I (Alex) may not be at the edge of the world but you sure can see it from here-- just beyond the barbed wire fence and the tumble weeds blowing by. I have temporarily relocated to a small town in southwest Kansas for 6 weeks. I am doing a clinical internship in the physical therapy department at the county hospital. Compared to the hustle and bustle of Kansas City, I have enjoyed a more “laid back” life out here. Actually, during my first three weeks the adventures never stopped and I am not foreseeing a decrease in excitement in the rest of my time here.
When people in Kansas City heard I was headed to southwest Kansas for my internship, they expressed their sympathy that I had been assigned to what they considered the middle of nowhere. I then had to explain that this was actually my first choice and I was excited for the experience.
My clinical has gone well. The highlight has been getting the chance to remove 37 staples from a patient’s leg. Sometimes I wonder about how trusting patients should be if they are willing to let a student with no previous staple removal experience use a tool that looks like pliers to take out embedded metal from their leg. On this clinical I have also heard more hunting stories than you can shake a stick out as well as watching hours of hunting shows on the Outdoor channel. One day I assisted with an in-service at the nursing home and one of the men in attendance had on a ten gallon hat, a handle bar mustache, boots, and a vest (I could have sworn he had a badge pinned on his vest as well and was the spitting image of Wyatt Earp).
In a small town people often notice a stranger, especially if they hang around a while, so they begin to ask questions. My friend and her roommate often get asked about who is with them so we have had some good jokes about me being the stranger who is staying in their basement. We thought it would be rather entertaining to start telling people I was a graduate student in prairie biology doing field research about tumble week migration so I am in the area putting electronic tracking devices on tumble weeds.
This weekend has been full of entertainment and adventure. On Friday night we drove out to a family’s home so we could practice target shooting—or instead of practice I should say learn how to shoot a gun. I learned more than I ever thought I needed to know about guns, ammunition, and shooting. I am certainly not a great shot but now I can say I have done it. I also might understand the difference between a rifle, hand gun, and revolver as well as what different caliber of bullets are--- maybe. We also enjoyed some s’mores and staring up into a sky full of stars. Today we went to the Dalton Gang Hideout. The Daltons were originally from Kansas City as well and decided to come out here for a change of pace just like I did- or maybe it was easier to rob banks and trains out here (This is not my motive) . We didn’t go inside to see the two-headed calf in the museum or the escape tunnel but took some pictures outside. With these activities I have been able to cross a few more things off my bucket list for my time here in Western Kansas.
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