Winter!

I officially love winter! This is my first true winter and I'm enjoying every piece of it. Those from these parts claim that I'll hate it soon...at least by February/March when it is STILL snowing. Maybe so, but for now it is purely magical for me.

The first snowfall was really more of a tease. We did have some flaks like this in Atlanta a couple of times. Still, coming from 2.5 years of 80+ degree weather, I had to capture these first few flakes!

fall leaves and winter flakes

And when the first true snow came, it really came. I had gone into class in the morning to dry streets. Four hours later, I emerged from the windowless classroom to see about two inches of snow on the ground. Promptly, I ran outside and made a snow angel right there in the nursing school parking lot. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that snow angel, but I do have some pictures I took after I got home. (We walked home by the way and it was great fun. I was covered with snow and my hair was icicles by the time we got there 45 minutes later!)

looking off our front porch

There I am - so happy about winter!

Looking down the street.

Blessing of the hands

The midwives are a really neat group of women. I am excited to be entering into such a fabulous "sorority" of sorts. My year is already very close and we look forward to learning and growing together. We have such an amazing range of experiences from two women who are already direct-entry (non-nursing) midwives to many who have been doulas to one who has never seen a birth. There are all sorts of talents and experiences, but one thing we all have in common is our calling into this field.

At the end of the semester, the midwives from all three years had the annual "Blessing of the Hands" ceremony. Next semester the third year students will enter into full time integration - working one-on-one with a midwife preceptor in a full time clinical practice. In preparation of their departure, the second year students (along with us, the first years) give each midwife a hand crafted bowl of her own and pour salt water over her hands into the bowl to bless those hands that will help bring new life into the world. It was a really beautiful ceremony.

Blessing of the hands

I help pour the water to bless a third year's hands.

(I have my back to the camera and am wearing a red skirt)

It was also a nice fellowship time - to be with our own class of midwives as well as the two above us.

Three first year midwives

At the end of the ceremony, we (first years) gave our "big siblings" a small gift as well. Each of us gave our "big" a small potted bamboo with a meaningful quote and hand made felt pin. Here I am with Katie, my big (who is an RPCV Kenya!)

Nurses around town!

But of course, you can't study ALL the time. Especially after the successful completion of an exam, we have to have a celebratory meal or drink.

There is a place near us that has a free burrito bar on Thursdays. Granted the burritos that are free are not the best ones we've ever had. But, HEY!, they're free. What more can you ask?!?

a table full of nurses, burritos, chips, dip and margaritas

Lesley did NOT like my outfit, but Janna liked it so much, she had to give me a kiss!

(and Sara REALLY loved the salsa on her plate!)

Another fun spot is the sports bar/restaurant just a few blocks away from us. One thing I love about New Haven is that you can't smoke inside ANYWHERE! So, I am never fearful to try new places. This place has really great food and a fun atmosphere.

Aww...roommies

Lesley and Emily

Since when are napkins and straws private property?

Biomedical Pathophysiology - YIKES!

Biomedical Pathophysiology - ahhh, brings joy to your ears doesn't it. Ya, me neither! Needless to say this was a particularly difficult class for me this semester, especially seeing as I haven't had science since 1998 - nearly a decade ago!!

However, the teacher is quite expressive and I got a few good shots of my clinical friends during class (had to take a mental break and snap a few shots before I could try and wrap my mind around the content again...)

I do believe we were learning about the brain.

This is the expressive part I was telling you about.

(With the Yale School of Nursing crest behind him.)

Brandon always wears good hats!

"Are you taking a picture instead of listening?"

"Yep!"

Mara is so studious, but always has time for a picture.

The best clinical group ever!

I have officially completed my first semester as a nursing student. Believe me, this was no easy task. There were definitely moments when I wasn't sure I'd make it through, but I pushed through and with the support of friends and family I came out on the other side.

Some of the people that were vital to my survival this semester were the members of my first clinical group. This semester we studied medical-surgical nursing. I completed both of my practice clinical rotations at the Hospital of Saint Raphael (pronounced /Ray-feel/ here - don't know why).

The picture above is of my first group with our first preceptor. (Hey! We look sort of like nurses!)We worked/studied on the cardiac floor of St.Raphael's hospital. These guys were the best I could ever have asked for and kept me alive through the semester! THANKS GUYS!

My Apartment

I fear that despite my best of intentions the semester succeeded in getting away with me. I was determined to blog at least every couple of weeks, but now I see that it has indeed been a couple of months (almost exactly) since I made a post.

My dear dedicated readers (if you still exist) I am so sorry! So, I shall try to make up for my lack of postings this evening. I leave for Ecuador in a few hours and was trying to sleep, but my excitement overwhelms me and instead I blog. Knowing that I'll have lots of pictures and stories to tell upon my return, I'll try to get caught up first.

Several of you requested pictures of my apartment. Finally I can say that we have transformed it from a house into a home. Here are a few pictures:

On the front porch. The house is 3 stories. Our apartment is half of the first floor.

Living room 1 - the "ethnic room" housing statues from Tanzania and a print from China.

Living room 2 - where we spend much of our time at home.

Looking off my front porch at our first snow fall. Beautiful!

Fall in New England and my goings on

It's hard to believe that it is almost November! I've got more than 2 months of nursing school under my belt and more knowledge, skills and experiences from those two months than I could ever have thought were possible!!! Admittedly, there have been some moments when I've wondered why it is exactly that I left teaching to learn about cell metabolism and to scrape liquid feces from a bed and into a specimen cup. But, then I take a walk through the maternity ward or begin to explain why I'm here to someone I've just met and I remember. This year - this bombardment of my senses and brain cells - is not everything. There is an end to this difficult journey.

So, I push my way through pharmacology, pathophysiology, medical/surgical nursing and anatomy. I strain to remember the drugs, doses, contraindications and best practices I'm presented with daily. I attempt to learn what I'm doing not only in English, but in Spanish as well. And, of course, I continue to look for ways in which I can impact not only people in my own country, but people around the world. What a tremendous challenge I've set for myself!

And just when I think my brain is about to burst, I look out my window and see splashes of red, orange and yellow. Fall in Connecticut is beautiful. I want to run outside and roll in the leaves. I will yet - of that you can be assured. I haven't taken pictures this week but here are a few I took about ten days ago. You can start to see the color. I'll try to get some more up soon - they are falling quickly!



This past week I joined with students from the other medical professional schools to help put on the play "the Doctor Stories". I worked (as the stage manager) with an awesome group of actors to portray several scenes from a book by the same name written by Dr. Richard Selzer (surgeon, writer and former professor at Yale Medical School). What a joy to meet such an amazing group of people with whom, through the adventure of putting on a show, I could connect with quickly. The show was a success and I was blessed with some new friends. Here is a picture of some of us from the cast party after the show. (I was in my Halloween costume).



And speaking of Halloween.... Saturday night saw a crazy costumed Halloween party at the graduate school pub. Some nursing friends and I went as "gang green" (i.e. Gangrene). Check us out:



Happy fall and Happy halloween!

These books were made for studying...and that's just what I'll do

These are the books that took and time and paved the way to learn the stuff in the school that Yale built!

Needless to say, you can see that we have quite a work load - and I didn't even buy ALL the books!!! So, it's been crazy and exhausting. The before and after pictures from the last illustration pretty accurately show the state most of us are in right now. This past week we learned how to prime, and calibrate an IV. Here's a great picture from a friend of mine entitled "GEPN year IVs"

photo courtesy of Brandon

This week we will start administering medication and setting up IVs during our two days of clinical in the hospital. This is an exciting step forward from taking temperature, blood pressure, giving bed baths and making beds (yes, with hospital corners!) . I have also done blood glucose finger pricks as well - both in the hospital and at a soup kitchen where I will volunteer a couple of times this semester (and where the people are simply fabulous - this is why I'm doing this!).

Slowly but surely the skills and knowledge is coming. The pace is fast, the hours are long and the intensity can be overwhelming if we let it, but we will get there. I try to stay focused on why I'm here and where I will be in 3+ years!

On another note, the class of 2010 has been officially welcomed into the Midwifery sorority of YSN (Yale School of Nursing). I think that the midwifery "clan" has a really special energy and bond that may or may not be present in the other clinical specialties. I know I've chosen the right field. Here are the future nurse-midwives of 2010:

What a gorgeous bunch!

And despite how busy I am with class, I refuse to put my life on hold, so here are a couple snap shots from some non-academic fun of the past week.

1. Argentinian Tango class - last weekend I went to a "boot camp" (7hrs) to learn to dance Argentinian Tango. I can't quite claim to truly dance it yet, but we're getting there. It was a lot of fun and I made some new friends along the way. I think now I'll join the Sunday night Tango classes. (Seems to be the big thing around here these days).

with some new friends after class

taking a turn around the floor with the instructor

Yesterday was a fellow midwife's birthday and though we had a test to suffer through in the afternoon, there was a party at the Grad student pub last night. "Blast from the past". A good time was had by all!

"Happy Birthday Mara!"

the First Exam

How can it be that I've only just been in class for three weeks and I've already been presented with an amount of knowledge that should accompany months of study??? Indeed from one course alone I am already expected to know the entire system of fluid balance within the body - how it works, what can go wrong, how you can tell if it goes wrong and ways to fix it, Electrolyte management within the many systems of the body, normal vital signs, hormone and electrolyte levels and the basics of how to do and entire body assessment upon entering a patients room...oh, AND the basics of the cardiac system - paths, jobs, diseases and basic EKGs. One course. And we're being tested over all of that on Monday. Yes, my dear readers - two days from now. Holy cow. My weekend is filled with studying and I am amazed at how much I already know compared to this time last month when I sat in a moving truck traveling across thousands of miles of asphalt!

So, the study is going well, but needless to say it is already taking a toll. Just to prove my point:

Some nursing school friends and I two weeks ago - at the beginning of the semester.

And now - in the midst of studying. Boo Hoo!

I hope all of you are getting more sleep than I at the moment! :)

First step - look the role

The true journey to nurse-hood has officially begun. True, it technically started several weeks ago when I moved to New Haven and started classes, orientation even. But, yesterday was my first day in the hospital. I donned my scrubs, lab coat, fake crocs, ID badge and stethoscope and headed out of the house to be there for the 7am shift. True, we didn't do much "hands-on" work yesterday - it was just orientation. But, it was interesting and exciting to enter a hospital for the first time with a tiny ounce of clinical knowledge.

I'll be working on the cardiac floor - mostly with post-op patients. I am particularly excited about this assignment because I had a two week "orientation" to the cardiac floor in Houston a few months ago when my dad underwent bypass surgery. I am excited and interested to see this now from the other side. So much to learn!

In my scrubs...

and lab coat!

Today I have the 7-1 shift again and will actually start working with the patients. We have been officially learned to check vital signs: temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure. We've also learned how to change a bed (with hospital corners) and give a bed bath for those patients too weak or too sick to get out of bed. It's in my head...now I just need to transfer it to my hands. Wish me luck!

A little of Connecticut

Alas, grad school seems to eat up every moment of my time already and I have been slow to post any pictures and stories from my time here in New Haven thus far. I shall try to make a routine that allows me to update this blog more often. But, at the moment, I have piles of studies sitting (literally) between me and this keyboard and I must get to work. So for now these pictures from my mom's visit up here this weekend will have to suffice.

Mom came up for the weekend and we spent Saturday taking a road trip through the back roads of Connecticut. I plotted a route on the map and mom exclaimed that it would simply take us forever to drive. In fact, it took about an hour and a half. Toto, we're not in Texas anymore! :) So, we set out on our drive.

After changing plans a few times, we decided on a cute 2 lane road through the country and it was perfect because we happened upon and Lewiz farm - produce and antique shop:

Continuing on, we enjoyed driving through the crisp, cool autmn air amidst the lush trees and stone fences:

Soon we came upon a beautiful draw bridge, which we drove over slowly several times to take in the view (and, of course, get some pictures)

Our road trip ended at the shore in Meridian, CT. We found a great little resaurant (The Warf) where we sat watching the sunset, eating clam chowder and fish and chips. Beautiful!!!

Today we started our day at a Catholic church in the neighborhood and then hiked up "East Rock" which is only a few blocks away from my house. What a view!

On my porch - ready for a walk

a street near mine

"East Rock"

On top of East Rock with New Haven behind us

part of New Haven and the Long Island Sound

Look, it's my house!

It was a good visit and a beautiful time.

Classes Start Tomorrow!!!

I'm all settled in to New Haven now and I promise to upload some pictures just as soon as every last box is out of my bedroom and I put up the wall hangings. Unfortunately, that is yet the case on this eve of the beginning of my journey into nursing.

Orientation week was great - the group of students in my Pre-speciality RN/MSN program is truly remarkable. We come from something like 35 states and have studied in over 180 different institutions of higher learning. That's even more remarkable seeing as there are only around 100 of us (maybe up to 120). The group includes lawyers, teachers, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (five of us), social workers and a pipe organ builder (who helped build the largest pipe organ in the world!) Degrees held in the group vary from theatre to public policy to English to various sciences to public health to education to...to....to... It is an interesting and diverse group of people.

So, we were bombarded with information during orientation and given the tools to get us started on this incredible journey. I am sitting in my room, after this beautiful labor day weekend, reading over the notes for tomorrow's lecture. We do get one introductory day before jumping off the Olympic high dive. In two weeks we will be actively in the hospitals, 2 shifts a week, under the observation and guidance of preceptors in the medical-surgical units. I can't wait. And I'm scared to death.

I must return to my note reading, but I did want to leave you with this cute cartoon that one of our professors sent us via e-mail. I think it accurately describes our state at the moment. But, not for long....