New Year's Eve

Even after 3 years here, it's hard to clearly explain the New Year's Eve traditions.  Maybe the pictures will help.  This is the hospital's version, although you can walk around Shell or any town on New Year's Eve and see even more elaborate examples.  The old year is considered an old man.  It is personified in a straw man that can take on virtually any character.  Here is one from the hospital contest where each hospital department created an old man (the old year) and a widow (his wife after the new year arrives.)

Here is another example from the Maintenance Department of the hospital.  The figure to the left is the old man's (or old year's) soon-to-be widow.  Men dress up as the old year's widow and "beg" money from people driving and walking around.  All in fun.  The man on the right is reading the old year's will, leaving various things to different hospital employees.

Time for the bonfire.  All the figures are added to the pile.  The scrubs were saved.  As Paul commented, there aren't many XL scrubs - no need to burn them!

Arahuno

In early December I was able to go into the "jungle" with several other doctors to do physicals on children in the Compassion International program.  The hospital doctors have been taking turns going to remote jungle communities to do these physicals.  I agreed to help with this one because it was drivable, rather than requiring a flight and thus able to do with only one overnight.  The most difficult part was lining up back-up for Paul with the kids since he was on call the whole time I was gone.  Once that was figured out, it was a fun trip.  However, it was definitely "jungle-lite!"  We went to a community called Arahuno.  About 7 years ago a road was built to their community and since then they have had electricity.  They also have running water, although there was a problem with the pipes while we were there that had the water shut down.  We saw about 160 kids.  Almost all of them were healthy.  The ones that had medical problems that I saw had been seen, often at our hospital in Shell.  Most of these problems seem to be orthopedic injuries.  We also saw a small group of children from a more remote community that the Compassion workers brought to us by truck.  We did all the physicals in the elementary school for the community, named for Edward McCully, one of the five missionaries killed by the Waorani over 50 years ago.