Weekend Update

Friday
Friday was Labor Day here in Guatemala, so we had a free day and decided to take the opportunity to go do a home visit in the Panajachel area. As you may have read in Sheri's blog, one of our little patients (Diego) who had had cleft lip and palate repair got sick last month, dehydrated and passed away. He had just celebrated his first birthday a week or so earlier. It was such a shock for everyone, especially his young parents, Josefina and Alex. We were reluctant to make the visit, not knowing what to say or how to comfort them, but decided it would be a good thing to do. Fran Sutton (one of our board members visiting this week), Sheri, Kemmel and I hit the road early. The couple was glad to see us and asked about another little boy and his family and we exchanged pleasantries. But then lended an ear as they told us about all of their memories of their son and the sadness they felt, although they were trusting in God's will.

It is always hard to know what to say, but sometimes people just need you to listen more that anything. We promised to gather together any pictures we had of Diego so they could enjoy some more moments.

Saturday
Clinic in Chuchipaca was good with 17 patients and Fran helping me and Sheri out with prayers. It seemed to be geriatrics first, then internal medicine and finally pediatrics. Plenty of good teaching cases for us to discuss.

Sleeping In
Today, we lazed around until about 5:30 AM and got up and started our Winter Cleaning. Rainy season means no more dust we took advantage and rid ourselves of dirt in the house before heading out up to town. About 10:30 or so there was a very long earthquake, not too strong, but the street was moving!

Sunday Market
Market was crazy with people everywhere and you could hardly pass from one table to the next to buy veggies. I guess everyone wants to be back home before it rains in the afternoon. We got some good looking produce and headed back, checking out the Snake Oil salesman selling big red pills that work on everything from kidneys and liver to bumps on your skin and intimacy problems. Looks promising.

Worship
Lesson of the day: Maybe we christians should focus more on loving our neighbor and forgiving our neighbor 7 x 70 times and then people would believe our message.