Days 19 & 20: Wednesday & Thursday, 6/8 & 6/9

The big event of the week is apparently the sushi buffet at our restaurant downstairs. We'd contacted Jamie (the wife of Andrew from the U.S. Embassy) through her blog and hoped to run into their family during lunch. The Wilsons and Simmons were going to join us so we went down early – at 11:00 – and held a table for 6 with a 2-top nearby in case we needed more room. We were stood up...

Okay – not really stood up – we did get to meet Jamie and Andrew popped over to say hello, but Andrew's boss had joined them for lunch and they didn't want to be rude by moving the party to our table so we exchanged contact information and will hopefully meet up with Jamie in a week or so. The other families did, in fact, stand us up... I only say that jokingly as we knew they might not be able to make it. It left us with about 4 empty seats on what is probably the biggest lunch event of the week. There were no doubt more people in the Enra than I've seen at any other time since we got here. The sushi was very good – made to order – and there were soups, salads, and sandwich fixings for the non-sushi crowd (like Jeff).

There are a few official follow up items that we have yet to take care of so Jeff and I headed over to the hospital to ask for copies of Grace's medical records. We weren't sure how involved this would get but after a short wait in line, we were told that the boss has to sign off on it so it would be best to return on Thursday. Since we have a few weeks, we decided it was certainly something we could let stay on island time so we gave our thanks and left.

We ran into Lauren during lunch at the Enra. If I have my facts right, she used to be one of the World Teach people but now has a more permanent position within the Ministry of Education. She gave us the lowdown on some of the restaurants around town and even drew us a map. We'd been looking for Chinese food and she recommended a place across from the Stone House (where we ate last night). She was also very helpful in directing Stacy on where to donate some school supplies she'd brought. School is out here – for the summer, I think – but Laura said probably the best place to take them is to the World Teach office.

We all headed off to dinner at one of the Chinese places Lauren mentioned. When we arrived we were directed to a private back room with a fairly large round table. Very, very clean inside which was nice to experience. The food was pretty good – Jeff got the Kung Pao Chicken and Stacy ordered the fried rice. I, however, feeling pressed for a decision, ordered the Garlic Prawns. I'm not a big fan of my food staring back at me so when the plate arrived with about a dozen good sized prawns on it – heads and feet still in place – I was a little creeped out. They were pretty good but lots of effort for moderate reward. I think I'll choose differently next time but would try this place again if the others want to.

Our evening mission included a trip to the airport to look through the gift shops there. I hadn't even noticed them when we arrived but Stacy looked through a few when she brought Greg and Madi to the airport last week. The prices on many things were lower than you'd find in town and they also had a selection of books for sale. We've been asking around town if anyone has any Marshallese history or cultural books and, apparently, these are in short supply.

At the airport we found a few treasures. The first, a copy of the Marshallese Language Dictionary prepared by the District Intelligence Office, 14^th Naval District in cooperation with the U.S. Pacific Fleet in 1945. The second is A History of the Marshall Islands by Gerald Knight printed most recently in 1999. The third is a book called Bwebwenatoon Etto – A Collection of Marshallese Legends and Traditions. I assume that the word “Bwebwenatoon” is a derivation of “bwebwenato” meaning “to talk, hold a conversation, chat”... see, the dictionary is already coming in handy! Actually, this is a word I already knew thanks to the title of a friends blog but it's nice to be able to look up Marshallese words and get a general idea of what a sign says, etc.

Grace started to get fussy at the airport so I went outside and waited for Jeff and Stacy to finish up. We had quite a ride on the way home – both kids wailing and neither one accepting a pacifier, bottle or rocking... we pulled into the hotel parking lot just chuckling as there wasn't much else we could do. Greg – you'll have to ask Stacy about it – Grace really kept up with Oliver if not outdid him this time!

We'd planned to fill Stacy's water jug across the street (the self-service refill station is open 24/7) but Jeff parked at the hotel so Stacy and I could get the kids to the rooms and then he walked over to refill the jug. All tasks accomplished, we were in for the night. Another couple episodes of MF and then bed.

On Thursday we went back to the hospital to request the medical records. We were directed to a very nice lady in the records office to fill out the forms and we'll return next week to pick up the copies. I asked about getting a copy of Grace's immunization card – it's a yellow pamphlet that all moms are given when they deliver at the hospital and is protected like cash. Emi did have hers but Dr. Pinano wanted to see it before he'd sign the medical forms so Claudia had Emi grab it from home and then they dropped it by Dr. Pinano's clinic. Unfortunately, he didn't return it to Claudia with the paperwork she brought to us so we've been trying to stop by the clinic to pick it up. Every time we we've tried, it's been closed. The woman at the hospital said she thought Dr. Pinano was off island but she'd call her friend who lives next door to see when he's due to return. We'll get the story next week when we come to pick up the records. If Dr. Pinano isn't due back next week, we'll go another route and request a copy from the hospital. Seems like it should be the easier of the two options but the Simmons had to do that for Oliver and it took an hour or two of running from department to department getting things signed and copied – we'll try to avoid that and just get the original if possible.

After the hospital we went over to the DWC to try out the banana pancakes... While I'm sure they were healthy, I think I'll stick to the ones at the MIR. We then went back to the courthouse to request additional certified copies of the adoption decrees since the first 3 they gave us were all given out in the process of getting other documentation. After a not-too-long wait we received the copies and headed back to the hotel.

Earlier, Stacy had made an appointment for Oliver to have his feet checked again – he'd had an infection earlier in our stay and it wasn't quite clearing up. So, while Jeff stayed at the hotel with Grace, I drove Stacy and Oliver back to the hospital for their appointment. Seems it wasn't so much an appointment but more of a “return at 1:00 and then wait until your number is called” sort of thing. We waited a while and finally they called #14. After a quick assessment in the triage room, they told us to go wait by exam room #5 – where the pediatrician would be seeing patients. After a really long wait – it was almost 3:00 by then – one of the nurses came over and asked me if the doctor was in... uh, my first thought was “how would I know?” and my second was “why don't you know?”. Seems they couldn't locate the pediatrician on duty that day so they transferred all the patients to the family practice guy. He saw us right away and prescribed another few days of antibiotics for Oliver.

If I could adequately describe what it was like in the waiting area of that hospital, I would... but I just don't think I can do it justice. There were over 100 people waiting patiently for hours until it was their turn to see the doctor. For those of us in the U.S. who are unhappy with our healthcare system, think carefully next time you start complaining. We are privileged to live where we do and have access to some of the best healthcare in the world – most of us by a simple accident of birth. Wow – perspective.

After our visit to the hospital, Stacy and I agreed that a good, old-fashioned cheeseburger and fries was in order and, if they had them, fried banana sundaes! Unfortunately, no sundaes but the rest of it was delicious!