Totally avoiding the unit

This is me, pissing around at morning break, avoiding going back to the unit. Necrotic foot + no A/C + lots of people + Barry (sort of) without cigarettes… to quote CHORUS LINE, "It’s like to die."

On the bright side, I’m going into the OR this afternoon to assist with an amputation! How that became an exciting prospect for me…

…well, let’s just saying Barry’s changed a lot over the last few years.

All of our patients and their families are always so well dressed, so we asked the long term freelance volunteer who hangs about and helps out (also a paramedic). He said that most people own one or two outfits and keep them meticulously clean. "Haitians have a very high standard of personal cleanliness." It’s true.

Second interesting fact about Haitian cultures, from Dr. Megan (who had been here a while and left the first day we got here): you can tell how educated someone is by how many languages they speak. The very poor speak only Creole; those with some education (which you have to pay for), speak Creole and French. Then, higher educated/richer folks will speak Creole, French, and English. And then for the highest educated — especially those pursuing medical careers through Cuba — will speak Creole, French, English, and Spanish.

And, since I somehow have become the go-to guy for surgical consents, a vast amount of our patients can’t read.

To sum up: our patients mostly speak Creole and a smattering of French, have high illiteracy rates, but dress really well. It’s just amazing.

{See, gushing. Not so great on me.}

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