MOOOOOOOve Over! I'm Comin Through!

Today, a cow pooped on me.

These are not your typical American dairy cows people. These are the biggest cows I have ever seen. This particular sacred being was literally the same height as me while it was just walking normally. Lisa and I passed them on the way to the market to get orange juice for a sick boy from school and we always comment on how gi-normous and impressive they are just roaming the streets like they do. So we successfully acquired the juice and some nail polish for painting initials on everyone's shoes since they seem to be mysteriously disappearing lately, and we headed home.
Here comes the herd.
Down the street they come, guided by their owner, and being as large as they are and taking up most of the narrow road, I was almost brushing up against the Big Mama. I saw her swatting tail near closer to me so I moved over a tad so as not to get flicked, and then it hit me. Literally....then the poop hit me. Like splattered all over my foot and leg. The message the universe is trying to send me through this is still lost on me, but Lisa and I sure got a good laugh out of it. As did all the people in the village who witnessed it. I then sighed and said, well it could have been worse! And it definitely could have...at least I didn't have any cuts or scrapes or anything on my feet. So I'm thankful for that. And upon returning home, we decided that it was definitely good luck since cows are god here :)


Ok, that would have been a good place for my blog to end for today right? I mean what else can I really talk about after getting pooped on. Well, I also got to experience Phase 4 of the Nepali Workout - Run to Hospital in the Rain.
So right as I was finishing up telling the above story, Chirin, one of the men on the staff here, came and knocked on the door to Cristina's and my room (Cristina is back safe and sound from Pokhara!) where I had been snipping away at the thousands of flashcards I have been making for a month now and said "Phone call, Ganga, downstairs". Ganga is the school office secretary. Confused about why someone would possibly be calling us in Nepal, we both headed downstairs to a silent phone and were told to wait. About 2 minutes later the phone rang and it was Lisa. She was at the hospital with Frank, Ganga, and a boy in 5th class who was slipping in and out of consciousness. She asked me to come to the hospital with Frank's good stethoscope, the small medical bag, and her money. I ran over to the school to gather everything (the clinic has been moved from the house into the new school building along with the rest of the classes) and Cristina passed word that Reading Tuition was cancelled, and also found Tope who got the scooter ready to go. Off we went, me having absolutely no idea what was actually going on, to the 6 bed hospital in the market. And when I say 6 beds, I mean they only have six beds. And nothing else. Oh wait, they have a pole for you to hang the IV bag on. That is after you go back across the street to the pharmacy and buy the IV bag and the tubing and the canula and any other supplies you need.
Once we got there Frank filled me in on everything that was going on, and although he suspected that the boy had had an absence seizure, one in which there are no convulsions, we wanted to be sure that his symptoms (loss of consciousness, headache, sweating, cold fingers and toes, confusion, muscle weakness, slight twitching) weren't caused by a cerebral hemorrhage or hypovolemic schock. Of course since the nearest place to get a CT scan is in Nepalgunj, hoursssss away, there was no way for us to know for sure. So I volunteered to go back home, do some research online, and return with what would hopefully help provide a sound diagnosis.
Then since this is Nepal, and nothing will ever go perfectly as planned, it started to pour as soon as Tope and I got back to the house. Well, we couldn't take the scooter back to the hospital in the rain. So I looked up all our possible diagnoses and associated symptoms (freaking out the whole time that I would miss something or forget something or not have enough and thinking that I was the WORST researcher ever). Then I kept all the websites up on my computer so that they would still be up without an internet connection, stuffed my computer in my backpack, yanked on my rainboots, and with an umbrella from Tope I set off running to the hospital. I can't imagine what the people must have thought of me. There I go, white person who gets stared at while walking on a normal sunny day, and I'm running through the mud and pouring rain with my long skirt tucked up into the waistband and rainboots, which no one here has oddly enough since it MONSOONS EVERY YEAR and 98% of the roads are MUD. I soon gave up on the umbrella because it was difficult to hold up and run at the same time and I was getting soaked regardless. I then realized I was wearing a light colored shirt and prayed that I wasn't giving the townspeople a free show. (Lisa later assured me I was fine and still appropriate haha) I have seriously never been so grateful for my rainboots. THANK YOU RAINBOOTS! I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure these were my Mom's rainboots and we've had them sitting in the closet for years. I threw them into my suitcase last minute after refusing to spend $20 on a new pair, and it's a good thing I did because I stepped into some pretty deep and questionable looking puddles without even thinking twice. Ok, anyway, sorry I have digressed out of pure love for my black rubber saviors.
So not even a hundred meters down the road (I'm reeeally bad with estimation but the hospital is probably a good 20 minute or so walk) I start to hate myself for the lack of working out I have done over the past few months. WHY Kelly, why couldn't you just go for a little run everyday? I was also thinking, WHY did you not eat lunch today!? I walked as fast as I could for a bit then took off again, ignoring the strange looks and shouts I was getting, and I thought, well they stare and think I'm weird anyway so I might as well give them something to look at. I was so happy to arrive at the hospital, and with something useful to give to Frank. Our boy was looking better already, and Frank was able to determine that he had had a seizure. He still advised that they get a CT scan done this week, but it was good to feel that sense of relief that he was in no immediate danger, and after a little time he was even able to walk home. Thank goodness. I wasn't in the ambulance on the way to the hospital with him, but from what Lisa and Frank told me, it was a pretty scary experience and we are all SO grateful that he is alright. So now the teachers will have to be educated on what to do if a child has a seizure in class, and Frank is looking further into treatment options.

On a super positive note, we have found Snickers in Surkhet.

I think that's about all for today, as I am quite tired and looking forward falling asleep. Who knows what tomorrow may bring.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone! I hope yours is more sanitary than mine :)

2 Response to "MOOOOOOOve Over! I'm Comin Through!"

  1. Anonymous Says:

    O boy! What a day indeed!! And by the way, only a nurse/health care worker would think of possible lacerations after being pooped on!! LOL!!

  2. Unknown Says:

    lol my text that i just sent dad - "Well bummer, I didn't get to take my Yamaha teacher test today...but at least i didn't get pooped on."

    haha that would only happen to you. Out of all the people in Nepal, the cow god has chosen you to poop on.

    Glad the boy ended up being ok! I remember seeing you pull those boots out of the front closet last minute, thank goodness!!

    <3 xoxo

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