Save in NY

New York City

Cold

Just a quicky!!

Arrived savely.. having lots of fun..

Love you all!

Rea

Santa's Little Helper

Potsdam, Germany
11:00 Pm
Foggy cold night

Hi folks,

This is my last entry before I leave for New York City.

Last weeks have been busy. At work we had a lot of children with gastroenteritis. The ward was full every day and I often stayed late. Oh this picture was taken after my last night shift.

Two weeks ago I played Santa Clause (yes, sorry, he’s not real) at Yannick’s kinder garden. It was so cute. The kids were shy at first but quickly got friendlier with me, in the end they tried crawling into my sack. Hilarious!

On the 22nd of December, we held the annual Christmas party at my place. This year’s guests:

Lea, Franzi, Christoph,

Donnée, Lauri, Sandra, Jenny, Micha, Max and Marina.

I spend the day cleaning and preparing the food: cake, cookies,

and a turkey. We spend the evening decorating self made cookies, ate cake, decorated the Christmas tree, did “Stehrumchen”,

played with Max,

and enjoyed the turkey. The whole evening was a success.

During the whole evening my Christmas LP’s were playing, a “fire” was sizzling in my TV and we laughed a lot.

Christmas this year was a day early. Marina and I left for Mom’s place on the 23rd, where we had the traditional goose lunch and exchanged gifts. Marina left to visit her godson and we (Mom, her boyfriend Henry and I) went on a walk through the winter wonderland. Marina and I left for Dad’s a bit later. More gifts being exchanged, the traditional potato salad dinner and a visit to my granddads afterwards.

Marina and I worked on the 24th. But that day I had a full blown Bronchitis. I was offered to stay home on the 26th and used that day to sleep, use my meds and drink lots of fluids. It’s a bit better today, but I will still fly to New York City tomorrow. Wish me luck.

To all of you that I haven’t reached per mail, phone or personally:
I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Much Health, love and happiness to all of you.


Andrea

Talking Christmas

Potsdam, Germany
07:00pm
Wet

Hello everyone,

First of all a big hug to my friend J. (you know who I’m talking about, girl)! I know you are going through some hard times right now, but please keep in mind that the most unexpected gifts are sometimes the most precious ones. You will get through this.

Lives been okay, lots of work, health back to old self and I have been at a communication seminary. The theme was how to talk to patients and families so that both parties benefit from the conversation. We discussed how many ways a child and their parents had to go until they were finally able to rest in their room (sometimes not even achieving that, because of a crying roommate). The woman who did this training with us, pointed out how displaced these ppl are in opposition to us who are kind of at home on the ward. We learned 2 different types of communication (there are dozen more):
Type 1:
- Set your goal before you go into the room, e.g. rechecking the temperature after a high fever.
- Evaluate the situation, e.g. distressed parents, child just fell asleep, but immediate danger of a febrile seizure.
- have a positive pose towards your self like “I can do this”
- Call parent and child by name (amazing how a simple “Mr. Smith, I’m nurse Andrea.” catches a persons attention) and keep eye contact.
- stand or sit upright
- Explain in short precise phrases what you have to do.
- Keep eye contact.
- Quite mimic and gestures.
- Do not use “not”! E.g. use phrases like “Justin has to stay in bed today.”, instead of “Justin is not allowed to leave his bed tonight”.
- If the parent tries to evade, stick to your goal and repeat the first steps.
- If you achieved your goal, give a short thank you to the parents for letting you do what you have to do.
- Afterwards, re-evaluate how the situation went; give yourself a pad on the shoulder for e.g. managing to take the temperature without much fuss from the parents.
Type1 is usually used for situation in which I, as a nurse, have to hold the upper hand and do what is necessary for the health of my little patient.

Type 2 is more the taking time and assessing the emotional state in which my opposite is in as well as taking that in consideration.
I found out that I am more type 2, but am able to use Type 1 in difficult situations. Since that training, I have caught myself consciously doing things, e.g. better taking the parents situation in account and using Type 1 when I have to, so I still find it hard not to give in, especially when I can feel with the parent.

Last weekend, Marina, Sandra and I drove to Chemnitz (a good 2 1/2h) to visit the local Christmas fair.

It was raining for the first 2 hours of the road trip. As we drew near, the sky cleared.

It’s not big but has lots of handy works,

local specialities (food, drinks) and just a very nice atmosphere. As you can see that we were up to no good.

A good friend of mine, Andreas, has a beverage stall there – go check out his hot wine, it’s delicious.

Much warmth and love from me to all of you,
Andrea

Not So Good

Potsdam, Germany
09:00 pm
Foggy

Hiya,

I am just watching „Dhoom – Back in Action” and imagine myself, sitting in a cinema in Chennai with the Weiss family and enjoying a move Indian style. Gotta love it.

Instead of that, here I am, on my couch, watching it on TV. This week has not been pleasant. My cold has developed into a full blown bronchitis and I haven’t been able to go on sick leave because half the stuff is out cold. We are currently running the ward with 8 nurses. On top of that I managed to get a stomach bug, too. So, this week’s motto is “Keep going!!”.

Otherwise, I am great.

Much love,
Andrea

Coughing up a snow storm

Potsdam, Germany
10:00 pm
Icy


Okay,

Yes, I haven’t been blogging for a while now. And being busy is not my excuse for this time, rather not feeling up to writing for the last couple of weeks.

Day to day life has caught up with me way too fast, though I am still gathering strength from my 2 weeks in India. Amazingly, I think I have more patience than I did before. Crying babies, parents going on and on about their problems, doctors prescribing therapies without telling the nurses about it, lazy drivers, crazed people at the supermarket and on top of it all, my mother. For the last few weeks, I’ve been real calm whenever something like that occurred, which is a bit out of character for me but a welcomed change.

Once again I’d like to thank Renu and her family for being my host. I loved it and hope that we’ll be able to meet again in person sometime soon. Scott, get well soon and do enjoy your time off despite the circumstances, you have a wicked kind of humor. Navin, you have a great personality and a big heart, don’t loose your love for the people and the animals. Naren, boy, you are smart, use your brains a bit more often and you’ll be able to reach for the stars. And finally Renu, you are doing a great job in raising the boys, you are a great doctor and an amazing personality, thank you for sharing your home and a part of your life with me.

Work has been okay, though there are a couple of organizing problems the team had to deal with, that lead to the nurses being under staffed and exhausted to the bone, including me.

My friend Donnée moved this Saturday into her own one-bedroom-apartment. Usually I am one of the first to offer my help, but my boss organized a kind of conference that involved 4 kinds of trainings on Saturday. Nevertheless, her mom (Elke) called me on Friday, stating that no one was coming that could carry the heavy stuff and that she was desperate. So, on Saturday morning I arranged for being excused to the conference (with much begging) and helped with the move. It was actually a lot of fun being able to work with my hands again.

My rewards were a happy Elke and Donnée, muscle cramps today as well as a nasty cold. That’s life.

For the last 2-3 nights I have been having strange nightmares. Not the scary monster kind of dreams, but more like a psycho movie. Guess, my subconscious is trying to tell me something, though, so far, no clue.

My LP-Player was broken. It’s rather old and I am fairly proud of owning it (my dad found it on a rubbish pile and repaired it for me), so when it stopped working properly I felt terrible. There’s one shop in Potsdam that repairs old machines like that and the guy on the phone asked for a lot of money just for looking at it, with no promise that he would be able to repair it. My mom’s new bf offered to take it with him to a colleague, who invented a software able to find the broken part. In the end it will cost me 50 bucks for the repairs and it will be as good as new. BTW, he showed my mom a catalogue with my player in it – it is 700 € worth!

Oh, I totally forgot to tell you about the weather here. I woke up this morning to a white Potsdam landscape. We had snow during the night! Take a look.

Much love,
Rea

Incredible India, part 2

Chennai, India
10:15pm
warm


Hey,

Been very busy during the last 10 days and am liking India very much!

On Tuesday last week, we went to Krishna Sweets. They have lots of sweets on display and seeing that I was introduced as the visiting German, the woman gave me free samples, which I enjoyed for the most part. Let me just say that Indian sweets are a lot different from German ones and some are way too sweet or buttery. From there on we where on our way to Chennai Beach, but not without stopping at a local clothe stores to get some “shirts” and pants for me. After I was officially “pimped”, we parked close to the beach, where Navin and I left Scott and Renu behind to wade through the waves. Indians do not use swim wear! They just wade into the water in Jeans and shirt or Sari and enjoy the warm water. The beach itself was not the cleanest, but they had some kind of mini carnival there and vendors walked along the shore, praising there goods.

On Wednesday and Thursday I went with Renu to the Banyan facilities. First of all: if you have some money to spare, these people will put it to very good use. Follow the link on the right!
My first experience was the Balm, which is a learning centre that has recently been opened. It is located in a small sea shore village and used for training session with staff, as well as partners. Arriving there, Renu started seeing to patients and I met up with Bettina, who is German, but has been living in India for a while now and is responsible for the contact between the B. and its partners. Her husband was giving her moral support, because that morning she was driving to the B. herself and promptly was caught in the mob after a car accident had taken the life of 2 children. In India you are told to leave a car accident scene as soon as you can, even if you were involved, because a mob will form and perform justice as they see fit. She didn’t know what had happened and soon people were shouting angrily at her and hitting the car. So she grabbed her bag and car keys and got out of the car seeking protection with a Banyan driver. Her husband had to come on a motorcycle and escort her to the Balm, where she was still visibly shaken.

That day was quickly filled with planning for my training sessions and we left soon after lunched.

Renu brought the idea up that I could get out and explore Chennai on my own if I wanted to. So, I put No-Bite on and left for Guindy train station, which is a 10 minute walk from the apartment. Indians are very open and friendly people, everywhere I went people stared at me (because of my skin colour), but as soon as I smiled, they’d smile back, some of the poorest offering me tea or food. I asked my way through to the ticket counter and got one for Mabalam (2 stations away) for 4 rupees (less than 0,10€).

Train ride was an adventure (no doors, open windows, lady’s compartment), but I arrived there save and sound and just followed the flow of the people.

It took a good 5 minutes do get off the station, but patience is something you learn to live with here.

But Mabalam was overwhelming – lots of people, shops everywhere, beggars, dogs, smells, sounds.

I did survive and even managed to get a couple of gifts for friends, though I hadn’t anticipated the ride back. The ticket counter was a lot more crowded and I got inkling to how full the train would be when I got onto the platform. The train arrived I stood first line in front of an open compartment. Lots of woman pushed out of the cart, while lots of woman pushed in.



You’d be amazed, but it worked. I was standing close to the other side of the train at an open door and just enjoyed the breeze while being imbedded in human bodies, taking a picture of a woman sitting on the ground, after she asked me to, seeing my camera.
I walked home, satisfied with my self and exhausted to the bone.

On Thursday I was introduced to Adaikalam, the transit facility of the B., currently home to over 200 mentally ill, homeless woman. But there too, people smiled at me. Everyone was friendly and very open with me. Vanitha (a senior Coordinator) told me all about Adaikalam and the program(s) of the Banyan, which was both educational and interesting. Then one of the Health Care Workers - HCW (girls from villages who are the main care givers concerning activities, hygiene, food etc.) showed me around. What these people have achieved in “short” time is amazing. I was treated to one of there outpatient programs and after enjoying lunch, left with Renu.

Friday was spent for further exploration of the city. Again riding the train to Eggmore station, I took an auto rickshaw to Government Museum. They have 6 exhibitions (archaeology, zoology, biology, bronze, portraits, modern art and children’s museum) and it is worth the entrance fee as well as the camera fee – 450 rupees (about 5€).

The afternoon and early evening were spent at Spencer Plaza, a local mall. I bought some more gifts as well as more clothes for myself.

Sunday the whole family, including me, piled into the car by about 6 am and left for the sea shore temple and other well preserved temples. The morning was spent outside, exploring temples, climbing huge rocks and looking at the sea.

We went for lunch to Renu’s brother’s house. He is happily married and they have a nearly 2 year old daughter Ahana.

She needed about 30 minutes before she had warmed up to us and enjoyed being the centre of attention until she fell asleep. The food was excellent and the conversation enlightening and entertaining.

I stayed at home on Monday, to prepare the 2 trainings of the HCW/ nurses and just relax a bit.
By Tuesday morning, I grabbed my backpack (including my laptop) and we were on our way to the Balm, where I (with lots of help by Renu and a translator) trained the first group of HCW in “assessing critical situation and acting accordingly” (Shock and general CPR) as well as “Wound management”. We started by 9:45am and suddenly Renu signalled me that the girls haven’t had breakfast yet. So, she organized some chips as a snack, tea and water as well a small breakfast afterwards. Theses young woman were motivate even before that, but now were much better equipped to listen and understand. I got the feeling that the HCW enjoyed the lesson and they were eager to learn and apply the knowledge in practical sessions. In the last years, I have always enjoyed teaching, but it is so much more fun if people actually want to learn.

Today I trained the second group, which was as eager and willing as the first one. This time though, the translator actually translated my English from the board into written Tamil so the HCW could copy it. All worked out well and I will be doing a practical training in wound dressing for them, tomorrow.

Around 1pm, another training in CPR will take place for Nurses, Social Workers and partners of the Banyan at Adaikalam.

The evening is also booked for a trip to Spencer’s plaza with the boys to pick my glasses up. Renu and I will go to watch a Tamil movie on Friday and around 4pm a neighbour will pick me up to go to a famous temple and buy a sari as well as some jewellery. Saturday, more Tamil movie, burgers and getting the rest of my gifts from the stores.

Well, as you can see, I’ve been busy, but am enjoying myself a lot and I am seriously considering coming back to India, soon.

Love,
Rea

“I am therefore I exist”
- The Banyan’s banner

Incredible India

Chennai, India
07:45pm
Hot

Namaste,

I am finally here in India and am enjoying myself immensely.

Early Friday morning after about 4 hours of sleep, Sandra drove me to the airport (Tegel, Berlin), where I caught my flight to London.

After hanging around on the airport for about 4 hours, the plane that took me to Chennai, India, finally took off. There were a lot of families with young children on the plane, though they were well behaved. The guy next to me had his arm on my armrest all the time, until I pushed him off, because my arm hurt. Anther positive thing were the Stewards! *wink*

I arrived right on time (3:25am) in Chennai, got through Immigration alright and received my suitcase from the almighty baggage claim. By 4:30am I called Renu and she and Navin were off to pick me up.

Traffic in India is an experience you should make if you can stomach it!

They use the horn constantly, there are no lanes on the street, mostly there are no streets and they have many types of traffic participants: cars, trucks, buses, rickshaws, two-wheelers (motorcycles), bikes, ppl in wheel chairs, carts and pedestrian. Renu and Scott are very good drivers and surprisingly so, I was not scared. As a pedestrian you have to be fearless to cross the street – use the magic hand (palm open, facing down and moving it in an up-down-fashion) and walk.

The Weiss family took me into their home in a strife. I have my small room with a small bathroom and even though the facilities are nothing compared to Germany, everything is clean and neat and I feel very comfortable here.

After arriving at their apartment complex, we read, greeted Scott, had breakfast (French toast and fruit) and Renu and I left for a medical conference.

The conference itself was awesome but I was already so tired that I nearly fell asleep before lunch break. The topics were from Rheumatology to TB and much more. Some were entertaining, others lots of information, but a bit dry. Lunch was amazing – soup (lime and coriander), rice, 6 different dishes (chicken stuff, macaroni etc), salad, dessert (ice cream + flan + Indian sweets). After lunch Renu called Scott and he picked me up. Scott and Renu are an odd couple, but they fit very well – he has a great sense of humour and a quiet, almost shy intellect (meaning you wouldn’t suspect that he is as smart as he is) and she has a strong personality, great sense of humour and an air of authority not even man twice her size posses sometimes.

I napped for 3 hours, then played video games with Navin and had dinner (apple, rice plates and chicken). Renu told me that 7am is good enough for getting up on Sunday, the 2^nd day of conference.

Sunday came all too soon, though I slept well with my fan on all night. After a quick shower (nearly cold water- best thing in the morning and best thing in this kind of weather) and breakfast, Renu and I headed back to the conference. One speech was about woman and mental health which was very good! Again Lunch and we headed back to the apartment seeing that it was only a half day. The four of us spend the evening buying clothes for me, grocery shopping, at the beach and having burgers at a local restaurant. It really helps being here with Renu; she knows whether the water is safe and the food edible. It is also very nice to have someone to converse with!

Today is monday - there's a bandh (strike) - so we slept in, watch a movie, played rummy...

CU
Love, Rea

Sooo Excited

Potsdam, Germany
08:00 pm
Autumn weather

Hiya,

I'm so excited. Only 10 days till take-off to India.

But my last week was a lot of excitement, too.

When I came to work on Sunday afternoon, I saw one of the windows was broken, the wall black and a burned out washing machine lying on the ground before the building.

Apparently our wet room had started burning early in the morning. Thankfully, the early shift nurses reacted very quickly and were able to evacuate all the children and parents, so no one was hurt. The damage is extensive, half our ward had to be closed off, walls and the ceiling need to be repaired, because of burning electrical wires. I will be able to find out how we are going to manage going from 40 beds to 30, especially seeing that the part that is closed was mainly for rooming-in purpose. We'll see.

After working late shift on the weekend, I was off on Monday and Tuesday. Denise had to get teeth surgery so I was back in babysitting business. Vivian and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously after we had ensured her mom, that yes, I am able to make a bottle, and that yes, I knew how to use the car seat. After her nap and a change of diapers, I finished my preparations for the English class while Vivian played on her blanket. She's growing so fast and finished her bottle in no time at all (meaning no break, because every time I pulled the bottle out of her mouth, she complained - very loud). That baby burpes like a fully grown man. Did you ever have to take a baby for a walk? I had my backpack, a baby bag (diapers, change of clothes, wet wipes, a tea bottle, a bottle of milk, and a changing blanket), the car seat and Vivian in the stroller bag, already dozing. After carrying the stuff and the baby 5 flights of stairs down and getting the stroller upstairs from the basement, we locked the car seat and backpack into the car and were on our way. Vivian was fast asleep and enjoyed the autumn sun for a good hour.

By 2pm, the two of us arrived at the hospital to teach English. We started the class by handing the baby around for a cuddle and then talked about introducing a ward to a mom and her child. For the first 10 minutes Vivian listened intently while sucking her pacifier and soon fell asleep in her car seat in front of the class. When Denise returned from her surgery, Vivian was sleeping peacefully in her car seat, waiting for another walk in the nice weather.

Today I received my last vaccination shot for India (I didn't even flinch, but my arm feels like I wrestled Hulk Hogan - honestly!). And afterwards, I spend a nice evening with Jana and Yannick. He gets cheekier every day.

Greetings to the Banyan - see you soon.

Love,
Rea

P.S.: Bought lots of sweets, guess for whom. *wink*

Horses and Babies

Potsdam, Germany
01:00 pm
Rainy

Hellu,

I’ve been to Havelberg last weekend. There is a farmer fair every first weekend in September.

This was actually my third trip and I am enjoying it every year. They have a huge flea market, pet market and a fair with a huge Ferris wheel.

The trip should have included Sandra and Lea, but Sandra was detained because of work. So Lea and I met on Friday evening at my place to have a noodle dish and watch “Brothers Grimm”. The movie was okay, but had I been alone, I would have stopped the movie after the first 10 minutes. It’s a fairy tale for adults and kinda of crazy as well as scary. Though I did sleep well afterwards.

We had self-made banana pancakes for breakfast, prepared the sandwiches for our trip and left. The trip there takes about 2 hours and we parked our car on a field, build our tent and walked the short distance to the fair.

The flea market was 1/3 of its original size, which was okay nevertheless. I was able to buy 2 LP’s (Bing Crosby Xmas and Back to the Future OST). The rest of the day was spend with taking a look at the pets for sell (dogs, bunnies, horses etc.) and enjoying the treats of the fair (different kinds of food, beers, clothes etc.).

The night in the tent was pleasant despite the cold (I came prepared – thick blanket, pillow, quilt, sleeping bag). All in all, a great trip.

Seeing that it’s already September I’ve started my preparations for India. I cleaned my suitcase, bought some goodies for the Weiss family, got some Insecticides (bugs love me – ouch) and am making a list of things to take with me. As you might have gathered – I am so excited!

On Tuesday I will join Denise and Vivian at the baby swimming course. I bought and under water camera to take pictures of Vivian’s diving. You’ll get the pictures as soon as they are developed. Promise!

I will spend a few days with Donnée, who’s looking for an apartment and will be driving to visit my Dad.

Have a great day,
Andrea

With a balanced combination of the two principal energies from mother and father, a girl can both be in touch with her womanly strengths and be a powerful force in the world – strong and nurturing, decisive and caring, goal-oriented and aware of the needs of others. She has the courage to voice what she thinks and feels and the strength to follow her destiny.

– Jeanne Elium

Patty's Birthday Greetings

I know it's already the 24th in Germany, but it's still the 23rd of August in Canada.. So, Happy Birthday, Patty. We miss you, we love you!!

Good and Bad Times

Potsdam, Germany
09:00 pm
Fresh air after a heavy rain.

Today was a strange day.

Good:
I got my Visa for India. If India is as fun as the embassy was last week, then I am going to love it.

Bad:
A babe was waiting at work for me, that I knew pretty well. I fed him and changed him while he was a preemie. I cuddled and rocked him to sleep when he was admitted and we found out that he’s been hurt by family. I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat when he went home with the same family. Today I took pictures of the scratches on his back, the red and purple marks on him and tried to sooth his whining ( he didn’t really cry, he just whimpered) while we waited for an MRI of his head. He’s barely a half year old and has been through so much. On top of all this we nearly lost him during the MRI preparation. I watched helplessly while the doc performed CPR.
Sometimes I hate my job.

A.

Laundry and Light headed

Potsdam, Germany
09:30pm
Post storm weather

Well,

I finally got a new washing machine. Guess what, I love it. Yes, not just like, I LOVE IT! It’s clean, it’s smooth, saves energy, saves water, is really quiet and adding to these awesome features… you can sit in front of it and watch while your knickers get thrown around. Oh, it can wash, too.

Oh oh oh, did I mention that I did all the handy work? I connected the machine and got some spare parts. Imagine how proud I felt doing the first laundry in it?!

Yannick spend an evening at my place with his mom. I made bee-sting pie and homemade cream. We went for a walk to the nearby lake and Yannick couldn’t resist. He was so adorable. Afterwards, I made curry and chatted with Jana. It was really nice.

Concerning my health, I’m kind of having a summer cold and my head feels like packed into cotton balls. But no rest for the wicked, I will be heading to the Indian embassy this Friday to get my Visa and I can hardly wait to take off. But before I leave for Chennai, there’s a week of spare time coming up at the beginning of September. Sandra and I will head to Havelberg to join the local horse market for a weekend. It’s a huge happening every first September weekend and this will be our third trip there. It’s like a great road trip; with an awesome flee market in the afternoon and a carnival in the evening.

Till later, love,
A.

P.S.: I took this on my way home.