I decided that keeping a journal and keeping up with everyone was too time consuming so I decided that I will just write this as if it were a journal, excluding anything that I should not as per OPSEC. Today I was in Roca Fuerte in a community center (larger than the one yesterday) and this time I was with Pediatrics. At first I was doing translation for both doctors, switching back and forth as much as I could. After about an hour another translator came in and I was able to stay with one doctor the entire time.
At first we just went through as many people as we could. After another hour or so I told him that I needed to use the bathroom and grab some water. I also went and found my lunch (We got started a little late so it was about lunch time anyway). I made it clear that it was my intention to simply work as much as possible and eat a little bit at a time between patients so that we could see as many people as possible. I thought for a moment that this might have bothered the commander (the doctor) since he may have been expecting me to ask for a break and then take one himself at the same time. Conversely the other doctor left for about an hour and the line started to back up. That's when things got interesting.
At about 1:00 a sailor came in and said, ''We need the translator.'' I stood up and started walking towards the door. As I moved toward them I asked,
''Why? What's going on?''
''A riot'' I was told. I ran to the door and looked out at the seating area constructed a few feet away from the examination room. The ''riot'' was about seven adults standing up and shouting at each other about who should be in line in front of whom. Some people assumed (correctly) that the line was first-come-first-serve. Others concluded that those with the lowest dossier number (semi-randomly assigned based on type of infermity) should be moved to the front of the line. Furthermore, the nurses had started weighing some children in line to move things faster. By the time they had come back -the scales were all of ten feet away- someone had taken their seats and expected them to go to the end of the line.
I explained the situation to everyone and went back to translation. At the end of the day I overheard the commander telling his superior that we hadn't had a lunch break (I got worried again that this might have upset him). Whether he was or not, he appeared to take my attitude as positive.
''He did well,'' the LTC said still speaking to his commander, ''I hope I get him tomorrow.''
The final tally was 32 children examined by the commander and me, plus the three or four that I did when I was pulling double duty. The commander said his record was 52, but we started 1 1/2 hours late today so I guess we did pretty well. Sorry, no pictures today, we were just really busy.
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