Hello everyone back home! Rumor has it that Fall has arrived, weather is cool, leaves have changed and apples have been picked.

That is just surreal to Me because it is still 85 – 90+ degrees with high humidity. And I forgot all about Labor Day so as far as I was concerned, it was still summer in Maine. Whoops

There is always so much to tell you that I hardly know where to start in these posts.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my last two weeks with my 3 new friends from the United Kingdom…Lucy, Emmie and Becca. They are all ICU nurses so we hit it off swimmingly as they say in the UK!

The USA and UK joined forces and were able to sponsor a new family in town, with 5 kids, for a year of private school. (Again, public school here is terrible). The 2 eldest boys, per birth age, should be starting Middle School. But they cannot read since they have been home working the farms. Hence, they will be started in the lower grades and slowly advanced as they are ready.

Now remember a few weeks back I skipped the waterfall hike because it was pouring rain? Well the forecast last Saturday was clear so off we went for the weekend to do that hike along with 3 other wonderful volunteers from a similar program. It was clear for about an hour into the hike and then the skies opened up and poured buckets on us for the next 2 hours. We only made it halfway up the waterfall instead of to the top for two good reasons: 1. it was damn hard!! 2. it was raining so hard that the water was coming down the rocks we were climbing like a heavy stream – making the footing even more difficult than it already was. Yikes

Lucy said she doesn’t think she’s ever been that wet even in her own shower. I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think I’ve ever been that wet in my whole life! In fact, when we got back down to the base of the waterfall, we literally just walked into the water with our sneakers on, fully dressed because we couldn’t possibly get any wetter!! And I thought Maine’s meteorologists struggled to forecast the weather🤣

Thankfully the hotel had nice hot showers and cocktails 🍻🍹The next day, on the way home, we swung through the monkey sanctuary again because monkeys just never get old do they?

Now on to some general tidbits in our day to day here…

Oh and today during our wound care program on the motorcycles out in the remote farms, I had my first experience feeling unsafe here. Richmond my driver and I, along with Lucy and her driver were stopped on a dirt road by a group of about 10 men with shovels who pulled a rope across the road, surrounded us and wouldn’t let us pass. I knew the four of us were no match for this group. (Hard swallow) Richmond was arguing with them. I couldn’t understand what they were saying but I could tell things were escalating. I quietly thought, “well today is the day we finally get robbed”. It turns out that the local villagers were repairing this road by hand (because we know the government here doesn’t do anything to repair these roads, nor much of anything else for their people for that matter) so these guys were demanding money to let us pass. Richmond told me later that he kept telling them we were medical people trying to go see a patient and that we had no money. They didn’t seem to buy that argument given there were 2 “Obronies” on the motorcycles. And one of the guys seemed to be getting increasingly very angry at us. Finally, oh-so-thankfully, the rope dropped and off we went. Later, as we drove home, I showed Richmond the karate moves that those guys were lucky I didn’t have to use. We laughed and sped on down the road far away from there.

Now I’ve said before that most everyone I’ve met here is extremely religious-mostly Christian but strong Muslim presence as well. Everywhere you look there is a religious reference of some kind.

A dee A dee A dee …. That’sAll Folks. (Porky Pig I hope you saw that)! And to my UK friends that will soon be journeying back to the Motherland….”Sweat Draaahms” (just when I start to understand Emmie’s Northern English accent, they must go).

You will be missed Mates. Safe travels and keep in touch! 💗💗💗

xOxOxO Sheila