Super Bowl Sunday (by Dan Kraeger)

   

Half of the team gathered in one hotel room to watch the game together.

Hola from Cartagena,

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, 5pm, and I am watching the pre-game in Spanish.  Only problem is I don’t speak Spanish.  As much as I don’t care for Troy Aikman, I would love to be able to here his voice today.  As you’ve probably read, our trip here was pretty uneventful except for my pat down in Chicago.  With my Tim McGraw straw cowboy hat and my white mustache, I guess I looked a lot like a mafia guy, ya right!  Nick Andriacchi and I went through security together and I understood when they pulled Nick aside because he’s not only short, but also he’s Italian.  (sorry Nick!)  They gave us the choice of a private room or out in the open.  Nick took the private room and I chose the latter.  I figured if they were going to get personal, I wanted witnesses.  All I can say is I don’t think he didn’t miss any parts of me; yikes!

My seatmates from Ft. Lauderdale to Cartagena were a couple from Bulgaria.  I thought we were adventurous until I met Debbie and her pastor husband.  They shipped their motorcycle to Cartagena to begin a two-month trip with two other men around South America; staying with Christian families and speaking and witnessing as they went.  I didn’t sleep on that three hour leg of our journey as we had so much to talk about.  It seems that Beth and I now have a place to stay and visit in Bulgaria. 

Last year I had Kinden (second daughter) with me in Guatemala.  The year before, Beth joined me in Costa Rica.  This year not only is Eric MacKay (future son-in-law) with us as an interpreter, he was my interpreter for our first day.   I was very proud of how he did his job yesterday.  There is a big learning curve for doctors to deal with patients who want to tell you every symptom they have had for the past 20 years.  You learn quickly how to politely get to the questions and answers you need to make your diagnosis.  Poor Eric, he was trying to be so patient and kind while I was standing behind him jokingly saying to myself, “Come on Eric, buddy, land the plane already”.  Needless to say we had a great day of serving the people and enjoying some fun times together, well fun for me anyway. J   We saw a pretty good variety of people with arthritis and aches and pains that we treated with exercises and injections to hopefully provide a greater quality of life, even if for a short time.

This morning we split into three groups to attend each of the different churches we are representing here.  A small group of us attended a very traditional Latin American church with a two and half hour service.  It was held at the church and school where our clinic is being held.  We opened the service with an hour of great singing and praising.  With 60 to 70 people in a small concrete walled room, I think we all had a hard time hearing for a little while after.  It was pretty amazing.  Our pastor had an awesome message about serving others.   I was asked to share my testimony at the end with Erin doing the translating.  What a great beginning to our day.  We had lunch with a group of the local physicians and their families, then relaxed and prepared to cheer on the Packers.  Go Pack!   Dan Kraeger