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May 26, 2009
26 May 2009 – Bamenda, Akum
The morning started off a little slow with a COPAAP meeting. I presented my “time sheet” system to hopefully improve the times when employees arrive/leave, but I still have some more work to do. Who would have known knowing how to write computer programs in Excel would be so useful?
Jane and I headed back up to Akum (another full capacity taxi ride of 8 people…I think they can fit 9 though, I’m just waiting to experience it). As soon as we got there, we were led into the OR to watch the remainder of an appendectomy. For me, the surgery was a success – I got very lightheaded and had to sit down, but I remained in the OR for all of the surgery! I’m gradually conditioning myself to be comfortable with surgery and I’m determined to make it through a full surgery, standing, before applying to medical school. The surgery itself was also a success, so that’s good news.
Jane and I grabbed a few crackers to re-fuel and she headed back to the OR to watch a biopsy retrieval while I went to the Holy Family Nutrition Unit to talk to their advisors about the dietary regulations of HIV patients. Luckily, there wasn’t too great of a language barrier between their Pidgin English and my “American” English and I was able to get a decent list of foods they offer to their patients.
As Jane and I were leaving Holy Family, we stopped by a street-side fruit stand to browse their wares. We ended up buying a watermelon and were very proud of ourselves for haggling the price down from 1200 CFA to 1000 CFA (about $2 USD). Once we got in the taxi, however, we talked to a woman who told us we only should have paid 500-700 CFA. Oh well, it was our first time attempting to haggle.
We had our deliciously expensive watermelon and some Ramen for dinner.
Power outages: 26
Posted by ajvandeu at May 26, 2009 03:03 AM