Venturing out

Venturing out.

It's been a busy couple of days here in Soddo. Where to start...

Tuesday and Wednesday started to get busier in surgery – of course it always seems that half the cases cancel for one reason or another – financial problems, a change in condition, or maybe the patient just decided to eat lunch (because they had only been told not to eat breakfast). At the beginning of they day, it seems like we'll never get everything done, but we always manage to finish at a decent hour. At some point, the cancelled/ postponed cases will likely all come out of the woodwork on the same day. For Paul's sake, it would be nice if that happened while we are still here.

I'm finally getting a little more used to the flow of things and am feeling a little more emboldened to teach and correct the residents. It's just another element of awkwardness which I'm getting used to. Add that to doing unfamiliar operations, familiar operations with different equipment, or operating on more advanced diseases (had to operate on a very advanced breast cancer in a 26yo female today) – there is plenty of opportunity to trust in God to come through in my weakness. I think I'm beginning to embrace awkward, but Wendy (and many others) would probably tell you that it's been my style for a while now.

Had a chance yesterday afternoon to go out for coffee with John (Foor) and Harry (Bowers) – there are more options in Soddo than the last time I was here. In short, we went to a place called "Fanta Vision" which is a combination hotel, quicky-mart, coffee shop, bar, and construction zone. They served us espresso machiatto for about 3.5 Birr apiece (that's around 22 cents). The espresso was literally so thick that John's spoon stood up in it (this may also have had something to do with the shape of the cup, I'm told). I had two and vowed to come back, often. I'll post pictures to facebook at some point since I can't post them directly to the blog.

Today, Wendy and the girls had the chance to go to a large food distribution event today near the future site of Dr. Bowers "Wolaitta Village." (I'll try and link to his blog if you'd like to learn more – you really should). It was the girls most adventuresome cultural experience yet. The local church here hands out grain to those most in need once a month. They feed them spiritually, too, before the distribution. The girls were fascinated by the process and met several new friends. At first they were very shy at all of the stares, but they soon warmed up to them and let them touch their arms and hair. Tessa was the first to "be brave" as she told Wendy. They played a few games (Duck Duck Goose, etc) but did reach a point where they were tired and hot enough to need some space. They experienced their first taxi ride (it's an enclosed 3 wheeled motorcycle) called a bijaj (not sure on the spelling). Prior to the food distribution they visited another missionary in town who has two pet dik dik's (small antelopes), Tazel and Izzy. Emma was able to feed Tazel some milk from a bottle. She liked that very much.

Went to play soccer with the locals this evening. They no longer have a field on the hospital grounds (okay, they do, but it's not flat and there are too many sheep grazing in it), so we go to the local "Stadium." An OR nurse I worked with the last time we were here invited me to come play. Sophie (an adventuresome rural nurse from Idaho who friended us on Facebook) was nice enough to give me a ride on the back of her motorcycle (the "donor-cycle" as Paul calls it). When I got to the field, I could not find anyone I knew. This did not stop me from being found by many people whom I did not know. I had an instant entourage of young and old people. They were interested to see the "Ferengi" (isn't that some sort of wrinkly alien from Star Trek?) play soccer. They were intrigued that I would take off my flip flops and put on soccer shoes as for many of them, flip flops ARE soccer shoes. I had a couple of willing volunteers to guard my sandals and water bottle while I played.

I didn't last long on the field. Between my atrocious physical condition (haven't had much time for exercise leading up to the trip), the altitude (around 7600 feet, I think), the cloud of dust called a soccer field (I think I need a lung transplant for acute silicosis), and my age relative to my competitors, I had soon confirmed most of the peoples' impression of America's soccer prowess. My apologies to those at home who are actually good at this game. I had fun, though, and had a nice walk back to the hospital with Hasabu – I even made it in time for a late dinner.

Well, the kids are in bed and the laptop battery is dangerously low. Lest I lose the whole post, I'll sign off for now. Until next time. Ciao.