Habla ingles?

"Mi espanol es muy malo, lo siento."

I say that 30 times a day. I do not speak Spanish and if you did speak Spanish it would be a boon to you here... but you don't have to. They give you a booklet with the phrases you'll need and you actually only need about 50% of what is in there. You will cling to that booklet like your life depends on it. Woe to the intern who finds herself in the middle of cita-mania without her booklet for she will be doing a lot of charades. I have picked up a lot from the other interns who don't speak Spanish because the ones who do speak so quickly I can't catch anything.

What happens is that you get your little prenatal or postnatal phrases down and you ask them stuff... but then they answer and you have no idea what they're saying. At this point there is a lot of mutual charades going on and a lot of being looked at like you're crazy. If I ask them what they have eaten today there's a good chance the only thing I will understand is eggs and beans. They are so nice and so understanding of my ignorance, in my experience they have all been very patient while I fumble for words. And when you get one that speaks English you want to jump for joy. Honestly, I find a little levity during the visits goes a long way in making everyone feel more comfortable.

It's so much more clinical than homebirth is but that has actually not been that hard to get used to... to be honest it is kind of fun to get to do the things that most homebirthers waiver out of. That sounds bad but it's true... midwives are experience junkies.

Tonight will be my first birth with Laverne, I'm so psyched I like her so much and she is such an awesome teacher.