Wednesday.

This morning we took the middle shuttle to the hospital and arrived about 9 am.  We attempted to catch a live birth and actually got to see one.  We waited for about two hours until the baby was ready to come out.  The African mothers are truly strong in my eyes.  Every time I am in maternity I never see them with any family members or husband, all are usually independent.  The lady that gave birth today didn’t yell or seem affected by the pain at all even with minimal pain medications compared to what we are used to in the United States.  On the other hand she didn’t seem as excited as we are about births in the United States either.  Once the healthy baby boy cried for the first time all of us students smiled and were very happy, but the mom didn’t even say much at all.  Actually, it was funny because she was on her cell phone at least two minutes after the baby was born like it hadn’t even happened. Once the mother was cleaned up we checked on the baby and he looked healthy and was returned to his mother. 

After hanging out in maternity for most of the morning we went back to minor theatre.  It was pretty busy and there were numerous things going on.  We met a Hindu doctor in minor theatre yesterday and we asked about her henna tattoos that she had all over her arms and legs.  She told us her aunt did them and that we could call her and get some if we like.  We called her this morning and she said we could come today.  Chelsea and Megan went before lunch time; while Natalie, Angie, and I went after lunch.  We figured how many times could you get an authentic henna tattoo? When in Rome—er—Africa right? We ate lunch at Caribou and rode a motorbike home.  I was actually really nervous to do this as well because a lot of patients at the hospital get in accidents because of either motorbikes or busses.  I had to say I did it at least once so Angie and I hopped on the bike and made it back to the compound safely. 

We changed and made our way back to the hospital.  The lady’s house that we went to was about a block from the hospital.  She was such a nice lady and charged us such a small fee.  I got my hand and wrist done as well as my foot and it was only 200 shillings which is like a little over two dollars.  I don’t have any pictures on my camera, but Angie and Natalie both have some on theirs that I will try to get later.  We just finished eating dinner- lamb, deep fried potatoes, and vegetables; and later I believe we are going to hang out at Café Mocha.