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So it has been a few days since I was able to write for this blog. I did actually have a nice piece about  listening to music here but it was lost in an internet snafu.

I have settled into life at the clinic. I am being called when babies are being born and have caught a number of them. I enjoy working with the midwives here. It is a challenge to merge all of the styles of midwifery, the cultures we come from and our personal styles. 

As my journey on midwifery seems to be, I have had to find a way to observe and surrender some of my ideas about midwifery, midwifery education and birth, while keeping my core values intact and remaining grounded. I have been unsuccessful and successful here at different times. I find it challenging to watch different practices that I do not understand and may not agree with happening. However I am a guest worker here, so I try to ask respectful questions and then come to the births knowing that even though we are different we all want the best, healthiest experiences for the moms and babies here. 

I have seen amazing births here. Most of the women are quiet during labor. Often they arrive at  the clinic in early, early labor and spend the day walking and resting until active labor arrives. Most women have husbands and other members of the family with them when they arrive. We try to provide emotional as well as physical support to the women and their families. 

Sometimes I find myself looking into the eyes of a new father or a distressed grandmother who is scared or concerned for their daughter. I try to reassure with the few words of Indonesian that I have, Bagus, good, Sehat, healthy, Ibu Sehat, mother healthy, Baiyiah sehat baby healthy.

After a recent birth I watched a father gently stroke his new baby girls arm and gently open her hand. He was quietly crying, and so happy. It was one of the most wonderful things I have witnessed here. He was young, both parents were 19 I think and he had been concerned during the labor, but very attentive to his wife, they obviously loved each other very much and their baby was coming into life with joy as well as pain. 

Now on to Bali

The photo here is a temple in the neighborhood. There are temples everywhere, in homes, in the clinic, in towns and at the gates of everyones compounds, inside the gates of compounds. Each is decorated every day. So much industry goes into the ceremonies of everyday life here. 

The photo I posted earlier is of bakso, i had spelled it incorrectly before, is a local soup. It is sold by a guy who wheels around a cart, and it is 5000 rupiah or about 50 cents. It is the food that reportedly President Obama misses the most. It is a great filling lunch, with chicken meat balls, broth, noodles, tofu, and fried wonton like pieces.

I have also had some great padang food. At warungs, small stores that also sell cooked food, you point at what you want and then get a paper cone with rice, veggies and whatever proteins you have chosen. I have had great greens, tuna, chicken, and tempe. I love the potato fritters and the corn fritters. Because so much food here is fried, I do try to order the stewed foods or stemed greens when I can. I have also had padang breakfast, black rice porridge, or burbur, and it comes with coconut milk and you can also get banana fritters as well. This is sold at the local padang, that also has fresh mixed fruit juices. They just put whole fruit in a blender with water and there you are. 

Yesterday I went and got Burbur inji, balck rice porridge and fritteres for the whole Ashram. there are 4 of us. It came to 14,000 rupiah or $1.40 for breakfast. 

enough for now. 

treesa