This will be my last post of the trip (unless I fork over some serious Euro in the Frankfurt Airport). We'll be piling in the LandRover in about 30 minutes and heading out onto the Ethiopian Superhighway/ cattle sidewalk. We'll drive 5-6 hours, do some shopping in Addis Ababa, then head to the airport for a 10:45pm takeoff. This time, Harry (the Optometrist) will drive us instead of the "Red Jackal" taxi service.
Though I am truly excited about going home (I miss frostbite, chapped lips, and cabin fever. Really, I do.) there are many things I will miss about Soddo and that will probably bring me back to do this again. I'll try to keep the list reasonably short and readable.
- I will miss the sunrise over the mountains as the only alarm clock I need
- I will miss fresh-baked bread in my kitchen almost daily
- I will miss doing the thing I love every day with one of my best friends and mentors, John/ Steve Foor (I was a premed and he was a med student the last time we did this together.)
- I will miss the fact that I can round on 40 patients a day and still make it to the OR on time
- I will miss the trusting faces of brave children who let me change their wound dressings every day
- I will miss fist-bonks with the kids in the ortho-ward
- I will miss nurses who usually understand what I'm saying (and always claim to)
- I will almost miss Gyn rounds (almost)
- I will miss the operating room staff who laugh at my jokes search for the weird instruments I ask for (like suture)
- I will miss playing with the babies I delivered the night before
- I will miss hyperventilating on the soccer field at 7400 feet
- I will miss the well-conditioned nurses, orderlies, and gardeners who occasionally let me score a goal or even pick me for their team
- I will miss playing Catan almost every night
- I will miss movie night on the patio in January
- I will miss leaving my pager and cell-phone in a suitcase for two weeks
- I will miss the smiling ICU nurse who walks to my house every time he needs me to see a patient
- I will miss Ethiopian coffee (of course, I am taking 6kg home with me - unroasted baby)
- I will miss daily Injerra in the doctors lounge (and trying to convince John to eat it)
- I will miss the fact that I can feel clean, even though I'm coated in red clay dust at all times
- I will miss hanging out with people who can spend years (even a lifetime) doing what I can only pull off for a couple of weeks at a time
but I can't wait to see my family (who all got haircuts while I was gone), friends, co-workers, and church; I have missed them all dearly. Thanks to all who have kept up with this blog (and suffered through my verbosity) and chatted with me late at night. Can't wait to see you folks in person again.
Hey Matt,
ReplyDeleteJeremy Adams here. Were you able to observe any needs for business people to go to Ethiopia and help build businesses (and not just the building part) for people as part of a missions field activity? Just wondering...
Thank you, Jesus for technology so that we could pray informed. I know our God is big enough... but it was still nice to know how to pray.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are home. Give Wendy a squeeze for me.