One of the hardest parts about living in this country is saying goodbye. Friends come and we have fun and fellowship, we share and serve together and then they are gone. Our children have grown up this way and I wonder sometimes if they are quiet and reserved because of it. It is hard to stay in touch once people return to the US. Despite promises to stay in touch, it is difficult...our lives are so different. So this morning was hard...saying goodbye to Lori and Don and their children. Our little girls had so much fun playing with them. And Don and Lori have become such good friends - we will miss them.

Although Duane and Joseph tried to get on the same flight as the Allison's with their buddy passes, they could not. They did get out this morning however. Joseph is ready to take his final exam for his private pilot's license and Duane wants to get the load of equipment that has been donated a little more organized. We are hopeful that we will be able to get that load down sometime this spring. I tend to get pretty whinny without my husband so pray with me that they will get home quickly.

We had an interesting morning in clinic today. After we finished with our normal patients, we were asked to do a home visit for a young man who had had an "ataque" (seizure) earlier in the day. As we walked into the house, the odor was overwhelming and an older woman was hidden behind the door, next to this young man's bed. She was vigorously rubbing his legs and feet and intermittently spitting....on him. As we tried to figure out what had happened to him, she continued and gradually moved up from his feet until she got to his face. She would spit into her hand and then rub it on his face. I soon realized that she was chewing up garlic and rubbing that on him. Then she changed and began to use "Kofal" which is a menthol rub. I was told later that whole process was to ward off evil spirits. As it turned out, he probably did not have a seizure but only passed out. He had recently returned from the "coast" where men go to cut sugar cane. It is horribly difficult work...working in hot, humid conditions, in the sun all day, cutting sugar cane with a machete. Often men take "pills" to make them work faster and harder so that they can earn more money. That, in addition to the fact that he had not eaten for 12 hours, probably caused him to faint. Just when I think I have seen it all..... So we prayed for him and trust that the Lord will touch this family.