There was a wonderful warm breeze in the air - almost like a draft that was blowing over land that had been baked for a whole day. Moisture hung in the air, and many people were sitting out on the dock, enjoying the evening display of light in the sunset and clouds.
And in the foreground, standing proud, our ship the Africa Mercy .
What a little ham, this guy is! Check out his shirt. I told him that I am from Los Angeles and that got even bigger smiles!
It was a really good day and I had a great shift with a good meeting with my coworkers. I visited Cecelia again in the ward. She had her surgery today and her softball sized cyst is gone! Her sister was there when I visited, but she had to go. She's not particularly talkative, but if there is one thing women all around the world seem to bond over it seems to be getting curious about the men in each other's lives.
"Would you like to see a picture of my boyfriend?" I asked.
Her eyes lit up. Yes.
I ran back to my cabin at retrieve a photo of Chris and I down. It is the only hard photo I took with me. Since we are discouraged from taking out our cameras, I didn't think it'd be good to bring my laptop into the ward. We just don't want to remind them of the major economic gaps between us. Luckily, my brother in law had given me a very small photo keychain and uploaded it with some pictures. I took that with me too.
I brought out the photo of Chris and I. We look so spontaneous in that photo, strolling down the tide pools of La Jolla, California. A wave had just washed up and I was laughing in delight. My friend Callista snapped it at just the right moment. Cecelia took it in her hands, smiled. It was quickly snatched up my the patient next to her. Then the one on the other side. She passed it to the next woman, and then the next, and the next. They were so curious.
They nodded their heads in approval. "He's handsome!" Cecelia said. (Chris, you're now big in Liberia, dude.)
I let Cecelia hold the photo keychain and click through the pictures. She marvelled at the Asian faces, at my nephews and their cuteness.
At the sight of my nephew Nicholas, she smiled, her dimples creating a deep, beautiful dent in her cheek. "He looks like you."
Cecelia leaves tomorrow and she would like a photo together (we are not allowed to take photos of the patients in the ward). Hopefully, I won't miss her departure.
Thanks, everyone, for your prayers for her! She feels great. I don't think I will ever stop being just a bit taken aback by the patients in the ward. It can be quite startling. There were toddlers there today who had some major surgery. Their eyes, their hand, their chin, everything was bandaged up, blood seeping through. They have to change their dressings frequently, I imagine. A crew member came by and cheered them up with a balloon animal, which seemed to quell the crying for a bit.
And overall, thank you many times over for all your support, prayers, good thoughts. Things are going great. At yesterday's entry, I must've made myself sound so desparate, a small little mouse in the corner! :) I am doing well, and it has been reaffirmed to me many times over that the process of getting acquainted with everything will take a few weeks. After that, everyone agrees that time seems to fly. Dear friends and family, from wonderful, blessed and healing Monrovia, Liberia, here is some love and appreciation from me to you:
Note: Some of you have commented about the small space of my cubicle sized living quarters. Um, I'd like to add, I share that with another person. So technically its half a cube! :)
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