Running Out of Steam

As our 2nd week winds down, I seem to be running out of steam. Some of us have less to do and find we are hanging around the house more. Others are trying to finish up computer work on documents while things are fresh in their minds. We probably only needed to be here for 10 days or so, but the new direct flights from Atlanta only go on the weekends and 1 week would have been too short of time. Until recently, you had to fly through Brussels and spend a night there on the way back. That flight was much more expensive and you had to pay for two nights in a hotel, so we are here a little longer than we need to be.
We are lucky that the hospital grounds are relatively large, but they are starting to feel confining to me. We can walk out of the hospital down a narrow street of vendors to the main thoroughfare, but once on Tubman Boulevard we do not feel safe to venture any further (although it is very tempting). I suppose this is especially true for women.
The food has been okay and other than the dried fish in a stew occasionally, we have been able to eat it. We have even had desserts such as pawpaw (papaya) turnovers, cookies and coconuts tarts. I realized today that other than a tiny amount of cheese, I have not consumed any other milk products. Dave has been having milk on cereal in the mornings (that we brought from home) and I have been having oatmeal. As far as fruit and vegetables go, I make fruit salad with oranges and bananas every night and we have had cucumbers and some squash mixed in our daily meat and gravy dish.
Shopping
Yesterday we went shopping with Dr. Sanvee down by the UN Headquarters. It was basically to buy souvenirs to take home with us. It was very interesting to watch Dr. Sanvee negotiate for us. She didn’t let anyone take advantage. It was actually very exhausting because everyone wanted us to look at their merchandise and everyone wanted to give us a good deal. It seemed more like hard work than a fun shopping trip. In addition, the tiny shops were very dark (no electricity – unless they turned their generators on and then the fumes were sickening) and with three or four of us in them it was sweltering and I was sweating profusely.
Today the guys had Bob Harris (driver) take them shopping for safety equipment for the maintenance employees. Their arms were full and overflowing when they returned. The only kink in the trip was that they ended up paying twice for the hard hats, when a man who offered to help carry them to the car, ran off down an alley with the box. They had to go back in and buy another set. So much for naïve Americans.