Where In The World Is Dr. Linz?

So the answer to the question of where is Peter was in last week's blog.  Peter is in Texas!  Yup, the good ol' U.S. of A. - and I am in Africa.  How did this happen?  Well, Peter did not jump ship or throw in the towel on our 25 years of marriage.  No, he answered the call put out by Mercy Ships to help them design the next generation of Mercy Ship that the organization has spent the past several years hoping to build.  As you can imagine there are as many opinions on how to do this as there are people involved in the process.  So, the board has called a time out and decided to have a few select people on three or four different committees overseeing certain aspects of the design.  Given Peter's extensive time on the USNS Mercy and the high regard Mercy Ships has for the Navy's two hospital ships they are enormously grateful that someone with Peter's background and experience has come to the organization at just this time.  It seems that we are getting a clearer sense of why God has nudged us toward Mercy Ships.  He left Friday night and got into Texas early Sunday morning and their meetings will start on Monday.  He will be back to the ship next Monday night.  So lots of travel for an important meeting. 

Peter and Mercy Ships founder Don Stephens

The other thing that makes all this travel a God send - besides all the frequent flier miles he's accumulating, is that he had a 7 hour lay over in Newark of all places!  Yup - just across the Hudson from his mother!  So - as soon as he got his itinerary he started ordering stuff to be delivered to her house to bring back to Africa with him.  In addition he's getting to run errands and buy things for everyone on the ship that heard he was going back to the land of Walmart!  Yes, he took the big suitcase!  So, in addition to getting me my good malaria pills he had a lovely visit with his mother and with our son Andy who also lives in NYC.  I even got to talk to them on the phone yesterday so we all got something out of this trip. 

As promised  from last weeks post about meeting the president and founder of Mercy Ships, I was able to find some pictures of Peter and Don Stephens. 

The patient they are visiting here is somewhat of a local singing sensation that unfortunately had to have his jaw reconstructed due to an extensive tumor that kept coming back.  Due to the radiation damage to his tissues  he took a very, very long time to heal so he was on the ward for a long time.  One would think that someone who makes a living using his mouth would be upset or bitter about his lot in life but this guy was pure joy.  He couldn't talk but he gave two thumbs up to everyone that came through the ward.  He's finally been discharged this week after two months on the ward. 

The other big news this week is I started driving the the eye team to the screening sites.  Very few people get to be drivers but since I've driven standard transmission cars since I was a teenager I passed the test.  I think telling the guy that after learning to fly helicopters I figured I could drive just about anything.

Driving in the third world is a completely different type of experience!  I wish I could show a video of what it is like to have motorcycles jutting all around you as you try to make your way from point A to point B.  There are very few traffic signals and those that are there are usually ignored.  Like the car in the midst of the motor cycles on the left, one feels surrounded and hoping that none of these guys has as much of a death wish as it seems when they are darting through the traffic.  Most also carry large loads on the back of their scooters and you wonder how do they see where they are going and more importantly - do they see me???  Many of the roads are dirt and deeply rutted.  The rainy season starts sometime next month so I'm wondering how well we'll travel then.  Much more for you all to pray about for us! 

The upside of getting to go out into the community and off the ship is that I do get to see more of Lome' and the people and how they live. Here are a couple pictures of typical open air

markets along the roadsides.  It is amazing what you can find to buy.  Peter and I have not tried our hands at bargaining but many of our shipmates have.  I suppose we'll have to go out one of these days and get some souveniers before the rains hit.  But first, Dr. Linz has to make his way back to this side of the world.  Until next week.  Have a blessed Holy Week as you prepare to celebrate the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord that makes it possible for us to be His child and have the promise of eternity with Him in paradise.  Hallelujah! 

Markets like these line the streets everywhere!