So, I'm finally writing about my internship here! I arrived May 14, and I'll be leaving here, to head back to the USA, June 25.
I live in an apartment that is part of the establishment here. It's awesome! My apartment is two minutes, maybe less, of a walk from where I work, so that's awesome! Also, I get to see the sun set on the Mediterranean Sea every night from my living room window (glass door) - so beautiful!
I live alone (which I actually prefer in France); I have two beds, a sofa, a sufficiently big kitchen and a bathroom. However, there is nothing to separate the bathtub from the rest of the room (not even a shower curtain), which is really weird! So each time I shower, I end up adding a few inches of water to the floor. There's no Internet in my apartment (the WiFi is "broken"), so I walk into town and sit outside the Tourism Office every time I want to use the Internet, because they have free WiFi. Otherwise, I just found out that there is free WiFi in the lobby of my building, but it's sooooooo slow!
Every morning before work, I have a breakfast "à la française" (at least according to what I saw in Besançon) : bread or tartines (similar to crackers) with butter and jelly, as well as a nice coffee (and sometimes some Camembert cheese).
As for my work, I work five days a week, 9h00 to 18h00/18h30 with an hour to hour and half lunch break. The other two days are my "rest days" (I can't figure out what to call them because each time I learn more French, it seems I get slower at English). The majority of my clients are older, but there are still some young people every once in awhile (like today for example). For right now, I only do a few types of "cares," but I'll learn some of the cool massages and other stuff later on.
Envelopments:
I do these really often. Essentially, it's algae or mud all over the body. You put the client on a table, on top of a plastic sheet, which is on top of a heating blanket. Then you cover them with mud or algae (depending on where they have pain or what they're trying to achieve). Next, you wrap them up in the plastic and then the blanket, and let them sit for twenty minutes. I also do Frigitherapy sometimes which is fun. I basically mummify the legs of somebody with very very cold bands. It's designed to aid/restore peripheral circulation. Nothing too exciting, I know, but hey, it's in a whole 'nother language!
"Boiling" Baths:
There's pretty much nothing to explain here. I fill up the tub with sea water, put the person in, wait thirteen minutes, then take them out. After that, I empty the tub, rinse it, and refill it. On my days off, I like to come and give myself one or two of these...they're awesome! The sea water helps a lot.
Other treatments:
I'm going to learn other (real) types of massage, because for now all I do are massages done by machines. The "Sensolyse" is a machine that emits vibrations and small impulses that stimulate the circualtion. I "strategically place" eight metal plaque things on the person and then turn on the machine. I also do pressotherapy which is fun. You put massive socks onto the person (that go right up to the crotch) and then these enormous (astronaut) boots. Afterwards, I...turn on the machine. The boots inflate, then deflate, then inflate, etc. The pressure helps stimulate circulation (think about a blood pressure cuff).
Other stuff I do:
Aside from that, I do some small tasks every once in awhile for the bosses or whomever. I also got to sit in for a class, with the doctor here, on the anatomy of the skin. Even in French, I could happily listen to anatomy/physiology/medicine for hours upon hours. The course was really interesting, but very easy because the students are going to become estheticians or hydrotherapists, not doctors or nurses. After the course, I spoke with the doctor for awhile (who is actually the sister of one of my New Paltz professors!) and I'm going to work with her every once in a while. I can shadow her while she does some osteopathic work, injections, consults, and other stuff. Awesome! Also, she gave me an osteopathic treatment on Wednesday, which was so cool/helpful.
I think that's about it. I didn't expect to have such opportunities here to interact with so many different types of people and to actually get to work with "patients"; even though it's very basic stuff, it's still a great start! I'm having a great time!
The other photos of Banyuls-sur-Mer
- Matt Lipinski
No comments:
Post a Comment