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Men's Club
A-Ward is full of men. Sometimes that can be a little overwhelming but not this time. these guys are considerate and funny and they all are friends. They all have been here a long time and have grown very close to each other and the nurses. We have had to create boundaries with one of them to eliminate the marriage proposals and Liberian catcalls, but now they are set and followed by all.
They all have their own story, some of whom want to share it and some don't. One day they started talking about the war. They got very upset and started yelling at one man saying he was a Sergeant in the rebel army, it was very intense.
In the wee hours of the morning, you will hear praying. "The Reverand" prays for everyone on the ward and all of the nurses. What a blessing!!!!
They all have their own story, some of whom want to share it and some don't. One day they started talking about the war. They got very upset and started yelling at one man saying he was a Sergeant in the rebel army, it was very intense.
In the wee hours of the morning, you will hear praying. "The Reverand" prays for everyone on the ward and all of the nurses. What a blessing!!!!
The Mama's
This week I have the pleasure of working night shift. And I will try my hardest not to turn into dragon lady. It is not natural to stay up all night and sleep during the day... therefore I get a bit cranky. Sorry-o Tyrone.
On my night shifts I have 10 patients, alot of them under the age of 3. I have 2 kids that had their palate repaired and are just miserable. Their poor mama's. These babies are totally inconsolable and refuse to be put down. My friends Jennifer (in Tyler) would have to sleep in a rocking chair when her baby was sick. These mamas have their babies strapped to their backs in a lapa (a piece of fabric tied around the waste to hold the baby to the mam's back). When the baby finally falls asleep the mama will lay down on her stomach with the baby still strapped to her back. When the baby wakes up, which they are bound to do (very frequently and very loudly) the mama gets up and bounces them back to sleep.
These babies also hate to eat. Their mama's force feed them the Pediasure and cereal while they scream. I am always afraid the food will go down the wrong pipe and they will aspirate, but it is impossible to get them to eat otherwise, and these mama's are VERY insistent that the force feeding should happen through out the night. Of course this causes the rest of the babies to join in on the screaming and it becomes the cool thing to do.
At 5 am the mama's wake up their peacefully sleeping child to bathe them, not sure why 5am is the chosen hour, but it is very popular. All of the babies and children are bathed and lots of screaming fills the ward.
The parenting is very different here. Sometimes we are shocked by what the parents do and often we have to tell them "You can not beat your child here." But most of the mama's we have on the ward now are from Sierra Leone and are very attentive and loving to their children. I am not saying the Liberian Mama's don't love their kids they just show it differently.
On my night shifts I have 10 patients, alot of them under the age of 3. I have 2 kids that had their palate repaired and are just miserable. Their poor mama's. These babies are totally inconsolable and refuse to be put down. My friends Jennifer (in Tyler) would have to sleep in a rocking chair when her baby was sick. These mamas have their babies strapped to their backs in a lapa (a piece of fabric tied around the waste to hold the baby to the mam's back). When the baby finally falls asleep the mama will lay down on her stomach with the baby still strapped to her back. When the baby wakes up, which they are bound to do (very frequently and very loudly) the mama gets up and bounces them back to sleep.
These babies also hate to eat. Their mama's force feed them the Pediasure and cereal while they scream. I am always afraid the food will go down the wrong pipe and they will aspirate, but it is impossible to get them to eat otherwise, and these mama's are VERY insistent that the force feeding should happen through out the night. Of course this causes the rest of the babies to join in on the screaming and it becomes the cool thing to do.
At 5 am the mama's wake up their peacefully sleeping child to bathe them, not sure why 5am is the chosen hour, but it is very popular. All of the babies and children are bathed and lots of screaming fills the ward.
The parenting is very different here. Sometimes we are shocked by what the parents do and often we have to tell them "You can not beat your child here." But most of the mama's we have on the ward now are from Sierra Leone and are very attentive and loving to their children. I am not saying the Liberian Mama's don't love their kids they just show it differently.
Cooking Frozen Green Peas
Yep, I thought so...
Seriously, if you want to cook a great frozen pea add plenty of salt to the water and boil it for 1 1/2 to 2 Hours. They don't really start taking on good flavor from the salt or plumping up from the water properly cooking them until after the first hour.
Not true you say? Well I guess you may just have a better frozen pea than me...but I need to make what I have work. Just ask the English what it takes to cook peas for a good 'mushy pea' side dish. Then you will better understand the time it takes to make a good or semi-good product into a delicious dish.
And its not like boiling peas takes up a lot of your other time in the kitchen when you really don't need to watch them much, unless you like to watch them swirl around and around in the water. I like to do that occasionally, kind of like a de-stressing or relaxing exercise of the mind. Not unlike daydreaming. (but you can call it work!)
The DON
As a bit of a 'leftover' from things gone past we still have over a hundred or so bottles of sherry that we cook with. And not that salted down cooking sherry, noooo, the good stuff. The stuff from Jerez Spain where Sherry comes from!
History of Sherry (by Wikipedia, edited even further by me)
Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, Spain, and hence in Spanish it is called "Vino de Jerez". According to Spanish law, [1] Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cádiz between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María.
Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine.
So I guess it would appear that we have 'the good stuff' as good as THAT can be at room temperature!
AND as stated in Beer Batter and Fish & Chips it makes a pretty darned good substitute for the beer in beer batter!
History of Sherry (by Wikipedia, edited even further by me)
Sherry is a fortified wine, made in and around the town of Jerez, Spain, and hence in Spanish it is called "Vino de Jerez". According to Spanish law, [1] Sherry must come from the triangular area of the province of Cádiz between Jerez, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María.Sherry differs from other wines because of how it is treated after fermentation. After fermentation is complete, it is fortified with brandy. Because the fortification takes place after fermentation, all natural sherries are dry; any sweetness is applied later. In contrast, port wine is fortified halfway through fermentation, stopping fermentation so not all the sugars are allowed to turn into alcohol and so leaving a sweet wine.
So I guess it would appear that we have 'the good stuff' as good as THAT can be at room temperature!
AND as stated in Beer Batter and Fish & Chips it makes a pretty darned good substitute for the beer in beer batter!
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