Birthday Addendum...

So, there was one thing that I forgot to write that I did on my birthday: I gave blood! I was really excited that I was able to give blood on my birthday because I've been wanting to give blood since I got here, but haven't had the opportunity. Apparently my blood type isn't in particular demand here.

Funny thing is, almost all of the student missionaries here are the same blood type: O+. This is a good thing because people with O blood type can give to any other blood type, so lots of the SMs have given blood multiple times.

Anyway, I was happy to give blood, but it was a bit of an experience. Never in my life have I given blood with such a large needle! It hurt quite a bit because it was a 14 gauge needle, which is like a small garden hose, and they missed the first time they stuck me. Luckily I had just eaten a large meal and drank a lot of water, so I was pretty well prepared. However, when I was almost done with giving blood, I started to feel nauseated and my hearing started to go, which are two good indicators that I might pass out. I am quite happy to say though that I did not pass out. And I was fine after giving blood too. But, I'm pretty sure that giving blood and then getting malaria soon after that were the reasons that my hemoglobin was so low recently.

Oh, I almost forgot to say why I gave blood. There was a 5 year old girl in pediatrics who had a hemoglobin of 3.8 g/dl, and her father didn't have the right blood type to donate (he was AB+ and she was B+). Her name was Emilie :)