I Met a King Today!

Yesterday was largely uneventful. It was my clinic day and I watched about 10 surgeries. Today I got to see the patients who had surgery yesterday. They spend the night on little mats in the foyer of the clinic, then they get their bandages removed and everyone is all smiles because they can see again!

Today we saw about a hundred patients at a village called Nsuta. Afterward, we got to meet the king of Nsuta. He and the royal family (his family) are the custodians of all the land in Nsuta, so we went to his palace (which is not very palacial by our standards) to thank him for allowing us to use his land for our outreach. The outreach coordinator thanked him, through the king's linguist, because no one is allowed to address the king directly. They had a long exchange in their native language, which of course none of us could understand, then the king addressed us, thanking us for caring about his people and making the effort to come and help them. He wanted to know all of our names and where we are from, and he told us to remember his village because we will always be welcome there and we will always be friends of his people. It was so surreal to see someone so regal, decked out in tribal dress, yet so humble. Then he wanted to take a group picture with us! It was so cool; I don't think I've ever heard of a less pretentious king.

Tomorrow we are going to the big market here in Kumasi to buy fabric. Some of the girls want to have dresses made. Rosamund, who works at the clinic, is going to take us to her seamstress, where we can have a dress made in two days for 6 cedis (about $4). Unreal! Why am I doing laundry one piece at a time in my sink?

Tonight, we are going to dinner (maybe pizza) and then to a "dance club" which consists of a band and a big open space. Not my idea, but we'll see what happens. I am seriously craving a CloseTalker from Moe's.