Unpacking three thousand pairs of glasses. Forty boxes of medicine and supplies and total chaos from the supporting team before start date tomorrow! Chaotic but fun! Team spirit is high as we get ready to start our work tomorrow morning.
First of, a breakfast of champions!
A standard breakfast buffet with hot bacon, eggs, sausages and assorted fruits.
Continue reading “Preparation for an early start tomorrow morning”
7 PM: The team meets in the hotel restaurant for a team dinner, and we also have a visit tonight with Liberia’s new Minister of Health. Continue reading “Meet and Greet with the Liberia Minister of health”
We wake up early this morning, well adjusted to local time. Ed is fighting a hacking cough all night. He head down for a Liberian breakfast comprised of two kinds of yuca, white and orange. Yuca is a root often grown in tropical countries, eaten like we eat potatoes in America. Breakfast also comes with a serving of fish stir-fried with cabbage. I opt to sleep in again, trying to get some more rest as I am also fighting the same cold Ed is having.
We board the flight to Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc. We are now on our own in no man’s land with this airline. No longer an elite member, frequent flyer member, million mile club, “chairman preferred status” enjoying the all priority boarding privileges, we now board with everyone into the back of the bus.
Depart for Monrovia.
I have the most restless night sleep. I toss and turn. Meanwhile, Ed has no trouble at all. His regular deep breathing is somewhat calming for me. I don’t know how he does it, but nothing ever gets to him. He is so calm, but I get so worried about everything.
The last rest day in Paris.
It is cold this morning. Very very cold. When Ed comes in from his run, his hands are like two blocks of ice. He tells the clerk at the front desk there is “un froid royal extraordinaire” (a cold royal and extraordinary) and she laughs really hard. The French like to put the word “royal” to describe anything extra large, big or huge.
Feb 20, 2018 – Tuesday. Another nice and beautiful day in Paris. We are hoping by now that we would be on Parisian time but no such luck. Ed sill wakes up pretty late, staying still on Florida time. Today Ed decides not to run by himself but he wants to get me up and take a long walk with him to the banks of the Seine.
We woke up at 11 AM, which is 5 AM Florida time, our regular morning routine. Ed gets dressed for his morning run, quite a bit different from Florida, wearing his long warm running pants, gloves and cap. That’s how Ed starts his day, an excellent energizing run along the banks of the Seine river. Continue reading “getting the surgical tech ready”
Packing for this trip has been challenging. We like to fly American Airlines out of Tampa, Florida, our home-based airport. However, American Airlines does not fly into Liberia. We have to get ourselves to Paris—nineteen hours of travel time by itself—stay over in Paris, then catch another flight from Paris to Liberia—another twelve hours of travel time. If we were to depart on a Saturday, we would arrive in Liberia on a Tuesday.
Continue reading “Taking off in a snowstorm, landing in thick fog”
