Happy Birthday, Janet.
I felt like I finally slept last night. Most nights have been pretty restless. It is so humid, you just feel sticky all the time. I have not even had an inkling to sleep in. I wake each morning @ about 5am and I am done, just tossing about till the water comes on.
The cold trickle of a shower seemed old today. Someone could spit in me and get me wetter. Still, it is enough to get clean.
When the shower is done, it is helpful while there to cycle the hand pump to ensure the toilet tank is full. 20 pumps gets a pretty full tank, though 14 is really sufficient. Then you need to empty the small buckets into the big, place the small bucket under the trickle to fill until the water is shut off.
There were a couple times last week when the water did not come on at noon or 6pm. Apparently, a couple pumps broke and the huge water tank was down to 20% capacity. The cholera had really increased the demand.
Breakfast was cereal and warm powdered milk. The only cereal here is corn flakes. Though, Vern has a stash of homemade granola, which is a welcome topper.
Madame Bebe brought out the sugar bowl as we began to eat, and without missing a beat Vern and I exclaimed in unison, "you think she de-anted the bowl?".
No, I haven't had the sugar since I realized a family was living there.
The clinic was great, today. We started with a little class on fit, alignment + trouble shooting. The boys are still like sponges. Upon announcing that we were ready to start, Alex Paul raced to get is notebook and be the 1st seated and waiting for school to begin. It was pretty funny. He and Cira speak the least English, but it is not hard to see that they are picking up the most. I am so glad when you can see when they get a concept.
The Israelis came in 2 van shifts, today. The 1st came around 11am. True to our plan, Vern and I had a tech with us for each patient casting, fitting or adjustment. We thought we were going to be working late, but utilizing the techs as assistants, really helped us be more efficient. Tcho, Paul and Cira seemed to really enjoy working with the patients. Paul and Cira really shined. You didn't need to know Creole to know that they were communicating well with the patients about what problem was, and how we were going to fix it.
For many, bedside manner is the kind of thing that can't be taught. You can tell people to communicate and have compassion...but it really just needs to be in you.
It just made for a great afternoon.
Dinner was Madame Bebe's famous hot dogs and spaghetti...thing...of course with a little shaved cabrite(goat) sausage. There is some American pasta noodles served almost everyday. Cabrite also seems to find it's way into at least one meal a day.
Noodles. I do love noodles.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?desktop_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DLMUsXnHdGbA&v=LMUsXnHdGbA&gl=US
After the noodles we enjoyed a little birthday celebration for Janet, with a little Prestige + Rum-Cokes with a few of the hospital volunteers...RN's, PT's, and some others....but the capper of the evening happened just at the end of dinner.
A pleasant, Haitian lady appeared at the door. She had her manicure tools with her....Janet, then stated that she must have agreed to a manicure from this lady without knowing. She is a nurse in the hospital. Her name was Marjorie.
The manicure standard rate is 10$. Marjorie spoke a little English; was very charming. I offered to pay for the manicure as a present to Janet.
She seemed to understand.
Unbeknownst to me, while I was in the bathroom, she asked Vern to the kitchen and told him she needed more money. I came out of the bathroom, and people began to arrive for the party. Before she left she gestured to me that she was done and ready to go. You can imagine a semi-crowded room, everyone talking. Vern sits down next to me and says something to effect of, "I took care of her". I didn't catch it at first..but as we continued to talk to Marjorie...it started to settle in. I was just amazed at the gall!! I shouldn't be at this point. As she left, I followed her out, and nicely asked for the correct change back.... "Oh, I thought that was a tip." She said.
To then go back in and put everyone's stories together, made for quite an exciting evening.
The pics above are ...little Cabrite, Madame Bebe + Chev Blanc, and Janet + Marjorie.
Bon nuit.
Chev Blanc
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