December 27th

Solomon was busy handling deposits patients had made and dealing with police reports (at least 10 probably more, sadly Boxing Day takes on quite a literal meaning for some of the people who get drunk). Alcohol is a huge problem here, especially on holidays, which is really sad. Since he was busy I went on rounds in Women’s and Men’s with Linda. Women’s ward only had two patients, one with a possible ulcer and the other an older lady who was unresponsive to verbal command. We spent a while trying to figure out what was wrong and Linda ended up ordering a bunch of different tests because she couldn’t come up with anything definitive from the physical exam. There were more patients on Men’s but it went by pretty fast as most of them are long term patients still there just waiting to heal or for treatment to finish. We discharged a few people today which is good since that means they are better (or at least as good as they can be depending on their condition, not everything can be fully treated here). I was really not feeling well after rounds so I went home to rest but didn’t manage to, I did a couple things at the house then had lunch. After lunch Karen gave me a haircut (we cut it pretty short, half an inch). After that Karen and I went downtown to try and get some supplies to hang some bed nets in the guest house. We need to have it ready by Wednesday because a group of 10 is coming and will be staying there, 9 nursing students and their instructor. There are 8 girls and one guy so Tom and Karen of course keep teasing me about it. Of course I have to laugh too, Tom told me I need to go with the 8 girls to Pa Kanu’s. I’m sure he’d have a laugh and congratulate me on finding 8 wives. (When I told that to Solomon he laughed and told me that if I had 8 wives I would be a chief) When we returned to the house I went down and visited Solomon. He had to go to Kagbory to do an errand so I rode along with him. I love riding on the Hondas, which is a switch from when I got here. I said I’d never ride one because I was afraid to. When I got back I went to the guest house and helped Tom and Karen put up some bed nets. We got four up, only 6 more to go to meet our needs for space, but we are going to get them all up so that we don’t have to do it at a later time. We had quite an extravagant dinner tonight. We had fondue, we dipped bread, chicken, apple, and pepperoni into the cheese sauce, and then for dessert we dipped cubed pound cake, banana, and pineapple into chocolate. It was really good. I watched and episode of CSI with Tom and Karen after dinner. Then I went down to Pa Kanu’s and met Solomon to watch the end of a soccer match between Arsenal and Chelsea (on a TV not live) Pa Kanu has a satellite dish and shows soccer games almost every day. It’s only 1000 leones but many people go so he
makes quite a bit from that I imagine. Though keeping that satellite is probably pretty expensive. After the game (Arsenal won if anyone was interested) Solomon and I just relaxed for a bit at Pa Kanu’s and had some coke before returning home and going to bed. Karen leaves in the morning to go get the nursing students, though considering she’ll be back Wednesday you’ll probably not notice the gao considering how slow I’ve been with my blog lately. Anyway, g’night all.

Blessings from Kamakwie,
Ryan Brooks