Party at the Aids Hospice!

Hello All,

Here is a picture from the bug bites. Sick, eh?

Wednesday May 7, 2008

Today was a pretty entertaining day. I taught my adult English class first thing and then spent some time with the AIDS patients. After playing with Mercy 6 we went back to join the AIDS patients for lunch. Misty and I were very happy to see that fried chicken was the menu today as it is a favorite from both of us. Oranges were for dessert, so I felt like it was Christmas.

I helped deliver food to all of the adults with AIDS. This required me to wear a mask when entering certain parts of the hospice. I went into a part of the hospice I have only ever seen but never been in. It was hard for me to witness as many of the patients are in their last stage of treatment, or are finished treatment and just clinging on to the last bit of hope they have.

When sitting around the table I noticed that Egg was not eating with us. I asked Nancy where he was and she said that he was eating lunch alone because he was scared of us. After questioning why Egg would be scared of us all of a sudden, all of the AIDS patients tried together to translate to us that Egg’s wounds on his arms from AIDS are open and disgusting. He was scared to make us think different of him, so he was avoiding us. After hearing this I told them I would be right back and went to look for him. There was Egg, sitting outside at the table all alone, eating his lunch. I tried twice to convince him to come and he said no with a sad look on his face. Finally I picked up his lunch dishes and walked to the kitchen and set them down right beside where I was sitting. He followed with the biggest smile on his face. For the rest of the afternoon he was back to his normal self, making jokes and calling out “hey you.” It is just weird for me to think that they are still very conscious of their disease, as many times I forget they even have AIDS. Even though I am cautious around them, especially with open cuts (always making sure to cover them up) I am not afraid to touch them or hug them. We cannot fear these things or we will miss out on some very great friendships.

The adults in the AIDS hospice were fine entertainment once again. Uma has been a completely different man since Heather visited and he seemed to have really come out of his shell. Nancy was dancing like normal, and Momma was the kind spirited woman she always is. We brought along a bag of nail polish today so they all had fun painting each others nails in funky colors. Momma painted mine. She was concentrating so much. We painted Uma’s nails different colors and painted fun designs on the colors. He sat on his bed and looked at it for at least 10 minutes, turning his hands so he could see them in every light. Some of his humor really reminds me of my dad. The faces he makes are almost the same. (Don’t worry dad, I did not think you were too similar when he was wearing nail polish…but just his jokes). The patients really seemed to be having a lot of fun, and even some who normally do not join the group got their nails painted.

We convinced one of the AIDS patients to have her baby a little earlier so we can see it before we have to go back to Canada. She is due in 2 months time but will not find out the exact date until her doctor’s appointment this month.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Carrefour, and sending some mail. We helped move some furniture in the afternoon and make plans to rearrange the office. After our final class we went with Dew and Boome for supper at one of the street vendors and took a songtheaw home. Tonight when we were eating at the street vendor I was looking at some of the things that were around the cooking area. You can order birds, which look like small chickens. I couldn’t look at them long enough to take a picture. Also, in a jar was something that looked like liver but it was actually dried blood chunks. When an animal is slaughtered they collect the blood, let it dry and then cut it up. Apparently there is not much taste to it and it looks more like jelly. I do not plan on trying it any time soon, but I fear I already have in the lunch room. This just goes to show you; once again Thais do not waste anything!

I’m sorry the blog has not been too exciting lately but I’m completely drained. Besides a couple of activities and events with the children, we do not plan on doing much this weekend. We both need to catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation.