July 1, Friday

Milan playing drought

A typical day goes like so: 5am wake up/shower and 6 am mass. I wake Milan at 6:45 for an omelet and toast and then we head out. I walk him to the orphanage and then I walk back up to the hospital to round with Tim until somewhere between 10-11. Tim and I then see patients in the clinic. At noon I leave the clinic and bring Milan to our house to give him lunch, and he is ecstatic that we found something very similar to Ramen noodle soup here. That small finding has made a world of difference, go figure. After lunch we head back out and I go to the clinic while he heads up to the surgical ward to play a game called “Drout” with some of the younger patients. Drout is very similar to checkers except you can jump people backwards as well. Other games they have is Ludo, which is like our game Trouble, and a card game played with regular playing cards that is like our Uno.  

One particular patient named Julius who has been there for 2-3 years has befriended Milan and is teaching him the games. After clinic, which is until the last patient is seen, usually around 3, Tim and I will re-round on some of the more critical patients or the ones who had pending labs/Xrays. Once we return home, we usually read up on the diseases we saw or issues with the patients while Milan uses the internet. Tim takes calls from the hospital and goes down to admit any patients or check any patients that have issues. 

Dinner is prepared by Felicitas and Priska, and around 4:30-5 we all 3 eat together. Following dinner Tim, Milan, and I play Uno, read, or just chit-chat.  Our last conversation was about all the different pets we have had. I was happy to meet another adult who enjoys the ferret! Shower time is about 7-7:30pm for Milan and we read till about 9pm (he is a fan of the Redwall series). That’s it.  We haven’t really deviated from this, but we do try to get creative and take different paths on our walks or I’ll try to yo-yo which is not very exciting as I can only go up and down.  Rain is pretty much guaranteed each day, sometimes a pour down. Usually many clouds, little sun. The corn harvest is happening soon and I am excited to see this.