Chetta

     The first couple of days that I went to the hospital the kids were usually slightly shy or would look towards their mom. By the end of the week, as soon as I walked into the pediatric ward there would be atleast 20 little heads that pop up from their beds and beckon me to come over. Many of them called me Chetta, which means brother.

      I wanted to switch up the activities with the kids so I went out to a local store and bought a Harmonica and deck of cards. I learned a bunch of simple songs like "Jingle Bells, Amazing Grace, Jazz Riffs, Payphone, and Stay With Me." Luckily I had visited one of my cousins and he gave me an awesome grey fedora, which was perfect for the magic tricks and harmonica songs I would play. The nurses wipe the floors three times: morning,afternoon, and night. I went to the ward in the morning while the floor was still wet and slid around playing the harmonica to kids at each bed. They really got a kick out of that. The only song they recognized was Jingle Bells, so that was inevitably a favorite hahah. One boy name Epson would make me teach him magic tricks while his mom was sleeping after lunch so that when she woke up, he could wow her. While vising beds the moms would ask about my life in America and I would show them my Facebook or Instagram. They would point at the phone and comment and smile to all the photos on there. I made friends with all the staff, patients, and doctors. The doctors and nurses would satisfy my medical interests by explaining the drugs and what each case scenario was. Majority of the cases was blood cancer, which unfortunately had very low survival rates. One pharmacist even took me "behind the scenes" and showed me how to dilute and distribute chemo drugs! I took a selfie bc it was awesome. I had a steady routine in the hospital there now.