Week Six! May 19-25

 Six weeks down, eight to go! 

Ship Life

    I started the week with another surprise day off on Monday. After the Monday morning meeting, some of the OR crew were given the day off due to the new surgeons orienting and screening patients. As nice as a day off can be, I was ready to be back in the OR after also having Friday off. With the day ahead of us, Heather and I went to a new (to me) market Bazaar Kelly. It was an adventure getting there in the Monday morning traffic and our tuk tuk driver took us the loooong roundabout way there (aka we drove by the market twice before stopping). It had been a rainy weekend, so we dodged pond-sized puddles in the road as we attempted to find the fabric section of the market. We did not really have any luck, but it was still entertaining to see a different market and explore. 


    I enjoyed another Monday night trivia, Tuesday night volleyball, and Wednesday morning run. 

 




    On Thursday, the AFM a cappella group "Key of Sea" put on an hour long concert, which was very fun!  They sang a few familiar songs, as well as some songs with changed lyrics to be about Mercy Ships. They all did a wonderful job! After the concert, I played some games with friends in midships and then had a birthday celebration for our Australian anesthetist friend, Brian. 






    As always, Friday brought more farewells. 


    On Saturday, a group of us from Mercy Ships helped out with "Inclusion Day," an event hosted by a local Malagasy group that aims to empower children and the community and provide them with resources to do well. This particular event partnered an orphanage and a school for the deaf together with games, dancing, and a soccer tournament. The volunteers from the ship came and participated in the activities and had an amazing morning (even in the rain)! It was cool because most of the children from the deaf school used sign language and I was able to communicate a tiiiiiny bit with them just using the American Sign Language alphabet I know, and once some other kids figured out I knew a little ASL, they came and found me to try and translate for them! I obviously could not do it perfectly, but I was able to spell out some names and it was so sweet even being able to communicate that with them. 





    Later in the afternoon, four friends and I went to a paper-making class in town. Our host Clovis brought us into his lovely yard and taught us how he boils the bark from the avoha tree, pounds it to a pulp with water, and then spreads it out on a mesh-like sheet. Amidst the rain, we decorated our paper with flowers and greenery that will become a beautiful souvenir once dried! 





    We ended the evening with dinner at Namaste, an Indian/Asian restaurant. 

 

    I was on call this Sunday, so after the 10:30am church service on board, my day consisted of reading my book and a nap. Very relaxing way to prepare for the week! 


Surgery On Board

    This week was my first week in a pediatric general surgery rotation. Since I had been working in plastics for the past ~5 weeks, it was a bit of an adjustment for me not knowing the flow of peds general; however, I am thankful for the supportive OR team I have here on the ship. I am continually needing the reminder to give myself grace and that this environment requires a lot of flexibility and teamwork. Overall, it was still a great week and we even had a couple dance parties in the OR once our cases had finished for the day! 

 




    

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