After brushing his teeth on Saturday night one of Bob's lower front teeth broke off right at the gum line. It was one that had had a root canal just before we left home. His teeth had given us a lot of concern just before we left--part of several little things we started to worry they might keep us from serving this mission. But everything got taken care of and we came with confidence.
As we were discussing what should be done about the tooth and considering the idea even that he would have to go home to get it fixed, he came up with the idea of braces to give the support to the other teeth. He thought to call Jim Nelson and just ask the question. Well Bro Nelson being the man he is said "I am having dinner in an hour with my sons, a dentist and an orthodontist, I will call you in an hour." And he did. And what he told us was the beginning of the miracle. Paul, the orthodontist, graduated from dental school or his orthodontic school at the University of Washington and he had a classmate who was from Jamaica. Her name is Anna Law. He apparently has been in contact with her lately because he had her address and phone number here in Kingston!
We were out today with our GPS looking for the hearing aid person and decided to find the orthodontist, Dr Law's office as well, as we had called a couple of times and never got any return calls. (Turned out we gave them the wrong number.) Anyway they took him in right then and took some xrays and discussed what should happen. Bob called our dentist at home and he will email the xrays he took before we left home. Yes, I said email xrays! That amazes me. We go in tomorrow for more xrays and a mold to be made. Then we need to get the tooth stump extracted and get the braces by next week. To others this may not seem like much but to me it is a miracle.
This is Dr Anna Law with Bob. She is not only a very efficient and knowledgeable Orthodontist, but a lovely woman.
This is Dr Law's office.
Dr Law's sign out on the street gives a small idea of the type of neighborhood her office is located in--very different from home. It is gated for one thing and you have to be buzzed in the front door which is kept locked.
Here are a couple other things I thought some may be interested in. This is Sister Brown--the secretary to Pres Brown but not related. I asked her about her hair and asked to take some pictures. She has had it like this for about 3 years. It was done with a tool similar to a crochet hook the hair is not just braided or twisted it is woven together in strands. It does not come out with washing but it does have to be repaired every few months. She referred to it as "locks" and I always thought it was like Goldie Locks but I think it refers to the way the strands are locked together. She said she is ready for a change but has not decided whether to go to the trouble of having it taken out or to cut it off which many do. They literally spend hours getting their hair done. They will do their children's hair while they are asleep because it takes so long--and that is just braids and twists--not this locking style. (The majority of the men wear their hair very short--almost shaved.)
Sister Brown explained that it used to be that only the Rastafarians wore their hair in locks because of their religion but she said now it is not a religious thing but rather the style. There are still lots of Rastafarians here who wear their hair in locks but mostly it is contained in a Tam or some kind of hat.
Finally, I took some more pictures from our apartment sort of pointing all directions. We have discovered on the 4th floor of our building there is a large patio that gives us a nice place to do our walking without worrying about getting hit by a car. But from the 5th (top) floor you can actually see the water. (We really are on an island you know!) I will have to wait for a more clear day to get a good picture of the water. Because of the water and the mountains we do have a few clouds and haze here most days.
This picture is taken towards the south east of the island and that is where the ocean is out on the right side of this picture.
Something else really beautiful here--I can't resist a picture of a beautiful flower.
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