New Job

It is official. As of today I'm switching to the medical department on the ship. Last year in Benin, I was able to draw the blood during the screening and help with some medical things but now I am going full time to medical. I will be the phlebotomist on board. Along with drawing the labs for the patients being admitted, I'll be drawing from crew that are donating blood to patients that need it. Just in case you don't remember from last year. If you are willing to donate you go through a quick screening to get your blood type and vitals. Then during surgeries if the patient matches your blood type and blood is needed, you are paged on the ship to come and donate. The blood is taken right to the patient and transfused. Very different than how we do it in the U.S. Along with that I'll be doing any needed labs in the wards. This is a new position so there will be some getting used to it and figuring out what is needed and where I need to be. During times that I'm not needed to draw blood, I'll be helping in the lab. That is a very foreign area to me, but I'm working with two fun people and looking forward to learning a lot.
Also this week there was another bright spot. Three of the day volunteers from Benin have come to Togo to volunteer with us again. Geraldo, Antoine, and Bonadventure were so much fun and responsible for teaching me all the french I know. It was a very loud reunion on Monday seeing them again and we caused quite a disruption in the middle of lunch with much sreaming and hugging. It is good to have them back.
Thanks for following my blog and thanks for the comments. It is good to know that someone is reading this :)