On a mission part 1

Let's take a break from the gory pics and sad medical stories with a story about Information Technology! Last week I went on a mini mission trip of sorts. At least that is what it felt like. I packed a small bag with a few clothes, tools, and a laptop and headed for a hospital several hundred kilometers from here. I went alone, on a bus. This left my wife on her own for the week. She's a big girl, though, and managed just fine without me. Lucky for me, I had been there before and I know a few of the people that live and work there. I was looking forward to seeing some friends that I hadn't seen in a few months.

My mission: To fix their internet, to fix some computers, and to hopefully find a way to get the network self sustaining for a while. This post might make it sound like I'm an IT pro. I am not. A real pro would have solved all of these problems in a couple of hours, it took me the better part of a week.

One of the most stressful parts of the whole trip was waiting for the bus to pick me up in my home town. I waited for three hours, each bus that went by was full. Finally, when the last bus of the day arrived and was full, the operator offered me standing room only next to the door for an additional fee. Looking back, this seems sort of sketchy and I would suspect that the fee exactly covers the cost of a fine for having too many people on the bus. After an hour we made it to the next bus station. Here, everyone got off the bus. As soon as they were all off the bus, I found a comfortable seat, put my bag up top, and busted out my mp3s. A few hours later I arrived in the big city where a man came and found me and put me in the back of his SUV and we were off to the hospital. I was traveling through a town that we had lived in for a few months earlier this year. It seemed strange to be back. It seems like a year ago already. It seems like Tab and I have been in this country for years. Really it has only been about seven months. Before we left town I bought some fresh bread, and some apples. I haven't had apples in months. We made it safe to the hospital, and I had the opportunity to greet my friends. They were all very appreciative of my coming. I thought it was nice of them to pick me up from the bus and get me a beautiful room to stay in and everything.

The Beautiful accommodations. Banana trees!

Apple and Mango for lunch. It had been several months since I've had an apple, it was delicious. 

  The hospital is so much smaller than ours. There are significantly fewer patients and only one or two doctors.  There are many more trees and the ground is orange sand instead of clay and volcanic rocks. The weather was amazing. I would guess it was about 85 degrees when I showed up. There were clouds from a storm in the distance. I just wanted to sit outside and enjoy it. It is quite the change from cloudless scorching heat of the past few months.

The whole time I was there I was cared for quite well. They provided fresh fruit for my lunches and great dinners in the evening. I got to spend some good time with friends that I hadn't seen in a while. We had some great talks and when I leftI had fixed many things. I left some work for the next visit.

Worst part of the trip was right after I got off the bus in my home town. I had been listening to my mp3 player most of the way. I had my ear buds in ears as I got off the bus. As the bus was driving away I realized I didn't hear any music. I pulled on the end of the cord and there was nothing there, only the plug. No mp3 player. Well, it's not in my pocket, it must be on the bus, on its way to capital. It wasn't a nice mp3 player but I liked it. I have had it for years. I ran marathons with it, climbed mountains, traveled from coast to coast and around the world. And I lose it on a dusty bus. I was sad to watch that bus drive away. Part of me wanted to call the bus company and ask them to find it for me. But I just let it go.
Now, to amazon.com for a new one!