Ridiculous.: If I can die doing it,

I should probably try it. Okay, not really. Not everything I've done here has had a probability of death. But there has been the chance for serious injury or medical complications. And I realize that by writing this post I may be giving my mother a heart attack. Sorry, Mom. Sam, go do stupid things. Mom likes that. Anyways,

Monday.

Joseph Liao (the genius/mega-athlete/dancing fiend) and I went to Tukavesi for a day in the government health clinic with Dr. Samuel. It was eye-opening and somewhat boring. But overall, a good experience, since I got to diagnose a patient and prescribe treatment. For some reason, the common condition seemed to be URTI (upper respiratory tract infection), with the exception of one case of scabies and one baby with an umbilical cord problem. Kids who went on other days said that Dr. Samuel diagnosed common disorders each day (such as typhoid or scabies), so maybe he just picks one for the day and uses it, since the treatment is pretty much the same: paracetamol (acetaminophen for you Yankees) and antibiotics. His accent when saying "paracetamol" was fantastic, and I can be easily persuaded to mimic it. He also giggled a lot. And I can imitate his giggle. Heh. Oh. And I talked to my mom for Mothers' Day. Woot.

Tuesday.

Ridiculous. I witnessed another surgery. This time, a plastic surgeon removed a coconut-sized lump from a man's back. And he was awake the whole time. For those of you who don't know, that's a LOT of Lidocaine. Lauren (Parker) pointed out a great thing about the Fijian culture. Everyone here is so thankful. Tangent coming. While this man was still on the operating table with a huge hole in his back (after the lipoma was removed), he started to sit up and thank each of us. WHAT. I'm going to miss the friendliness of the Fijian culture. Here, it's almost rude to NOT say hi to strangers. I like it here. If I were to do that in America, I think I might get weird looks and confused responses from strangers. ... So. After the surgery, I was able to actually do some service, which helped me feel a lot better. And I got to play volleyball with a bunch of Fijians I didn't know at all. Also, the stars are beautiful here. Ridonkulous. Even though there wasn't a whole lot of danger today.

Wednesday.

I got to (volunteered the first week) to lead devotions today. Thankfully, God challenged me with my own words. I read from Luke 22:24-30, John 13:1-17, and James 1:28(? - this one was from memory). So I had to make sure I lived up to my own challenge and make myself least among my peers. It feels right, and I thank God for that. Since Julian (the Toomas' son) was meeting the president of Fiji (WHAT.), we had a group pow-wow instead of working on the greenhouse. That was nice. Big Joe said something interesting, "If you have the ability, you have the responsibility." We'll see what repercussions those words have in my life. God is good. And in the afternoon, the clinic was overcrowded, so Matt and I went to help build Mike's house.

He wins for coolest house ever award. And building it was just about as cool, since there was that danger that I mentioned earlier. Nothing says fun like operating power tools while balanced on beams 15-20 feet above ground. Doing carpentry made me miss my dad, though. Dad, FYI, it is rumored here that you are Odysseus, commander of the waters. I'll explain that one to you later. Night time meant more danger. Brother Matt, one of the locals, took Matt, the Texas one, and me spearfishing. At night. WHAT. Crazy. I got three or four fish, and Matt matched me, but he also speared a lobster. Yikes. And it was a rather late night- 11p.m. So I'm tired today.

Today - Thursday.

Very relaxed. Saw a Fijian funeral procession and finished reading Dune. Tonight, we have GenY. Tomorrow, a trip to Savu Savu to buy machetes and sulus. Woot.

Once again, I conclude that I'm blessed beyond belief.