Week 4: Tamale

Sunday, May 26th:

The closest LDS branch was hours away, so no church today for Christian and I. I held a mini devotional for myself in my hotel room and read a General Conference talk. It was really good and I think I’ll do a separate blog post about my thoughts on it.

No options for breakfast today, they simply placed a heaping pile of jollof rice and fish salad in front of me and that was that. Dr. Wanye explained that there wasn’t really a difference in “breakfast food” and “dinner food” and I felt like this meal exemplified that nicely.

Before we got started with the surgeries today, Dr. Wanye met with each of the patients from yesterday for their post-op check-up. There were a few minor complications and one guy we had to send back for a bit of corrective surgery, but for the most part the results were greatl! One of the patients came in practically giggling because they were so happy they could see. Tomorrow I’m hoping to get there earlier so that I can watch them take the bandages off because I’ve heard that’s the best part.

A patient that decided to have the other eye done as well

It was almost 1:00 by the time we started surgeries, but luckily we only had 18 today so we didn’t have to go into the night. However, there were a lot more pterygium cases which take significantly longer to complete because it includes a graft and stitches. There was also a case where a woman had a squamous cell carcinoma on her eye!! It was kinda funny to me how exciting it was to watch a surgery that wasn’t cataract or pterygium. I’m still amazed at how quickly Dr. Wanye worked. As soon as he finishes one patient, he slides his stool over a foot or two to the next patient and immediately starts working. We always have two patients in the room at a time so that one can be getting local anesthesia while the other is being operated on.

Selfies in the operating room

I spent some of the time teaching the team American Sign Language and it was super funny to watch them sign out words to each other, letter by letter. We also talked a bit about American politics. It’s both confusing and impressive how knowledgeable everyone here is about the subject. They easily know more than I do, so it’s a hard conversation to keep up. I’m getting good though because pretty much everyone I meet asks me what I think about Trump. We took a break for lunch and, surprise surprise, I was given spicy rice and a fish (head and everything). Dr. Wanye was cracking up as he watched me try to navigate my way around the fins and the head and such. Since I didn’t pay for it though, I can’t really complain.

The head was the best part

The last case we worked on was this little girl named Somaya. At just nine years old, she was the youngest patient we’d had yet. Poor thing was so so scared in the beginning. When the doctor was just beginning and wiping iodine on her eye to clean it, she started sobbing. We decided to bring her mom in to ease some of her nerves. I think everyone felt really invested in this sweet little girl, and we all gathered round to watch the surgery. For the first time that day, it was really quiet in the operating room. When Dr. Wanye finished, we all took a picture together and I was touched by the love you could feel in the room.

Surgery complete!

We spent some time taking pictures with everyone. I’m gonna have to find a way to get the group picture because I’m sure it was adorable. Since we’d had such a late lunch, we stopped on the way home for a FanIce dinner, something I fully support. If for some reason you ever visit Ghana, I’ve decided to rank the FanIce flavors so you’ll know what to get:

1.       Chocolate (reminds me of frozen hot chocolate but a little more icy)

2.       Vanilla (super creamy)

3.       Mango (more ice based than cream)

4.       Strawberry (literally just frozen strawberry yogurt)

5.       Citrus (tastes like frozen tang)

6.       Funky banana (the name says it all)

I really like Foster, our driver, and he and Christian and I spent a while talking about how many languages we know (a short conversation on my end) and I was again inspired to learn more Twi. He also promised to make us a playlist of good songs. Our car rides are filled with a mix of late 2000 / early 2010s hits, country music, and traditional Ghanaian music. It kinda cracks me up how many Ghanaians I’ve talked to that love country music.

Monday, May 27th:

Last day in Nkwanta! We got to the hospital at around 8:30 to begin the post op checkups. To my surprise, we hadn’t missed the part where the patient removes the bandages and unveils the new lens! We went down the line of people in the hallway, removing the eye cups and administering eye drops. In typical reserved Ghanaian fashion, there were no shouts of joy or dancing around, but it was amazing to watch the patients slowly look around them and take in their surroundings as their eyes adjusted to the dim hospital hallway. Vision isn’t perfect after the surgery, but it will steadily improve within the next few days.

Patients waiting in the hallway for their post-op checkup

Learning how to use the slit lamp

Patients waiting to have their bandaged removed

Some of the team 

There was one elderly patient yesterday that underwent the surgery in both eyes. Dr. Wanye examined the man today and explained that since his cataracts were hyper mature, it was likely the man had been blind for a very long time. Dr. Wanye explained to the patient how when this is the case, it takes a while for your brain to learn how to see again. The patient had the same young man with him who had accompanied him yesterday. (That’s why blindness is so difficult; it pulls the younger kids / grandkids away from school or work because they need to be around to help.) Dr. Wanye asked the young man how long the patient had been blind, and we were all surprised when he said he didn’t know. “Oh, he’s been blind for as long as you can remember?” We were even more surprised when the young man replied “No, it’s that I’ve only known him for six months. I’m not a relative.” The young man explained how he’d been helping him and had traveled a long distance to this hospital because he’s heard about the free cataract surgeries. We tried to ask him why his relatives didn’t bring him, but he wasn’t able to answer. I was touched by this man that certainly had other responsibilities but had taken time to care for this man who had been neglected by his family. When the patient was prescribed additional eyedrops (patients receive the surgery and one free bottle of eyedrops. If they need more, then they pay for it), Dr. Wanye offered to cover the cost of the medicine. The more time I spend with Dr. Wanye, the more my respect for him grows. He is one of the most genuine, generous people I’ve ever met.

We’d already packed the car that morning, so we said our goodbyes and headed out. A friend of Dr. Wanye’s had offered to take us out to lunch so we met up at a chop bar. A chop bar is the slang term for a restaurant because to “chop” something basically means to use it up. So you can “chop food” or “chop money”, etc. Anyways. We’re led to this chop bar and as we’re walking, I’m realizing there ‘s no way I would have ever found this place on my own. We were walking in between people’s houses and through yards and suddenly we were there.

On the walk to the chop bar

There was one item on the menu: fufu and meat. As with most places, there are about five meat options: goat, chicken, fish, grasscutter (basically a big rat), and “meat” (usually means beef). However, this place had another option called “bush meat”. I was intrigued by the vagueness and felt compelled to order it. It was nice that I was so hungry because it made the fufu much easier to eat. Fufu is the one that you don’t chew because the texture is essentially bread dough. As for the meat, turns out it was antelope! I was surprised at just how good it was. As I was finishing off the meat, I bit down on something hard. Thinking it was another bone, I took it out of my mouth and put it on my plate. I looked down and saw it was a round metal ball. Ah yes of course, the bullet.  

The infamous meal

I felt sad as we left Nkwanta, mostly because I think it’s the most beautiful area I’ve been in yet. The green mountains that surround the city are gorgeous. I wish pictures could capture it. I also loved that many of the houses here had mud walls and grass roofing, structures that could only be described as huts. People were often in the front, pounding cassava with a long wooden stick to turn it into the powder they use to make fufu. It truly felt like another world.

Hard to tell, but the mountains are green and big and beautiful

We made a stop in another village and dropped off all the surgical equipment because that’s where the next outreach will be. We also dropped off the rest of the team ☹ Christian and I will spend the next few days in Tamale by ourselves because they won’t be done with the outreach before we have to leave to go back to Accra. While we were in the village, we hunted down “wagachee”, a food that my friend had told me to find while I was in the north. It’s basically just fried cheese curds, and yes, it was as good as it sounds.

We got back to the apartment at a reasonable hour that allowed us to watch an episode or two of Taken. We haven’t had wifi in almost a week so I’m feeling very grateful for the flash drive with all the downloaded movies from Elvis.

Tuesday, May 27th:

I was woken up at 4:30 by my churning stomach. I went to the bathroom for a good long while and was sweating from pores I didn’t know I had. It’s hard to pin it on any one thing because it could be that the fufu didn’t sit well with me or maybe it’s that three straight days of spicy rice for every meal isn’t ideal for my digestive health.

I had a little breakfast of sprite and saltine crackers before Raman, the seamstress’ husband, showed up and said the clothes were ready! We walked down the street to his house and tried on the things she’d made. I’d wanted a two-piece shirt / skirt combo and I was excited to see how it turned out. The beginning was rough because the shirt fits me well, so trying to get the base of the shirt (the width of my waste) over my shoulders / chest is a major struggle, even with the zipper in the back. Other than that though, I love how it turned out!! Christian’s shirt was a little small, so the woman worked some magic with a seam ripper and her hand-crank sewing machine and within 15 minutes, she’d added in some fabric to make it the right size. I was amazed at how fast it all came together. We took some pictures and played with their adorable child.

The final product! It's a two-piece shirt and skirt

Making some adjustments to Christian's shirt

Though Foster had wanted to leave at 11:30, we didn’t end up leaving until about 2:00. He asked what we wanted for lunch and I immediately said KFC. We had to stop at the bank first to withdraw some cash and I’ll let you guess how many ATMs we had to go to before we found one that worked. Hint, it was somewhere between five and six. My meal was a steep 41 cedis but I didn’t even care because after so much rice, some American comfort food was exactly what I needed.

Our next stop was the whole reason behind this excursion: snakes. We picked up a friend, Olu, who knew a guy that had in his possession several boa constrictors. We arrived at a house and talked with the friend for a bit. Out front they had this piece of plywood set up as a bench press with a bar that had a cement block attached to either end. I guess when you don’t have a gym, you just make your own.

Foster showing us how it's done

All of a sudden, a couple of the guys started moving these blocks and uncovered a hole that was in the ground. I’ve been told that there aren’t any crocodiles in Ghana besides at the crocodile reserve, but ‘tis not so. There one was, right before my eyes. If Ghana has laws that were enforced, I’m sure this wouldn’t be legal. We had some fun poking it with a stick before we left to go to a friend’s house where the snakes were. Apparently they loan them out for parties and that sort of thing? We end up at this compound looking structure and enter a dimly lit room that’s filled with tapestries, couches, and cigarette smoke. The guy pulls out a cardboard box from underneath his little TV, and suddenly there was a snake in my hands. It all happened so fast. I think that’s when I realized that I’m not the hugest fan of snakes. We went outside and took pictures modeling with the snakes. A couple minutes in, I smell something. While wearing the snake like a necklace, it had pooped and peed on my hair and shirt and was rubbing it in as it curled around my neck. Lovely. I said something about how it had pooped on me, but no one reacted so I just got out a tissue and tried to clean up.

I think this was before I realized it had pooped in my hair

As quickly as they appeared, the snakes were gone and we were back in the car being shuttled to a place that had an even bigger snake. And holy Hannah was this thing big. It started hissing as soon as they started unwrapping the burlap sack it was in and I realized just how sketchy this whole thing was. The guy who owned it never unwrapped his grip on the snake’s neck and I was very grateful. We took some more pictures and even convinced Foster to face his fears and finally touch one of the snakes. They also brought out two medium sized boas and we held those for a while too. All I could think about was how many regulations there are in place for people to own snakes and have a petting zoo of sorts with them in America. Ah well, when in Ghana I suppose.

I got a little scared when it started wrapping itself around my neck

As we were saying goodbye, Olu’s friend’s friend wanted 20 cedis to get home or something. Ah yes. Of course. This was kinda what happened with the “tour guide” at Lake Bosumtwe. I honestly don’t mind paying for experiences like that, but I wish the people would just be upfront about it instead of making me feel pressured into giving them money. I guess I’m just still learning how things work around here.

Foster then took us to one of the local football games! Today was the regional tournament for all the high schools in the area and I was amazed at how many people showed up. There were spectators lining every inch of the perimeter of the field. We watched for a while, then watched some volleyball, then watched some of the track and field sports. The track’s lanes were divided by ruts dug into the ground and just watching people sprint around the track in the heat made me sweat even more. Somehow, Christian was roped into throwing a javelin, so we got to watch him do that too.

Hard to tell, but there was quite the crowd considering it was just a
high school tournament

When we got home, the gatekeeper tried to tell us something about the lights turning off and adding more numbers. This made probably has a 20% comprehension score. After some back and forth, we came to understand that the electricity (like the wifi) must be added on with credit you buy somewhere. Basically the man was saying that the electricity was almost out and that we’d need to add some credit. I can’t believe such a system exists. Why you can’t just use as much electricity as they want and then be charged the next month is beyond me. I have this fear that the electricity will run out at 3 am, stop the AC, and I’ll wake up in a sauna. We’ll have to figure out how to add credit tomorrow.

Even though today was fun, I was stressed by the end. I realized that one of the hardest parts of being here is feeling like I never really know what’s going on. I don’t know where we’re going or what the plan is and explanations made in broken Ghanaian English (if they’re not speaking another language) aren’t super clear. It’s like being in a constant state of confusion and I never feel completely comfortable. This is my first time being in that kind of situation for so long, and I can feel it changing me. I guess it’s about becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. I’m really grateful for the small familiarities I have around me, like KFC, moments of working wifi, and Christian, the only person around with a 100% comprehension score. It gives me a lot of empathy for people who immigrate to other countries, not knowing the language or the culture. Especially since what I’m experiencing is only a small (and temporary) taste of that.

Wednesday, May 29th:

We had an outreach today! I feel like it’s been forever since I tested someone’s visual acuity and I was surprised at how good it felt to be working again. And there were already about 30 people waiting for us when we got there!

In Tamale, most of the people speak Dagbani instead of Twi. This is unfortunate because now I can’t use the 10 words I know. The village we went to today also didn’t speak English. I think they earned a solid 2.5% comprehension score (they’re on the board at all because they understood the word “okay”. None of the clinic staff knew the language very well (if at all) either so it made for lots of hand gestures to help convey meaning. I would try to ask what their name was and after a minute or two of back and forth, they would understand what I was asking. Then the hard part: they’d say their name and I would have no idea how to write it down. I think it was a mixture of the unfamiliarity of the names and the fact that everyone speaks so quietly that made it so difficult. Then I would try to ask them their age. Once they realized what I was asking, they would usually hold up two, three, or four fingers. It took me a good long while to figure out that that meant twenty, thirty, or forty years. I guess counting your age by the decade is just easier? I feel like this situation could have very easily been frustrating, but for some reason it was hilarious. All the women and I were cracking up as we tried to talk to each other and had no idea what was going on. Maybe it wasn’t frustrating because I wasn’t alone in my confusion.  I was really grateful that everyone was so patient with me.

A little bit chaotic today

I was definitely the only woman that didn’t have my hair covered. I have so much respect for these women who wear so much clothing in this heat. They are truly dedicated to their religion. Many of the people (both male and female) wore dark kohl around their eyes on their upper and lower lash lines. I’m not sure if that’s because of their religion or because of their culture, but it was strangely beautiful. Some also had scars on each cheek. Christian said it was a tribal cutting performed when they were young, but I don’t know much about it other than that.

Funny moments:

-          I saw two little girls off to the side staring at me, so I went over to say hello. The older one ran away and the younger one started screaming bloody murder and sobbing. All the women were laughing so hard because it was clear they were so afraid of me and my white skin.

-          A man came up to me and said that he loved me and wanted to marry me because I was looking very beautiful. I lied and said I had a boyfriend. He made a compelling case when he explained that he wasn’t going to be my boyfriend (because boyfriends are dirty?), he was going to be my husband.

-          When school got out, the largest group of school kids I’ve ever seen descended on Christian and I. It was like the flood gates had opened. All the kids wanted to do was touch my hands / arms, so I had dozens of hands reaching out trying to rub me. I’m trying to find a not sacrilegious way to say that’s how Jesus must have felt when people were trying to feel the nail prints in his hands. It was hilarious.

More than any other outreach thus far, there was quite a bit of nudity. Kids ran around naked, playing and sitting in the dirt. I cringed every time I saw a kid scooting in the dirt with their bare bottom. There’s no way that’s comfortable. Women were also very casual in their breastfeeding. Some even did it during the eye exam I was giving them.

Some of the school kids

We were supposed to finish up at 12:30 so that we could leave on time for Mole National Park, but we ended up having a lot of people and didn’t finish until 1:30. After several stops for water, food for the team, dropping people off, and picking up fish for Foster’s cat, it was clear we weren’t going to make the evening safari that started at 3:30 because it was a two hour drive to the park. Christian and I were discussing the concept of “elastic time” that’s so prevalent here and he presented an excellent theory: “People just have a list of things they want to get done that day, but there’s no real planning involved. If it gets done, great. If not, there’s tomorrow.”

We spent our evening at the viewpoint by the hotel, watching the sunset and the few animals we could see. Already we’ve seen numerous bush pigs (warthogs), baboons, and antelope. We ordered a margarita pizza for dinner while Foster went off to find himself some Fufu. When he came back, we forced him to try the pizza because he’d never had it before. It’s easy to say he was not a fan. He couldn’t finish the little baby piece we gave him.

Christian and our beautiful pizza

Couldn't even finish his tiny piece

The view from the hotel

Thursday, May 30th:

Since I’d reserved a shared room, my roommate was a Ghanaian woman named Mavis. I should have seen this coming, but she turned off the AC when she went to bed after me. I woke up so sweaty and didn’t want to passive-aggressively turn the AC back on the middle of the night, so I just laid there for a while and eventually fell back asleep. But still. What in the world?? I cannot imagine PREFERRING to sleep in a sweltering hot room.

After acquiring an armed guard (hereon referred to as Protector), we left for the morning safari at 7:00. For a two-hour drive, it was 20 cedis (about $5), so not a bad deal at all. After a little 15-minute drive, Protector had us pull the car over and we got out and started hiking. I didn’t know if he was planning to take us to a viewpoint or what, but when we heard the tell-tale trumpet of elephant close by, I realized what the goal was. We hiked up a hill and suddenly, there was an elephant. Now I knew logically that elephants were big. Obviously. But my jaw just about dropped when we saw the first one. And then Protector had the audacity to tell us that this elephant was a young one and wasn’t fully grown. His legs were taller than I was.

One of the elephants

Protector leading the way

After we got our fill of observing, we hopped back in the car. We pulled over and hiked a couple more times, looking for more elephants. The last elephant we saw was standing by a watering hole and pulling off leaves to eat from a nearby tree and there were yellow butterflies flying around. It was so picturesque. Over the course of the drive, Protector entertained us with facts about the animals and the history of the park. We also learned to identify the different types of antelope, saw tons of monkeys (mostly baboons), and observed various birds and butterflies.

We came back just in time to catch the complimentary breakfast before we packed up our stuff and drove back to Tamale. I finished my book on the way back and now I don’t know what to do with myself. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read, perhaps because I’m dealing so closely with the topic of the book. It’s called Second Suns by David Relin and it tells the story of the two men who are trailblazing the way to modern eyecare in developing nations, especially in the context of cataract surgeries. 10/10 recommend.

We spent the rest of the evening watching Taken and it felt so good to do nothing. Even better, I had watermelon and pineapple for dinner. Christian has been sick for the past few weeks, but the last two days or so have been pretty bad. I think he’s gonna wait till Saturday when we get back to Accra to go to a doctor. Hope he can last till then.

Friday, May 31st:

I didn’t sleep well last night and it’s safe to say Christian didn’t either. I won’t go into detail about the things he described about his digestive system. When there’s only one person here who can comprehend everything you say, you end up telling them just about everything. When I saw the state he was in this morning, I ever-so-lovingly suggested / insisted he go to the clinic today instead of waiting till tomorrow. He agreed.

I walked into my room and found Christian like this

After dropping Christian off at the hospital, the rest of the team and I went on outreach. I think this was the first time I’ve ever been without another volunteer. When we arrived, I was standing under the tree with everyone else as we set up benches for the patients when suddenly a group of women raised their voices and gestured at me urgently. Dr. Simon explained that the mound of dirt behind me was a grave and that I had been close to stepping on it. I don’t think they could have chosen a more random place for a burial, but I made sure to avoid that spot for the rest of the outreach.

My attempt to sneak a picture of the grave

The mud huts

As we were about to start screening, we were suddenly ushered to one of the huts, the only one painted a bright yellow. As I walked in, I could see skins lying on the ground all around the room. Employing the technique that’s gotten me this far, I copied what everyone else around me was doing and took off my shoes and kneeled on a deep blue rug in front of this very old man. He sat on a cement bed of sorts and spoke to us in a language I didn’t understand. Suddenly, everyone stood up and put their shoes back on so I did too. Dr. Simon explained that that was the chief of the village and that it was customary to bow before him before we started because we are visitors.

With that taken care of, we all took our places and began screening. There were only about 50 patients today, so we finished quickly. It also gave me time to try to talk to the kids. The only phrase I’ve learned in Dogbani is “What is your name?”, so I made good use of it and tried to learn all the kids’ names. They were all very shy and I could hardly hear their responses, but I was excited that at least they weren’t running away from me.

There was one 15-year-old girl that had one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen tied to her back. That’s how all the women carry their babies here, and it’s even cuter when it’s a little girl does it. I haven’t seen a single woman walking around with a baby in her arms. And it makes total sense! Your hands are free and the child is secure. And bonus, it’s freaking adorable, especially when the babies are passed out and their cheeks smoosh against the mom’s back. UGH. I have no idea why we don’t do this in the U.S. I’m gonna learn how to tie the wrap and bring one home for when I have a child someday.

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Our next task was to buy my ticket from Tamale to Accra for tomorrow. We went to the airline's office and found out that all the flights for the next day were full. Whoops. Definitely should have done that sooner. Luckily they found a flight for Sunday that had some openings, so close enough. I pulled out my card to pay and the lady told me they only take cash. Of course they only take cash. And since I wasn’t carrying around 900 cedis in my purse, we had to go to the bank, sift through the broken ATMs to find the one working one, and come back to the office. I paid the fee and we went on our way.

Back at the eye center, we dropped off the rest of the team and picked up Christian who had gotten a ride home from the hospital. Goods news: not malaria. Bad news: since they weren’t sure exactly what it was, they told to just take some antibiotics. Luckily I’d brought some azithromycin from home (thanks Dad) and they said that should do it.

We spent the rest of the day out on the town and though way more exciting than just sitting at home, it was exhausting. We started by going to the Cultural Center which I mistakenly thought would be some sort of museum. Really it was just a cool place to get souvenirs. Not complaining though, because there were some beautiful things there. It took everything in me to not buy every piece of art I saw. There were also all sorts of bags, dresses, masks, drums, carvings, and knives and I had the chance to practice my bargaining skills. I left with a full bag of goodies and somehow Christian only left with a little elephant carving.

One of many rooms filled with art

We ran some miscellaneous errands which included lost of walking on the crowded sidewalks. I think the hardest part is walking past the meat tables. The meat gives off a strong smell as it roasts in the hot sun and I can’t help but wonder how more people don’t die from food poisoning. By the end, we all needed a FanIce. We all got two. I also found a place three days ago that sells Coke Zero (I’ve already made myself a regular there) so I stocked up and bought three.

As per usual, we watched some Taken when we got home. We were happily interrupted when Rahman and his wife stopped by to give Christian the rest of the shirts she’d made! They were all so sick. Almost made me wish I’d bought more fabric to order another dress. They also brought their adorable child again. The baby is always wearing these necklaces with a little satchel attached. I asked Rahman what they were, and he explained how Muslims can recite verses from the Quran to protect themselves from evil spirits. Since a baby can’t recite them, you can write the scriptures down and put them in a necklace as a sort of talisman to keep you safe. I had no idea such a thing existed but that’s pretty sweet.

Saturday, June 1st:

I’m getting used to the Muslim’s call to prayer waking me up at 4:30 every morning. I can’t even be annoyed because I’m impressed at the dedication these people have to worship this early. What I can be annoyed at though is the bird that sits outside my window and does the same call for hours every morning. I was so close to going outside this morning to find it and stone it. That bird was lucky I was too tired.

I spent the morning doing homework and getting bit by mosquitos. A few have found their way into my room somehow and they have made their presence known. When Foster came by to pick us up for lunch, he saw a few of the mosquitos and ran around trying to clap them between his hands. He actually killed a fair amount of them! There was one he killed and there was blood allll over his hands. My blood. Actually seeing how much they took from me made me even more annoyed at them.

Christian wanted KFC for lunch and I couldn’t have agreed more. We both got fries and chicken strips and it may have been the best KFC I’ve ever had. We ran some other miscellaneous errands before getting back to the guest house. We have a TV in the living room but when we told the staff it didn’t work, they knew exactly what to do: get onto the roof and hit the dish a few times. Literally. And it worked. We happily watched the original Spiderman as I worked on homework.

Our glorious lunch

Tonight was the Champions League Final, so Christian and I went searching for a place to watch it. We ended up with a group of people on the side of the road. It was such an experience to watch the game with people who were so passionate about it. I hopped on the Liverpool bandwagon and made them my team. There was a lot of banter (both friendly and otherwise) between opposing teams and when Liverpool scored the winning goal, men jumped to their feet and ran around yelling. There were probably 25 men altogether by the end because people would drive by on their moto, see the screen, and slow to a stop. It was awesome. 

The watch party

We packed up our stuff when we got home and watched the second half of Evan Almighty on the now-working TV. I also enjoyed the Coke Zero I’d put in the freezer because it had little ice chunks in it. Ideal night.