April 3

Wednesday April 3, 2013

Today was a quieter day.  We only had three OR cases, but the first one took a while.  It gave me time to talk a little more with the two students who were with me today and also the staff.  The internet is still out, not only at Cure, but apparently all throughout the city.  There are reports that a cable was cut in the ocean by a ship.  Some people can get internet on their smart phones, but they are probably getting it by satellite.  Reportedly other parts of Africa like Kenya have internet, but they probably also have satellite.  I told Marc he needs to get us a satellite soon!  I had oatmeal for breakfast and injera for lunch and of course some good Ethiopian coffee!

After the day was done I was thinking about taking a long walk or a taxi to the Sheraton hotel because I knew they had internet and I wanted a walk, or to the Jupiter Hotel which also reportedly had internet although I could not get them on the phone to confirm.  I decided that maybe I didn’t have enough time to go if I was going to walk part of the way and back before it got dark.  It turned out to be a good decision: we had 90 minutes of a very heavy downpour including hail!  During the rain storm I had dinner which was chicken, rice and vegetables.  After the rain stopped I went for a short 30 minute walk.  I saw a man carrying many brooms and mops, a very pregnant woman, and several young people and kids who wanted to say hello and then giggled! 

Everyone is very friendly and helpful.  I am trying to learn everyone’s name and a few phrases in Amharic.  I can say a few things and then get in trouble because I don’t know what comes next.  One of the nurses told me that they hyenas come out at night between 10pm and midnight and are outside the gate of the hospital.  The dogs apparently chase them.  That is probably why I heard the dogs barking the other night.  I thought it was from the thunder, but maybe it was the hyenas! So I heard the dogs barking around 9:30 and then went outside around 9:45.  The security guard said he had already seen the hyena several times.  I didn’t have to wait long before I saw one.  He came out of the woods, but got scared and ran back in.  A few minutes later, he came back again, walking along the road in front of the hospital.  I got a fairly good look at him because there were some spotlights, but it was hard to get a good picture.  He was larger than I expected – about the size of a medium brown bear.  He was whitish tan in color and looked like he had spots.  He walked by slowly and then ran down the road.  There were still people out walking down the street.  I certainly would not want to meet a hyena on the dark road!