I slept ok, but not
very restfully. I was up a few times to
the loo, and the temperature was quite warm, despite the fan, as the mosquito
nets are not very air permeable. There
was also a terrific rain storm that invited me to open the windows and curtains
to let some of the fresh coolness in, but even that didn't get through the
mosquito net very well.
I had a lazy
morning. I woke up for church, but
didn't feel comfortable enough yet to walk 15 minutes into town, and sit at a
church service for 3 hours, in Hausa, a language I haven't yet begun to
understand. Instead, I stayed close to
the loo, kept myself hydrated and will wait for the GI adjustment to the local
cuisine to pass.
We had lunch with
Dr. EP, a German OB/GYN who we will have the opportunity to work with if adult
and pediatric medicine departments slow down after the rainy/malaria season,
and likely when we are on call. It was a
wonderful German meal - a dish that looked like a german pancake on the
outside, but had a biscuit/lasagna noodle type filled with chicken and a cheesy
sauce with mushrooms. It was quite rich
and delicious. We also had a
cucumber-dill type slaw and some local baguette, that Lisa and I were both
excited to hear exists, since we had stocked up on a few loaves in the capitol
for concern that there wouldn't be any.
Dessert was a very rich vanilla pudding with a delicate chocolate shaped
as a butterfly or an angel.
We said our
good-byes and thanks, and left as the thunder was starting to pick up, and the
misting was starting to thicken. We made
it home dry, but since that time it has been pouring constantly and heavily. Lisa went into shadow the doctor on call for
a few hours, or else I'm sure we would be sharing the Rains in Africa song
again!
There was a service
for the compound at 5:30 this evening.
And, they really meant 5:30, with no inclination of African time! We arrived 3 minutes late after dancing
around thick mud from the rains, and they were finishing the first song!
Some of the prayers
included the arrivals of the newcomers (us), departures of some short termers,
and the floods in the capitol. The
pouring rain we've gotten here has made the roads muddy, but in the capitol,
205 miles away, sandbags are needed and damage is being done. Also, the number of deaths yesterday was
seven. This is a busy hospital, but that
is a lot of death for one day.
Afterwards, we were
invited to dinner by the STAs, or short termers. It was another wonderful meal with great
company. Oregon is quite popular in this
remote African village - and one of the teachers at the school went to college
at George Fox University, in my home town of Newberg, Oregon!!! And, she used to drive up my road to Bald Peak State Park as a
reprieve from school!! Another girl who
was born in San Diego, but grew up in Peru, was recently in Bend! And then there was the nurse/doctor family
who worked at the VA/trained at OHSU! I
love the talking about home, away from home!
The internet has
been out, so I am just now going to post some updates to the internet!
Work starts
tomorrow. I probably won't be able to
write as often.
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