Thursday

The team is starting to fall into a routine.  Not being medically trained, I consider myself a "worker bee," getting up at 5:00am, to help start breakfast and the team's laundry.  We have oatmeal every morning and I haven't hung laundry on the line since I was a kid.  The Haitians waiting to see the doctors sit on benches in the middle of our underwear hanging over their heads on clothes lines.  I can't help but think they deserve better seating than that.

We have lunch and dinner prepared by Nieva and Andretta, FOTCOH's Haitian cooks.  They can make miracles happen with canned food.  Vine ripened avocados are reason enough to come here in September!!  And my friends and family know how much I appreciate the vine ripened tomatoes as well.    With the food, the Prestige beer, the Five Star Rum and the beach, this doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice.

I wish I could post photos right now, because I got some great ones today.  These kids literally have nothing, are malnourished and sick - and they still manage to smile at the "blancs" when they make silly noises and hug them.  I wish I could sit down and have a real conversation with some of our older patients.  Their weathered faces tell of a lifetime of hardship.

It rained buckets this afternoon, right at quiting time.  No beach today, so we'll just be hanging out.  Dr. Trainor is a euchre fanatic, so maybe we'll play tonight.  Sounds boring, but after a very long day out in the sun, I'm very grateful for boring.