Almost finished....

Almost finished….

Today was a much easier day, as far as surgeries go. Brett and I saw twenty-six patients and extracted 44 teeth! Just the two of us! Shannon has been a rock star in the sterilization area. She is set up in a small kitchen, and all of the windows have metal slats that work like blinds. There is no glass or screens, so many people and children come up to her window to talk to her, and reach their hands in hoping for some goodies! She had one such gentleman come up and say to her “I have crush on you”! This same guy just happens to be the guy who set up a table outside last year and proceeded to cut up a bunch of marijuana plants. Coincidentally, he could be found most days smoking a huge joint. It was so odd that everyday the same people would be at the clinic and stand around all day long just to watch! We were the biggest thing that has happened to them all year! Kinda like the circus coming to town! J

Brett and I had twenty patients scheduled every day, and if we had time, we could see the people who came and were on a “stand-by” list. Today was a day we got to the stand by people. Our last patient of the day, Esther, a forty something year old lady, came in and sat down. She told me she had a tooth ache, and had been waiting all day to get in. Then she said to me “Look at my breast, they so heavy to feed my baby, I been here all day, and no nursing”, she then lifted her shirt, lifted her breast, and squirted milk out to prove her point! Luckily this happened before Brett came in the room, because I don’t think he would’ve known quite what to do with that! However, we extracted her tooth, and she was happy. As a matter of fact, she hugged us both and the next day brought us gifts for what we did for her. She said she slept for the first time in months because the painful tooth was gone. When we left she told us she loved us and wanted God to bless us much. Such is the way of Jamaicans. They are SO giving and are all family with each other.

I also had my first true Rastafarian. For those who don’t know what a Rasty is, you should look it up. It’s kind of a religion, kind of a cult, kind of a way of life. They are vegetarians, and they live solely off the land. They usually don’t believe in modern medicine, which made it surprising to me that I had a Rastarfarian patient. This gentleman had his dread locks wrapped up in a turban on top of his head. As he came into the room, he grinned a huge toothless grin. (He had three teeth, and we took out two!) He said to me “you a pretty lady, you marry me”, I grinned at him and told him I was already married. He was disappointed, but rebounded quickly enough to ask me if I had a sister! I then introduced him to Shannon. She was so excited to meet himJ At any rate, he was a wonderfully kind man, and made for an interesting conversation!