Healthcare & My Obama Haircut

Well after my last blog entry you know we are running full tilt with CCD, RCIA, Bible Studies and Adoration. Just to make life interesting, this was the 3rd week of the month and our monthly trip to Nassau to meet with clergy for support, prayer and teaching.

I was glad we were going because about a month ago one of my dental caps fell out. I have been sticking it back on whenever it comes loose, but lately that has been pretty often. We have no Dentist on Andros so this was going to be a good thing.

So we get to Nassau, I go to the meeting, Ginni goes to St. Joseph's parish (our home on Nassau thanks to Fr. Martin Gomes, sscc). After the meeting we go get Ginni and I spend the afternoon with her in the Finance Office of the Chancery dealing with all the bills and admin details I am still learning. This woman also arranged my dentist appointment. It was then the tummy began to churn and I got pale. It seems lunch at the Conference Center was not a chicken gumbo and rice but actually conche gumbo and rice. Lately when I eat conche I see it again in about 3 hours. This was to be no exception. What made it interesting however was we had finished with the Finance Office and stopped by to see the Archbishop before we left. Yup - it was in the Archbishop's Office that the conche decided it was time to reappear. I literally apologized, got up and ran - with Ginni sitting there saying 'He hasn't felt too well since lunch'. I made it to a restroom - barely. You know those cartoons where the cartoon character's cheeks are puffed out and he has his hand over his mouth to suppress hurling - that was me! Thank God the restroom was empty.

So we leave the Chancery, go back to St. Joe's where the cook has prepared a wonderful lamb dinner (Ginni said it was delicious).

The next day I am fine and its off to the Dentist which was actually quite good. I didn't know what to expect from Dentists here but while his office was small, it was clean, had all the state of the art equipment, wonderful hygenists and in 20 minutes and $50 later I was all set. What was very providential about this is that when Ginni visited Norwood last month Fr. Culloty gave her a $50 dollar donation a parishioner had asked him to pass on to us. As you can see it really came in handy.

Since we returned from Nassau, Ginni has developed a case of 'pink eye' or conjunctivitis. One eye is brite red, itchy and leaking gross gooey stuff. (Don't ya love it)
So this was our first experience with the local clinic. The Doctor is off island so the nurse saw her and gave her some ointment. Once again the service was wonderful, the clinic was clean, well managed and Ginni thought the care was great. We shall see how well she responds.

This morning I went for my 2nd Bahamian haircut - last time I said the barber here has zero experience cutting a white man's hair and that I looked like a little dutch boy - this time its more the Obama look. Ginni was actually shocked when I walked in the door. All I can say is picture me with a wiffle and a white beard. If we can get Ginni's camera to download a pic we will. Its a haircut to be remembered (or forgotten depending on your perspective).

Enough for now. Please keep us in your prayers.










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How fast can you run?

In my last blog entry I said we have about 30 children in CCD. Well, since we started classes this week we have almost hit 50! School starts here at age 5 and so does CCD. We have 3 churches with children from 5 to 18 and Ginni and I are sticking to putting them into four categories. Pre-1st Communion, First Communion, Confirmation, and those in between First Communion and Confirmation. It should be interesting.

My RCIA background is also going to be put to work. Currently four people have come forward asking about RCIA, one of whom has not been baptized. So once again Tuesday night will once more be my RCIA night.

So, now that we are settled in and have had a few months to get organized our schedule shapes up like this:

Monday afternoon - 330-430 CCD at Christ the King (grades 1-6)
Monday afternoon - 500-600 CCD at Christ the King (grades 7-12)
Teusday afternoon - 330-430 CCD at the AUTEC Navy base
Teusday evening - RCIA
Wednesday afternoon - 330-430 CCD at St. John's (grades 1-6)
Wednesday afternoon - 500-600 CCD at St. John's (grades 7-12)
Thurs evening - Mid-week Bible Study
First Friday's - Holy Hour/Adoration
Then its the weekend - time for our 3 weekend liturgies

Sometime mid-week I hope to write homilies and pay bills (yup, the role of pastor has hit me full force and I have a greater appreciation for all the administrative stuff that Fr. Culloty does behind the scenes at St. Tim's back in Norwood).

As I said in my last post, without any religous ed for 4 years the size of the first communion class is huge. We have 20 of the 50 kids who will recieve First Communion from ages 7-14. Our goal is to try to make this a reality by the feast of the Ascension in May.

One really nice benefit of doing this is that Ginni wanted to use music with the kids and one of the men on the Navy base sold us one of his guitars. Ginni couldn't bring hers due to limitations on luggage but this has proven to be a great asset. One of the women who makes straw baskets weaved a guitar strap for her from the same palms she uses to make baskets. The guitar really is an asset in the CCD classes, especially with the little kids.

Well, time to get back to work. Keep us in your prayers.