INTERNET!!!!

So the internet hasn’t been working in the hospital for the past two weeks or so. Apparently the person in charge of paying the bills forgot to pay it… BUT we finally have access to it! So this blog might be incredibly long, but please bare with it… you can scan through it… hehe

July 1, 2009
Nothing much has happened today. Alex and I both went to John’s (a missionary who has decided to live in Bwiam…) house. Hearing his story, how he got saved, and his missionary work has really inspired me. It made me realize that God truly works in many ways and many different places throughout the world. Later in the night, it RAINED! I’ve never seen water pour down from the sky as it does here in The Gambia. I was so happy to see the rain pour down like that. :D

July 2, 2009 – July 3, 2009
I got to see another birth.  Again, seeing a baby being born is pretty awesome. BUT this is definitely not something I’d be willing to do for the rest of my life… enough said.

July 4, 2009
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Today was a very eventful day! In the morning I got to see SURGERY! I shadowed Dr. Jones (the surgeon in The Gambia) and assisted him in a hernia surgery. It was a pretty minor surgery, but just the fact that I was in the OR room assisting Dr. Jones in a surgery was thrilling! :D
After surgery (around 2:00 pm) Matt, Russell, Heedeok, and I went to Senegambia to meet up with the rest of the group. We had a pretty difficult time meeting up with them. Once we arrived at the hotel that we were going to stay at, we were all so happy. It was FREAKIN AWESOME! It cost ($22), but it was SOOOOOOOO nice. Flushing toilets, sprinkling showers, clean swimming pool, and the best part… AC!!! :D haha
We all ate dinner at this pizza place and then went to bed.

July 5, 2009
Our group decided to go to the monkey park. I took some really cool pictures. Nothing really exciting happened after the monkey park…

July 6, 2009 – July 8, 2009
So this week I’ve been staying at the laboratory doing some clinical experiments. I’ve been testing blood samples to see if the patient has syphilis, HIV 1 or HIV2. I’ve counted many WBC’s and tested their Hb. It’s pretty cool. Granted that the technology here is really limited, but the lab is still similar to the labs that I’ve been in in the states.

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BTW… SOMEONE STOLE MY CAMERA! –FML
So last Monday… someone came into our rooms and stole our belongings. Molly lost up to $300, Diana lost $150, and Tammy lost $50. I lost my camera. I’m REALLY sorry, hyung.  We were all so pissed off.
I really wish I could have shown the pictures that I took these past 2 weeks to all of ya’ll… *sigh* But I still do have some pictures that I’ll post up, since all of my group members took pictures as well, so no worries?
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July 9, 2009 – July 10, 2009
On Thursday, we bought a chicken for 150 dallasis (approx. 6 US dollars). We literally slaughtered it on the spot, plucked its feathers, and ate it. It was delicious! We took videos of the whole thing so I’m sure you guys can see it soon! :D
Nothing much has happened on Friday. Just the usual… hospital work, cooking lunch and dinner, and playing mafia. Oh, get this! We found a projector and a computer that has movies in them! So we have movie nights now a days. :D Who would have thought that I would watch movies in Africa!

July 11, 2009
On Saturday we got to watch surgery! There were four surgeries. (1. Rectum surgery 2. Hernia 3. Hernia 4. Hydrocoel) The last one was so awesome. I’ve never seen such a big scrotum. It was literally the size of a pine apple. The doctor let us touch and do all sorts of stuff this time. It was so awesome! (I feel like I keep on using the word awesome… haha but it was!)

July 12, 2009
On Sunday we went to church. It was really different from the ones that I’ve been to at home especially the praise songs. (The only musical instrument available were wooden drums) It was a real humbling experience to watch people worship God in such a different way. There’s just so many ways we can honor God… I could really feel the Spirit working at this place. Day in and day out, I feel as if God is testing me and showing me His amazing work in so many ways. I can’t wait to share these things with my small group this coming fall year. 
After service, they offered us pork! It was so GOOD! I haven’t had that much opportunity to eat meat and every time I do get to eat it, I am always so happy! Haha

So we (my group members) are all so happy that the internet is back and there are a couple of others who have to use the internet. So I’ll leave it at this. I’ll try to update soon! Until then…bye!