A Day In the Life... Alternate Title: I Sweat, Therefore I Am.

Today I did very little for foreign relations. I guess its good that I'm not an ambassador or representative for the government in any way. I guess its bad because I represent THE King. Well, except to greatly prove that God can (and does) use ANYONE!

Today marked the first day when Noah and (hopefully) Callie had school and I did not have language class. Lucy and I had the afternoon to get a few very important things done. (Aren't moms supposed to get to goof off when they finally shuffle all of their kids off to school?) First on the list was taking Lucy to the doctor. She needed her 18 month shots (now that she is 23 months!), and a health report for preschool. The health report included a throat culture and parasite test. If you have an animal, you may be familiar with this type of thing. It is not fun to deal with when its your cat. It is REALLY not fun to deal with when its your CHILD!! So, this morning when Lucy had a poopy diaper, I gathered a sample in one of my cherished ziplock bags and put it in my purse so I would not forget to take it. GAG!!!

Every time I passed that purse, I could smell it. So, finally I put the sample and bag inside a small plastic container. Again, the smell permeated. But, it was time to get the kids to school, and an hour after I dropped them off, we were going to the doctor. So, I had to just deal with it!

Thank God, Callie did start school today! She did great!! Lucy was starting to get a little nutsy, so I got her a juice box at the school store. While I was trying to get Callie settled, Lucy dumped the red juice all over herself! At that point I realized that I had left the flat without diapers or wipes! What kind of mother am I?!?!? I haven't left the house without diapers and wipes in 7 years!!

It did not take as long as I had thought it would to get Callie settled at school so Lucy and I had some time to burn. We walked up close to the doctor's office and grabbed a snack at a little cafe. If you read this blog, you know that Lucy gets lots of attention. Well, today it was in the form of a cookie. So now, the child had a very wet diaper and a juice and cookie stained face and dress. Nice! Oh.... and there's the wad of poop in my purse that is putting off a lovely smell! What a sight (or smell) we are!! So, I decide to go in search of a little store where I can buy some diapers, wipes, and maybe even a cheap little t-shirt or dress. I found a cute little outfit for a couple of bucks, but no diapers or wipes.

So we showed up to at the doctor's office looking clean. Well, except for the fact that I sweat profusely when I am nervous, and having to speak a foreign language to an educated professional makes me nervous!! So, the sweat starts rolling! But Lucy did great!! She is very healthy. Her height and weight are great- 12.8 kilos and 90 cm. She was even super tough for her shot. He gave it to her in the arm. Lucy just looked over at him and said "OW!" She sort of got the cry face, but didn't even cry!! Amazing!

Unfortunately, the doctor couldn't do the throat culture and parasite test. He said that I needed to take her to a lab. (I did not mention the poop in my purse.) By the end of our appointment I could smell that Lucy had produced a fresh sample. The doctor was so happy. He sent us straight over to the lab. Our doctor was nice enough to give me directions that I almost completely understood and write down the name of the place and what I needed from them. Then he called over to tell them I was coming. Well, except that I didn't have any diapers. So, first I had to search out a market and get the necessary diaper changing supplies. Then I had to find the place. After a little bit of searching, some nice gentlemen helped me find it. It was pretty easy to find since I was right in front of it!! Ha!!

I got into the office and assured the nice nurses that I was indeed the foreigner they were waiting for. They asked if I had a fresh sample. Apparently freshness is very important in poop samples! So I changed Lucy and handed over the entire diaper to the nice lady. You can imagine that I was sweating pretty profusely there as well! And, of course, the old sample was still in my purse! We finished up our business there and left to pick up some milk before we picked up Callie- whose school was to let out at 3:30 or 4:00.

The great news is that Callie had a great first day of kindergarten. She told me that "a lot of them kids cried like 2 year olds. OR maybe even 1 or 0 year olds!" She also told me that she made 3 or 5 friends and got to eat her snack, but did not get to play outside. Sounds like a great day to me.

We headed home and stopped at the chemist to get some medicine for Callie's ringworm, and then to the fırın to get some bread. All in a day's work!!

So, if you ever meet someone from the country where I am currently residing and they think that all Americans are extremely sweaty and even worse smelling (and not in the body odor sort of way, because that doesn't seem to get any one's attention here) it is because of me. I'm sorry!!