...week 2, day 3...

Yay! I went to Mass on Sunday (11 Jan) and boy did it feel great! It's a nice small community, and I already plan on getting involved with all the ministries! lol Even though there weren't any kneelers, everyone knelt anyway. You're probably thinking, 'uh, why wouldn't they kneel?' I've been to Catholic Churches where there weren't kneelers and kneeling wasnt part of the Mass (talk about apalling, especially during Consecration). ANYway, a majority of the attendants were men, so it sounded like an all-male choir whenever we sang. =) I was finally able to meet this Lieutenant whose mother-in-law works in PACU back at my hospital in LV. Her mother-in-law and I are pretty close and she wanted me to meet her son and daughter-in-law, both deployed in the same location. As soon as I walked into the Chapel, I just knew it was her. After Mass she and I walked to the Terminal to see if I could find my bag...sure enough, it was the 1st one I saw! Praise God! Now I have my alarm clock and lamp, the only two items I was waiting for.

On Sunday night I was Charge again and had 1 pt initially. He's a young (about 20 y/o) local who had a piece of shrapnel in his eye. He went to surgery to get it removed; luckily he still has his eyesight. Later on in the evening I received an elderly gentleman who was shot in the lower back while he was praying. I don't have all the details but it was an eventful night with him, only because some stuff didn't get done during his admission so we kept getting visitors/phone calls regarding this pt.

I met a few more custodians: Tawab, Taqir, Ali Mohammed. I dont see them as often as I see the interpreters so it's gonna be hard remembering who is who, although there are some names and faces that I have down.

I ran into Habib, one of the Cordova (the company that the custodians work for) managers. He remembered my name. I was shocked, and embarrassed because I didn't remember his (we met during my first few days here but I wasn't really focusing on anything, let alone remembering people's names). But he re-introduced himself, and all's good.

One of the interpreters, Nazar, and I have become good friends. He has taught me a lot of new words. We also continue to talk about our different cultures, and about our religions as well. Now I remember how to say 'what's your name?': nome cheest (I used it some more just so I could remember). I also learned: I'm fine - hoob hastam; Are you good? - hoob hasty?; good morning - hoba hay; good night - shoba hay; numbers - yak, du, say, char, panj, shash, haft, hasht, nu, da

Monday night (12 Jan) was uneventful. I had the same 2 pts. I dropped by ICU to see what was up and they had a 27 y/o Army soldier who got hit with an RPG (Rocket-propelled grenade). Thankfully he was the only one who got hit. He has two big wounds: one on his right thigh and and one on his right arm/shoulder area. We took pictures so I'll post them as soon as I get ahold of the pictures.

So I lied. There's one more night shift interpreter - Jahani. He was gone for a couple of weeks to visit his family. He's married and has one child. He's nice too, just like they all are.

I've been trying to hi to as many of the custodians as I can remember. They were impressed at my memory, not just in regards to their names, but also with the language; they said I had good pronunciation. I'm glad they think so because I feel like I'm butchering up their language!

Last night (13 Jan) was another night off for me. Of course, I went to the hospital to hang out. I met a few more custodians but I dont remember their names at all! I don't think I was trying to commit them to memory, that's why. They had a hard time with my name so the interpreters said they would give me a name, Nahma. They said she's a famous Afghan singer (or was a long time ago). I thought it was funny because I'm definitely not a singer. It's nice to know that they want me to be a part of their culture in some way, so giving me an Afghan name is their way of welcoming me in. =)

Nazar taught me to write my name. He laughed at my effort and said that it was legible but it looked like a school child's handwriting! haha He also wrote their alphabet for me and the pronunciation. I definitely don't plan on trying to read the language. It's beautiful to look at, but I have enough on my plate just trying to remember vocabulary!

There's nothing else eventful to write about. Nevertheless I'll continue to blog because, like I said in my first blog, I want to record everything, if not for other people to read, then for myself to remember. Signing off...