This is hard...

Apparently trying to be creative and original while writing about life in PA has proven to be challenging... I went for a bike ride! And we walked some dogs! That's about it. Spending most of my evenings having a nice, home cooked diner (we haven't been to a restaurant since our arrival with the exception of breakfast this morning), having a glass of wine or beer, chatting with Jack or Fartun (who continues to be very interesting and welcoming), sometimes netflix, sometimes puzzle in the sunroom, sometimes hookah. When everyone around you warns not to walk outside at dark, you tend to start to listen... So we don't go out much. The movie theatre is a 10 minute walk away, an afternoon showing of Jungle Book was fantastic !

The SPCA is a little too far to walk, so our friend Jenn was awesome enough to come with us. Truth be told, I had researched this place before leaving, trying to find a way to fill Jack's eternal void for puppys. She found out about it having seen it in my search bar and she went with Jenn while I was working last week ! The little cheat. So we all went back together this week. You fill out a 2 page questionnaire, they don't even glance at it, and then take you to the dog cages to have your pick! Give you a leash, and off you go, with the informal promise to return at some point with the dogs. Mine kept pulling and humping everything, including me, along the way. Slightly challenging. Jack says to write it was amazing. More then amazing. Amazing, and wonderful, and beautiful, and she wanted to bring them home. End quote.

The bike ride - we borrowed bicycles from Gwen, the lady who handed us the keys to the apartment, and we rode along the "rotary trail", which circles the whole city. Within 2 minutes of peddling (no exaggeration), we were on the outskirts of town with huge flat fields to our right and housing districts to our left. Rode past one of the 2 jails, didn't make it as far as the penitentiary. The best part was riding along the river, the wind, the sounds of nature was gorgeous ! Passing by the downtown portion along the water was an area where the homeless or addicted gathered during the day... The most entertaining site was these two older ladies, sitting on a bench overlooking the water, passed right out, chins down against their chests, still managing to sit up. From the back, you could have sworn they were enjoying the scenery!

The jails and penitentiary make our work clientele interesting. At least once per shift, most often 2-3 per shift, we have inmates visiting the emergency. They call them Pen Pals. Usually handcuffed to the beds, 2 guards minimum at the bedside. Our tax dollars at work - sometimes 6 guards waiting for inmates in the emergency.

I think sometimes our new co-workers forget that we've worked in an emergency before arriving, almost wanting to check in if we're ok with the intoxicated patients or the attention or drug seakers. The amount of "pseudo-seizures" I've seen in the last couple of weeks is impressive. People need to YouTube or Google seizures before deciding to fake one... It can't be that hard to be more convincing... Those cases are fun, the ones where you can read into the games, sometimes chose to play along, sometimes point it out. It almost becomes a who's smarter game - and trust me, I win most of the time.

The not so fun cases are the addictions/depressions/suicide attempts that seem all too common. Having had plenty of exposure at Montfort, I'm all too comfortable with the population of users in PA. Problem is, I'm seeing as many people in PA for addiction or using related issues as I was in Ottawa - Ottawa has a population of 1 million, PA has a population of 40,000 - that's not including all the people who qualify to go to the detox center in the hospital instead of coming to the emergency. I understand rural life is hard, and obviously isolating, but when the difference is that visible between a big city and rural city like Ottawa and PA, there's a serious problem. Just last night, I treated about 8 total patients, 3 of which were drug related issues. Two different worlds, and the social issues here are, to my eyes, much more obvious then those in Ottawa. Suddenly the downtown intox's we see at Montfort no longer seem so bad... Here, teens are showing signs of detoxing within hours of using... I had to give someone narcotics to try and stop the detoxing symptoms from missing a methadone dose... Giving narcotics to help narcotic withdrawal symptoms, that's a first. Almost like the doctors don't fight it, it's something that's been accepted, and now our job is to help prevent further health issues. Harm reduction at it's best. Breaking the cycle of generations of using is almost guaranteeing a doomed generation to come... What to do?

This is definitely opening my eyes to realities Canadians live. Realities that are easy to ignore from the comforts of my successful, white, middle class family in a city with plenty of opportunities and good role models.

Jack here- You haven't heard much of me, but fear not, I'm overlooking each blog by Vee! Our evenings have been pretty laid back, wine and work galore. Last night, Fartun and her wonderful car and I went looking for wine...We ended up in a liquor drive-thru. Yes, you read that right, a LIQUOR DRIVE THRU. You drive up, look at the beer/cooler/wine/liquor menu, make your selection like you would at McD's then drive up to the window and poof! more alcohol in your car. I kid you not. This town that struggles a little bit more than average with alcoholism has made it even easier! You don't even need to walk out! Later that night we picked up a teen outside the hospital who was asking for some taxi money and drove them home. Before I continue, yes, I pick people up and I won't stop. I believe in people and helping them out and that won't change despite your horror story - trust me, I've heard horror stories. So, we drive her home and she asks where we from, I say Montreal/Ottawa and Fartun says Toronto. This kid is a-mazed. Straight up "that's so cool! I've always wanted to go there!" and looks just flabbergasted at our presence. She blew me away. They dream of going to Toronto. When we talk about 2 different realities, we ain't exaggerating. This folks, this learning and all, this is good. Trust me though, I belong in cities - the energy, the movers and shakers, the let's call them "less traditional" folks, I belong there. In the meantime though, I'm learning and growing an understanding more about this reality.Read more