I actually slept pretty good last night for the first time since being here. When I say 'good,' I mean that I only woke up a few times instead of every 30 minutes. We started bright and early, mustering at 0700 to start seeing patients at 0730. It was busy all day from the beginning and HOT. I definitely sweat all day and had to take a few water breaks throughout since I started feeling over-heated. I did have the opportunity to counsel patients on information Sam had me look up. It was a great refresher for some of those meds I haven't seen in awhile. It was a heart-warming experience to be able to educate the people and inform them some possible side effects as well as counseling points they should be aware of. This way, they can better understand the medication and not be alarmed when something happens.
The interpreters brought us some fresh fruit in the morning so I spent most of the day trying some amazing fruit. Some of it I really liked and some things I really didn't. The local people hosting us, specifically the governors's wife, made us shrimp fried rice for lunch. Although I'm not a fan of shrimp or rice, I tried it and it was pretty good since it was so fresh. Our interpreters also brought us sweet buns and banana chips. Both which were A-MAZING! At the end of a long, hot day, we finally got to sit down and relax in the slight breeze that there was. As we sat on the steps in front of the pharmacy once again, I realized everyone was in the middle of the school compound playing. There was a basketball game going on in the middle, frisbee on one side, and volleyball on the other. All the kids were participating too. It was a beautiful evening once we stopped running around and had the chance to sit and catch our breath.
We had a good half hour break before muster where we were told we could have liberty for 2 hours that night in groups of no less than 5.Sam immediately told us to go change as she went to talk to the chief. She got permission for us to go to the local pharmacist's house to meet her family as well as the Governor's house where our interpreters were staying. I was really excited to see what the locals call home. We ended up having quite a large group come with us. When we got to the house, they had a whole spread of for for us and insisted that we grab a plate and enjoy. I was again shocked by their kindness and generosity. The food I had was delicious, of course, and I ate everything on my plate. I did avoid the meat knowing that they typically eat dog. After socializing over our meal, we went over to Yvonne's home (the local pharmacist) to meet her family. They were so gracious that we came by! They invited us in and offered us some fresh fruit and avocados. The fruit was amazing and SO yummy! And the avacado we took to eat later. We couldn't stay long since we had to be back for muster. We apologized for our short visit, said thanks for their kind gifts, and said our goodbyes before heading back to camp for the night. That evening at muster we found out that our last day would be a full day instead of a half but Commander said he knew we were a great group and could push through still giving quality care. He was definitely a great motivator for us. Since we knew it would be a long day, we decided to pack it in early for the night and get some sleep!
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