Third Day in the Hospital

I woke up today very tired. Last night was a long night but it was time to head to the hospital again.  One of the doctors in pediatrics set us up to go observe the HIV children’s clinic this morning.  I got to the hospital and we found the clinic. This area of the hospital actually looked comparable to an actual clinic.  They had soap unlike many areas of the hospital.  The doctor we were with this morning was amazing.  She explained how HIV is transferred to children and how their aim is to prevent mothers from passing the infection on to their children.  She had consults with many children, taking blood, checking how their medication had been working, or meeting with newborn mothers who are waiting for their results on the state of their child. 

The doctor sat with us for a very long time explaining that HIV is very tough to work with.  Because of African culture many women can’t afford the proper preventions for their children.  One of the coolest things I saw today was a woman who had just had her baby; it was 9 months old, and returned to the clinic to view the results of her child’s blood test.  The doctor happily told the mother that her child was HIV negative and the happiness the mother had was unexplainable.  We saw quite a few patients this morning but it was eleven and we wanted to check out some other things going on.  We made our way to minor theatre.

Minor theatre wasn’t too busy but we got to observe some really cool things today.  The first thing I observed was a man who had a small cut and it soon turned into infection. (picture below)  We needed to cut the dead skin out and then redress the wound.  The man was a big baby and couldn’t stand the pain.  We gave him some numbing and they worked on him slowly.  As this was happening one of the girls here and I did our first redressing.  The man had cut his fingers at work and had to have his stitches cleaned.  We wanted a doctor to check to make sure it looked okay before we redressed it so we called one of the medical interns over.  He told us that the fingernail was too infected and that it was dead.  He told us to remove the fingernail.  We did not feel comfortable doing that so we refused but he wouldn’t do it himself.  The man said he would come back the next day to get that done so we redressed the wound and sent him on his way. 

                                               the man's ankle

We saw a couple other small things, but soon it was time to leave for lunch.  We made our way to a local café and when I got home I was exhausted and took a nap.  I’m not going back to the hospital tonight; instead we are just taking it easy at the house.  All for now.

Continuation of Day 2

Last night was by far the hardest time I’ve had at the hospital.  We went in around seven and made our way to minor theatre.  Not much was happening there so some of us went over to casualty.  Laura and I introduced ourselves to the doctor and asked if we could observe him.  He agreed but we ended up sitting behind the desk for at least twenty minutes, and the casualty area was overflowing with people lying on beds waiting to be seen.  Finally the doctor started moving and looked at one patient and then retreated back to the desk.  One of the guys thats been here for three weeks is in medical school and stated taking charge and talking to patients.  Its’ frustrating watching that because the doctors and nurses have no urgency to help their patients even though they are working in the emergency section of the hospital.  Another girl and I look around at the patients and start taking vitals when I notice a bed with a lot of blood dripping on the floor.  I make my way over to her bed and see that her bottom half is soaked with blood.  I go find the other student and have him check on her.  He talks to her and we find out that she has had her baby early- only three months- and the placenta is retained within the uterus, something pretty serious.  We go talk to the doctors in charge of the area and they don’t seem concerned at all about her.  She lost a lot of blood and was groggy so we asked if she was scheduled for surgery yet.  They said no and that she couldn’t be moved to the women’s ward because there were no beds to move her to.  Being proactive we asked what the name of the Gyn surgeon was and the doctor said he didn’t know, we asked the nurse, she said she didn’t know either.  I was honestly so frustrated and confused because this women needed help and they were sitting behind the desk. We walked up to the women’s section of the hospital to ask if we could move the woman and there were numerous beds available but we needed to talk to the surgeon first.  We made our way up to major theatre to find him because he was in surgery and ended up calling him and he said he would send someone down. At least we were getting somewhere. 

It’s funny how the people see you in scrubs and ask you to look at their loved ones because you are white and expected to have the knowledge of medicine.  We moved from patient to patient doing what we could with our limited knowledge when a man approached us.  He was furious that no doctor had seen the two men he brought in who had been in a motorcycle accident. He pointed out a child that had been lying on a bed waiting as well.  We assured him we were doing what we could and we would try to prod the nurses and doctors into moving faster.   

There was a nurse there that was in minor theatre and one of us students talked to her and asked if she was working in minor theatre tonight.  She responded “no I’m in casualty tonight” and the student smarted off and responded “well you are aware this is minor right? You’re not in the right spot and it is very busy over there.”  She was just standing around hanging out when there were people fighting for their lives.  Later we were walking back over to casualty and she again was sitting on the benches outside.  The same student said “oh taking a rest are we? You’ve been working so hard. I understand.”  It was so frustrating yet funny because she didn’t respond to his smart response just kept on sitting.  It gets even better. After being in casualty for a couple hours we were going to rest in minor when we walk in and all the lights are off. The same nurse was sleeping in the area where we wait for patients with a sheet over her head.  The same student was steaming.  He picks her up by her shoulders and tells her to wake up, forces her into her shoes and orders her to do something.  Her excuse was “I’m tired.” I can’t even explain the incompetence that exists in the hospital here.

Later we went back to casualty to check on the women who had the retained placenta. The doctor had come down and talked to her and she was going to receive surgery.  About two minutes later I see a man carrying the child who had been laying helplessly on one of the beds into another room.  His eyes were taped shut and he was wrapped in blankets.  He had died because of pure negligence.  The mother was very upset, as any parent would be, while the doctors and nurses seemed unaware of the situation.  I had to step out for a minute after I saw that and take a breath.  When I entered us students were everywhere checking vitals and checking on patients.  I assisted in putting in an IV.  A baby and elder had come in as well who were very short of breath.  The baby could barely breathe and was so helpless. Us students attended to the elder lady and got her some oxygen.  Dealing with the baby was so sad.  She was tiny and you could hear the struggle with each breath.  The medical student wanted to apply suction because he thought something was blocking the airway but the nurse argued that we couldn’t because it had already been suctioned and we wouldn’t want to do it too much.  Instead they put a nebulizer on it while a student held its head up.  The parents cautioned themselves away from the child almost like they were trying to keep their distance so if something happened it would be easier.  The nurse soon came up and scolded us saying there were too many of us in the casualty area and we needed to leave. We retreated back to minor theatre frustrated and upset.  No one needed showed up and it was about one so we decided it had been enough for the night. 

I don’t mean for this post to be completely negative but it’s so hard going there every day and knowing that some of the doctors and nurses don’t care about their patients.  They put that child’s body in a room outside of casualty with a sheet over it but when I went back this morning the body was still there. No one had moved it, anyone could stumble upon it.  Everything is just so different and you come to realize the small things we take for granted like blood pressure bands, gloves, and patient/doctor compassion.  The medical student who had been here a while had a terrible experience a week before we arrived. He came upon a patient in casualty who had not been attended.  His heart stopped and he had to perform CPR on this seventeen year old boy. After five minutes of CPR one of the nurses brought over the only AED in the hospital and asked if he wanted it.  He said of course and the nurse responded with “Oh, but it doesn’t work.”  So why would you bring it over? Why? Why is the question I ask myself a lot here.  He is starting a fund to get an AED for the hospital so once we get the fund set up ill post the link and any donation would help.  It’s incredible that Sioux Falls has an AED for every school, pool, and the hospital has dozens yet the hospital here in Africa doesn’t even have one functioning AED. I know that some medical care is better than no medical care and I’m trying to stay positive here. A positive is that with our pestering more patients were probably seen than if we weren’t there. Switching wards every couple days helps because there are some doctors that do care and do have the drive to teach. Sorry this is so long….lots to think about from last night.  It rained hard as we left the hospital last night, pretty fitting for the mood we were in as we went back to the compound.  

Day 2 @ the Hospital

This morning we woke up early again and prepared to go to the hospital.  The vans came and we piled inside.  About five minutes outside the compound there was a huge traffic jam and our driver alerted us that the road was closed.  We took a roundabout way but the areas around the city were congested with people.  We prodded the driver with questions because there were a lot of police along the route we were taking to the hospital.  The driver said that there had been a riot this morning in the open air market and the police had shut everything down.  After sitting in slow moving traffic for about an hour we arrived at the hospital. 

My group of four made our way up to pediatrics to watch rounds take place.  The doctors were just starting rounds and we followed as they shared and translated for us.  A lot of the patients suffered from malaria or meningitis, some had better prognosis than others and were able to be discharged.  Although some of the cases were similar there were a couple interesting ones.  There was a baby who was born with a weight of 2.5 kilograms and has not gained any weight and is over a month and a week old.  The baby was one of the tiniest things I have ever seen and looked so vulnerable laying in such a large bed.  The doctors said the baby was malnourished, and had symptoms of either malaria or a chest infection.  The doctor explained that a lot of the time they don’t have the proper tests to differentiate between diagnoses so they end up treating the patients for both to see how they respond.  Another interesting case we saw today was a boy who had been in the hospital since august first and arrived comatose and unresponsive to anything.  The boy had severe malaria but has now been improving to the point where he has been audible and calling for his mom.  It’s sad hearing him moan “mama, mama” but deep down we know it is good he is talking because he is getting better. Although the African hospital experience sometimes can be hard it is amazing coming back to pediatrics again and seeing certain children improving and being moved to a less severe area.  One final case I found cool today was a baby had a rare skin disease called lamella echynosis. The baby looked like he was covered in burns and his skin was white and blotchy.  His eyelids almost looked like they had been flipped inside out because they were pink and swollen.  The doctor explained that with proper treatment the baby has great prognosis but a lot of the times the parents aren’t attentive enough with treatment so often they don’t get better. I wanted to take a picture but I had to respect the patient’s privacy so I’ll try to find a photo online. 

Being in pediatrics today really hit home for me; I kept thinking of Victoria because she is about the age many of the children are here in the ward.  A lot of the kids are smiley and stare at us while we walk around the hospital.  I wave or smile at them and a lot of them hide behind their mothers. 

                                                                  Another view of the hospital

After we finished rounds in Pediatrics there wasn’t much else to do so we went elsewhere in the hospital.  First we stopped in Major Theatre to see if there were any surgeries but there were not enough boots for all four of us to scrub in.  We walked over to maternity and met up with some other students from our group.  They showed us around the ward and the women that were currently in labor.  There were three women in their rooms and they were moaning with pain because there isn’t any pain medication or epidurals.  The rooms were divided with curtains and not very private and only had a bed inside.  Most of the time the women would be sent up to C-section because they have been in labor for so long.  Before we got to maternity there had been two births so we checked in on the babies.  They were adorable but basically just sitting in their own room with no monitors or anything.  It was about time for us to be picked up for lunch but we were going to stop in minor theatre before we left.  There were a lot of us there and Mia was changing a dressing so we watched how to do that.  After the dressing we decided we were going to come back at 9 tonight so we could get some more practice. 

                                                           the small rooms in maternity

We left the hospital and our van was there to pick us up.  About halfway there our van broke down on the side of the road.  Our driver called for the other van and everything worked out fine but everyone stared at us standing on the side of our road in scrubs.  We finally got home, changed, and headed for lunch at a café called café mocha which is a vegetarian/Lebanese restaurant/coffeeshop. I ordered a pesto sandwich and it was delicious! It had tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and pesto on a baguette. After eating we walked back to the compound to sneak in a nap before it was time to get ready to go back to the hospital.  It's raining here now pretty hard. Missing everyone, and I’ll update again later if anything cool happens tonight.

                                                our broken van on the side of the road

First Day in the Hospital

Today we woke up early because it was our first day at the hospital.  Everyone met in the main room dressed in our scrubs before 8 am.  Our vans picked us up and transported us to the hospital.  Traffic wasn’t as bad today but people were all over the roads setting up their street table for vending or pushing huge crates on wheels full of fruit or furniture. One thing about the people here that I find funny is when they are walking or pushing carts are never in a hurry to get anywhere but when they are in their cars it is a huge rush and you have to be passing others or honking your horn. When we got to the hospital it was bustling with people, but the first thing we had to do was pay our hospital fee.  Once we gave them our money and processed our information we were taken into the wards.  My group consisted of three other girls from my school and we were sent to pediatrics.  Although I was nervous I was excited to observe. 

Some of our group before we split up into sections of the hospital

The first day here was a little disappointing to be honest.  There are few doctors in each area and most of the people there are interns or medical students.  We met one of the doctors first and followed him around but rounds were started at 8 am and after the morning orientation we didn’t actually get up to the pediatric ward until 11 am. Most of the kids in the ward are treated for malaria, pneumonia, malnutrition, or meningitis. I found it really sad to be up there. Most of the kids just laid in their beds very lethargically.  Others whimpered in pain or slept while their mothers watched over them. We were shuffled from doctor to intern to intern but felt a little useless.  Periodically we would see them admit a new child or give them medicine but it was very slow moving.  The beds look very uncomfortable in each area but it’s all they have there.  They don’t have all of the tools that we do in America so they use something as simple as the finger to a rubber glove as a tourniquet.  One of the most heart wrenching things to watch for me was when an intern drew blood from a 7 month old baby boy.  He drew blood from the top of the hand but couldn’t find the vein.  The baby was wailing and convulsing from the pain as the intern dug the needle around in his hand till he got blood. Once he did take enough blood he took the needle out and just left the baby bleeding. The traditional doctors seem to have no patient compassion which is a huge difference here versus the United States. I know that the hospital here is better than no hospital but it is something I have to remind myself often when I am witnessing something unfamiliar to me.

                                                       the beds the children lay on in pediatrics

Soon it was 1pm and it was time for lunch.  We took the tuk-tuk to a local restaurant where all of us were meeting called caribou.  I had a cheeseburger and fries! I was so happy to eat something familiar.  After lunch I ran with some of the girls to the market and picked up some necessities like hand sanitizer and Kleenexes.  If I would have known how it would be here and at the hospital I would have packed a lot differently.  They don’t have the necessities, not even an AED.  One of the people staying on our compound is a medical student from the UK. He has started a fund online to raise money so that we could purchase at least one AED for the hospital. I had to go to the bathroom all day but held it because the bathrooms are awful at the hospitals.  There is no toilet paper and no toilet for that matter, just a hole in the ground.  The smell is gut-wrenching and even just walking past it makes me nauseous, I couldn’t imagine going inside it.  I’m going to appreciate my brand new toilet when I get home much more.

After lunch we took the tuk-tuk back to the compound.  Mia, the girl in my room has been here for three weeks and she is going back tonight around 6 to work a night-shift.  I’m going back with her so that I can do some of the hands on experience stuff in the minor theatre.

                                                  Tuk-tuks waiting outside the hospital for people

I’m back from the hospital again and I’m so glad I went with Mia and Joel, two others that have been here for a long time.  They gave me a little more faith in the whole African hospital system by helping us and giving advice.  Mia is so open and a great teacher so I’m glad she was around to integrate me into the hospital.  We first went to minor theatre which during the day is busy with catheder changes, dressing wounds, undressing wounds, stitches, and smaller accidents.  It was cool to see but the only problem was it wasn’t bursting with people at all tonight.  Even though I was a little disappointed Mia and Joel took us around the rooms and showed us where everything was located so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed when we came back.  We waited for about an hour but still no one had shown up. The two assured us that every day is different and that a lot of times they would have people come in who have been victims of “Mob Justice” which means they were either caught stealing or suspected of a crime which means these people needed a lot of attention.

Because we had been sitting there for a while some of us wandered over to the Casualty wing which is similar to an ER.   This area was bursting with people but a lot of students find it hard to handle because of the difference the doctors treat patients here.  I walked around a bit and saw a guy with a collapsed lung, others badly beaten, and this man with a huge cut down his sternum to his bellybutton.  I didn’t stay in for long because it was very crowded and there isn’t much I can do.  We went back to the minor theatre and Joel and Mia said we could learn how to insert an IV in them.  It reminded me exactly of Grey’s Anatomy as we were huddled around a table with floodlights taking turns inserting IV’s into their hands and arms.  They were such great sports and helpful in instructing how to do it.  After everyone had taken a turn we waited a little while to see if anyone had shown up but it was still empty.  We checked in casualties again but decided it was time to go because it was getting late.  We took the tuk-tuk back to the compound! I feel like I’ve ridden in so many tuk-tuks just today that a regular car just won’t be the same. Haha! All for now!

Second Day in Africa

Day two in Mombasa was a lot like the first.  We had quite a bit of freedom as our program doesn’t officially start until Monday.  We woke up around 8 because one of the doctors was supposed to come talk to us about procedures and what we could do in the hospital, but our program coordinator came in to tell us that he was stuck at the hospital so we would do orientation at night.  Most of us were still tired from the night before so we went back to bed.  When I woke up I instantly could feel a migraine coming on so I took some Excedrin.  About 30 minutes later I started feeling sick because I hadn’t eaten much before that.  I tried to take a nap, but my head was pounding.  Some of the group wanted to go to the beach and as I much I wanted to, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sit out in the sun.  While they were gone I took some more medicine after eating a little then read a little bit and figured out how to hook up my internet.  The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out in the main room and chatting with other students.  We had four new people come to the house today from Poland and Georgia. 

By 5 dinner was ready and we were all very hungry.  I felt a lot better so I was eager to get some food in my body.  Dinner was a traditional Kenyan meal but I don’t remember the name.  It was like a homemade tortilla with white rice and this stew.  I was surprised I liked it, but it was very good.  After dinner it was time to head to the hospital for orientation.  We had to take three cars to get everyone there and driving always makes me very nervous.  There are no road signs or traffic lights here and everyone just uses their horns to signal what they are doing.  People dip and weave into traffic and tailgating is very common. I thought we were going to crash about three times because of the traffic congestion. 

Once we got to Costal Province General Hospital my stomach dropped.  I didn’t know if I would be able to handle working there every day.  Because it was nighttime the hospital wasn’t very busy but the first thing we saw was a man coming out on a stretcher, a cast on his arm, a huge bandage across his face, but his clothes were covered in blood.  As the people pushed him to the exit blood dripped behind him.  They tried to get him into the car but it took four people and it looked like he was in a lot of pain.  It seemed weird to me that he was still bleeding but he was leaving the hospital. Next, we got a tour of the hospital and saw where everything was located.  The hospital is open air with no air conditioning.  The windows are always open which allow mosquitoes, flies, and even stray cats within the hospital area. The areas we can shadow and even help in are Maternity, Minor Theatre which is like an emergency room, Major Theatre where all the big surgeries are, pediatrics, and internal medicine.  Because we have about 16 in our group we would divide into four groups and rotate throughout the areas.  Although I was nervous about working in the hospital I was eager to go back Monday and try this new experience.  We left the hospital after our short tour and made our way home.  I showered then went to bed once I got home because I knew I would need to be up early. 

Jambo from Africa

It feels like I haven’t updated in such a long time because the flight to Africa was very lengthy!  I can officially say I am here, safe and sound! After leaving Germany at 7:00 am I was very happy to finally arrive in Mombasa at 2:00 am the next morning.  We had stops in Ethiopia and we even stopped in Sudan briefly to refuel. I can officially tell Deb and Victoria that I have been to Sudan! I was very happy to arrive because this leg of the flight really took a toll on my sprained ankle.  It was very painful and swollen because of all the sitting. Once we got off the plane it took a while to fill out our customs application, find our bags, and go through the final security check.  One difference we found right away was the moisture in the air.  Everything felt wet as walked through the airport, almost as if there were mist spraying us. We went outside and our program coordinator had a sign that said “South Dakota State University. Go Jacks!.”  We filled into the car, zombie-like ready to get to our compound.  Most of us went around to the right side of the car, where in America is the passenger side.  To our surprise everything was opposite and we drove on the opposite side of the road. 
As we were driving away from the airport towards our house I nervously wondered what I had gotten myself into.  People were still crowding the streets and it was almost 3 am.  Some of the buildings we passed looked so rundown and intimidating, especially in the darkness.  We soon arrived into the compound where we were divided into rooms.  I am in a room with two girls from my school; one who had went with me to Germany.  The other girl was from Texas and she has already been here for three weeks.  It’s nice having her in our room because she can give us the inside scoop on life here in Mombasa. Although we were tired everyone wanted to listen to what the other six people living here had to say about the program.  The way they made it sound was that they got to do a lot of procedural stuff and have seen incredible things.  I can’t wait to get into the hospital on Monday. After staying up for another hour we finally went to bed.  We crawled under our mosquito net beds and feel asleep right away.

                                  the main room of our house

The next morning we woke up later, showered, and got ready for orientation.  As I stepped out of our cabin two chickens and three chicks crossed my path.  They live on the compound and supply us with fresh eggs.  There are also two dogs here and various monkeys running around.  We soon started orientation in the main room and the run down on Swahili words, how to get internet and phone, and finally how to get to the beach.  We walked with our program coordinator into town, it felt like we walked forever, but we first exchanged money into the Kenyan Schillings.  Then we made our way to the market to get phone minutes and data as well as other things we may have forgotten.  Finally we made our way back to our compound.  There were so many people out and about on the streets and hanging their head out the windows.  A group of 15 white foreigners is pretty conspicuous. The funny thing was that people would honk or openly shout at us “mgeni” which means foreigner or white people.  Although I was wary the night before I actually felt really safe with our program coordinator and such a large group of people.   Everything is so different here, and I thought Germany was different.  Before we could enter the market we were patted down and scanned with a metal detector by the police.

                                             the chickens in our compound

                                                      A monkey on the fence

Once we left the market we were shown the beach.  Again we walked a long time and were greeted with locals trying to sell you something.  They were very persistent and worked hard to get foreigners to buy their products. When we finally made it to the beach it was breathtaking! The sand was so pure white and the ocean was very blue.  It was a hot day but the ocean breeze made everything bearable.  We walked down the beach for a while as all the African children in the ocean waved at us.  We sat around a table with the other six students here on the beach for a while until the sun began to set.  The other students here are from Canada, Texas, Massachusetts, nice and the United Kingdom.  They are all really and insightful and shared some helpful tips. We walked back to the compound famished where our cook had made us dinner.

                                          the camels on the beach that you can ride

Dinner was a rice dish with potatoes and beef, as well as this triangle-type bread.  The bread is so delicious and I could eat it plain. I didn’t know how much I would like the food but it was delicious.  Once we finished eating the six who were here before us wanted us to come to a local café with them.  The café had wifi and drinks at night.  We loaded up two “tuk-tuks” which are like little motorized carts and two vans and made our way to the café.  We sat around the table and talked and had some drinks and ordered tapas which are appetizers.  Once it was later no one wanted to go home yet so we walked a block to an outdoor bar called Bob’s. We had a fun night of dancing but most of us were really jet-lagged still and decided it was time to go.  Once back at the compound everyone was pretty wound up so we quickly changed into our swimsuits and went for a dip in the pool on our compound. The weather was so hot so it felt good to cool off before bedtime.  I decided it was time for bed and I feel asleep instantly as my head hit the pillow.

The Last Supper in Germany

I thought I’d better update one more time because we just finished with our authentic German meal. One thing I forgot to mention that I found funny today was that during the tour on the bus, the guide talked about how Germany is surrounded by 9 different countries and that’s a lot.  He compared other countries and mentioned that the United States was “only surrounded by 3: Canada, Mexico, and TEXAS.”  He was completely serious! I obviously don’t know my United States geography that well. The cultural barrier is so different here and we have had many problems with communication.

Waiters and bartenders don’t always recognize the word “water” right away so we find ourselves always repeating it.  Then we were introduced with the problem of having to choose between sparkling water and still water.  Most of us found out that we are not a fan of the sparkling water, it just tastes too carbonated.  Another difference we found was in what we believed to be traditional German food.  One of the girls on the trip is from German decent and said that she gets really good Kuchen at home.  (Kuchen is like a sweet pie filled with custard and fruit, and is also the official dessert of South Dakota)  She was determined to try to Kuchen before we left Germany and we finally found a place that had a special- Kuchen and Koffee for 1,99 euros.  She went up to the counter and said I’d like some “Ku-gen” and they lady had no idea what she was talking about.  She kept repeating herself and pointing to the sign that said the special and goes “ohhh you mean “kug-han.”  It sounded exactly like what we had been saying.  It turns out the Kuchen here was just chocolate cake….nothing like what we expected but still delicious.

We headed over to Mario’s bar to get our authentic meal.  Mario is a very nice bar owner and is actually from Bulgaria but is working here in Frankfurt because his daughter is very sick. Whenever we walk in the door we all yell “Mario” and wave our hands around and all the locals think it’s hilarious. He promised he would make us something good.  The meal was huuuge.  We had a salad first which was just chopped tomatoes and cucumbers covered in cheese.  As he served it to us he said “you will not get salad like this again anywhere” because it was his specialty.  The cheese was white, and so soft that it melted in your mouth.  Delicious, actually it was probably the best cheese I’ve ever had. (sorry Uncle Joe…Valley Queen’s is awesome but not quite comparable J)  We told him the cheese was great and he just smiled and said “I know.”  Next he prepared us schnitzel and french fries.  Schnitzel is like pork and can be made many ways but ours was breaded.  We dipped it in mayonnaise, something very popular over here.  Lastly, he made us a Bratwurst.  It came on a plate with mustard and was very white compared to the ones we eat in the United States.  The outside coating was hard to get through but the inside meat was delicious, almost seasoned with pepper-like spices.  By the end we were stuffed. Of course we had beer and Mario even bought us a shot before we ate. 

                                                 the salad we were served first

When we asked Mario for the bill he kept repeating “oh no, it’s my gift, it’s for free” and we knew we were going to leave money no matter what.  Once we finished our drinks and were ready to leave one of us went up to the counter again saying we would pay, he waived us off and said no again.  We all pooled our money together and though ten euros or so would suffice for the meal.  We had about 120,00 euros all together which is quite a bit. Mario then walks over with the bill deciding maybe we can pay for our meals.  We look down at the bill expecting it to be pretty reasonable because Mario has been treating us well on our trip.  Those closest to the bill including me have wide eyes and open mouths.  The total was 218,80 euros! Whoops! We sat there for at least ten minutes scraping euros together in our purses, wallets, and pockets as Mario sat behind us amused.  After scrounging through all of our stuff we only had about 190,00 euros.  Embarrassed some of us walked a block down and grabbed some more cash.  Many places don’t take credit cards, and keep in mind it was the last night there and we didn’t want to have a lot of extra European currency.  In the end we all paid our portion and were satisfied with the meal.  It was probably one of the most expensive things I paid for in Germany, but it was definitely a funny experience and it was great to try local German cuisine. 

the boys in deep concentration while counting our money meanwhile Mario overseeing in the back (striped shirt)

Finally, we went out for one last German beer before it was time to head back to the hotel to repack our suitcases.  I tried something new tonight and had a “Schoffer-Hofer Grapefruit Beir.”  It was really delicious and had a tangy citrus flavor.  Well, that’s all for now…I’d better pack my suitcase!