Hey all, sorry its been a while. For starters, my long weekend was one of those times when nothing ever goes right. All my plans fell through, including my plans to learn how to cook, which is being rescheduled. But it made for a quiet weekend that allowed me to relax and do all sorts of other things that were nowhere near productive.
Election Day. Yes, it was huge here too. We all sent in absentee ballots. Christina and Emily stayed up the whole night watching the results come in, and we left at 5 am to go to a friend's house to watch the final results and speeches, accompanied by Swedish pancakes and lots of coffee. We watched Obama win!!!! And then I proceeded to call my parents and let them know that we were up and watching, and to be the same old competitive child they're used to. :] We then proceeded to go to school, like normal.
That week was similarly simple: I worked, studied, and FINALLY got a gym membership at the Meridian, which has a wonderful indoor pool, and a sauna, and a steam room, and massage therapists.... Yeah, you get the drift. Thursday night was Jeff's (currently called Bing) birthday, and he and Jessey hosted "Bing's bistachio barty," keeping with our favorite theme of no p's. Last Saturday, I went to my friend Amanda's house. She had made pumpkin pie from scratch the day before, and I was lucky enough to be able to indulge in the deliciousness. We also had some awesome hot chocolate - Seattle's Best Triple Chocolate!!! - all while watching the latest season of Grey's Anatomy. And by season, I mean the first 5 episodes in a row. On Sunday, I started volunteering at a local English Center. I'll be working there for a couple hours on Sundays now. It was really fun, the girls there were all about my age, and they would rotate between working on the computers and learning how to cut hair, then would all get together to work on English. I'll be there with a couple of girls I go to school with.
Which brings us to this week. It's only Wednesday night, but I feel like its been years since Monday. A little background: a classmate of mine, Brenda, works to help Iraqi kids with heart defects get the surgeries they desperately need. She asked if I'd like to help with the medical screening they host here to see which kids can move forward to get the operations, and which ones are inoperable. I said I'd love to. The mothers and kids got in late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Monday afternoon, we had a meet and greet with other people who would be volunteering, and we found out that 5 families couldn't get across the border, and one baby died that morning. We had a couple hours after that until we'd all head out to a local church for a meeting with the families. When we got there, what we were doing here really sunk in. I met a beautiful little girl there - Ajiin. She only spoke Kurdish, so I never understood what she was saying, but we connected.
Yesterday was tough. We went to the hospital right after school to help with the screening. I brought face paints for the kids, which went over well. But not long after we got there, we found out that another baby didn't make it. A group of mothers tried to console her, but it didn't really help. We watched her fall apart, but as much as we wanted to help, there wasn't really much we could do except be there for her. Ajiin's mother knew the woman, so she was with her as much as possible. I kept Ajiin entertained for the afternoon. She certainly kept me on my toes - if I looked away for a minute, she would run off somewhere and hide, waiting to see how long it would take me to find her. We played with balloons, chased each other around, all sorts of things. The group from school I came with left around 330, but Ajiin was 3rd in line, and I wanted to be there for her and her mother when she went in. So I stayed, making arrangements to go back with another group who was staying down the street from me. I watched as mothers would come out of the screening room, looking hopeful, others who could read the doctor's face and knew they didn't have much hope. It was such a roller coaster of emotions, it was hard to keep the kids happy, when they could see so much grief. But we did what we could. Ajiin finally got in at 515, half an hour before we had to leave. I got to see her and her mother right before we left, but I haven't heard how it went. It's amazing how easily this little girl found her way into my heart.
Today, the doctors are telling the families if their child has a chance or not. I won't know until later if Ajiin will be able to get her operation. I almost don't want to know, because if she doesn't get that chance, she won't be around for too much longer. But I'm hoping for the best.
This weekend should be another quiet one. I usually don't like quiet weekends, but I'm looking forward to it. I need some time to decompress.
Coming up: the countdown has begun! 26 days until I return to the States (I told myself I couldn't count down until after the elections...), maybe some cooking, and most definitely more time in that sauna. Gotta love nice gyms :]
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