Cooking, Cleaning, and Rats

From spending a few weeks here, I have begun to get a small feel of things. Currently, there are seven of us volunteers living on campus. This includes me, three others from Southern Adventist University, one teacher from Peru, another Bolivian teacher, and a Bolivian volunteer house parent. The director and his family live off-campus, but nearby down the road.

A couple of weeks ago, all the kids arrived and now each house is filled with 10-17 kids. Campus is now more energetic and therefore busier. Alongside getting the clinic organized and taking care of various individuals' health problems, I have kept busy by helping the other house parents with cooking, watching kids, cleaning, and substituting on their days off. So far, I've been able to watch the younger boys' house and the younger girls' house. Although cute, the littles are very energetic. The first time I had to watch a house by myself, I left that evening feeling exhausted and wondered how I would ever be able to do that again. Between cooking all day, getting everyone showered, and putting them to bed, I couldn't imagine doing that everyday. I had a new greater respect for my parents for doing this for me and my siblings while growing up. Nevertheless, I was able to do it again, and miraculously enough, it got easier each time. 

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This past Sunday was my last time watching a house on my own for the foreseeable future, as new SM's get here this Monday. During that afternoon, I sat with one of the kids (Selin) in the kitchen while making doughnuts for dinner (yes, I know, very healthy). His comments and giggles as I cooked, made me realize that I was going to miss the craziness of the younger boys' house. But it's ok, because I can now come visit and not have to deal with all the crying and fighting that so often happens. 

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In addition to watching children and spending time doing house chores, I have tried to clean up the clinic space, which is now also part of my living area. After sweeping, mopping, and organizing, I found a problem that is not as easily solved as I thought... rats. Now mind you, before Bolivia, I thought rats were kind of cute. As a kid, I thought it would be cool to have one as a pet. But now, I'm literally having nightmares about rats. Everytime I walk into the clinic, I make as much noise as possible so that they scurry away into their ceiling home. At the beginning, I would set out rat poison and I figured that the two or three rats living in the ceiling space would find it, eat it, and kindly rest forever, but after finding dead rats in my bathroom, in my kitchen sink, and behind various items, I did not like this solution. So, I asked the older boys if they'd like to go on a rat hunting spree. They jumped at the opportunity, and killed about 6 rats. So far, I have counted 9 rats in total dead from poison or the boys. After these two solutions, I began to finally get comfortable in the clinic. I thought, surely there are no more rats, 9 is a big number. I stopped making as much noise entering the clinic, and I would not hear them scurry in the ceiling at night. However, one afternoon, I was preparing a medication in the clinic, and I saw a dark figure scurry across the clinic floor near my feet, another rat. At this point I have given up on getting rid of the rats myself. Maybe they'll make nice roommates. Throughout all this, I have been, and will continue to pray for a cat to come make the clinic its home. 

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Besides the rats, settling in and getting used to life in Bolivia has been pretty smooth. My spanish is slowly getting better, and I'm getting more comfortable with the nursing side of things. The most common problems here are skin infections and common colds. I have treated numerous rashes and sores in the last few weeks, and it seems that as soon as one kid heals up, another one develops something. As a new grad nurse, there is always a learning curve, and here, I have definitely felt it. Some days, I feel as though I don't remember anything I learned in school. However, between prayer for wisdom and guidance, and resources of friends and family, God is helping me through it! The coolest thing I have done so far, is drain an infected leg wound and give an antibiotic injection. But other than that, everyone is staying healthy, which is a very good thing.