I woke up today with some extra energy, so I figured God had some interesting things in store for me. Those are always the best! Staff meeting started as usual, but with Jon and Kristen leaving tomorrow the staff wanted to give them a final chance to speak. The two of them had decided a few days ago to leave the staff with a song--a song that the Fresno First trio had taught them about a little seed of mustard. So the five of us got up in front of the staff, made everyone stand up, and taught them how to move those mountains! (No, we didn’t sing it in Spanish. Y la montaña se movera...) I have never seen a group of people laugh so hard in my life. We spent a good part of ten minutes pushing our neighbor into the wall and waving around an invisible mustard seed. What a way to start a morning!
With some of my extra energy already put to good use I figured I would be helpful in the pharmacy. It’s been two whole days since I was there so we were all excited about this reunion. Matthew told me to stop leaving but I tried my best to explain to him that I was involved in many different aspects of Faith Alive. I was able to blast through five full bottles while I enjoyed the loud conversation going on around me about the dos and don’ts of marriage. Grace is getting married in December (after I leave, dang it!) so Matthew, the only married pharmacist, thought it would be a good idea to share his wealth of knowledge with all of us. It was quite entertaining. Bride prices, legal documents, traveling to your home village, it all sounds fairly complicated to me!
After a good lunch we agreed for the second day in a row on the blessing of a communal naptime (are we starting to look like Spain?) so I revved up my energy level even more once I woke up. Adrie and I watched the end of 50 First Dates before heading back to the Clinic where, to all of our surprise, almost all the patients had cleared out! Apparently everyone was working quickly today. Without much to do Adrie and I caught up with life in Fresno via facebook while the Draskovics called potential apartment candidates in St. Paul, where they will be moving in just over two weeks! They heard good things from a few receptionists and I was blessed to receive lots of good news from various people back home. Yay!
We didn’t have much time when we got back to the flat to get ourselves looking nice for Jon and Kristen’s final dinner in Jos. The heads of department from Faith Alive take all their volunteers out to a nice Lebanese restaurant nearby as a way to say Thank You. Adrie and I were excited to join the dozen other staff members and had a fabulous (though gluten-filled) family-style meal. Rice, chicken, hummus, salad, meat pies, it was delicious. As we were talking and eating I took a drink of my pineapple-coconut juice and realized there was something red dripping down my glass: blood. As if I didn’t look out-of-place enough at a nice Lebanese sit-down dining room in Jos, I had one of the most massive bloody noses of my lifetime. Luckily I was sitting across from a doctor so without hesitation Old School grabbed my hand and led me to the restroom while I bled all over a white linen napkin. It was quite a memorable experience, me sitting by the sink while Old School tenderly held some ice in a washcloth against my nose. He made sure I was all cleaned up before walking back out to finish my food. When I tried to thank him for helping me out he shook his head and told me, “Cait, my dear, no need to thank me. I am just doing my job.” What a Grandpa! The rest of the meal went smoothly and everyone had a nice time. We were all very full by the end of it.
Back at the flat the five of us took our family portraits before the three upstairs enjoyed some chocolate out on the balcony. It was a dusty night (which my nose already informed me) but still quiet and beautiful. It was nice to have a few minutes to breathe before heading off to bed.
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