taiwan

i’m here! 

although i have traveled international, this trip I was very anxious for the flight. not because i had to go alone but because i had 14 long hours ahead of me.  had just driven 10 hours from utah to california a day before so the thought of sitting another 14 hours was not enticing.

my sweet dad dropped me off at the airport. we got there early so we were able to pick up some smoothies and sit under the path of the landing planes like he did as a kid with his dad. it was fun to hang out and talk. he dropped me off right on time and i started the long process of checking in, passing through security, going through customs, etc. i don’t know if it was because i was there on a friday night but the airport was super empty. in less than an hour i was check in and already to go. i was even able to meet up with the rest of the group who had landed in lax earlier that day from salt lake. we hung out for a few minutes before it was time for me to board. 

the flight over was wonderful. i knew i didn’t need to worry about getting a bad seat because of my dad's amazing ability to map out where the sun will be located throughout the trip. as i predicted, i was placed on the aisle seat (my favorite) with only one other person seating next to me. it turned out that she was taiwanese but attended usc and married a chinese man from ucla. they now live in shanghai but she was leaving la after a business trip to visit her family in taiwan. when we landed she showed me where to go, what to do, how much to exchange my money, how to go through customs, and where to wait for the rest of the group. she even thought to buy me a bottled water while i was waiting for the group and told me some places i should visit. i was so taken back at her charity and willingness to help a perfect stranger. little did know this would be one of many encounters i would have with the taiwanese people that would inspire me to be a more charitable being.

after meeting up with the group without any problems, we began our long process to head down to tainan. tainan is the third largest city in taiwan and located about 2 hours southwest of taipei on their high speed rail train. another 3 hours and we made it to tainan. my first impressions of taiwan was the greenery! everything is so lush and vibrant. i didn’t realize how much of a jungle it is over here. the mountains are breath taking as we traveled down the cost! little did i know how that impression would quickly change. notice the stark difference.

our "hotel" is located right in the heart of the city and only about a 5 minute walk to the hospital. the rooms are just as we expected. dorm rooms. but we were lucky to be able to get the internet and have our own desk to post and blog all our thoughts.

once we got all settled in our dorm rooms we went on a little tour of the city and stopped off at the hospital. it is a trauma 1 hospital and very prestigious. my first rotation is on the ortho floor where we will see patients who have major breaks. in tainan it is mostly due to car accidents which now that i have been here for a while, is no surprise to me. my second rotation will be in the surgical icu. since i have not been through icu clinicals  i have no idea what to expect. unfortunately the nurses do not allow us to do very much in terms of nursing skills but just the chance we have to be in a foreign country shadowing nurses is amazing enough!