Here are some pictures from our snorkling trips. I'm still trying to figure out how to take decent underwater pictures, I feel they don't do the reef any justice at all. It's truly MUCH more spectacular in real life.
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The Meadows are in fact a bunch of hills on the outskirts of the city. Yesterday we joined some of our friends there for a time of fellowship. We cooked some stick-bread (that's what the Germans call it) over the bonfire and enjoyed the view as the sun was setting.
The neighborhood kids have been showing up more and more frequently to hang out at our house. They dig the big yard, and also the toys left here by the family who owns place. Samson plays football with the boys, while Ariel and Princess (that is her name) like to make cards or climb trees. Today we had tacos for lunch. Esther had to teach the girls how to make homemade tortillas. Yesterday I found a waffle iron in town, so I made waffles for the first time in nearly two years.
I dig Sundays.....an ideal world would have more than one each week. Church, lunch, and sports, all with our extended family!
It's been a rough week.....and whining about it seems to speed up my recovery time. The boys from the accident have both been sent home from the hospital. After seeing the hospital bill we decided to apply for financial help from a government traffic accident grant. However, applying requires that the accident be reported to the police. Something the families of the boys were quire reluctant to do. Yesterday, exactly one week after the crash we went back to the crash site with three police officers. There they measured some things, discussed some things, stopped traffic just because they could, and finally left again. Today we have to bring both the car and the motorcycle to the police for inspection. The fact that they had already been repaired seemed unimportant. We'll also give our statements, which should be interesting. Either way, I'm naively thinking that things can't get much worse at this point. On another note, Esther is still sick and unable to walk. She's been given a wheelchair which helps her get around the house a bit easier. We're definitely seeing some progress, but it's much slower than we anticipated. She's been sick for 5 weeks and a day, and we're just starting to realize that she's not suddenly going to be jogging around in the next few weeks. It might be several months before she's fully recovered. But, all things considered, we're doing ok. There isn't really much we can do about our situation, other than seeing it as a fantastic opportunity for some character growth. I am already starting to see the humor in it all, which is usually a good sign. On Friday morning I was involved in an accident on my way to the airport to drop off my cousin Kristine. It was early morning and still dark when I drove straight into an intersection without slowing down. I wanted to turn left, but didn't even see the road until I was half way across it. My mistake had barely registered when a motorcycle slammed into the side of the car. My world instantly shattered, as I got out of the car I saw one of the boys laying on the ground, eyes wide open and blood running out of the side of his mouth. I was sure he was dead. We got him into the car and drove to the nearest clinic. Kristine, who was sitting in the back holding his head told me he was still breathing, offing a little bit of relief from the panic already dominating my thoughts. After carrying him into the emergency room, which looked suspiciously like an office, I drove back to get the other young man, who by now was sitting in the road clutching his obviously broken leg. I picked him up in my arms and put him in the car, none of the onlookers were willing to help. They were afraid of getting involved, so they just stood around and watched. If there was such a thing as a prayer quota I certainly filled it over the next few hours. The boys were picked up from the clinic in an ambulance and taken to two different hospitals in town. Where they are still being treated for their injuries. The youngest of the two, also the driver, broke his femur and has had surgery to re set the bone. While the other boy seems to have gotten away with a concussion and a severe headache. He is also in ICU, waiting for the results of a CT scan (taken 48 hours after the accident).
Now two days later I've had time in-between my hospital visits to process all that happened that morning. The families are looking to me to cover all the costs, which I have agreed to seeing how I caused the accident. They have also asked that nothing be reported to the police, as that just tends to complicate matters (especially when the driver was too young to have a drivers licence). They are not at all bitter or angry, and have treated me extremely well. I've also had a lot of help from the team here in town, my friend Ariel in particular. He has helped me in all my dealings with the hospitals and the families. All in all we are just extremely thankful that the boys weren't more seriously injured. I've learned a thing or two through this experience, perhaps the most important (apart from paying a bit more attention to where I'm going!!) is that hospitals here are to be avoided at all costs. Their response to, and treatment of, the boys so far has been anything but impressive. Well, life also happened before the afore mentioned incident, so below are a bunch of pictures from the last week or two. |
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