A Few Goodbyes ... But Not Mine Yet.

Class Visit to the National Psychiatric Hospital

Sometimes (I was going to say "almost always", but I am a teacher and would feel too threatened)
the best teachers are not the ones called teachers.   This is true on the visit to the people who are patients at the hospital.

  Psychiatrist Sujay Patel and Family Doc/professional entertainer Upe Mehan met us at the hospital and provided a rich commentary and insight about who these people are and their behaviours.  Again your best teacher about the experience may not be the professional teacher - rather, a learner:

The Class and Nurse Trin.  she has worked at the NPH for 20 years
and still continues to learn something from her patients

Visit to the Psych Hospital (Berbice - 2014) by Natalie Persaud- Singh

 The tour was indeed interesting. I was shocked, for this is my first experience with mental patients. I see this facility as somewhere that gives patients a chance to better themselves with the help of the health team available there. However I think the hospital need renovation, proper facility to house these patients and more nurses onboard. As it’s said, for a patient to get better they must feel comfortable in their environment. This is just a suggestion from what I've seen. The surrounding needs cleaning. The odor of the hospital was obnoxious. 

Something needs to be done about this.

This is not the present  hospital; it is the old Berbice Asylum.
I just like my photograph .....
and it reminds me of Thoreau's 'vivacious lilacs'.

I've had the chance to speak with some of the patients and I must say I was heartbroken by some of their stories. Some of their family took them there and didn't even look back to them. They are human beings, no matter what sickness they have physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.  Everyone needs love. Someone to talk to, someone to be there just to listen, all of which can brighten their day.

I feel the need for there to be more educational programs readily available to them. One patient told me she wants a book to read (story book) or a book to write. Writing helps one to express their emotions. So if they don’t feel comfortable discussing their problems with a nurse they can at least write about how they feel.  If more emphasis can be place in bettering the facility I see this hospital as successful, not that they are not but they would be able to offer much more to these patients.

Rev, I hope this is good enough!!   Thanks for having us share this experience with you!!

Yup, more than good enough... She and other students had some brilliant reflections...  I was impressed and mad at the same time, because I have had to read some of their other research and exams! L Oh well, as Martin Luther said, "Simultaneous Smart and Stoopid"..... or something close.   The Canadian Mental Health Team had a major focus: "To reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.." and after the visit to the Berbice Mad House my students know ..... People are People, including doctors. [See karaoke pictures.]

Another Focus: ECT

If you read last week's blog [and who hasn't, eh?], you heard the horror story of the ECT Team... Well, I am happy to report that despite several more minor heebie-jeebies, like finding the machine packed up and ready to ship back to Canada with the Team .....  they were able to train more than enough Guyanese professionals, and under the leadership of Dr. Maida, Psychiatrist at the National Psychiatric, Guyana will have re-activated a forgotten service.   I am sure when Peter Kuhnert writes his guest blog [hint]  he will tell you all about it.  I want to just show you a picture of one man who had a ECT treatment earlier that same day.  When I asked him how he was feeling, he said he was "Never better...  I might even be happy."

All Work and no Play Makes...

If you can believe it, the Team said they were too tired to go out to dinner, just wanted to have a quiet beer and something to eat at the Sleep-Inn.  So Sylvia and I went over to join them.  Dennis had to prepare his class for the following day (talk about "no play"!).   However, once they got down to the bar and the karaoke started - a second wind, I guess.

The Highlight of the Night!  The guys were singing American Pie and I wasn't lip-synching.
It was supposed to be Macho Man, but got censored by the politically correct Guyanese.

We are the Champions...Yes, you are!

The "Women" trying their best
to imitate the guys.

And a Bollywood  melody
from the surprising Zahir.      



The "Originals" celebrate a successful Mission.

And then there was the Final Final dinner hosted by the Minister of Health.  It too was at the Sleep-Inn and earlier than  planned as the Team was out that night at 2AM... Lots of congratulatory words for all involved.

Minister Bheri Ramsaran expresses his gratitude
to the whole Canadian Mental Health Team 

Peter and Sujay express their thanks to
Chief Psychiatrist Bhiro Harry.

The Parting Shot

Dennis is Off and Home Safely

And speaking of 2 am, Dennis, my university friend, left on Friday night for his home in Greenfield, Massachusetts via Trinidad, Toronto and Boston!   Just a mere 21 hours door to door...  He too is going to write a guest blog (Subtle Reminder) so I won't steal his words, but he did say that he has never met a more knowledgeable, competent, humble, etc., person than me.  Thanks Dennis.   

It is strange and wonderful for me to have someone other than family who has known me for 50 years ..... and to find, as the saying goes, "You get together with a friend after years of absence and you continue chatting as if you saw each other yesterday.

Elsie presented Dennis with one of her famous
African shirts to wear when he gets chased
out of Greenfield for wearing it.

Dennis is here explaining Sex and Relationships
to the students. If you can't see the immediate
connection, read his blog, coming "Just now."

 Enough - More or Less

 I had my last Boys, Bodies, Beliefs and Boundaries Class at St. Ann's.  They were sad it was over and even sadder when I gave them an evaluation sheet -- which they told me they wanted to fill in during the week and not in class as I had planned ..... So much for the evaluation. However, the judging of the 2nd Annual Father John's Photography Contest is this Thursday AND if I don't get their evaluations before the contest, they cannot win a prize!  Oh, the benefits of a bribe!  I have learned some things in Guyana.  Not fair!! they screamed ..... and they were right ..... and it is my contest, eh?

I have arranged for the four Mercy Volunteers to come and judge the pictures in the five categories: Girls Playing, Girls Working or Studying, Action Shots, Happy Face and Unusual or Abstract.   I had way over 2,000 pictures that the girls had taken since September... I want to get it down to 10 finalists in each category, but had to settle for 15!   There will be five Ipod Shuffle MP3 Players, one for each of the category winners.   They were donated by the Sunday School kids at Church at Stony Hill, Medina, Ohio...

John being presented with the Shuffles

Pastor Shannon making an important homiletic intervention

There will be a surprise of two Grand Prizes ..... One of them will be a special one donated by Jerry Bacchus of Jerries' All Nite Restaurant.

Well, I have finished a whole pot of coffee and a big roll of cookies for breakfast as the cafeteria is closed on Sundays.  I can't wait to get home and have my healthier breakfasts of a whole frozen Pizza or a Hungry Man Dinner.... or my Sunday Morning Special Onion and Cheese Omelette at Bucky's of Ayr with the old guys.

So make sure if you are in Georgetown, Guyana, or Ayr, Ontario --- visit our sponsors ..... and maybe I'll get a free meal!

Thanks for reading... John

Whamning Squaddy?

Thanks for the Assistance and Friendship

Dennis is in the air as I write, heading north and homeward to Greenfield, Massachusetts.   He did get to say goodbye -several times.  Here is his "speech" at the end of our last Problem Based Learning Day.

[I hope you like the video as it took me hours trying to post it.]

It was strange in many ways having Dennis here and not simply because he is strange .....    I don't want to say too much about his time here because he promised to be the Guest Editor for the next blog on November 16th, but .....  you can learn a lot from someone's toothpaste.  Can you imagine trying to live with someone who uses a fortified paper clip to keep his tube looking neat, rather than the free spirit squeezing of a mature male?   Don't miss next week's post!

Divali Festival and Parade

This is the Hindu Festival of Lights - in many ways similar to festivals shared by many cultures/religions around the world.   The festival's main figures are Lakshmi and her brother Ganesha who is portrayed as an elephant  (see pictures of the floats).  Lakshmi is my favourite as she has blessed me with many of her qualities - wealth, prosperity (both material and spiritual), fortune, and the embodiment of beauty.  I may have to offer more prayers for the wealth part.     One of the Bajans (Hymns) sung during the festival is one that could be sung by many other faith groups in the world:

Asato maa Sadgamaya
Tamaso maa Jyotirgamaya
Mrityorma Amritam gamaya
Om Shantih, Shantih, Shanti

Lead me

From untruth to truth

From darkness to light

From death to immortality.

(No, it is not Ganesha.)
The crowds  are huge and the parade goes for miles.

While Guyana is by almost all standards a developing country, it seems to me to be way ahead of the North in its tolerance and acceptance of other faiths.   While I have been here the country has also celebrated the holiday of Eid Mubarak (an Islamic Festival), and the country is already geared up for Christmas...  The religious leaders have been a combined voice for peace for many years.    All are welcome to participate in all the festivals, including flying kites on Easter Monday.

I don't want to get too romantic about all the tolerance and equality of faiths, as most Guyanese of whatever faith do not know much, if anything, about the other's religion... and yet they are friendly and hospitable to all. It's not totally different from North America:  there people don't really know anything of another's faith but they fear them. I guess I like the Guyanese choice better.

More Canadians

 Over the years there have been dedicated lay volunteers from the Scarboro Fathers; it just seems this year that I have had more contact with them [though Sylvia Wilvert was around in 2011].  This year there has been Donna Joy Tai and Beverly Trach.  If you are considering volunteering a year of your time, both Bev and Donna say that the programme is a good one - community and support.

Beverly and Donna having dinner at
The Princess, Taju's Fine Dining Establishment in Durban

Proprietors of The Princess,
my friends: Allison and Taju 

Double Beverley's at St Ann's

Actually, Bev was here in 2011 and working at St. Ann's with the girl's homework almost every afternoon.  (Wow, I get there usually once a week and am tired.)  Before that she was with Scarboro in Brazil, and now one of her main responsibilities is ministering to the Brazilian population here in Georgetown.

Donna is a newish volunteer as she came down in the Spring of 2013 and has signed on for only one year with an option of more.   I first met her when I had scheduled my students to go on the Hospice Ward at Mercy and they told me that there was this "old nun" leading hymns.   Well, the nurses had it partially right: she does come to the hospital (I think twice a week).   And she is a daily volunteer at the Boys' Home in Plaisance, John Bosco.

Dennis explaining to Donna at Bosco,
"I was that small once.

Donna going incognito at Bosco

Donna's main work is running games
 of chance at local Church Fairs.

St Ann's Photo Contest

The first [and maybe last] Father John's Photo Contest has closed  and all the Finalists have been chosen by me.  They are all posted on the walls at St Ann's in the four categories: Girls at Play, Girls at Study, Girls at Work and Action Shots.  I am arranging to have special outside judges -as I do not want to be responsible for the sad faces of the girls who don't win!  The winner in every category will receive an MP3 Player and everyone else will get nothing!   Yes, I have already heard from the girls that it is really unfair .  Some of the more creative Social Justice girls have told me that every one of them should get an MP3 Player even if they didn't enter a photo because didn't I think they were all special?    Nice try; they have brilliant legal careers ahead!  I was going to have a "vote-online" winner as well but I wasn't tricky enough to figure out how to do it!

My Nursing Students

I have made another life-saving change to the PBL schedule and philosophy .....  I have combined several pages into one.   When I counted the days remaining before I leave I found I could either omit a whole problem, compact several pages into one day's work, or delay my return until I properly finished the pages.   Well, the last one would have involved my death, so that was the worst option.  Now with that gone, I chose the lesser of the two evils .....  So instead of only researching two questions, they need to do three questions!  The students seemed to like it as they responded with a huge outcry ..... which I took to be positive.

We also had the annual Rite of Passage to the Georgetown Public Hospital Pathology Department and the autopsies.  Dennis joined us as he wanted to see what had changed since Dennis and I had seen our first autopsy 45 years ago at Boston City Hospital.   I can still remember the man's name on the autopsy table - Jim Bishop.   It must say something since I can't remember any names today.   I'll let Dennis do the reflecting on his experience..  Stay tuned til next week.

Outside huddled together waiting for the experience to begin.

Scoring the 2011 Tour

I am now between leaving Guyana and Christmas.   I have enjoyed being home with Anne and watching the sea ..… and some golfing, as it has been exceptionally warm and sunny.   My last week in Guyana was a predictable – but still enjoyable and significant – flurry of activity as the “just now” culture came up against a precise departure time!   

A real old fashioned picnic

There were several "thank you" events arranged by our students, such as a picnic at the Botanical Gardens scheduled for 2pm – and who was the only person there at 2?  (I never learn!)   The festivities started somewhat later.   The students had prepared a picnic meal and each of us received a gift from them.   I received a distinguished, handmade pair of leather sandals ..… very nice!   Claudette and Marysia were singled out after a class for special recognition which left one of them overwhelmed.

Tony and I got to Taju’s one last time.  Tony gave Althia and Tommy their last music lessons and I hosted my two “Bosco Sons” for a farewell meal.  Well, one of them is still on his way ...... so we ate and took the picture without him.

You'll just have to imagine Julian with Rashleigh.

I said good bye to the girls at St. Ann’s, and to Sister Barbara, the Sister Commander at the home.   She has decided to leave as it was getting to be too much for her health and sense of vocation.   I am saddened to see her go.  Despite her claims to having no experience with young children, she was excellent, and brought many welcome changes to the home.   One innovation that I hope lives on without her is pairing “sisters” – an older girl with a younger one.   The older serves as a role model and helps the younger ones with the chores of the day.  The older girls were expected to be responsible – and they were.  (At least, as much as I am.)   Barbara will be based at a convent in Venezuela overlooking the blue ocean.   I wish her well; she is a phenomenal minister of the gospel.

Sister Barbara pretending to like kids

The Year in Review

I have been reflecting on the pluses and minuses, the successes and the failures.  I’ll venture a few thoughts:

Unchanged

My students keep emailing to ask me if I miss them yet.  My answer has a long history and is an indication of one of my personality quirks.  I once almost got stoned by a conference of ICU nurses where I suggested that they had poor long term memories:  I was talking about coping skills and I had included myself in the critique.  I deal with what or who is in front of me, and when I'm not there, I'm not there.  I get captured by the present.  This is an excellent coping mechanism for jobs like critical care, but really lousy for relationships.  So the short answer is, “No, I don’t miss them.”   This same lack of yearning is also active when I am in Guyana; it doesn’t seem to discriminate.   Since I retired, I am working on personal development -- so maybe I will eventually miss the girls!

Unchanged

I want to thank my circle of friends and family who continually support me while I am in Guyana.  They run the whole range: from those who look only at the pictures on the blog – and then only occasionally -- to those who comment on almost every post.   And there are even some who write me a real letter or two.    Then there is my family who celebrate birthdays and holidays without me [and me without them].   I miss them on those days.  (Good thing that I am a flip-flop liberal as I just said the opposite of the previous paragraph.)  No ambiguity about my love and appreciation of Anne who edits my blog for those who are offended by “dangling whatevers” and offers me the freedom to be present in Guyana, despite her preferences for my presence in MWP.

Helen is on the left.

Unchanged

It is hard to underestimate the importance of St. Joseph Mercy Hospital's CEO, Helen Browman.  She supports our work there - even when we are not there.  And if she tells us she is going to look into something or do something, she gets it done.   This is so important when we are not there most of the year, especially in contrast to others who require your physical presence before any response is provided.   I do not see how we could continue without her support... and she is not even a nun!  

Positive

This year’s students were an excellent batch.   Tony and I enjoyed their work rate, spontaneity and “pondering”.   We were also more skilled this year and had more time to focus on the students than last year, as we were writing the PBL cases as we went along last year.  

Positive

I had three fears this year:  one, how would we cope with 20 students; two, how would they cope with the same problems as last year's students had; and three, how would I cope with living with Tony.  

I have written of the miracle of two skilled tutors who made themselves available all semester – Claudette Harry and Marysia Donnelly.  Without them [and the occasional “volunteers” we commandeered] we would not have been able to cope with the amount of work and time required to do justice to 20 students.   One of the downsides of helping the students to be inquisitive is that they have lots of questions for you.    

As for the temptation of just copying last year’s work, there was only once that we worried about it, and we came to the conclusion that even if they did have the pages from last year's students, they still had to grapple with the problems.  A bigger problem was the lack of discipline, especially after a “clubbing” weekend.  On Monday mornings the students were the least prepared even though they'd had the longest time available to do research. The students all got better at expressing what they'd learned -- and at expressing "bull". I had an imaginary “Gold Shovel” that I would give to the student who said the most with the least content. (The actual Golden Shovel Award celebrates excessive ambiguity and unparalleled cluelessness. Applicants for the Golden Shovel are judged on a lack of the four Cs: candor, clarity, character, and conciseness. Entries are carefully monitored for key words and phrases that signal a bullshitting attempt.)  While there were several amateur contenders among our students, the Shovel definitely belonged to a consummate professional, Stanton.

The Undisputed Champion

Finally - Tony.  I didn’t think it was possible – we did extremely well with each other. Our teaching partnership couldn’t have been better. Our living together also had more benefits than problems.  Of course, we had enough irreconcilable differences to keep the students fascinated, but we were there to teach and we certainly did that.   



The Odd Couple



Positive and…

The individual netbooks that we [all the donors] gave to each of the first year students and half the second year students were unquestionably great.   Even in Guyana, the young are part of the electronic age; they took to learning the new technology with an enthusiasm never witnessed with a textbook.   The students learned how to search the net for accurate, up-to-date information to support their growing curiosity. 

And ......  even though I had received several threats of bodily harm if I didn’t get one for other students and staff, I left Guyana without any injuries.  However, we may have unleashed a monster – how will we ever keep up with supplying an individual computer every year in the future?  (I guess if I don’t go back, I won’t have to worry about it.)  Actually, if anyone out there knows of a granting foundation/agency that would consider taking this on, I would love to hear from you.   Last year, we didn’t know if the students would benefit sufficiently from the computers -- could they learn quickly enough, would the computers keep working in the heat and humidity, not get stolen, etc.  This year we know how effective they have been. Now I can hope to be more effective at begging for more!

Negative

Again our biggest disappointment was our inability to attract local faculty to participate in learning and trying the PBL method.  We have had an article accepted in the International Nursing Review Journal.   The reviewers were extremely excited about the possibilities for poorer countries; now, if we could just convince anyone in the Guyana nursing world .......   We will be submitting a second article on the success we had with comparing the success of PBL and traditional learning models in a specific area of knowledge.   We are hoping that a student from each learning model will be involved in writing the article.

We did generate more interest overall and had many more helpers and visitors than last year, but again, if Tony and I do not return, there will be no one there who will continue the experiment.   While the course has been written and tested, it does require someone to keep up with printing all the pages [story, tutor aide, test and answer sheets, etc.], not to mention reading and scoring all the work every PBL day.  AND there is no money for additional faculty!  We did get the miracle of Marysia and Claudette this year, so maybe more miracles can be expected.

So ends my ninth  journey.  I have no idea about a tenth - that will be a decision for January.  I do know that my Christmas will be filled with many memories of joy and meaning from my time in Guyana.  Thank you for coming with me on this journey.  May God bless you all.

One for the road ahead.

And the Big News is...

A first for my time in Guyana:  never in my nine visits has so significant an event happened in Guyanese history .....  Are you ready?  Drum roll, please.

Guyana Golden Jaguars beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 to proceed in the group play for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil!



And we were there on the pitch...well almost.



Denzil, one of our nursing students, served as our host for the game. 

Last night, we were at the National Stadium to see Guyana beat its arch-rival Trinidad, to go through to the next round of the2014 World Cup for the first time in its history.   We were picked up and driven to the match by one of our more enterprising older students - Denzil Hernandez.   He used his taxi-driving skills to get us to the game on time and on the only road ..... it could rival the Long Island Expressway or the Q.E.W. from Toronto at rush hour - except that some of the road is just dirt.   He had arranged for our tickets and was going to get us our official yellow Jaguar shirt, but the scalpers had put up the price to $2,000 Gy [$10 Cdn] and he was not paying that much for a shirt .....  I thought about our NHL jerseys! 

The National Stadium was built for World Cricket a few years ago ..... and we entered through lots of security and pat-downs as they were looking for guns.   Once we were inside, Denzil led us to the field entrance with a short piece of BS about who the two old white guys were... and I guess we were now medics as we sat with the ambulance.

Looking the part.

I love watching soccer from ground level as one gets a sense of the speed and power of the young players...  It reminded me of my youth -- although actually I was never a very good  soccer player, even in my memory!   Guyana played a good attacking game and TandT was content to sit with four at the back until they went 2 down in the last part of the match... and then the referee gave them  a mercy call outside the box so that they scored in extra time.   I have mellowed some and was not coaching as the referee gave 90% of the 50-50 challenges to TandT -- I just noted it as an observation .....   Of course, old coaches never really die ..... and I had my very helpful opinions, though no one asked me for them.   We ran into other students and people we know, though Denzil was clearly "the man" as he seemed to know everyone!  

The parking lot had cars parked bumper to bumper, six deep .....  it was unlike the parking at the Polo Grounds in Wellington, Florida, where my sister lives .....   And just for good measure, Denzil's brother and his wife were there, so we fought through traffic going the wrong way to drop them off, and then back through gridlock going the right way.   We were back before midnight, dropped at our gate by our chauffeur.    A great night ..... I have always liked winning better than losing!

And speaking of winning:  Tony designed a test for the PBL sessions that we did in Anatomy and Physiology, on "the knee" (remember the blackboard diagrams?).  We gave it to our first year students and to the second year students who had the traditional pedagogy ..... AND .....  I think the results will really interest you ..... when we publish, eh?   Or, God forbid, you might have to read Tony's blog to see if he leaks the results.

This was another week over-packed with responsibilities, both in the classroom and in our social life. We had to "steal" a few extra classes to get all our PBL pages completed so we can get home to our special, loving, gracious, talented, beautiful, supportive, etc., wives on the 26th of November.   The students are seeing us very often -- I hope that familiarity doesn't breed contempt.   So far they are playing well with us and seem engaged in all our efforts.

Friday saw us all meet at the Public Hospital Morgue, the Rite of Passage for all First Year Mercy nurses -- at least since I have been there:  the visit to the autopsy lab of Dr. Nehaul Singh, the chief and only pathologist in Guyana.   (On the first day of classes the students ask, "Are you taking us to the morgue?" sometimes even before they know our names .....)   As in all other years, this year there is a range of students from petrified to curious...  There were some who had their gloves on as soon as they got there and some who found it all a little much ..... including one student who was trying for an Academy Award in the Drama category .....

This year there was a Guyanese pathology resident who spent a lot of time with the students showing them all the internal organs and cross sections.  Almost all the students participated as he suggested -- after the organ had been removed from the body.   He was a most excellent teacher, and I said a short prayer that he will consider staying in Guyana when he is credentialed.  There have been others before for whom I had said the same prayer, but the salary dollars overseas seem to them more like heaven than just another country.  I know if had asked him he would have said, " I need to feed my family."  And thus spake Qoheleth!

We returned to the classroom without any fatalities and spent the next two hours in an engaging discussion of life, death, body, respect, smells, suicide, lack of resources, amazement at the "insides" of real bodies, fervent promises to study anatomy harder -- and to get back on diets so as not to have all that fat showing when they hit the morgue tables.   It is truly a rite of passage as they will not be the same again -- hopefully!  

The organs that they explored in detail were those of a young woman about their age who had killed herself by ingesting poison.  The poison of choice was farm insecticide -- and you don't want to know what that does to a body.    The despair of the woman got hidden in the science talk, but all the class knew it was there.    I suggested that she had given them gifts... the chance to see the wisdom of the body, the reflections on the meanings of living and dying, what is precious in life, and why they are not going to have tomato soup ever again!  I said that if they can remember some or any of it, then as another old preacher once said (actually he said it so many times everyone lost track) then her life will not have been entirely in vain.  She has been our teacher in death in a way she could not accomplish with her life.   It was also Remembrance Day .....  I hope the students will remember her, as I remember Jim Bishop, Boston City Morgue, 1968.

Walking back from the morgue... and stopping for a pop at Paul's - a tradition.

Reflecting on life and death and nursing

We also had an "ethics trial" in which Dr. Tony was the Honourable Judge.   The students reflect on a case of assisted death and on whether they understood the actions and whether they might ever do the same ..... and how the ethical principles that I have been beating into their heads might apply - autonomy, justice, etc.   Then I assign roles -- such as the wife who kills her husband -- and we even bring her husband back from the grave, as well as a defence attorney and prosecutor, so that every student gets a character.  We even had Jesus appear before the court!   (He could only talk in scriptural quotes.) 

I get the most satisfaction out of having the people most violently opposed to the killing be the wife or the defence attorney .....  stretching their minds, eh?   They were very imaginative and dramatic, if not very reflective ethically -- well, you can't have everything.   The jury ruled that she was innocent because she wasn't in her right mind.   The decision reflects the ambivalence of society in general to "mercy killings" and the 'mercy killers"... It doesn't seem "all wrong" nor does it seem "all right"!

This was a week with a death theme. It was not only the morgue, but in our paper problem young Rajah is dying from an astrocytoma, and we had also visited the funeral home.   Mr. Claude Merriman described the roles that funeral homes play in the practical side of dying as well as the psycho-social supports provided to grieving families.    The students were disappointed there were no bodies in the cooler, but they did get more than enough the next day at the morgue.

One similarity with northern funeral homes is that you have to walk by the expensive caskets first before you can find the cheap ones.

We took one of my young girlfriends, Johanna, out to a fashion show.  I had promised to buy her a burger, but thought that she'd like the show better.   Now she has a lot to ask her parents to put in her stocking for Christmas.   Tony and I  were more preoccupied with the models -- and of course how much they reminded us of our wives .....

I forget whom she looked like more .....

Johanna with a runway seat.

 And to continue our full social life we were invited to join Tabitha and Sekhar as they had invited a dozen or so persons from their home state in India, Andhra Pradesh.  They had prepared traditional Indian foods so the new people wouldn't feel so homesick.    (The food was very good, but we need to work on our Telugu language skills ..... )  All the guests except us had come to work in the Information Technology  areas.

Almost like Pubnico -- the women were all huddled on their own.

And since my butt is telling me that I have typed long enough, just a final word about the girls' pictures from St. Ann's.   I have come to grips with the truth that they love my camera more than me .....  usually they take a couple of hundred pictures each time I am there; however, this time they took more than Aldric at a concert (Pubnico reference) -- some 400 plus!  I have trimmed them down to a dozen or so.

Tessa [left], a Mercy Grad and a St. Ann's Grad.  She was in my class longer ago than either of us could remember.  She was visiting her sister, Marissa, who was feeling under the weather.

Finally ....... Did I mention that GUYANA WON?
Thanks for coming this far...  John.