more from Liberia

we are safe here in liberia, this is a security guard at the hospital, sleeping.

the lizards here are very colorful, teva and noa would love them.

today was a nice relaxing day. no hospital. i took a taxi to church $5 each way. my driver is bobosa, an african from guinea basau, he speaks french. the church grounds are actually quite nice. the chapel has large open windows on each side which makes it feel like you are meeting outside. you also can hear the people passing by on the street which can be distracting. the hymns were beautiful. no piano. just out of tune a capella in broken english. i guess when everyone is out of tune it actually sounds good. or maybe it is simply the voice of poverty that makes it sound so honest. it reminds me of when tahitians sing. except not as much harmony. if you can imagine that.

the doctrine taught in class was surprisingly very simple yet profound. the questions raised by the members were quite philosophical and yet practical. everyone was involved. and the members take turns standing up to share their comments rather than raise their hands. voices raised, almost shouting. it was also surprising to see that men outnumbered females by a ratio of 5:1. i have never seen that before. usually it is the women who carry the church. here it is the other way around. although i noticed that very few of the men were endowed. looking forward to joining them for the next month.

took today off. a 3 hr nap which was long overdue. can't remember sleeping on sunday in a long time. diarrhea is starting to kick in. and toilet paper is sparce. not a good combination. hopefully it cools off soon. it is hard to stay hydrated. already lost 10 pounds in 1 week

i found out that all this time there is a Physician Assistant and Intern/Resident who are supposed to be running rounds, and that i am supposed to supervise. it has been the other way around since i got here. the PA and intern disappear while i do all the work by myself. i guess they feel that when the american doctors are here it is there chance to take a brake. instead i should be teaching them while they do the work. dr. sirleaf who is a liberian american doctor yelled at them yesterday and now today for the first time we had all the nurses available and the resident to help out. i hope this lasts.