Sick Car

The entrance to the Academisch Ziekenhuis

Last Thursday the skies were blue, the sun was hot, and a baby was on the way. Of course as a pastoral couple my husband and I had to visit our church member that was due to deliver at any moment. She was in Academisch Ziekenhuis. We arrived at 4:00 p.m. There were practically no cars outside. We figured it was because of the holiday. The woman at the gate wouldn't let us go through. She told us to come back at 5:00 p.m. We found out the hard way that visiting hours are daily from 10:30-11:30 a.m. and 5:00-6:00 p.m. If you want to visit someone out of these hours you will not be permitted to do so unless you buy a pass for 11 SRDs that allows you to visit outside of the visiting hours for only one hour. We'll come back!

When we came back it was raining so hard. The parking lots were all more than full. We got wet, but it didn't matter. The visit was really nice. We cracked some jokes, listened for any concerns, prayed, and were on our way. Upon reaching the car we noticed that the headlights were left on. (Uh-oh!) Tried to start the car and the battery was...dead. Realizing our jumper cables were not in the car we called a colleague.

After making the call I realized that there was a man in the car next to us. Of course I had to muster up some dutch, but I definitely mixed it with some sranantongo. I said, "Mi battri dede! Kunt u help me? Yu habi jumper cables?" He said, "mi no habi!" Finally, someone pulled over to help us and the car started. We were on our way. The car is still sick though. It is in need of a new battery. Hope things get better. It's ironic that the car got sick in front of the hospital though!

Caring the car to wellness...