Bloody Thursday

Any day that starts out without breakfast in a doctor's office getting stabbed probably isn't going to go well.

Of course, I have a special aversion to getting my blood drawn because I have, given the reaction from every nurse or technician I deal with, pretty much the deepest veins of all time. This followed the usual routine--first I get the B team, they poke around my arm for a while (thankfully, no practice stabs this time), then they call in reinforcements.

So the A team comes in, a quiet woman with a clear sense of purpose. She is poking my arm with her fingers for about 10 minutes, and I am losing hope. But then it's go-time, and she sticks me with the needle.

I wait for her to tell me if she successfully got the vein when suddenly she bursts out with, "Trust in God and He will deliver." I nod politely. Again: "Trust in God and He will deliver!... I thought you would be my challenge today, but the Holy Spirit is here in this room. God is great!"

Um, check please?

And for all that, the day wasn't half bad. Things are really starting to come together in Chinese--today was one of those great optimistic language-learning days when I really got the feeling that I am going to conquer this language. And then we had a fun language class outing to get dinner at Ceiba downtown--yum. Made up for the ten hours of fasting before the doctor's office this morning :)