Weather: beautiful
Just after I posted this afternoon from the office space Claudia and I have been sharing with the 'volunteers' (4 young women who help out on the unit for a small amount of $$$), and have made it their purpose to keep us well fed, answer our questions and vice versa, and translate when needed. A nurse here only makes about $150.00/week.
I hear crying/screaming from down the hall. A parent has learned that her son is dying and being moved from the ward to a single room. This is what it's like; good news, bad news, quiet, crying, women talking, sometimes laughing, nurses talk. The hall fills with several women in their black abayas and they huddle on the floor around the grieving mother. The unit has an intense limbo feel to it; and the world keeps turning not noticing what occurs on the third floor.
And in a 180°
turn-a-round, Mazin picks us up in his car and takes us for a sumptuous late
lunch at his home that his wife has prepared. It’s been like this all week. Only 2 more days and I’ve become
attached.
xo
E
Ellen, Your photos/comments give us a glimpse of a world that must be incredibly wearing...the constant weeping, the sorrow, the strangeness of men-only shopping, the women's role, etc. The smiles you get from these faces must be a wonderful break in their monotony of waiting, waiting. So good to see your warm smile in some of these. A hard world to visit, even by blog.
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