An End and a Beginning

An era has come to an end. For the first time since 1995 I did not watch the clinching game of the NBA finals. (This is actually a huge deal for me, but during my time here I’ve come to value sports less, which is a good thing. Will I continue to watch/follow sports? Ask me about it later). I made due with listening on espnradio.com. I’m not sure I would have wanted to watch the game…so ugly. A win is a win I guess. But seriously, today marked the end of an era: Dr. Scott Nelson has left the hospital. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Nelson is an orthopedic surgeon who has been working in the Dominican Republic for the last five years. He came over to Haiti on January 14 and has been here (with a few breaks) ever since. His skills in the OR as well as his leadership will be greatly missed. Hospital administration put together a little ceremony for him. He and Lucia drove off to the DR at 6 this morning. He’ll spend some time there and will move back to SoCal. Bittersweet times, more bitter than sweet. But with every end comes a new beginning, every cloud has a silver lining, [insert other cliché here]. Dr. Nelson has left a humongous void, but some relief has arrived. Ladies and gentlemen, Nathan Lindsey, MPH, has arrived at Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti. You may be wondering why that is significant. He and his wife Amy (who will be arriving on Tuesday) will be here for the next YEAR (at least)! Nathan will be working as the assistant hospital administrator. We’re going through yet another transition period, things will continue to change.

Also as expected, the World Cup has been HUGE here. It seems that everywhere I turn, people are listening to the radio, watching TV and wearing colors of the teams they support. Walking through the streets last week (coming back from donating blood) people were crowded around restaurants and shops watching the action. One of the cell phone stands was blasting the radio broadcast over the loud speakers. Most people here are Brazil or Argentina supporters. During Brazil’s victory over cheers erupted all up and down the street when each of the three goals were scored. Go figure.

Tomorrow’s Monday, gonna be a kuhrayzee.
PEACE