Home Sweet Home!  It is great to be back home.  I took a shower and a walk which were wonderful.  Now my goal is to stay awake as long as I can tonight, but it probably won't be all that late.  Since we change clocks tonight, I have no idea what time zone I will be on tomorrow!!  Thanks for all of the wonderful notes and words of encouragement during my trip.

On the plane in Frankfurt, heading home! We had a 2.5 hour layover and it was barely enough time. Rainy in Frankfurt. Glad to be heading home.

At the airport in Addis, waiting to board our flight to Frankfurt. We had an uneventful check in. I think we will all enjoy a little nap! It was a good week!

Heading to Cure for our last day. Hard to believe the week is almost over! It is beautiful and sunny, but the smog gets progressively worse during the week.

Oct 31- Nov 1

We spent the morning of the 31^st at Cure.  Dr Glenn was in the clinic and Dr. Mike was in the OR. The audiologists were busy doing hearing exams and fitting hearing aids.  Dr. Mary, the Cure anesthesiologist and Sue, our nurse anesthetist, went to a government hospital for the morning to help teach the nurse anesthetists there.

In the afternoon, Dr. Glenn and I flew to Mekele, in the North of the country to visit a relatively new medical school and hospital.  We met their ENT surgeon a few years ago when he finished his training.  He is the only ENT surgeon for the entire country outside of Addis Ababa.  He gave us a nice tour of the hospital, and we saw a few patients with him.  We had a relaxing dinner at the Hill Top restaurant.  Thursday we spent most of the day there, Dr. Glenn in the clinic and me in the OR with the local surgeons and nurse anesthetists.  We flew back late afternoon.

Tomorrow is our last day; hard to believe.  We are all a bit tired, and there are certainly times which are emotionally draining.  We have to remember that we are helping patients and also helping local providers learn how to give better care.

Time for bed!