Jon

So I decided to claim this blog because Ashley has another site that she posts stuff on... ashleybarchus.com
We are back in Cotonou for the weekend. We spent two weeks at the orphanage and got to spend lots of time with the kids and work lots on our french. They help us a lot. It's fun to communicate in French with the kids. So I decided that not only do I need to learn French... but I also need to learn how to perform surgery... at least minor surgery. Honore couldn't believe it when I told him that i had never cut on anyone before. He told me that I can have the freedom to do what I feel is necessary. There was a worker at the orphanage who had a real bad infection on his index finger and it needed to be cut open to drain the infection and Honore had to be back to Cotonou to take an exam and asked me to take him to the clinic and perform the I&D. When I told him that I had never done that before, he was surprised. I told him that physicians do that in the states. So the nurse at the orphanage cut his finger. It looks pretty bad. I try to communicate with this guy to keep a dressing on it to keep out further infection, but he will never leave on the dressing I put on... Marie cut the remaining skin off the tip of his finger and it looks like the fascia is exposed now. So, I don't know what will happen to it. He is on antibiotics now also.
I spent a lot of time playing with the kids. We have played lots of soccer. I took a frisbee and that's a pretty big hit. We've also played with the kite that Kevin got for Moise. We've got a tutor that we are working with 3X a week. It was kind of difficult to get that set up because communication is always difficult when you don't speak French in a French speaking area.. it's pretty imperative that we learn as quick as we can.
I am getting a little bit used to the heat, and sleeping better than I was at first.
Hello to everyone and I will write more when the internet isn't acting up so bad.