Stephen Spielberton
Yiwen and I now spend about an hour a day re-learning our colors, shapes, and opposites. We have started a reading program with the patients in the waiting area of the clinic. From 10am to 11am every day, at least twenty kids pile onto our laps while they “read” to us. By “read” I mean:
-Find the banana, ball, and kite in the picture
– Slobber all over us
– Discover that dinosaurs do, in fact, look like giraffes
-Sneeze all-out right onto the marble floor
-Count every house as at least four or five houses
-Pee on my leg
Needless to say, I’m pretty sure I now have (at the very least) TB, scabies, and ringworm. All said and done, the initiative is going very well. We have finished the resource library project—the executive director of the clinic walked in while we were making our finishing touches and sighed, “At last, I see some reason in this room.” We are now spending a few hours a day working on organizing their x-ray system, and creating a curriculum for the Teen Club.
My favorite part of the trip so far has been the random moments of hysterical laughter. Last night, Yiwen was the source. We had spent all of dinner discussing our favorite movies with a Somalian guy living at the guest house. We discovered that he was one of only .003% of the world’s population who had seen ALL of the Star Trek episodes. Despite his obsession with Star Trek, and his worn-down World of Warcraft sweater, we ended up having a pleasant conversation. We discussed Batman, Slumdog Millionaire, The Notebook, Rambo, and pretty much every other popular movie we could think of. Just as we were washing the dishes, and the boy was going to sleep, Yiwen looked at me with a look of confusion on her face, and said, “Did Stephen Spielberton really direct Titanic?!”. After laughing hysterically for at least a few minutes, I informed her that, in fact, neither Stephen Spielberton nor Stephen SPIELBERG directed Titanic. It was James Cameron. I will now laugh before every Stephen Spielberg movie that I see for the rest of my life. Thank you, Yiwen.