I have not really talked much about the people here.
Where the hospital is there are no white people except for Sister McCarty, Dr. Kellert and any visitors. Many people want to say hello although some just stare. The kids are the funniest. They virtually all stare at me. Some of them smile and want their picture taken and laugh. Yesterday though I got quite a different reaction. I turned the corner and a woman was walking her very young child and the toddler started screaming and crying when he saw me. Everyone was laughing but my appearance has never gotten that reaction before- at least not to my face ;)
Men dress in pants of any kind (although now that I think about it I haven't really seen any jeans here). Some men even dress in slacks, shirts and ties, although not really at the hospital. Women wear dresses and skirts mostly. They often wear beanies or some sort of hats on their heads. Or they wear colorful scarves tied on their heads. Everyone for the most part has been wearing a lot of layers because it is winter here- although I think most days have actually been hot (70 to at least 80). Sister McCarty said that there is not really Zimbabwean fashion, if anything they copy Zambia or where clothes like in the U.S.
The women carry many things on their heads- they really do! I have seen them even carrying full suitcases on their heads and they don't use their hands- I have no idea how they balance it!
They also don't really like spicy things here so I have been happy that I brought a bottle of sriracha to add to things. More on food later because I haven't really tried anything local yet.
People are very nice and often soft spoken. They mostly all speak Shona here in the rural area although some speak a little English.
People make their living from agriculture here. They grow a lot of corn or cotton (and this morning I heard there is a lot of MJ here too...). But they can usually feed their family with what they grow and then sell the rest. I have not really left hospital grounds yet so I have not seen the farm land.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Through the Wards
Today I got to sleep in since it is Saturday and we did not go to the hospital until later. It is the first time that I have really gone through the wards and seen the patients who are staying at the hospital (before I had mostly been doing clinics, watching surgeries and seeing outpatients with Dr. Kajese). I went on rounds with Dr. Kabonzi (still can't spell but I'm guessing). I was really hit today by the fact that I am in rural Zimbabwe. The wards are divided by male, female, pedi, labor and delivery, postpartum and a NICU of sorts. We started in the NICU which really isn't a NICU, just a place where premature babies stay with their mothers. I have never seen a baby so small in my entire life. Then again in the States they would not let nursing students in where the premies were. The room was quite cold because they really have no way to keep it warm. The babies are wrapped up under lots of blankets to try and keep them warm enough. They are supposed to be fed every 2 hours but there is no clock in the room and the woman have no way to tell time and the nurses are often too busy to remind them so the babies are often not fed as frequently as they should be.
The pediatrics ward was heart-wrenching. This entire trip is life changing but I think one of those life changing moments happened in the pedi ward today. There were 12 beds and then more mattresses on the floor inbetween. Mothers are in bed with their children, most of whom are very small (<3 years old). There were 2 older children with terrible burns on their legs from hot water (accidental). Apparently that is very common. There were also a few who were malnourished and many who were dehydrated from gastroenteritis (also common here). All of these patients are in the same room, bed next to bed. Seeing young children with AIDS was so sad (that does not even begin to describe it). A boy had AIDS and TB which is a common combination here. They try and keep the TB patients separate from the other patients but it is nothing like in the U.S. There are no negative pressure rooms here, they simply try and keep the doors open for fresh air. (Even when we see patients in the exam room, patient privacy is compensated because the door must stay open for the protection of the doctor). When you walk in a room, there is no bottle of purell, no boxes of gloves in every size, sinks with soap in every room, face masks. There is nothing. Nurses do not feed their patients and wash them, it is up to the family members to take care of them in this way. Hospitals in the U.S. are really 5 star hotels compared to this.
In the mens ward there was a patient with a CD4 count of <1. A normal CD4 count in a healthy person is over 1,000. Patients here are treated for HIV/AIDS when their CD4 count is <350. With the medication, it is hoped to keep them around 500. I did not even know that it was possible to have a CD4 count so low. I had to ask the doctor, "you mean just the number 1?!" He said yes. I have also seen a few people with CD4 counts under 40 since I have been here.
All HIV/AIDS medication (ART treatment) and TB treatment are free here (the government pays for them, and they get many donations from global funds). Many of the patients do not want to be tested so by the time that they come in, their CD4 counts are very low, meaning they basically have no immunity. They often will need anti-TB meds first and ART cannot be started while they have active TB. The TB meds take 6 months and then ART will be started. If the patient is already on ART when they get TB then they will have to change their ART regimen because TB and the TB meds mess it up.
Many of the patients need xrays for different things such as injuries from carts crashing (I'm not sure what exactly they are called, unfortunately I still miss a lot of what is said because of accents and people are very soft spoken here.) and also they need xrays for TB. Xrays here cost $20 which is very expensive and most of these people cannot pay it. On a side note, U.S. money is used here because the Zimbabwean currency is worth nothing now. There are a lot of $2 bills here which is interesting (I remember thinking how cool finding one at home was when I was little). It really makes me think about all of the things I have wasted $20 on in my life.
We are done for the hospital for today but Dr. Kabonzi told the nurses to send someone to get me if there is a delivery and he told them that I am supposed to do the entire thing and even suture them up if needed. I laughed like ya right and he said you have to get your hands dirty while you are in Africa.
The pediatrics ward was heart-wrenching. This entire trip is life changing but I think one of those life changing moments happened in the pedi ward today. There were 12 beds and then more mattresses on the floor inbetween. Mothers are in bed with their children, most of whom are very small (<3 years old). There were 2 older children with terrible burns on their legs from hot water (accidental). Apparently that is very common. There were also a few who were malnourished and many who were dehydrated from gastroenteritis (also common here). All of these patients are in the same room, bed next to bed. Seeing young children with AIDS was so sad (that does not even begin to describe it). A boy had AIDS and TB which is a common combination here. They try and keep the TB patients separate from the other patients but it is nothing like in the U.S. There are no negative pressure rooms here, they simply try and keep the doors open for fresh air. (Even when we see patients in the exam room, patient privacy is compensated because the door must stay open for the protection of the doctor). When you walk in a room, there is no bottle of purell, no boxes of gloves in every size, sinks with soap in every room, face masks. There is nothing. Nurses do not feed their patients and wash them, it is up to the family members to take care of them in this way. Hospitals in the U.S. are really 5 star hotels compared to this.
In the mens ward there was a patient with a CD4 count of <1. A normal CD4 count in a healthy person is over 1,000. Patients here are treated for HIV/AIDS when their CD4 count is <350. With the medication, it is hoped to keep them around 500. I did not even know that it was possible to have a CD4 count so low. I had to ask the doctor, "you mean just the number 1?!" He said yes. I have also seen a few people with CD4 counts under 40 since I have been here.
All HIV/AIDS medication (ART treatment) and TB treatment are free here (the government pays for them, and they get many donations from global funds). Many of the patients do not want to be tested so by the time that they come in, their CD4 counts are very low, meaning they basically have no immunity. They often will need anti-TB meds first and ART cannot be started while they have active TB. The TB meds take 6 months and then ART will be started. If the patient is already on ART when they get TB then they will have to change their ART regimen because TB and the TB meds mess it up.
Many of the patients need xrays for different things such as injuries from carts crashing (I'm not sure what exactly they are called, unfortunately I still miss a lot of what is said because of accents and people are very soft spoken here.) and also they need xrays for TB. Xrays here cost $20 which is very expensive and most of these people cannot pay it. On a side note, U.S. money is used here because the Zimbabwean currency is worth nothing now. There are a lot of $2 bills here which is interesting (I remember thinking how cool finding one at home was when I was little). It really makes me think about all of the things I have wasted $20 on in my life.
We are done for the hospital for today but Dr. Kabonzi told the nurses to send someone to get me if there is a delivery and he told them that I am supposed to do the entire thing and even suture them up if needed. I laughed like ya right and he said you have to get your hands dirty while you are in Africa.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Work at the hospital cont.
I decided to post that because I was afraid the electricity was going to go out and I would lose everything.
Thursday cont.
In the morning I watched part of a surgery that Dr. Kellert performed- a woman had a fistula between her vagina and bladder and Dr. Kellert fixed it. This is a big problem in Africa because of prolonged labors or labors that don't go well. It is fantastic for Chidamoyo to have an OB/GYN doc now to do these surgeries.
I was seeing patients with Dr. Kajese again when the other doctor (can't spell his name today lol) came in and said there was an interesting case in the Theatre. We both went. An old man had been working in the field and he bent over and one of his cow's horns had speared him in the bum! It seemed so painful and yet the man had walked into the hospital. The other doctor sewed him up and I got to watch. (There are lots of doctors and nurses in the Theatre here).
Then a woman needed a C-section inthe Theatre (operating room) and Dr. Kellert performed the section. It was the first time I had seen a c-section. It was so amazing to see (and interesting in comparison right after a vaginal delivery). When Dr. Kellert pulled the baby out it had the cord around it's neck and she quickly pulled it off. The nurse was then handed the baby. It was not crying and I looked over and my heart dropped because I honestly thought the baby was dead. It wasn;t moving and it looked blue. The nurse was trying to get it to breathe and again I panicked. Kathy walked into the OR and started giving the baby oxygen. She said "this kid should be crying because he was born in Zimbabwe, he's not because he thinks he was born in South Africa." After what seemed like eternity the baby started doing better and he ended up being just fine.
Thursday was quite busy and I was amazed by everything I got to do and see in one day (CD4 counts, injections, a vaginal delivery and 3 surgeries).
Today (Friday) was another very interesting and exciting day.
We started off in the Theatre where Dr. Kellert removed a benign ovarian tumor from a woman that was larger than a baby! It was so amazing to see the before and after- she looked 9 months pregnant when she entered and looked normal when she left.
I also sat in with Sister McCarty today when she was doing HIV/AIDS antiretroviral medication counseling (the treatment is called ART). This was fascinating because I got to learn all about the medications and also about peoples perceptions of AIDS here because she had to explain to them about taking their medications. Many people do not want to get tested so they wait until they are very sick to come here and then the medications don't work as well and they often have another disease such as TB by then because their immune system is not properly functioning.
Thursday cont.
In the morning I watched part of a surgery that Dr. Kellert performed- a woman had a fistula between her vagina and bladder and Dr. Kellert fixed it. This is a big problem in Africa because of prolonged labors or labors that don't go well. It is fantastic for Chidamoyo to have an OB/GYN doc now to do these surgeries.
I was seeing patients with Dr. Kajese again when the other doctor (can't spell his name today lol) came in and said there was an interesting case in the Theatre. We both went. An old man had been working in the field and he bent over and one of his cow's horns had speared him in the bum! It seemed so painful and yet the man had walked into the hospital. The other doctor sewed him up and I got to watch. (There are lots of doctors and nurses in the Theatre here).
Then a woman needed a C-section inthe Theatre (operating room) and Dr. Kellert performed the section. It was the first time I had seen a c-section. It was so amazing to see (and interesting in comparison right after a vaginal delivery). When Dr. Kellert pulled the baby out it had the cord around it's neck and she quickly pulled it off. The nurse was then handed the baby. It was not crying and I looked over and my heart dropped because I honestly thought the baby was dead. It wasn;t moving and it looked blue. The nurse was trying to get it to breathe and again I panicked. Kathy walked into the OR and started giving the baby oxygen. She said "this kid should be crying because he was born in Zimbabwe, he's not because he thinks he was born in South Africa." After what seemed like eternity the baby started doing better and he ended up being just fine.
Thursday was quite busy and I was amazed by everything I got to do and see in one day (CD4 counts, injections, a vaginal delivery and 3 surgeries).
Today (Friday) was another very interesting and exciting day.
We started off in the Theatre where Dr. Kellert removed a benign ovarian tumor from a woman that was larger than a baby! It was so amazing to see the before and after- she looked 9 months pregnant when she entered and looked normal when she left.
I also sat in with Sister McCarty today when she was doing HIV/AIDS antiretroviral medication counseling (the treatment is called ART). This was fascinating because I got to learn all about the medications and also about peoples perceptions of AIDS here because she had to explain to them about taking their medications. Many people do not want to get tested so they wait until they are very sick to come here and then the medications don't work as well and they often have another disease such as TB by then because their immune system is not properly functioning.
Work at the hospital
Hello! It has been difficult to catch up on blogging because when there is electricity it is usually either the middle of the night or when I am at the hospital. Kathy told me that the electricity is probably going to go off soon so this will not be written as well as I would like :)
BTW I forgot to mention for those who don't know that Sister Kathy McCarty is the head nurse and matron here at Chidamoyo, basically one of the big bosses and she is awesome.
I have now spent 3 full days at the hospital and it has been the most amazing experience of my life. A normal days schedule at the hospital goes like this:
6:30 am I eat breakfast with Sister McCarty and Dr. Kellert (and any other guests here)
7:00 we go to the hospital (close up the dirt road)
7:30 am Devotions (prayers, some beautiful singing in Shona)
8:00 am start the days work
10:30 am Tea
1-2pm Lunch (go to Kathy's to eat- she has a chef and she cooks so there is always great food!)
4-5 pm end of the day
On my first day at the hospital (Wednesday) there was an Antenatal Clinic at the hospital. This is where they give pregnant women information about pregnancy and other health factors. I took the blood pressure of about 50 women in a row. They are weighed, have their BP taken and other important information written down for their pregnancy. I was slightly nervous at first because there were so many women waiting for me and there was only 1 BP cuff but it went well and I finally finished them all. It is amazing how patiently people will wait for hours for medical care here.
After that I went and saw patients with Dr. Kajese. He has been great with letting me sit in on his examinations and explaining to me what is going on (most people speak the language Shona here and not as much English because we are so rural here). Today he showed me how to look at xrays of TB patients and see that they have it from examining their lung xrays. Dr. Kajese sits in the exam room and one patient after another comes in. He writes what is wrong in a notebook that they carry around- quite different than the computer charting that we have at the hospitals in Boston! Sometimes the notebooks are torn and covered in dirt. He also examined a man with an enlarged prostate today and showed me everything on the ultrasound machine (looks slightly out of place in the exam room, but fantastic that they have this machine).
Yesterday (Thursday) there was a Well-Baby clinic at the hospital. Again women were lined up with their babies to get them weighed and vaccinated. With one of the nurses that works at the hospital we again saw around 50 patients. We gave them vaccines for various things such as measles and polio. Let's just say after 50 vaccinations I have never made so many children scream and cry and I am very much improved at giving injections.
On Thursdays they also take CD4 counts for HIV/AIDS patients to see how they are doing on the medication. I was taught to take blood from the patients' veins and put it in the tubes to be tested. Turns out the hardest part for me was tying the tourniquet (idk how to spell it). I could not seem to get it tight enough! There will be lots of practice for me over the next 5 weeks though.
Thursday was a very busy day. I also saw Dr. Kellert (the OB/GYN doc now working here originally from California) do eversion on a women (turn the baby from breech position using her hands on the outside of the stomach). This was the first time I had ever seen this and she was successful! I also happened to walk into the Labor and Delivery room and there were two nurses there with a patient. I asked if she was going to have the baby soon and I saw my answer- the baby's head was crowning! The woman was not on any pain meds and yet she was not making a sound. There were just two nurses quietly standing with her. Everyone was so much calmer than my experience at Mass Gen. There were no monitors on the baby or anything. The woman had the baby and it was weighed, dried off and placed on the bed next to her. Then the nurse sewed up her laceration! It was amzing because at home the doctor would have done this but here it is the nurses job to deliver the baby. Then the mom stood up and got in a wheelchair and went to the next room! I personally was starting to panic because I had never seen anything like it- everyone was so calm and I was getting worried that too many contractions had passed and the baby had still not come out even though it had been crowning. I have a lot to learn here.
BTW I forgot to mention for those who don't know that Sister Kathy McCarty is the head nurse and matron here at Chidamoyo, basically one of the big bosses and she is awesome.
I have now spent 3 full days at the hospital and it has been the most amazing experience of my life. A normal days schedule at the hospital goes like this:
6:30 am I eat breakfast with Sister McCarty and Dr. Kellert (and any other guests here)
7:00 we go to the hospital (close up the dirt road)
7:30 am Devotions (prayers, some beautiful singing in Shona)
8:00 am start the days work
10:30 am Tea
1-2pm Lunch (go to Kathy's to eat- she has a chef and she cooks so there is always great food!)
4-5 pm end of the day
On my first day at the hospital (Wednesday) there was an Antenatal Clinic at the hospital. This is where they give pregnant women information about pregnancy and other health factors. I took the blood pressure of about 50 women in a row. They are weighed, have their BP taken and other important information written down for their pregnancy. I was slightly nervous at first because there were so many women waiting for me and there was only 1 BP cuff but it went well and I finally finished them all. It is amazing how patiently people will wait for hours for medical care here.
After that I went and saw patients with Dr. Kajese. He has been great with letting me sit in on his examinations and explaining to me what is going on (most people speak the language Shona here and not as much English because we are so rural here). Today he showed me how to look at xrays of TB patients and see that they have it from examining their lung xrays. Dr. Kajese sits in the exam room and one patient after another comes in. He writes what is wrong in a notebook that they carry around- quite different than the computer charting that we have at the hospitals in Boston! Sometimes the notebooks are torn and covered in dirt. He also examined a man with an enlarged prostate today and showed me everything on the ultrasound machine (looks slightly out of place in the exam room, but fantastic that they have this machine).
Yesterday (Thursday) there was a Well-Baby clinic at the hospital. Again women were lined up with their babies to get them weighed and vaccinated. With one of the nurses that works at the hospital we again saw around 50 patients. We gave them vaccines for various things such as measles and polio. Let's just say after 50 vaccinations I have never made so many children scream and cry and I am very much improved at giving injections.
On Thursdays they also take CD4 counts for HIV/AIDS patients to see how they are doing on the medication. I was taught to take blood from the patients' veins and put it in the tubes to be tested. Turns out the hardest part for me was tying the tourniquet (idk how to spell it). I could not seem to get it tight enough! There will be lots of practice for me over the next 5 weeks though.
Thursday was a very busy day. I also saw Dr. Kellert (the OB/GYN doc now working here originally from California) do eversion on a women (turn the baby from breech position using her hands on the outside of the stomach). This was the first time I had ever seen this and she was successful! I also happened to walk into the Labor and Delivery room and there were two nurses there with a patient. I asked if she was going to have the baby soon and I saw my answer- the baby's head was crowning! The woman was not on any pain meds and yet she was not making a sound. There were just two nurses quietly standing with her. Everyone was so much calmer than my experience at Mass Gen. There were no monitors on the baby or anything. The woman had the baby and it was weighed, dried off and placed on the bed next to her. Then the nurse sewed up her laceration! It was amzing because at home the doctor would have done this but here it is the nurses job to deliver the baby. Then the mom stood up and got in a wheelchair and went to the next room! I personally was starting to panic because I had never seen anything like it- everyone was so calm and I was getting worried that too many contractions had passed and the baby had still not come out even though it had been crowning. I have a lot to learn here.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Safely Arrived
Hello from Zimbabwe!
After a very long journey I finally made it to the hospital last night. Take 2 was much more successful. I left from Sacramento and flew to JFK. JFK was experiencing bad weather however and my plane was stuck on the runway for 2 hours before it was allowed to take off!! Luckily I was so exhausted from my red eye flight that I slept for those 2 hours. When we finally took off, the flight is 14 hours and 45 minutes to South Africa. I was lucky that there was no one sitting next to me and I had an aisle seat. Somehow I slept most of the way. Because we left JFK 2 hours late, we 2 hours late and I was told that I was not going to make my connecting flight to Harare, Zimbabwe. They said I could get on the next flight which was 10 hours later. I said no way, after all this I am going to make this flight no matter what. I sprinted through the entire airport (I think I knocked a few people over on the way) and made it to my flight. When I was going through the gate, they handed me a new ticket for first class! So after all that, I was able to fly first class for the last 2 hour flight (they put white table linens on the tray table haha).
When I arrived at the airport in Harare I was off the plane very quickly since I was in the front and made it through customs before the line. I was really worried about my bag since my plane had been late but I got my bag and Major was waiting for me with a sign.
Since Chidamoyo hospital is so far away from Harare, there are lots of errands to be done for the hospital and the people who work there when anyone goes into the city. Major and I went to the pharmacy, to Kathy's flat in Harare and picked up some more stuff as well. I was also able to meet 3 of Major's children. They were so nice and one of them hugged me and held my hands and kept saying how nice it was to meet me.
We also had to pick up some stuff for the construction for the new pediatric wing at the hospital. We did not have room for the pipes on our car so we were waiting for another truck from Chidamoyo that was in Harare to meet us and pick everything up. They did not come for awhile and while we were waiting it became dark. We still had to pick up a doctor and drive the 3 hours to the hospital.
As I was beginning to figure out, Major told me that there is no time in Africa. People always have time so long as the sun is out (they tell time by the sun). We did not make it back to the hospital until 10:00 pm even though my flight had arrived at 12:30. To say the least it was a VERY long trip to get here. Kathy had dinner waiting and then I went to sleep. There is a family from Seattle, Washington here as well but they are leaving tomorrow.
There has been electricity almost the entire time I have been here which I have been told is rare. There are a few people waiting for the computer but (given electricity tomorrow night) I will write about my first day in the hospital today and about ZImbabwe itself. It is incredible here and I am so excited that I will be able to spend the next 6 weeks working at the hospital and getting to know these fantastic people!!
After a very long journey I finally made it to the hospital last night. Take 2 was much more successful. I left from Sacramento and flew to JFK. JFK was experiencing bad weather however and my plane was stuck on the runway for 2 hours before it was allowed to take off!! Luckily I was so exhausted from my red eye flight that I slept for those 2 hours. When we finally took off, the flight is 14 hours and 45 minutes to South Africa. I was lucky that there was no one sitting next to me and I had an aisle seat. Somehow I slept most of the way. Because we left JFK 2 hours late, we 2 hours late and I was told that I was not going to make my connecting flight to Harare, Zimbabwe. They said I could get on the next flight which was 10 hours later. I said no way, after all this I am going to make this flight no matter what. I sprinted through the entire airport (I think I knocked a few people over on the way) and made it to my flight. When I was going through the gate, they handed me a new ticket for first class! So after all that, I was able to fly first class for the last 2 hour flight (they put white table linens on the tray table haha).
When I arrived at the airport in Harare I was off the plane very quickly since I was in the front and made it through customs before the line. I was really worried about my bag since my plane had been late but I got my bag and Major was waiting for me with a sign.
Since Chidamoyo hospital is so far away from Harare, there are lots of errands to be done for the hospital and the people who work there when anyone goes into the city. Major and I went to the pharmacy, to Kathy's flat in Harare and picked up some more stuff as well. I was also able to meet 3 of Major's children. They were so nice and one of them hugged me and held my hands and kept saying how nice it was to meet me.
We also had to pick up some stuff for the construction for the new pediatric wing at the hospital. We did not have room for the pipes on our car so we were waiting for another truck from Chidamoyo that was in Harare to meet us and pick everything up. They did not come for awhile and while we were waiting it became dark. We still had to pick up a doctor and drive the 3 hours to the hospital.
As I was beginning to figure out, Major told me that there is no time in Africa. People always have time so long as the sun is out (they tell time by the sun). We did not make it back to the hospital until 10:00 pm even though my flight had arrived at 12:30. To say the least it was a VERY long trip to get here. Kathy had dinner waiting and then I went to sleep. There is a family from Seattle, Washington here as well but they are leaving tomorrow.
There has been electricity almost the entire time I have been here which I have been told is rare. There are a few people waiting for the computer but (given electricity tomorrow night) I will write about my first day in the hospital today and about ZImbabwe itself. It is incredible here and I am so excited that I will be able to spend the next 6 weeks working at the hospital and getting to know these fantastic people!!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Take 1
Well I am unexpectedly back in Sacramento for the day (perks: watching England play Italy in Eurocup and hanging with Scout and Soph). Yesterday my parents and I headed to SF for my midnight departure. We enjoyed a great dinner in the city and arrived at San Francisco International 3 hours before my flight. It was delayed 50 minutes but they said I would still make the connecting flights in JFK. All seemed good so after I went through security, my parents left to drive back to Sac.
At midnight I was sitting at Gate 12 trying to decide the first book I would read (I downloaded enough for the next 3 years on my Kindle). Naturally I became more interested in people watching and I started hearing rumors that our flight was cancelled. I checked the board and it still said 12:50 so I assumed it was fine. A few minutes later there were a few people in line at the gate so I went over and asked the woman who worked for jetBlue if the flight was cancelled. She said yes!! I asked when they were planning on making an announcement (politely of course..). I immediately called the parentals who turned the car around and came back. They didn't announce the cancellation for 10 more minutes (over 30 minutes from when our flight should have originally departed).
In order to prevent this first post from being as long as this past night I will skip to the end. We arrived home from SF at 4:15 am. My dearest mother stayed on the phone with jetBlue trying to fix my flights for 6 hours!!! (I had taken sleeping pills in the airport when I thought I was flying... and let's be honest my mother has a way of getting what she needs). Unfortunately jetBlue did not handle the situation very well from the beginning and it was even more unfortunate for the plans of some others on my flight.
I eventually got ahold of Major and Kathy in Zimbabwe to let them know that I won't be arriving for a day later. Any nerves that I was beginning to have in SF have gone away. I just want to arrive in Zimbabwe now, I am so excited!!
Take 2 happens tonight from Sacramento, actually looking forward to my long flights now because it means I'm on my way!!
At midnight I was sitting at Gate 12 trying to decide the first book I would read (I downloaded enough for the next 3 years on my Kindle). Naturally I became more interested in people watching and I started hearing rumors that our flight was cancelled. I checked the board and it still said 12:50 so I assumed it was fine. A few minutes later there were a few people in line at the gate so I went over and asked the woman who worked for jetBlue if the flight was cancelled. She said yes!! I asked when they were planning on making an announcement (politely of course..). I immediately called the parentals who turned the car around and came back. They didn't announce the cancellation for 10 more minutes (over 30 minutes from when our flight should have originally departed).
In order to prevent this first post from being as long as this past night I will skip to the end. We arrived home from SF at 4:15 am. My dearest mother stayed on the phone with jetBlue trying to fix my flights for 6 hours!!! (I had taken sleeping pills in the airport when I thought I was flying... and let's be honest my mother has a way of getting what she needs). Unfortunately jetBlue did not handle the situation very well from the beginning and it was even more unfortunate for the plans of some others on my flight.
I eventually got ahold of Major and Kathy in Zimbabwe to let them know that I won't be arriving for a day later. Any nerves that I was beginning to have in SF have gone away. I just want to arrive in Zimbabwe now, I am so excited!!
Take 2 happens tonight from Sacramento, actually looking forward to my long flights now because it means I'm on my way!!
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