"Hey You"!

So I've got to keep this post short because the power will be cutting off in about 20 minutes or so. Its been raining pretty heavily tonight which is nice because that will provide a little cooler temperature tonight!

Monday morning we had pancakes (with M&Ms no less). I went to work at a new rubble site - Excelsior I'm calling it although I know that's not the proper name. A lot of sledging and shoveling went on which is always a good time. Today I went to this hospital orientation in the morning - something that is required in order to work at the hospital. It was just an hourish and was a tour of the hospital and such. There are pretty much a few main areas - a building which houses the pharmacy, the extra medical supplies, and the radiology department (which consists of one X-Ray machine operated by the Japanese Red Cross). Across the way there is a bunch of makeshift, outdoor clinics/triage centers. Haitians will line up early in the morning and wait for hours to see a doctor. There is also a main hospital unit which is basically a huge series of tents - this area is includes the ER, the surgery room, the supply room, and a few other rooms various NGOs do various medically related things in. This hospital area has air conditioning from about 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I can not stress how nice it was to be in AC. Amazing. So after the orientation I started working as a runner. Essentially running errands/helping the doctors and nurses in whatever capacity they need help. I did get my own walkie-talkie which will make anyone feel important. I did a bunch of stuff - moved patients, grabbed meds, moved heavy equipment, etc. Me and three others had to carry this guy with terrible abdominal pain (who was also throwing up a very unusual looking substance) to radiology. We got there but the patient couldn't sit up for an X-Ray so they had to take it with him laying down. We carried him back to the hospital only to be told the X-Ray we had was useless. By this time, radiology was closed for the day. We tried to get the Japanese Red Cross to open back up for this guy but someone had taken their generator for the day. So the poor guy is going to have to stay at the hospital all night. I just hope they've done something about his pain.

I went to lunch and did lunch dishes. If you sign up for a chore you get first choice for what you want to do and since I wanted to do the hospital orientation and then work in the hospital, I signed up to guarantee me a spot. I returned to the hospital for the remainder of the afternoon. I spent a lot of time in the supply room familiarizing myself with where stuff is so I can be more efficient next time I go. This supply room has a lot of stuff in a pretty small space - everything from syringes to gowns, vitamins to ketamine.

I came back and had dinner (pasta)! We also had this hot chocolate that was nice and spicy (I know my sister Emily would have loved it). I decided to take it easy tonight so I was playing cards for a while and now here I am!

Oh and the post title "Hey You" is in reference to what all the Haitian kids say. I'm serious. All the kids say it. It's like the only phrase most of them know. I have no explanation for it.

Tomorrow it's back to rubbling!

Back soon.

Love,

Daniel