Weekends!

This weekend was a busy one! Saturday we were at the hospital all day assisting with a blood drive program.  The hospital blood bank is in low supply, so they put on a seminar type workshop to try to convince people to donate.  We started by participating in another parade through town.  We followed behind the band and marched through the marketplace. We listened to another pretty long (and boring) 2 and a half hour lecture with speakers talking about blood donation.  At this point- the rain started, and didn't stop. It poured!! I guess we really are getting deeper into the rainy season.  After lunch, we headed home to relax and help celebrate Ana's daughter's 9th grade graduation.  There was a big party with great food! We scarfed down the chicken since it was the first time we've had it (or something other than fish) since getting here.
 Sunday we headed to the beach! Some friends from the compound next to us  came, Ana, Isa, Awa, Jambos, and Kaba.  They were just as excited as us! Ana hadn't been to the beach in 15 years! We were shocked.  We took a taxi to a small beach they knew about.  IT WAS AWESOME.  The beach was gorgeous and we were the only ones on it.  The water was SO warm-definitely the warmest ocean water I've ever been in.  It was really shallow too, so we could walk out far to jump waves and still be only waist deep.  We had such a good time trying to teach them to swim, basket tossing each other, and just playing in the sand.  I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend a Sunday after a long week of work at the hospital in the heat.  We think we may want to make it a habit to go every Sunday!
This week I will finish my time in the pharmacy and move on to the inpatient department.  I am a little nervous about it since it's pretty much the ICU.  Looking forward to a challenging, but rewarding week ahead!