Tuesday night... In true Monkey Brain fashion, I woke up at 3am this morning, with lesson plans and training ideas bouncing around in my head! I refused to get out of bed that early, so I spent the next 3 hours going over ideas and napping, until the rest of the crew began to stir. I was disappointed to miss the 5am star gazing, but happy to wake up with solutions to yesterday's dilemmas and excited to put them into action. The three women who cook for us, are paid by HFH to cook for the teams when they come to Terre Blanche. They wake up before the sun rises and before the electricity is turned on,  to turn on the gas stove and start water boiling, and prepping food for our breakfast. Once breakfast in finished, the start prepping and cooking for dinner (lunch is very simple, usually sandwiches and some kind of salad), they also clean all of our rooms while we are working in the clinic. They joyfully serve us dinner, then cook a second dinner of rice and beans to serve to the patients spending the night for clinic the next day. Every time I run upstairs for something, one or all of them are in the kitchen, shellings fresh peas, cleaning our fruit, or sorting the stones out of rice for our dinner. They always have a sweet smile when you greet them, and they are an integral part of the clinic. I had another non-stop day in the clinic, walking the tightrope of keeping up with the ultrasound exams, while managing to train Dr. Avril and Mme Bluette (the midwife). There were so many patients today, that both of them were pulled away many times to see patients of their own. The rules and guidelines are so different (non existant?) here about what I am allowed to scan, what I can and cannot tell the Dr and patients, and how much time I spend on each exam. I have managed to dull the voices in my head telling me my rules at home, and constantly remind myself that the care that we give is above and beyond anything they would have if we, and the Haitian Dr's weren't here. These people are so grateful for our care...remember that many of them travel for days to get here, and sleep on a concrete floor to be seen the following day. I am repeatedly being scolded for attempting to scan through lunch and into the evening. It's so easy for me to lose track of time when I'm working. I've seen so much fascinating pathology that I feel like I am in an immersion program! Tonight was one of two nights that I gave a didactic lecture to the Haitian and HFH medical personnel, and my Monkey Brain paid off., the lecture went well. I received some wonderful feedback from my team and in spite of their exhaustion, the Haitian professionals seemed satisfied as well. For such a long, exhausting day, I feel so utterly happy about the day. This trip has been everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be for me. From the joy of scanning a healthy baby to the heartbreak of diagnosing terminal cancer, this trip has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. Tonight was clear, when we had our wrap up meeting, so there was a cool breeze and the Milky Way as a backdrop. I still have  a project to work on, for tomorrow's training, so I will sign off.  Maybe tomorrow will be slow and dull for me, so I can tell you about the Agriculture and Public Health programs! :) Sleep well, much love. Ox