my first day!

today was my first day volunteering! boy, am i poopered. it was a pretty neat day - there were some awesome moments, not so awesome, and some dull moments, but it was definitely a good mix. i talked to a BUNCH of patients, although i only had a few long conversations. it was cool because this one lady who we saw on monday who could barely talk and didnt really want to talk was up today and eating and we had a super long conversation about nothing really in particular. she could only say yes/no for themost part..she tried to talk a few times buti felt so bad because 1)my hearing SUCKSSS and i could barely hear her 2)she tried so hard. anyway, i thnk she enjoyed my company. i felt like such a dork, but i was super peppy and smiled a lot. i was like "do you like art?" "ME TOO!" and like..."dont you just love san diego?". she was a cute elderly lady but had little of her motor skills intact..she needed help eating. anyway, i was glad i could keep her company! that was one of my high moments. oh this other dude was really appreciate too! he kept cracking jokes and i was like, can i help u with anything..and he was like, yeah i need a girlfriend. lol. and he kept cracking jokes with the nurses/drs as they gave him a shot on the tooshie. lol. i havent used that word in a long time. oh and did i tell you that i totally used me spanish!?!? it was awesomeee! i saw this one patient again later, and she was like "that's my girl! she speaks spanish!" lol. so cuteeee. oh and i had to wear a gown and gloves when i talked to her. pretty neato. so my more sad moment when i was talking to this dude who i guess suffered from confusion. he was upset because he said no one would listen to him and he asked me to get his belongings and i couldnt because the belongings that he requested were his home city and the people in it. =/ anyway, i wasn't sure quite what to do so i went along with it and then left the room. =/ *sigh*..even confused people still have a right to know when they are getting discharged and to know about their care. aiiya...anyway, so overall it was a pretty good day! pretty draining because i was totally focused and listening and attentive to everyone. OYY. i actually felt pretty finsihed around 3, because i had already walked around a few times, but i just kept going and i filled the time. lol. oh i should also mention that the nurse assistants/nurses and pretty much all the staff i interacted with..they were all pretty awesome and helpful. =) it was definitely a good day. i think in addition to being able to just chat with the patients i need to remember that i'm supposed to be an "advocate" so i gotta make sure that their needs are being met and all that good stuff. it was great to see people who were so debilitated but who were so optimistic! man..inspirational. i was really sad to hear the story of someone who couldn't work due to illness and jsut didn't have the means to take care of her family. she was getting welfare but i t just wasn't enough. she wanted to apply for disability but they need her medical records from years past, and to retrieve the files would cost her 100s of dollars, so she's sorta stuck. =/ i wish i knew where she could get resources for help but she was already working with a social worker. **sigh**. hopefully it works out okay. anyway, just wanted to do a quck reflection! i'm off!