Packing and Moving

New Roomie on the left (Julie). Old roommates on the Right (Charlotte and Sarah.) Char and Sarah are moving to NC and Julie is from FL.

Moving into a mansion this weekend!!! Moving out of my 425 square foot apartment that I have been sharing with 2 friends and a dog and moving into a 1000 square foot apartment with 2 other friends. I have been counting down the months that I could move since August and now I can count down the days. 

 

However, I am trying to kill all living stages of bed bugs. One way to do this is to fumigate everything I own (cost about $1200) or I can heat all my belongings. I am being very "ungreen" and putting everything in plastic bags and into my car. 

Even though it is June, the temperature has been in the 60s and the sun has barely made an appearance. As I was traveling outside the city today for work, I cranked up the heat in my car. I was sweating. It was a sauna in my car. BUT I know that I am killing ANYTHING that might be hiding in my stuff.  I am a bed bug killing machine. 

BUT sadly, I am sneaking out of my current apartment.  We want to be out of the apartment and away from our landlord when we let him know that we will not be renewing our lease. Knowing what he is capable of doing and seeing what he has done to previous tenants, it is in everyone's best interest to leave asap and silently. 

Living in 425 square feet with 2 roommates and a dog has been an unbelievable learning experience. I have learned the art of organization, the importance of cleaning, patience, and knowing that I can live just about anywhere.  Being in Ethiopia for 2 weeks also led me to realize that my current living situation will NEVER be as terrible as what millions of Ethiopians live in on a daily basis.  

Gone Fishing

   Played on a coed soccer team--Urban Soccer League. We won 2 games the entire season, but we were crowned CHAMPS as we won the championship. Way to go Bootleggers.  Out goaly had to be taken away by paramedics after being tackled. He broke his ankle in 2 places and required surgery....

Found a new apartment!!!! I call it The Mansion.  WIll be moving 1/2 a mile down the road to Windsor Terrace (the WT)--5 blocks from Prospect Park and less than 1 block from the Greenwood Cemetery. Will be living with Julie (from Pensacola) and Alethea (from Charlotte).  I am gradually packing up my belongings, as I will be sneaking out of my current apartment.  We do not want my landlord to know when and where we are moving.  I will be going from sharing a 425 square foot apartment with 2 people to a 1000 square foot apartment. 

Saw a rheumatologist and a neurologist this past week and got about 10 viles of blood filled for testing and had a MRI of my brain done.  After 3 years of having bladder issues, I finally saw a urologist and after having a urodynamics test performed--it was found that my bladder is not functioning appropriately.  I was put on medication which has greatly changed my life!!!  This is apparently abnormal and unusual for someone in her 20's, so multiple specialists are involved to determine if there is an underlying cause.  If there is no underlying cause--I am going to be treated like a 60 year old woman.  I asked the urologist what might happen when I am 60. Her response, "We will cross that road when we get there." 

DEPENDS here we come :) 

Going to try and be more regular on here....

Recap of life:

• Ran the Boston Marathon on April 21 in 3 hours and 26 min. I gained four minutes from my time at Scranton.  It was an incredible race to run with people cheering the entire 26.2 miles.  The last 4 miles were incredibly hard for me and I wanted someone to just come and carry me to the finish line.  I kept the same pace for the first 21 miles.  Overall, I was really happy with my time considering I didn't start running until January after nursing my ankle back to health and not being able to run for 2 weeks in February while in Ethiopia. 
• Took four friends from Brooklyn to the Catskills on May 2 and hiked up Mt. Wittenburg. They loved it!!!! It was a great opportunity to get out of the city and be in fresh air. 
• May 3, I rode in the 5 Borough Bike Tour in the rain. I rode with 36,000 riders starting by the world trade tours up to the bronx, back into manhattan , then to queens, then brooklyn, and then statin island. I had to cut off at the Brooklyn Bridge to go play a soccer game.  That was the longest I have ridden a bicycle :) 
• May 8-10 I went to Alabama. I flew to Birmingham and Natalie met me there. We stayed with her brother and sister-n-law and visited Papa.                                                                                Then went to Montgomery and stayed with Kaytie (friend from NYC) and watched her perform in Comedy of Errors at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.                                               

Happy Passover and Maundy Thursday

Passover began at sundown last night and continued through today. I have never paid much attention to the holiday until living here in NYC.  Being in NYC, so many people I have met running, climbing, and at work celebrate Passover.  I have thought more about the holiday, but honestly, I used it as a time to get my chores done.  Last night was a perfect night to go grocery shopping since many people were celebrating Passover and eating Matzah.  Today, the trains were less crowded and several co-workers took today as a holiday. 

Passover represents the time when God spared the Hebrews when he killed the first born of Egypt.  Passover is also the seven day Feast of Unleavened Bread and God brought the Israelites from slavery. 

The Journey of Benzie

We found Benzie in a game at the guest house. One day, he took a journey with us to Kolfe for a day of clinic. Enjoy!!

Waiting in line to be seen

Obtaining case history

The Shent-o-bay

Taking Shepherd's Temperature

Drawing

Looking in my ear

Letting others first on the bus

Home Visits in Bole

Bole is a neighborhood in Addis Ababa and is the location of the Bole Addis Ababa International Airport.  Despite Bole being one of the wealthier neighborhoods of the city, it is home to some of the poorest people in Addis.  The streets we walked on to conduct our home visits contained large, beautiful homes.  However, the homes of the beneficiaries we visited  were the size of closets with mud for walls and floors.  There was no running water, refrigerators, telephones, stoves, or electricity. 

One of the first families I visited has extreme difficulty obtaining water.  The husband has HIV and is unable to work.  The neighbors know that he is positive and will not allow the family to obtain water from their local area so the family has to go a much further distance and carry their water home.  Many families affected by HIV not only face the affects of having a lifelong deadly disease, but they also experience persecution from neighbors, family, and previous friends. 

Another woman I met and her daughter, Brooklynish, (see picture) live in a small, mud apartment that cost about $10 a month.  Her brother pays $2 a month and the project pays $8 a month towards her rent. When she found out she was pregnant, her only partner and boyfriend left her.  Not only did he break her heart, but he gave her HIV.  The project has been able to help her not only financially and medically, but the project has been able to provide her with support through friendships and the love of the Lord. Maria and I were able to share with her about ourselves and what God has done in our lives.  She is one of the many women I met while in Bole who will forever impact my life. 

               

Clinic Day at IEC

I returned from Addis Abada, Ethiopia on Sunday February 22 after spending 2 weeks working with people affected by HIV/AIDS.  The experience was incredible and the people and their stories made a profound impact on my life. I'm going to attempt to re-cap some events and stories. 

As an audiologist, I was able to examine, clean, and diagnose disorders of the ears.  I cleaned out bugs, impacted earwax (don't use q-tips), parts of sticks, and cotton balls out of ear canals.  Due to the lack of audiologic and otologic care, a myriad of patients had perforated eardrums, causing hearing loss, pain, and an open cavity into the middle and inner ear. Unfortunately, surgery is required to repair the perforations, which is unattainable for these people. 

Clinic day at IEC (International Evangelical Church)

IEC has a project that involves helping people in the community affected by HIV/AIDS.  As a medical team, we spent a day providing medical services to people in their project needed medical assistance.   When I was not seeing a patient with ear problems, I was either playing with kids or talking with women.  At IEC, I was able to talk with 5 women and hear stories about their lives and I was able to share a little about myself.  

A woman I was able to talk with is a single woman with no children and no husband.  Her name in Amheric means "growing a garden."  A year ago, she obtained a job at a hotel to earn money for her family, and while working at the hotel she became "positive." I probed her more and she shared how she prostituted herself to gain money for family.  In trying to help support her family, she contracted HIV then subsequently became sick with TB.  She is now almost "healthy" enough to work again.

She continued to share with me that she did attend a church before she began working at the hotel and that she wanted to attend church again, but was afraid to do so.  I shared with her that we ALL make mistakes--we are not perfect people.  God loves for us is so incredible that he sent His son who is perfect to the world to live with us.  And even though people hated him and killed him, he died so that we might live.  By accepting His son into our lives, God sees his son, who is perfect--not all the mistakes that we have made. 

The conversation with her was incredible and completely touched my heart. Despite the shame, remorse, and guilt she had for giving up apart of herself to support her family, she continued to talk with me with a HUGE smile on her face.  She expressed excitement to be able to speak with me--a feringe (white person) who didn't know anything about counseling.  But I learned an incredible amount from this woman-she continues to persevere despite being "positive."

Enduring the Cold in NY!

  


It has been so cold here lately. Last Friday, the high temperature was 16 degrees and today the high was 26.  I have learned to dress in layers--today i wore three shirts and 2 pairs of pants. 

Living in Ohio and Kentucky, it would be this cold and worse; however, living in NY, we don't have warm cars to hop into. 

BUT I have learned how to enjoy the cold winter weather and the snow. Last weekend, my friend Natalie (from KY) and her cousin Laura and I went to New Paltz, NY and went snowshoeing. We had so much even though the temperature was 14. Yesterday, my friend Megan and I went again to New Paltz and went cross country skiing. It was our first time and it was hard at first, but we got the hang of it. 

Happy New Year

I am such a bad blogger...I haven't blogged in 3 weeks! 

Christmas and New Year Re-Cap:

• My apartment got a bad case of bed bugs. This is a HORRIBLE experience.
• Phone and MacBook Broke (got a new phone and apple repaired the macbook under warranty). 
• Lost my hubcap on the way to the airport (dad bought me a new one for Christmas :))
• Spent 4 days in beautiful 80+ degree temps in Florida with my Aunt, Uncle, sisters, cousins, and parents. 
• Drove to Cincy with my sisters and parents and was able to see Steve, Kelly, Kaelyn, Maria, Julie, and Natalie
• Went to Rocktown, GA with Amanda and Brian and was able to boulder for several days. When we set up our tent, I realized I accidently took my summer sleeping bag instead of my winter bag...I wore almost all of my clothing items to stay warm!