Sunday, August 10, 2008

Saturday, August 2, 2008: No Power

I thought today was going to be bad. The morning started off with burnt bacon and a burnt blistering finger. Then the power went off around 9am and I lost my chance for a semi-warm shower. Good thing I had showered before I went to sleep. Bryan was also on call for anyone new that came into the hospital. I didn’t think anything good could happen after Bryan left right before the power went off. But God proved me wrong.

The kids spent about 2 hours playing outside with the hose and lots of bowls and a couple squirt guns. I got to read while watching them and it was quite refreshing after our stressful breakfast.

Bryan did make it back for lunch and quickly got called away again. He returned after the kids napped. He wanted to take the kids to look for monkeys. Before he left I asked him if he still needed the radio. He said he didn’t because it was just after 3pm and John should be back to take his shift. I thought that was dangerous to not know if he was back yet but Bryan left anyway. I stayed back to make some cookies in the gas oven because we are running out of food and haven’t been able to go to the grocery store Friday or today as planned. We have no snacks, no meat, no fruit and no cheese. We are making do with food that others have passed on to us.

While I was making cookies, of course the hospital radioed for Bryan. He wasn’t anywhere to hear the radio so I knew I needed to get the radio to him. He drove up the mountain and it is quite a steep walk. As I left our home ot find him, the lady on the radio called for Bryan about 10 times in Spanish and called for anyone else to answer. I am just praying that there isn’t a patient at the hospital that desperately needs help. I can’t answer for Bryan because I can’t tell the lady what is going on in Spanish. I ran halfway up the hill and see Bryan in the truck just leaving the 3 houses in front of me – oh no! I yell but nothing happens – keep walking. I get to the houses and hope someone is there to give me a ride to find Bryan. There are 2 people there. Penny gives me a ride up the mountain over the muddy, steep road and she explains to the lady on the radio what’s going on. We find out that the patient just had severe back pain. We get to Bryan and fill him in and then get ready to go. The road is narrow and muddy and full of ruts. Penny gets turned around and leaves. We go to leave and get stuck turning around. In the process of trying to get out, we get more stuck. Thankfully we have a radio and Bryan calls out for help, ashamed. We wait a little while and then 4 guys with shovels show up. They eventually help us get out and the patient left the hospital instead of waiting.

The power came back on by the time we got home. I actually enjoyed the complete silence since their was nothing running to make any noise.

The rest of the day was a lot less eventful. I eventually finished the cookies and we had macaroni and cheese and hot dogs for dinner. The kids were sweet tonight and actually posed for pictures for me. Lately Jaden refuses pictures of him by leaving or turning his head. This was a nice ending to the day.

No comments: