So I definitely did not get enough sleep last night & while they gave us an extra hour & we didn’t need to meet until 7:15 for the team mtg I was TIRED!!!! They will cook you scrambled eggs for breakfast otherwise it is a lot of brad & some Moroccan food – neither of which is my ideal option…but after 2 mornings of eggs I could feel my cholesterol rise LOL so I opted for the one protein bar I had in my backpack.
We got to screening & there were much fewer patients waiting but we did screen just over 100 more today. I got the text that my luggage was in the Agadir airport which is about 45 minutes away. About 10 or so I was able to have one of the Op Smile Van drivers take me to the airport & Hedde the OSI Volunteer Manager from Sweden went with me – we had a great conversation the whole way there & I was glad she came😊 At the airport we had to enter thru the departure area & go thru the initial security – I’m not sure if there was a 2nd one??? Then we went to arrivals & this older police man needed to see my “missing luggage report” and my passport and he logged my name in by hand in Arabic in a giant book> he then told me I could go to the lost luggage stand but Hedde would not – we both had our Operation Smile nametags on & she told him it was a rule we had to go together & he didn’t say too much & let her go with me. The man at the stand was the same one the night my luggage was lost – I don’t think he remembered me & he also took my paper & looked on the computer & seemed puzzled at which time I just had to ask “is my luggage here?” He said Yes Yes in there & pointed to a closet. Then his key to the closet didn’t work…so he called someone else who came about 15 min later & opened the door & there were about 10 bags in there!!! In the midst of all of this many stories have surfaced & apparently “on line” people say that Royal Air Maroc has a bad record of baggage handling…I have to say I never check that on airlines???? As we were rolling my luggage away a man in a suit came up to give me my form & seemed to want to tell me all the work he did to communicate with me via text & get my luggage back. I pulled up the 2 texts & asked if that was him & said thanks….he seemed to be proud of 2 texts in 3 days. Also my hard case luggage was cracked & of course he blamed it on anther airline but I didn’t even care. Then to leave I had to give my form & my passport to another person at immigration & run my bag thru the xray machine. This police officer also wrote all of my info our by hand in a large log book, while another one looked on & they had me sign that I got my luggage. If that is part of their system for lost luggage it is even more of a miracle I got my bag back!
Hedde suggested that screening was slow let’s go by the hotel where I was able to quickly shower with my own toiletries & put on my own clean clothes…I was a HAPPY GIRL! We got back to the hospital just after noon & than did 2 more hours of screening. Today there were more school age children but with so many Priority #1’s (Primary Cleft Lip) & Priority #2’s (Primary Cleft Palates , 8 years) they have decided not to do palates over the age of 8 unless it is a small fistula. The most positive impact of the surgeries is on the younger children as it impacts their ability to eat & talk. There was a brand new Cleft lip baby only 12 days old & she is too little for surgery (our minimum age for safety is 6 months) so that was a little heartbreaking but Cathy the Speech & Feeding specialist made appointments with that mom for Mon-Fri of surgery week to help her with feeding techniques which made us all feel better.
When we got back to the hotel I was giddy excited just to fully unpack my bag & get myself organized for the week. I am a creature of habit & like to unpack everything & get my daily backpack stuff set aside to take to the hospital, set up my snacks etc. I had all the “mission normalcy & my stuff “ that I needed to feel a little piece of home in my hotel room (which is VERY basic – the shower head is fallng out of the wall & there is not a door on the shower just 3 walls? But that kind of stuff is normal & Ok.
About 3:30 some of us went to the Souk Market…honestly it was like a swap meet & there were basically over 100 booth areas all of which fell into 6 types: shoes, western clothes, Argean oil products, traditional caftan type clothes, leather products & your basic souvenirs. There was a big area of foods as well. The shoe & bag places also had luggage so I bought a large carry on for $25 thinking that perhaps I can condense my stuff & just go carry on & leave the cracked luggage with OSI Morocco for whatever they can use it for. We weren’t up for going out to dinner so Chris, Hedde & I got bread, cheese & avacados at the market & ate that on their patio – it was PERFECT. I was quite ready to get back to my room & in my own jammies by 8:30, write this blog post & I know I will be in bed by 10. With such a large team there were 2 options for the “team day” one was going to a crocodile farm – which I opted to pass on & the other will take us to Paradise Valley – not sure what that is but it will be fun & then at 5 we have our BIG pre surgery meeting & dinner which I am sure will be 3-4 hours.
Clearly the highlight of my day was getting my luggage – I am so blessed! And so grateful for the prayers & positive thoughts.
PS Again I didn’t walk to the lobby to post this last night – after all I was in my comfy jammies. Had a GREAT night sleep from 9:30-7 & feel rejuvenated & ready to take on the week. Plus I woke up to 10 play by play texts & quarterly updates from Jennie on the BYU vs USU game & COUGARS WON & brought home the Wagon Wheel – WOO HOO (& sorry Doug). So soon we will head to Paradise Valley – we are told there is no water this year in “paradise” so we will see what this adventure brings us…it’s out last hurrah before surgeries start :)
So I definitely did not get enough sleep last night & while they gave us an extra hour & we didn’t need to meet until 7:15 for the team mtg I was TIRED!!!! They will cook you scrambled eggs for breakfast otherwise it is a lot of brad & some Moroccan food – neither of which is my ideal option…but after 2 mornings of eggs I could feel my cholesterol rise LOL so I opted for the one protein bar I had in my backpack.
We got to screening & there were much fewer patients waiting but we did screen just over 100 more today. I got the text that my luggage was in the Agadir airport which is about 45 minutes away. About 10 or so I was able to have one of the Op Smile Van drivers take me to the airport & Hedde the OSI Volunteer Manager from Sweden went with me – we had a great conversation the whole way there & I was glad she came😊 At the airport we had to enter thru the departure area & go thru the initial security – I’m not sure if there was a 2nd one??? Then we went to arrivals & this older police man needed to see my “missing luggage report” and my passport and he logged my name in by hand in Arabic in a giant book> he then told me I could go to the lost luggage stand but Hedde would not – we both had our Operation Smile nametags on & she told him it was a rule we had to go together & he didn’t say too much & let her go with me. The man at the stand was the same one the night my luggage was lost – I don’t think he remembered me & he also took my paper & looked on the computer & seemed puzzled at which time I just had to ask “is my luggage here?” He said Yes Yes in there & pointed to a closet. Then his key to the closet didn’t work…so he called someone else who came about 15 min later & opened the door & there were about 10 bags in there!!! In the midst of all of this many stories have surfaced & apparently “on line” people say that Royal Air Maroc has a bad record of baggage handling…I have to say I never check that on airlines???? As we were rolling my luggage away a man in a suit came up to give me my form & seemed to want to tell me all the work he did to communicate with me via text & get my luggage back. I pulled up the 2 texts & asked if that was him & said thanks….he seemed to be proud of 2 texts in 3 days. Also my hard case luggage was cracked & of course he blamed it on anther airline but I didn’t even care. Then to leave I had to give my form & my passport to another person at immigration & run my bag thru the xray machine. This police officer also wrote all of my info our by hand in a large log book, while another one looked on & they had me sign that I got my luggage. If that is part of their system for lost luggage it is even more of a miracle I got my bag back!
Hedde suggested that screening was slow let’s go by the hotel where I was able to quickly shower with my own toiletries & put on my own clean clothes…I was a HAPPY GIRL! We got back to the hospital just after noon & than did 2 more hours of screening. Today there were more school age children but with so many Priority #1’s (Primary Cleft Lip) & Priority #2’s (Primary Cleft Palates , 8 years) they have decided not to do palates over the age of 8 unless it is a small fistula. The most positive impact of the surgeries is on the younger children as it impacts their ability to eat & talk. There was a brand new Cleft lip baby only 12 days old & she is too little for surgery (our minimum age for safety is 6 months) so that was a little heartbreaking but Cathy the Speech & Feeding specialist made appointments with that mom for Mon-Fri of surgery week to help her with feeding techniques which made us all feel better.
When we got back to the hotel I was giddy excited just to fully unpack my bag & get myself organized for the week. I am a creature of habit & like to unpack everything & get my daily backpack stuff set aside to take to the hospital, set up my snacks etc. I had all the “mission normalcy & my stuff “ that I needed to feel a little piece of home in my hotel room (which is VERY basic – the shower head is fallng out of the wall & there is not a door on the shower just 3 walls? But that kind of stuff is normal & Ok.
About 3:30 some of us went to the Souk Market…honestly it was like a swap meet & there were basically over 100 booth areas all of which fell into 6 types: shoes, western clothes, Argean oil products, traditional caftan type clothes, leather products & your basic souvenirs. There was a big area of foods as well. The shoe & bag places also had luggage so I bought a large carry on for $25 thinking that perhaps I can condense my stuff & just go carry on & leave the cracked luggage with OSI Morocco for whatever they can use it for. We weren’t up for going out to dinner so Chris, Hedde & I got bread, cheese & avacados at the market & ate that on their patio – it was PERFECT. I was quite ready to get back to my room & in my own jammies by 8:30, write this blog post & I know I will be in bed by 10. With such a large team there were 2 options for the “team day” one was going to a crocodile farm – which I opted to pass on & the other will take us to Paradise Valley – not sure what that is but it will be fun & then at 5 we have our BIG pre surgery meeting & dinner which I am sure will be 3-4 hours.
Clearly the highlight of my day was getting my luggage – I am so blessed! And so grateful for the prayers & positive thoughts.
PS Again I didn’t walk to the lobby to post this last night – after all I was in my comfy jammies. Had a GREAT night sleep from 9:30-7 & feel rejuvenated & ready to take on the week. Plus I woke up to 10 play by play texts & quarterly updates from Jennie on the BYU vs USU game & COUGARS WON & brought home the Wagon Wheel – WOO HOO (& sorry Doug). So soon we will head to Paradise Valley – we are told there is no water this year in “paradise” so we will see what this adventure brings us…it’s out last hurrah before surgeries start :)
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