FLASHBACK- Trip to the Clinic & Orientation Part 1

I was scheduled to go to the House on Monday, per the instructions of one of the SMs I had to report to the clinic at the health department at 8am. I went there and I felt very weird, first I went to the wrong part of the clinic, so I has sat in the wrong waiting area for almost an hour, I felt very dumb. So once I found myself in the right place, I talked to the lady at reception, where I nervously informed that I was there for testing for the house (I had no way how to explain it otherwise). She was very nice and kindly informed me that I would for that visit and all subsequent visits, ‘ask for a letter’ whenever I came in. Apparently that’s how they know who we are.

I wait for a while, then they call my letter and follow the nurse into another room. They then proceed to draw my blood, but not before asking me for my name and birthday. After that, the same nurse takes me to another smaller waiting room, which is freezing cold… Some time passes by when another nurse calls my letter and I follow her to another room where she tells me that they are going to perform a pelvic exam, so she hands me a paper sheet (the big ones) and tells me to take off my bottoms and lay back. It was pretty simple and over very fast. Then when I dressed, she asked me if I needed any condoms, they were free, so I said yes.

I headed home, and put my luggage in the car with the help of the hubby and we were on our way. I got to the House and I was in awe… it was surreal to say the least. My butterflies just multiplied by 10. I rang the doorbell, and waited in anticipation, the buzzer rang and an older lady opened the front door (I later found out this was who I had talked to on the phone). I walked in and she told me to leave my bags up front (they check all the bags that come in) and to follow her to the front office.
I filled out a bunch of forms and they asked me by what name I wanted to go by- I told them …. (hehe, I’m not going to tell you) and then they asked me for any cash or medication (no & no). Then after a quick tour of the house, she showed me where my room was and where I could find sheets to put on the bed.

Later that night, one of the other SMs showed me how to do a line up, it was pretty interesting. They told me that I would have to wait until tomorrow to get my sheriff’s card after I cleared from my STDs text. So after that I went to my room to set it up.

I took a shower that night and it was very interesting in the sense how something that seemed so simple became very complex just because of where I was. Something as simple as shaving my legs or putting on lotion, became like a sacred ritual. Then I went to bed. I thought I was going to be restless, or start to regret my decision, start self hating or something of the sort. Honestly? I had never slept better.