Hello friends, first of all I want to congradulate all of us for the great news of Obama´s second term. We found out when we woke up on Wednesday at our clinic high on a cliff facing the sea, from a Jacmel radio station. Jean Paulin and Peter taught me this little song in creole from the last election which we sing and dance to in the attached video segment:
Ann nou rele, vive Obama
Obama Obama kap fe la plis e le bon tan
We all call out, long live Obama
Only Obama can do the most in good time
loading the boat in Ansapit
We took off for our "medicine show" on a small boat loaded up to the gills with 100 pound blocks of ice to be delivered to the fishermen along the coast to pack their fish to sell in the market in Jacmel. Our captain, "Blan" (they call him that, "white" because he is lighter skinned and gets sunburned), and his deck hands show incredible strength, their bodies rigid with muscles hauling heavy loads, including us, on and off the boat, constantly jumping in and out of the water for deliveries. We putt-putted along the coast with his 15 HP motor, dropping off loads at fishing villages dotted along the coast, until we finally reached Grand Gosier 7 hours later, only slightly sunburned.
loading Chris in Ansapit
Approaching Grand Gosier, our clinic was that yellow building on the right
Ta-Ta who cooked for us and our view from the center where we worked and stayed
Jean Paulin giving a little talk to waiting patients
We set up shop in a center recently built by some NGO for conferences, visitors, town matters, etc. Although it had no electricity or running water, it did have a big tank of rainwater we could douse ourselves with and flush down the rancid potty. I saw 70 people (nothing earth shattering to report, no new cases of kout manga) in 2 days while Chris did tricks for people waiting to be seen and some evening shows in the town square. After 3 days I felt like I lived there, people asking after us and looking out for us. Eating red snapper, swimming at noontime break, all this and being able to sleep in a tent under a sky jammed with stars was exquisite, even without cold beer!
Nasty breast infection we were fighting hard; double antibiotics, topicals and salt water compresses
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