Thursday, February 23, 2012
On the corner of MOSQUE and HAYWAGON... February 19th later in the afternoon
It seemed like a perfectly good idea, when Mr. Dargh suggested that it was time for us to take leave from the booth, but as we wandered further and further along, not so much!
As is so typical of American men, and perhaps men everywhere, we absolutely KNEW where we were going, so onward and upward, or actually downward along the alley to more of a main alley, weaving our way throw the maze of shop fronts and homes and yards with goats and chickens and water buffalo and a few cows, too! We proceeded along our unmapped route and passed by a gentleman who was sitting out in front of his house, at a sewing machine, tailoring a pair of pants, he had just made. We stopped by, admired his work and then proceeded further down that alley. After a few minutes, it seemed a good idea to perhaps try to return to where we had left the booth, just in the off chance that someone might actually be out there looking for us!
At one point, we found ourselves at another Polito vaccination booth, and so I decided to stop, introduce ourselves, and inquire as to whether or not anyone had seen Dr. Sanjeev from the WHO. After all, it had been he who had arranged for our transportation from Punhana to Bisru so, of course, they must have known him and perhaps even seen him. NEGATIVE on that one! Linda suggested that perhaps we might try calling someone. I had Diwan's telephone number programmed into my phone, so tried three times to call him and to explain where we were... "we are somewhere near the corner of Mosque and HAYWAGON!" and for some unknown reason, he not only had no idea where we were but then I lost the connection. Soooooo, then Linda suggested we try to contact Gene Hernandez on his mobile phone, so he could pass the word to the others how to find us.
Linda gave me the number, one from the USA, and I dialed. Imagine how surprised I was when a lady answered! I asked to speak to Gene and was told that he was not available. I asked if he was in India and was told he was. At least I had the right family. Then I asked if I was speaking to his wife, Louise and the woman said, "Yes!" I told her who I was and since we had met several months ago, we had a nice chat. However, she seemed somewhat concerned that supposedly we were all together and I had no idea where he was! I reassured her that everything was alright and that we had just been in a different section of the town, and not to worry. I also suggested that she have an enjoyable sleep - since I must valve awakened her, guessing it was about
11:30 at night in California!
We decided to walk back to our original booth area and then retrace our steps. However, in a couple of blocks, we turned and saw some of the rest of the team and walked down to meet them at a different booth. Tis one was also in someone's home and located directly across the street where some young man had brought in the pipes and assembled them into a hand-cranked ferris wheel for kids and he was turning six "baskets" of kids around and around and around, while we all listened to their shrieks of joy and laughter! Just think, if OSHA had been there, the entire town would have been shut down!
In the next several minutes, the remaining members of our teams arrived and we headed back to Punhana and the schoolyard where we met up with the other team members and boarded the buses to travel to our next destination.
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