There are a few new things around here. First, I started my new job the first week of January. I'm still working at the same hospitals, just for a different company. I signed on with the Regional Float Pool which staffs all the Centura hospitals in the area. I'm still mainly at Littleton, but I've been picking up with Parker and Porter as well - kind of nice to be able to move around like that, and there's lots of room for overtime!
And now the reason I need all the overtime: I'm going to Peru in April! I've had a missions trip on my list of things to do for a long time now, and a friend from church steered me in the direction of this great trip! We're going to be down there for most of the month of April (the 6th-29th) and will be working in clinic
s in 2 remote jungle villages. I'm a little nervous about what the medicine will be like (ex: What the heck kind of worm is that?), but we're also going to be doing a lot of education which I'm looking forward to. AIDS hit the Amazon a few years ago and we'll be doing a lot of teaching on that subject as well as nutrition and development and such.There are only 5 of us going - Alan, my friend from church who's a medic; Michelle, the doctor who's organizing all this; Jim, a non-medical guy who's converting microscopes to solar power for the clinics; and Becca, another nurse. The timing is perfect and I'm so glad that God has arranged it all for me to go!
So until then, it's preparing for the trip and lots of working. I have to go get my vaccines in a couple weeks, and of course we have to start taking anti-malaria meds before we leave. The joys of traveling to mosquito lands! And I've been working about 5-6 shifts a week - it's nice to have a job that lets yo
u do that! But I still make time for church and friends. A bunch of us went out last week for my friend Angie's birthday and had a great time! Which reminds me even more that it's all about balance.
