In between egotism and humility

Today was my last practical day of training and education with Valerie before she leaves for the US (she has Bible study tomorrow morning, and Wednesday is a holiday here) and it was a good thing I went in again...very educational. We removed another foreign body...a quite stubborn one. I removed the first part, then Valerie went in for the leftovers...and I got to see just how much oomph you can put into it when required. Then we saw a dellen...which was a first for me and quite interesting presentation, and a young girl that had a very interesting prescription (+0.50 - 4.50 for those interested and understanding) I got to practice Goldmann tonometry quite a few times, and feel good generally about the rest of a "normal" exam. There were times I felt really good...and times when I realized my limits quickly. Fortunately in a few of those moments Valerie was also at her limit, we had to refer a few patients to an ophthalmologist we know.

Then I was talking with our two interns in the hallway...Jana who has been here for a few months, and Crystal who is studying to be a doctor. An elderly woman walked by us...immediately stopped and said something like the following; "I wish we had a camera because I need a picture with a handsome guy like you!" She hugged me, I thanked her, and she then blew me a kiss with both hands and said "how very handsome!" Jana speaks Spanish, understood the exchange, and from the first moment recognized what a sweet gesture this was...by almost falling on the floor laughing. Thus the title for today's blog.

And if that was not enough...I was paying some bills at the kid's school and the director of the school seemed to want to ask me something but thought better of it a couple times. I was not really paying attention since I was adding up the bill, but then she finally just said rather quickly "So were you in the army?" I replied negative, but that my father was (as if there was something military looking that passes through the genes, but as a proud son it was all that came to mind) and then she made a comment on how my size was fitting for such a profession. Add to that last week when I was waiting for the kids there and one of their classmates came in the room and said "¡Que gigante!"

And some people say God does not have a sense of humor. I pity how they must view the world.