Day 2

Well, it's only 2pm, but I don't know when I'll be on the computer again.

Sleep last night was, well, noisy. I had pictured the hospital being in the middle of nowhere, but we are smack in Limbe, which is a bustling town. Our house (cement floor, stucco walls, screens but no windows, tin roof) is close enough to the one road paved road that there were sounds of horns (usually honked for little reason I can find) throughout the night. I have also learned that roosters do not wait until dawn to crow. It's more like 4am, and they continue until about 7am.

We all had breakfast in the dining building. A few Haitian ladies are employed by the organization to feed all the hospital staff and volunteers. I may actually gain weight in Haiti, which seems twisted. After breakfast we headed back into Limbe to walk around. The people are very nice. First, it's staring and pointing. Then some giggling. If we say "bonjour" and wave, they return it and smile.

Church was the event of the morning for Limbe. In our loop around "town" there were 4 churches (One adventist, one Catholic, one Baptist, one unknown). The witch doctor's office is right next to the hospital, so we have that covered as well. You would not believe the absolute finery that is worn to church. Think of the fanciest dresses you see for little girls at Target. Frilly, shiny shoes, boys in suit pants and ties, men in full suits. The women! Beautiful clothes, hats, HEELS (on the dirt, rock and mud puddle roads). Many many people dressed in brilliantly white clothes, perfectly pressed.

Contrast that to the underlying scene. There is no plumbing. No sewage system. People urinate in the trees, or by the side of the road. There is no electricity, but you can find cell phone stations at the market to buy minutes as you can afford them. Cell phones are not rare. Grains are seen laying out on sheets on the paths to dry out... but you can have the little problem of the dog urinating in the middle of it like we saw this morning. Trenches can be found with rancid water and the trash is pretty much everywhere. There is no garbage system. Refuse goes pretty much wherever.

We are highly pampered in the compound with running cold water, toilets and trashcans (can't really tell you where any of it goes...). I have a bed, a pillow, and a ceiling fan! I am in shorts and sweating while outside, so that seems luxurious by any Minnesota standard!

Tomorrow we will start the surgical week. I am here with an OB/Gyn, a general surgeon, 2 nurse anesthetists and another ER doctor. The schedule is full all week for surgical cases. We will check them out in the morning, then the surgeons will start and I will take care of them as they recover as well as get the next patients ready to go. At least that's what I think I'll be doing. Tomorrow's message will tell you the reality.

To my family - thanks for the messages left. I will see if I can get into my email as well. I hope I haven't left you in the lurch too much! Thanks for letting me be away to do this. I miss you all very much.