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Diane's DiaryMay 23 Sunday I had a hangover the entire day today. I usually stop at 1 or 2 drinks so don't have that much to drink. I was so sick I didn't even go to play dominoes and I love to do that every week. So, I read the weekend paper, did some finances and other than that didn't do too much as I really wasn't feeling too well. May 24 Monday At 9am we went to take a lab test for Larry. Afterwards, we walked around Lecheria for a while having breakfast (Larry couldn't eat before the test), looking at the marine store, and then walked over to Plaza Mayor. Larry used the Internet; we bought some DVD's, and had lunch. May 25 Tuesday I got a bad night's sleep last night as I kept looking at the alarm clock. I had to be up before 6am and I was afraid the alarm clock would not go off. I left at 6:20am for the Fundamigos volunteer day. I volunteered for the 7-12 shift and they asked me to work in the post-op room. It was extremely interesting and I really enjoyed the volunteer experience. The entire hospital was a complete culture shock- everything was extremely primitive and behind the times. Patients need to even bring their own bed linens and I'm sure their own food! They allowed us to watch what was going on in the OR and it was just fascinating. I didn't do much in post OP as the surgeries were all behind schedule so we didn't get a lot of patients. We got picked up in the AM but needed to get our own transportation back. I went off my diet as they just wasn't anything to eat that was on my diet. I really enjoyed the experience and would definitely do it again. The only problem is both Larry and I need some lab tests in the next several days so I don't know if I can volunteer again. Fundamigos is only scheduled for the next 3 days. Both our lab tests need to be done in the AM before we have eaten anything. I got back to Destiny in the early afternoon. May 26 Wednesday I left the boat at 8:30am to go for a lab test. I didn't get out of the Women's Clinic until after 10am so I took a cab to Plaza Mayor to do some shopping. Larry went with Charlie Alpha to buy some plywood- he had to pay a lot to get a taxi that had a roof rack to haul back the plywood. He also had to buy the entire sheet of plywood, as they don't sell it in small pieces. Anyway, I had lunch, got a manicure, batido, and went to the pharmacy and supermarket. I got back to the boat late in the afternoon. May 27 Thursday We left at 9am to pick up Larry's test results and go to the Doctor. His PSA was 11 and the normal range is up to 4 so something is definitely wrong. I was not that upset as another cruiser said they also got very high-test results from that lab. So, we had them rerun the test and went to the Doctor's office to tell them what happened. We saw the doctor and he didn't even change us for the visit. The lab test will be ready this afternoon so we'll go back to the doctor than. When we got back to the boat, I updated my logs before we left for the Doctor's office this afternoon. We went back to the doctor at 4pm in a terrible rainstorm. However, the test result is still too high and we suspect it's the lab so we will have the test done again at another lab. The doctor gave Larry a medication and told him to get the test done in another week. So, we still don't know anything yet. We will be sure not to recommend this lab to anyone. May 28 Friday Those people's signatures listed on the "planas" voting for the recall referendum as invalid had to resign their signature over the next several days. With the potential for violence, we have decided to lay low and not go anywhere the next several days. ONSA, the VE volunteer organization that keeps track of any violence in the waters, was here today. Their representative spent about 3 hours from 10-1pm speaking with us today. There was a large cruiser turnout. But basically, ONSA stated cruisers are "on their own" on the water and should not plan for any help from the Guardia or anyone if the need should arrive. We should not rely on getting any response over VHF channel 16 so that was very upsetting. In the US, the Coast Guard always responds to VHF channel 16 so it was distressing to hear the local government does not help out. It actually comes as no surprise to any of us though, the boating population is certainly not very important to the government down here. The rise of boating violence has increased also. However, ONSA is at least trying to help out and bring the acts of piracy here to the world's attention. The government has denied any violence but ONSA has been able to prove otherwise. The representative also told us he has been threatened extensively for doing what he does! May 29 Saturday Today was a rainy day the entire day. I took a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. We borrowed a new DVD movie "Troy" from Sylvester and watched it tonight. It was touted as being a great movie but while it was OK to watch for free, I didn't think it was that great. We did enjoy watching it though. We have a new kitten in the marina- less than 1 month old and looks like our Cinnamon. We also have a dog that just gave birth to 12 puppies living outside themarina gates. It's amazing how many homeless cats and dogs there are here. Here in VE, there is no neutering program for animals so the reproduction rate is ridiculous. Many animals get absolutely no vet care at all and all have some type of infections. Anyway, I would like to keep the kitten but Larry does not want too. It would be nice to have another cat again but Larry said this one is probably sick and he probably is correct. I guess we'll just wait to get back to the US before we get one. I made a pressure cooker dish of chicken and olives but it did not come out as good as the last time. I suspect it's because the chicken was not too good and won't buy it from Unicasa anymore. I think the chicken there is refrozen so it's not very tasty at all. May 30 Sunday Another rainy day! I am getting cabin fever as I am getting sick of all this rain! I made some bacon and cheese omelets for breakfast and we just had a nice quiet day. I did go play the usual Sunday afternoon dominoes though. May 31 Monday I hand washed all the slipcovers this morning, as they were absolutely filthy. I did not want to clean them while Elias was working on the interior varnish, as I knew they would stay dirty. I got them all washed and drying on the clothesline until the rain started and washed them again. Oh well, another rinse certainly won't hurt them. In the PM while it was raining, I worked on my financials and the logs. I am way behind back in April so need to catch up. I didn't do any logs when we were home so now I have to catch up. I always record what I spend in a notebook and what we did every day so it's easy to recreate the days in my logs. June 1 Tuesday I was waiting a few hours to exchange money this morning, as the moneychanger was late - again! The USD has really taken a beating and is down to 2800 from a high of 3300. They say this is all due to Chavez and the referendum. Inflation is something like 40% so it's actually costing us a lot more than the last time. Oh, well as Larry keeps saying - it's a lot cheaper than the US. Jaime took a US check so I was able to keep some of our USD on hand. Larry continued working on the windlass and it looks like it's going to be a slow project. And of course, it rained in the afternoon. I never noticed how much a difference the rainy and dry season was until we came back to PLC this time and spent 6 months here. Although people up north could probably not tell the difference between the two other than the rain, I really notice the big increase in humidity. June 2 Wednesday I got my picture taken for the Caribbean Compass this morning along with everyone who volunteered for Fundamigos. An article will appear in the August issue. At 9:30am, I went with a group of ladies- Promesa, Moonrise and Happy Hours to Makro. We had so many groceries between the four of us that we had to hire a pickup truck to take us back. Unfortunately, there was only room for 2 of us inside the pickup so another lady and I sat in the back. Larry went over to Auto Boat Center to pick up more boat supplies. June 3 Thursday At 8:30 am I left for the GYN Doctor along with S/V Sylvester. We all finished around 11am and then went over to Plaza Mayor to do some shopping. A decision on whether a referendum will take place is supposed to take place by the end of tomorrow so we all wanted to get a little extra food on hand in case there is any violence and we can't leave the marina. Late this afternoon a decision about the referendum was reached - there WILL be a referendum in August. That's great to hear and we are happy about it. I wonder what this will do to the exchange rate now? There was some violence in Caracas today but almost no problems here in PLC. Basically the locals are very calm people and political violence is not in there nature. Hope everything goes OK for this but hopefully, we will be out sailing by then! June 4 Friday We left the boat at 8:30am to go to Larry's doctor. We had an appointment for 9am but the Doctor didn't show up until 10am. The test results are a little high and are increasing upward. He said he felt a biopsy was not necessary at this time but the condition did warrant observation. He said a biopsy is an invasive procedure, has complications, is painful and he does not like to do it unless it's necessary. We both like this attitude. He wants Larry to stay on the medication and come back in November or December for more lab tests. IF the lab results are still increasing at that time, than he will do a biopsy. Sounds good to us. If we go back to the US right now and have a biopsy, this will all be a preexisting condition and probably won't be covered under insurance so it's better for us to get all these things done in VE while things are so cheap. Besides we have no medical insurance in the US right now and we know a biopsy is not cheap. We can get the test done in Bonaire, but it will probably be too expensive. BTW, the doctor didn't even charge us for this visit - very nice guy and we like him a lot. We walked over to Plaza Mayor after the doctor and we bought the latest movie just out in the US - "The Day after Tomorrow". We bought the DVD copy for 10,000 B - about $3 USD and the same cost as if we went to the movies to see it. This way we own it and can trade it. Anyway, we got back to the boat around 11:30 and I went over to Sylvester to swap some DVD's. We had a very minor wind reversal here and I was glad we were both at the boat as Destiny hit the dock. No damage to the boat but Larry had to shorten all the lines. We didn't have much wind with the reversal, which definitely helped matters. If we had more, I am sure we would have done damage to the boat. We did have a lot of rain and naturally lost the electric for a few hours. We watched the DVD "Day after tomorrow" this evening. There were some very good special effects but a very preposterous story. We enjoyed watching the movie anyway. |