Saturday afternoon, September 26

Well, it's afternoon here on my last Saturday. I just checked on weather.com to see what the temp is here today - it just feels hot. It is 93 and feels like 106 (I bet it's been that most of the day). So, what's been going on here? I should have written the stuff down that I wanted to mention but I didn't so let me think back a couple of days. Hmmm - well, we did absolutely nothing on our day off. I know that may seem strange, but we were all really tired. We ate, slept and read. Our restaurant of choice for dinner was McDonald's. I know - another strange sounding choice for our time here in India, especially considering that I am not even a fan of McDonald's. But I wanted to see what a McDonald's in India was like. Well, it was nice. You actually get a wand scan upon entering - don't know what they're concerned with - and there is a security/door guard upon leaving also. It is really nice inside (first off - air conditioned), fairly new construction. The menu is a bit different as this particular one does not serve beef or pork (so no bacon on any of the "burgers"). Our choices were of the chicken or fish variety. Garrett got the chicken version of a Big Mac; I got a McChicken; Laura didn't get a main course as she was feeling real well. We all got a drink, fries and a soft ice cream with hot fudge (I have to say, I really miss ice cream!!). As at home, the pictures looked much nicer than the actual product but it was fun just to have been there. Friday (yesterday) was another longer day with the time at the dispensary in the afternoon (those are the days we walk about 7 - 7 1/2 miles). The lady that we had sat with on Wednesday was still alive at Prem Dan - not doing well though. At one point in the morning, there was a ringing of bells so I looked across the room. There came a priest accompanied by one massi and three sisters. The bells continued to ring (altar bells) as they came across the room to the lady who was so sick (I was working with the lady in the next bed). The priest anointed her and gave her Communion - it was a beautiful scene and perfectly timed, as I found out this morning that she died at 3:00 that afternoon (3:00 on a Friday... ). I was greatly touched yesterday by one of the ladies I spend extra time with - I usually feed her lunch. I showed up to say hi and be ready to feed her and she mumbled something in Bengali and then started to cry. She cried pretty hard - I put my arms around her and she just rested her head against my shoulder and cried. I have no idea why she was crying but she seemed better after a couple of minutes. Our time at the dispensary went well with the one really interesting fact being that a man with leprosy came in!!! He was not my patient but I was fully aware of the commotion he was causing as the man who is in charge at the dispensary recognized his condition immediately and came over to speak with the lady who was with him. There evidently are very specific guidelines for how to deal with leprosy which do not include cleansing or doing anything other than basic dressing and informing them that they need to receive special care. The lady was planning to meet him at 8 this morning to take him, via train, to the Missionary of Charity leper colony where he can receive treatment, surgery, whatever. He had already lost one toe, had one gangrenous toe and his fingers were not looking good. Hopefully he showed up this morning (I'll ask the lady tomorrow morning). We only have one more day at the dispensary - Monday. It will be sad to say goodbye to those we have worked with and the patients we have seen so often. Another thing that I've been meaning to mention is that one of the volunteers, a guy we work with at the dispensary who is a nurse, has malaria. He wasn't feeling well for several days and finally had it diagnosed. He's feeling better now after taking a round of meds - not exactly sure what the future holds in the way of treatment - if he's all finished or not - but he did mention that he had the "better" of the two kinds of malaria you can get in India. Nothing like info like that to keep me motivated in the taking of my anti-malaria med!! Now, on to today. We had to say goodbye to a really nice lady from New Zealand today. She was someone I got to know better in my flu recovery days at the Mother House when I spent less demanding time working on some of their music and prayer books. It's been sad this past week as many volunteers we have gotten to know over these past three weeks have had their last day. Tomorrow some more will leave and again, on Monday. Our last day will be Wednesday morning at Prem Dan. The fun point of the morning today came just before lunch when a group of Indian young people (I'd say in their 20's) showed up with two guitars and lovely voices to sing for the ladies. They were all Christian songs (including one I knew - the one that says "yes, Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes, Lord...) with clapping and some of the ladies trying to dance. It was totally enjoyable. Well, we're getting back to the room to figure out the rest of the day so I'll sign off for today! Blessings!