LJ Idol Week 8: "A Traveling Travesty"
(Readers: A detailed take on a subject addressed last week. Sorry not to post a brand-new adventure this week.)
Do's and Don'ts for Medical Translators in the Brazilian Amazon
Do kiss your wife and daughter good bye before showing up at the airport at 4 AM for the arrival of your North American charges.
Don’t step close to an Americana you have never met, stare into her brown eyes-exactly at your height-and tell her you have missed her.
Do note she’s newly married to the kind Americano doctor you have long admired.
Don’t note, when she shows up alone one year, that her husband has stayed home to take a medical board exam.
Do help hang the Americanos’ hammocks, graciously assisting even the men.
Don’t hang your hammock as close to the brown-eyed Americana’s as a dog curls up to its mistress.
Do entertain the brigade by playing your guitar by ear and singing in six languages.
Don’t serenade the brown-eyed Americana with love songs.
Do read every medical reference you borrow from the Americana.
Don’t watch her type notes on her tiny laptop by leaning into her body.
Do tirelessly, brilliantly explain medical terms to the jungle people in clinic and jungle slang to the doctors.
Don’t love the Americana's courage as she stumbles along in Portuguese in her crowded field pharmacy.
Do chat with the Americana at lights-out because she is so sad, missing her kind husband.
Don’t brush aside the mosquito netting to hold her hand.
Do listen sincerely when she reminds you about North American body boundaries.
Don’t ignore this reminder by pulling her into your hammock.
Do try to make sense of the anguish in her eyes.
Don’t kiss her.
Do brush the tears from her cheeks after you kiss her.
Don’t try to pull her back into your hammock when she climbs out.
Do note the dark circles under her eyes the next day.
Don’t pressure her when she insists she felt nothing but sorrow when you kissed her.
Do try to believe her when she agrees not to tell her husband.
Don’t imagine her in bed telling him about you; nor he, in his kindness, embracing her.
Do trust that, for the sake of the medical brigade, she will not report your behavior, which would get you fired.
Don’t feel surprised several months later, when, after much soul-searching, she does and you are.
Do's and Don'ts for Medical Translators in the Brazilian Amazon
Do kiss your wife and daughter good bye before showing up at the airport at 4 AM for the arrival of your North American charges.
Don’t step close to an Americana you have never met, stare into her brown eyes-exactly at your height-and tell her you have missed her.
Do note she’s newly married to the kind Americano doctor you have long admired.
Don’t note, when she shows up alone one year, that her husband has stayed home to take a medical board exam.
Do help hang the Americanos’ hammocks, graciously assisting even the men.
Don’t hang your hammock as close to the brown-eyed Americana’s as a dog curls up to its mistress.
Do entertain the brigade by playing your guitar by ear and singing in six languages.
Don’t serenade the brown-eyed Americana with love songs.
Do read every medical reference you borrow from the Americana.
Don’t watch her type notes on her tiny laptop by leaning into her body.
Do tirelessly, brilliantly explain medical terms to the jungle people in clinic and jungle slang to the doctors.
Don’t love the Americana's courage as she stumbles along in Portuguese in her crowded field pharmacy.
Do chat with the Americana at lights-out because she is so sad, missing her kind husband.
Don’t brush aside the mosquito netting to hold her hand.
Do listen sincerely when she reminds you about North American body boundaries.
Don’t ignore this reminder by pulling her into your hammock.
Do try to make sense of the anguish in her eyes.
Don’t kiss her.
Do brush the tears from her cheeks after you kiss her.
Don’t try to pull her back into your hammock when she climbs out.
Do note the dark circles under her eyes the next day.
Don’t pressure her when she insists she felt nothing but sorrow when you kissed her.
Do try to believe her when she agrees not to tell her husband.
Don’t imagine her in bed telling him about you; nor he, in his kindness, embracing her.
Do trust that, for the sake of the medical brigade, she will not report your behavior, which would get you fired.
Don’t feel surprised several months later, when, after much soul-searching, she does and you are.