Week "number two", in more ways than one.

This past week has just flown by! Sunday marked two weeks here at GLA. There is just so much to see, do & learn (including a lot of names & creole)! I am so glad that the welcoming of both the Haitian and foreign staff has been warm and inviting! Just in the past week we have gotten two admissions and released four back to their mothers from the NICU. Sadly, I was a bit under the weather when the admissions occurred so I wasn't able to see the process, but I'm sure there will be more. In case you missed it (I doubt it), but Thanksgiving also happened this past week! First holiday is Haiti went well! As a nurse and having worked in the restaurant business for many years, I am well acquainted to missing the holidays, but I have to say the food was absolutely delicious, we had fun decorating for Christmas and although I missed my family, the company of the staff and volunteers helped GLA feel like home!

I feel as if I am starting to become accustomed to the flow of the nurseries and the schedules of the children. Slowly, names are being learned and my knowledge of the creole language is expanding. Soon Rebecca & I will start language classes, which will help tremendously. Not only to speak with the children but also to speak with the staff, but as I mentioned before I'm sure there will be many stories about things being lost in translation or misunderstandings... For example! The other day a child just happen to put his hand in his dirty diaper and then proceed to you know, put it in his mouth. I was three seconds too slow for his fast little hands! YUCK, first of all... but pretty typical for a kid. Secondly, I told one of the nurses, "Ah! li manje ca-ca!", I thought I was saying... "Ah! he ate poop!" Little did I know ca-ca is a "bad" word... So, I pretty much said "Ah! He ate S***". What I should have said was "Ah! li manje ta-ta!" (ta-ta=poop). I was very nicely told by my dear friend Miss. Esther that I used a bad word and to use ta-ta instead of ca-ca! Oh man, I quickly apologized for my little mistake! Mwen Regret Sa (I am sorry). Now I know the difference and so do you!

Ok, so now that I've explained that fun time... Here's to more fun times and stories from Haiti & GLA. Off to bed... Early to bed, early to rise as they say.

...to be continued...

-B