

Egg hugger

Swiss-Cheese-Land

Last week The Mad Man and many other family members helped me move out of my apartment in Ariel. There was a lot of schlepping and driving involved but we did it. The sun house now looks like it could be the set of a post-apocalyptic movie in which hundreds of families are displaced from their homes and forced to leave behind belongings as they hastily pack what little they can carry.

There were some halfhearted attempts to try and reign in the chaos but the task proved to be overwhelming and not much progress was made. In an effort to avoid having to deal with the madness, I fled the country.

The Freddie's graciously invited me to join them on their vacation in Switzerland and now seemed like a good time to take them up on their offer. I packed up a little suitcase and The Crazy Lady drove me to the airport so that I could catch my afternoon flight to Zurich.

I found my gate and sat with the others waiting to board the flight. Boarding time passed and we were still sitting and waiting at the gate. Forty minutes later they announced that we would start boarding and began to send us out the door and onto a little shuttle bus. We drove over ten minutes to the other side of the airport, it was the longest shuttle ride I've ever taken. There was speculation of a kidnapping but we pulled up to a lonely looking little plane and disembarked the bus.

It was windy as we began to board the plane. The woman in front of me looked fabulous as her silky hair streamed out behind her looking like she was in a scene from some romantic comedy. My hair didn't get the same memo and flew in front of my face, effectively covering my eyes. I struggled up the stairs looking like a relative of cousin it.

Once we were seated of the plane things went pretty smoothly. I watched some TV and had a chat with the couple sitting next to me. Before we knew it, the plane began to land. We got off the plane and followed the signs to the airport train that took us to passport control and baggage claim. I found my suitcase and went to meet Mr. Freddie who was picking me up from the airport.

After a quick stop at Mami's house we drove to the Freddie's adorable little cabin in Immensee. It was pretty dark out by the time I landed so I didn't see much scenery on the drive but this morning I woke up to this...

I've certainly had worse views.

Violent Music

Yesterday I walked up the mountain to the university for the last time this school-year to hand in the final paper for my second year of nursing school. Mid-august, my summer vacation is finally starting.

My lease ends at the end of the month so in between working on my project I've been trying to pack up my apartment. Yesterday The Crazy Lady drove out to Ariel yesterday to pick up the boxes that I had already packed. Z is taking some classes during the summer semester so he came after class to help with the schlepping.

I'm storing most of my stuff in L&Z's basement so after we loaded up the car we drove to the sun house to pick up The Mad Man and Avi and then headed to L&Z's house for dinner (and to put my stuff in the basement).

I like to think that I have a pretty solid relationship with most of my siblings but admittedly, I don't spend a ton of time with my youngest brother. A point that was made evident yesterday afternoon as I carried some of my belongings into the sun house to store in my room.

Avi and some friends were sitting on the couch playing Xbox. One of his friends looked up from the screen and asked "Oh, where are you coming from with all of that stuff?" to which Avi replied "Uh, she has a job in Ariel, I think. She goes there a lot..." satisfied with the answer his friend shrugged and went back to playing Xbox.

I'm glad he knows that I'm in university and that I haven't lived at home for two years.

Car partially unpacked, we piled back in and headed down to L&Z's for dinner. Following the earlier conversation between Avi and his friend, I thought we could use the time to bond a little. I asked Avi what was new in his life and we spent most of the ride conversing about video games and such.

We arrived at our destination and parked the car. As Avi was reaching for his seat belt he turned to me with a serious look on his face and the following conversation took place:
Avi: I've been listening to violent music lately.
Me: Oh... Uhhhh, what exactly does that mean?
Avi: You know, it's just a genre of music...
Me: What does it sound like? Could you maybe sing a little for me?
Avi: Um, Ok. It mostly sounds like violins...
*Hums some pleasant violin music*
Me: Oh, Violin! That's nice!
*Avi gives me a weird look and gets out of the car*

I'm glad we had that bonding time. I feel like now we're closer than ever!

The Poop And Scoot

This morning I woke up in my lovely little apartment in Ariel with the urgent need to pee. I walked into the bathroom and noticed that I seemed to be standing in a small puddle. First I checked  the shower to make sure I had completely shut off the water after my shower last night. The shower head was dry and nothing there seemed to be dripping.

Next I moved on to the sink where a considerable amount of water seemed to be collecting. I wiped up the water and waited to see what would happen, nothing did. Running out of options I moved on to the toilet. There was a steady trickle of water was dripping from the pipe that connects the toilet to the wall and drains the waste water. I found a container that I deemed worthy enough to sacrifice to the cause and stuck it under the pipe.

I watched the steady drip for a while before realizing that the container was starting to fill up. We needed a more effective solution, perhaps a way to stop the water from dripping out of the pipe. I debated trying to find some tape to cover the cracks but then realized that shutting off the water would probably be more helpful.

Sure enough, the trickling began to slow down. With nothing better to do I took advantage of the still full tank and emptied my very full bladder. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for my quick thinking and superb problem solving skills until it dawned on me that I would probably have to use the toilet again at some point and now the tank was empty. Emptying the tank had taken a while and quite a bit of water had come out during the process and the pipe was now dripping from two places.

I needed help from a professional, so I texted my dad. He told me to send a picture of the leaky pipe to my landlord and see if he could help. Following my fathers sage advice, I sent a picture of my toilet to the landlord and waited to see what would happen. After a couple of hours of waiting I looked at the clock and began to panic. I had a driving lesson in 40 minutes and I really needed to use a toilet, preferably one that wouldn't leak waste water all over my floor.

With no time to lose I grabbed my keys and half ran to the gym that's about a ten minute walk from my apartment. Pretending that it was completely normal to walk into the gym without work-out clothes or a gym bag, I waved my membership chip near the machine and hurried to the bathroom. Luck was on my side for the first time all morning, the bathroom was almost completely empty. I did my business and then hurried back out of the gym attempting to avoid making eye contact with the guard.

I made it back to my apartment just in time for my driving which went surprisingly well considering my eventful and stressful morning. After the lesson I went back to the apartment to stare at the toilet again. My bladder started hinting that it might be time to visit the gym again so after talking to my landlord and confirming that a repair man was on the way, I got suited up for the gym and headed out in search of a toilet.

The security guard nodded at my proper gym attire as I waved my chip by the machine and entered the gym for the second time today. This time, with the intention of actually working out. But since they conveniently had working toilets, I also used the bathroom before and after my workout.

I got back to my apartment just as the repairman was leaving. He informed me that the problem was solved and I was free to once again pee in the privacy of my own home. I cheered. He nodded briefly and got into his car. True to his word, the toilet did not drip when I flushed it.

A pretty exciting experience all around.

A Lesson In Persistence

Five intensive and exhausting but awesome weeks have come to an end. I was pretty nervous about starting my rotation in internal medicine, mainly because my default reaction to any new situation seems to be perpetually stuck PANIC mode. But also because I had heard a lot about the clinical nurse and I wasn't sure that I would live up to her expectations.

The first couple of days were a bit of an uphill battle, I was still getting my bearings in the ward and I wasn't entirely sure how to approach or deal with my patients. I'm the kind of person that likes to rehearse uncomfortable situations in their head. Unfortunately, the person on the other side of the conversation doesn't always get my memos and the conversations never go quite the way I had planned.

On my third day in the ward I went into the room that I was assigned to and introduced myself to the patient in the first bed. Armed with two days of experience, I had things down to some semblance of a science and was feeling pretty confident. The patient glanced up for his phone for a minute and then noticing the blood pressure machine that I had with me, held out his arm.

As I wrapped the cuff around his arm I tried to introduce myself again. The patient gave a pitiful half-smile in return, I chose to take it as a good sign. When we were done with the blood pressure the patient thanked me and got up. I still had to take his temperature and ask him a few questions so I asked him to sit back down.

He looked at me quizzically and said "But you already took my blood pressure." . I smiled and said that I had just a few more questions and it wouldn't take long if he would be kind enough to sit back down and cooperate. Deciding that he had had enough pestering for one day he kindly informed that he was going to change his clothes now so I should probably leave.

I waited a few more moments trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. None of my rehearsed conversations or previous patient encounters had gone on this particular direction...

And that's the story of how I watched a 70 year old patient strip in an effort to avoid talking to me.

I was pretty determined not to let my clinical nurse down so I asked the semi undressed man the rest of my questions and realizing that I wasn't leaving without answers, he reluctantly gave them to me.

Things got easier as the days flew by. I learned more efficient and effective ways to gather the relevant information from my patients and by the end of the second week the clinical nurse trusted me to take care of a full room of patients (between 8-9 patients depending on the day).

During the first couple of week my clinical nurse stayed in the room with me while the doctors were doing their rounds. Deciding that she trusted me enough with the patients, the nurse left me alone with the doctors on days that we were understaffed. Seeing that my clinical nurse trusted me, the doctors relied on my information about the patients to help make decisions about the course of the treatments.

It felt great to be a part of the team and to feel like I was actually contributing rather than just standing on the side and watching other people work. The staff in the ward were warm and welcoming. They always made time to answer any questions that I had and help me when they could, and I tried my best to help them in return.

Overall it was a great experience and I can't believe that it's already over. I have lots more to learn but I think I'm off to a great start.

A Beautiful Friendship

At the end of my shift on Monday afternoon a new patient arrived in the ward. Charlie had spent a good potion of the day sitting in the miyun and he was glad to finally be able to get some rest. The nurses bustled around and got Charlie settled into room number 4 for the night.

The next day a patient by the name Joe arrived in the ward and was wheeled into room number 4. He didn't know it yet, but life as he knew it was about to change. His bed was set up directly across the room from Charlie's bed. Tired and worn out from having a procedure done earlier that day, he drifted off into a troubled sleep.

Joe woke up a few hours later and sat up in his bed and surveyed his surroundings.  He hadn't paid much attention when he had first arrived, he looked across the room and saw a man around the same age as him sitting in the bed across from him. The man looked up and smiled, Joe smiled back.

It was boring in the hospital, and lonely. Charlie sat in his bed wondering when his wife was going to come to visit. She had called earlier to say that she would be there after work but it was only 14:00 in the afternoon and she didn't finish work until 16:00. It seemed like time was barely moving. 

Charlie sighed and looked across the room. The man in the bed across from him was starting to wake up. He watched as the man sat up and took in his surroundings. As their eyes met, Charlie smiled. The man smiled back.

A nurse came into the room with a glucometer to check the diabetic patients blood sugar levels. The nurse took Charlie's level first and then walked over to Joe's bed. "So we're both diabetic.." thought Joe as the nurse pricked his finger.

The nurse left the room and Charlie realized that it had been a while since he'd last visited the little boys room. He tried to stand up but got tangled in his IV line. Those damn nurses seemed intent on pumping him full of fluids. 

Joe watched the man in the bed across from him flounder as he struggled to free himself from his IV line. The man lost his balance and the IV stand began to sway dangerously. Joe jumped up to the rescue and ran to grab the man before he fell.

Charlie panicked as he lost his footing. Just as he thought that he was a goner, he felt a firm grasp around his arm and steadied himself with the help of his rescuer. The two men worked together to free Charlie from his IV line. 

As the line came untangled the two men smiled at each other. They stood there like that for a while until Charlie remembered his manners. 

"I'm Charlie, thanks for saving me there.."  said Charlie as he stuck out his hand. "Ya, no problem." said Joe as he shook the outstretched hand "Names Joe". Charlie nodded towards the spot of dried blood on Joe's finger from where the nurse had checked his blood sugar level . "Watchya in for?" he asked. Joe sighed and answered "Chest pains. You?" Charlie smiled and said "Same.".

Joe let out a little laugh "Two diabetics administered for chest pains... What are the odds?" Charlie thought for a moment and said "It's like it was meant to be.". Happy to finally have  a distraction Charlie offered to show Joe around the ward. Joe had been pretty out of it when they brought him in earlier and thought his legs could definitely do with a stretch.

The two men spent the remainder of the day together. By the next morning, they were inseparable.

At the beginning of the shift my clinical nurse divided the room into two, assigning me with left side and the other student with the right. When I went to take Charlie's blood pressure before breakfast he asked me to take Joe's as well so they could go to breakfast together. I explained to him that the other student was in charge of Joe's side of the room and she would take his blood pressure for him.

Later in the day I found the generally bubbly and outgoing Charlie lying in his bed "How are you feeling?" I asked him. "Oh you know... Alright I suppose." said Charlie with a sigh. Twenty minutes later Joe was wheeled back into the room after having had an X-ray done. Charlie jumped out of bed eager to welcome his friend back to his room.

"I was worried that you might miss lunch!" Charlie exclaimed. "I never miss lunch" Joe answered with a smile.

When I went to check Charlie's blood sugar level before lunch he hesitantly asked if I could check Joe's as well. I explained again that he wasn't my patient and he would have to wait for the other student. They looked at each other longingly across the room and sighed. Charlie pulled a chair up to Joe's bed. "I'll wait with you.".

During lunch I watched them sitting across the table from one and other telling tales as they ate. Joe gestured about wildly as he excitedly described his adventure around the hospital on the way to get his X-ray. His hand knocked over a bowl of apples on the counter behind him. The two watched as the apples bounced to the floor. The head of the kitchen staff watched them with a stern look on her face as they chased the apples about the room giggling with glee like a pair of young boys.

Later that day, the two men sat outside in the courtyard off the ward. They introduced each other to their spouses and children. It was a day full of laughter and bonding in an otherwise bleak ward.

Charlie was released from the ward later in the afternoon. Joe was sad to see him go but they promised to stay in touch.

Who knows what it was that brought them together... A mere coincidence or perhaps fate?

The Tale Of The Forgotten Sweater

Things have been kind of boring lately. Mostly I've been studying for finals and taking driving lessons. Riveting stuff, I know...

I took my last final yesterday morning and now I'm just waiting for grades (fingers crossed that I passed all of them!). Finals actually weren't to bad this semester and I'm feeling good about things.

Yesterday I picked Hadassah up from gan. Getting her from gan wasn't much of a problem but things went south on the way home. We got about two blocks away from the gan before Hadassah stopped walking and began to frantically search through her bag. Unable to find whatever treasure she had been looking for, she promptly burst into tears.

Hadassah: I have a thing for my arms so I'm not be cold!

Me: You're cold!? *stares at her in disbelief as sweat drips off my face*

Hadassah: Nooooo! In gan! *burts into tears*  I am have sometin so I'm not be cold! 

Me: You have a sweater in gan?

Hadassah: *nods head*

Me: Um, OK....

Hadassah: We need to go get it! *still crying*

Me: Uhhhh, maybe we'll get it tomorrow

Lavi:  EEEEEEEE! *sees bird and shrieks in delight*

Hadassah: Noooo! We need to go now!

Me: OK but we're almost home now so they'll save it for you and we'll get it tomorrow.

Hadassah: I need it now! *continues crying uncontrollably*

Me: Are you cold now?

Hadassah: No. *still crying*
Lavi: *still shrieking at presumably deaf bird*

Me: So how about we go home and watch a nice movie and tomorrow we'll get the sweater from gan?
Hadassah: *sniffles* ok... The princess with the long hair?

Me: Sure...

Hadassah: Ok

We made it home without any further mentions of the forgotten sweater. Hadassah went straight to the couch when we walked in and reminded me to put on the movie about the princess with the long hair. She also said we should put the air conditioning on because apparently, it was hot outside.

Next week I start my second rotation in the hospital. This time I'll be working in internal medicine which I've been assured is much more interesting than E.N.T. and I've heard only good things about the staff. 

I'm pretty excited to be in a ward where I can learn a lot and really be hands on with the patients. 

Maybe we'll even get some good stories out of it!