Clinic in Panajxit

Today we had medical and dental clinic in Panajxit, the community where Enrique lives.  I picked up Martina and Aura on the way and Tomas brought Jackson and Jonas with him.  We had a busy clinic and it was good. There are usually many more dental patients than medical but we held our own with eleven patients.

When we were finished, we were invited to eat at Enrique's house.  Louisa is a wonderful cook and we had chicken, rice and tortillas.

These were some flowers that Louisa  had on her patio.  They were very pretty and colorful.

When we finished with lunch, I headed to Quiche to visit Magda.  She was probably one of the first people that I met when I lived in Santa Cruz.  Every afternoon after clinic, I would stop by my house, change my backpack and walk to town.  It was a good way to learn my way around Quiche and find different things.

Magna would always be sweeping in front of her house in the afternoon and I would wave to her.  I never had very much confidence in my Spanish so I was too nervous to go and talk to her.  We continued doing this every day for months.  Finally, I had enough nerve to cross the street and say, "Good afternoon." to her.  Soon after that, she would invite me in for coffee and bread and we would just spend time chatting.  She liked to tell me about her family and I knew that she was lonely.

The last year, her health has been declining and she has been hospitalized a few times with some bad falls.  When she would walk me to the door, I would hug and kiss her goodbye and then she would watch me walk down the street.  At half a block, I would turn around and she would start smiling and waving at me with both arms!  Then at the end of the block, I would turn around one more time, she would continue waving and then go back into her house.  The last two times that I was there, she did not have the energy to walk me to the door so I knew that she felt very bad.

Today, she was in good spirits but can not be left alone.  Her niece is staying with her now.

When I left Quiche, it started raining.  The motorcycle rider opened up her umbrella to help guard against the rain.

Tomorrow, I will stay home and wash clothes, go to the bank and clean my house..........my kind of day!