City Biker

The past three days I have been following a District Nurse around the city who specializes in Primary Care. I chose this specifically as my clinical choice because a) I wanted to ride my bike around Copenhagen b) I wanted to see something that was not common in the US (home health care) c) I want to ride my bike around the city:)

First off, I had to get back into the swing of being asleep by 10 pm for my early morning bike ride to the headquarters center. This was not particularly easy considering that it stays like here until 11pm easily. It was also pretty hard to wake up because it has been raining conveniently everyday that I have to ride on my bike all day. But none the less, I chose to do this and I really enjoyed it. Even the rain, sadly. It was such a nice change from the mundane Metro rides into the city and the crowds of people cramped on the public transportation. I can see why some nurses would like it. Although, I do have to say that it is a really different kind of nursing. It could be seen as annoying to have to ride through traffic in the rain, snow, and cold all day long only to be shielded by your clients apartment which is 5 flights up and you're required to work, not drink tea and chat about the day. It's a really general type of nursing and in my three days I saw everything from medication administration and set up (14-16 days of meds separated by time and date), suture removal after a hip replacement, TPN tear down and set up, stoma dressing change, Staph wound with dressing change, suicidal visit, terminally ill patients with lung and colon cancer, dementia patients, etc. After a few years of experience, if I lived in Denmark, I think that I would want to be a District nurse. It really is rewarding. I would really need to invest in a rain suit though, because my rain coat alone isn't doing much for my sopping wet jeans that literally are plastered to my legs. I was considering having them cut off me. The nice thing about the rain though...one more excuse not to take a shower for the day! Sorry mom, I know. Gross. But what can I say:)

I have been so consumed with my clinicals and writing papers that I really haven't done much else. On Wednesday, Mark and I went into the city so that I could mail some postcards to my grandparents, we could get our Eurail pass, he could look for shoes, and..so we could have an excuse to get ice cream. Mine was sadly, disappointing, but his was sooo good. Ironically, or actually not ironically, the largest ice cream at this place was called the Amerikano. I was pissed:) Danish people east more ice cream than I do and if I had a choice I would probably just have a line hooked up to me that fed me ice cream continuously. It's only that so many Danish people smoke...speeds up the metabolism people!

Tomorrow I am back to class again. Luckily I have finished all of my work for now, so I can hopefully enjoy the rainy weekend that is to come. One thing that I have to touch on again, because it really is becoming a concern of mine is the love I have for the peanut butter here. It really is so sad and I told Emily tonight that I'm not buying it again for a few weeks. This is so gross, but I have almost finished my second jar in 2.5 weeks...ugh. They are small jars, not like the ones at home and it's real peanut butter, organic, with no preservatives, but still I can't keep putting it on everything. Emily said in a laughing, but concerned tone that maybe I should consider only putting it on my sandwich or my apple or my banana...not all three. She may have a valid point.

American/Hong Kong dinner for the Danish girls and then finally seeing Dex and The City 2! Hope it's worth the $22 I'm paying for it. Damn Danish cost of living. Birthday this weekend...all I want is red velvet cake, man.

(pictures: top- Me, Em, Tayler, and Mark outside the Louisiana Art museum & bottom- Me after my first bike ride back from class in the pouring rain...you can't tell but my jeans were once light and my hair is a nappy mess:)