It's crazy that starting now, everything I do will be my "last_____". Today was Ashley and I's last Sunday here. I was feeling a lot better when I woke up this morning, which is completely a gift from God.... let me tell ya, the past day and a half was preeeeeetty rough! But about 80% of my symptoms are gone (well, they WERE gone.... more on that later...).
So I woke up with the decision..... do I walk 40 minutes in the African sun and attend a 3 hour church service (which would be incredible, don't get me wrong! I was just semi-unsure of what I could handle health-wise at this point) OR do I just stay in bed and catch up on some extra rest. But for some reason, I decided that the risk for church would be worth it.
And it was absolutely worth it.
I went with 3 other girls and one of the mama's- Mama Carolynn- who was the one who invited us to her church. It was a baptist church, and it was spectacular. Well, relative to the other churches around it was. When we first got there, we started women's bible study for about an hour. And it was great. The women that led it spoke great english, and you could tell that they truly loved the Lord. We went over Romans 12. After the bible study, we walked over to the chapel nextdoor for the main service. People were SO welcoming and loving to us- mzungus. (I feel like I might've already told you this, because it's so common here and I hear it tons of times every day, but the word Mzungu (muh-zoon-goo) means "white skin", and it's what all the white people here are called.)
All of them were so excited to come and shake our hands, hug us, and tell us that they loved us and to "Praise God" that we were worshiping with them. In the middle of the service- which was actually a sermon about Father's day!- the pastor had us all stand up and introduce ourselves, telling where we're from, what church we attend at home, and why we're here. Haha it was a little intense, but sweet that they cared.
After church they invited us to stay for a big potluck (Sounds more methodist than baptist, doesn't it? :D ) that some of the mothers and children had made in honor of Father's Day. But knowing that my stomach was questionable, as was the food, I told them thanks, but no thanks, and explained that I had been sick. And WOW did I get the biggest guilt trip of my life. Haha! Emily, a girl I walked back with while Ashley and Annelise stayed, told me that "There's nothing worse than an African guilt trip. NOTHING." Oh man. I felt so awful leaving early, but I knew it was the smart decision.
After we were home, I was soooo exhausted. But luckily Sunday's are our actual day off, so I just zonked out on the couch with the other girls, and Grace popped in a season of Friends. Exactly what I needed :)
After relaxing, it was about 4:00... 8:00am at home! So of course, being Father's day, I called Dad on Skype and got to talk to him and Mom for a bit. Again, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Sorry I'm not there to celebrate with you... but trust me... this year you'll be getting the most exotic Dad's Day gifts yet! :D Get excited.
We just got back from Siouxanne's, she invited us over "for donuts"...?
Not knowing what to expect, some of us headed over there- about 2 minutes down the road. And we literally MADE donuts! It was really cool. Except.... since I was feeling so well earlier, I decided to try a couple, thinking my stomach could handle them.... Haha and needless to say, my tummy clearly is still not ready for foods other than toast and rice. Like I said earlier in my entry about being robbed: Live and learn, right?
Ohhhhh man. Well we'll see what tomorrow's health holds (or doesn't hold).
Tomorrow is our last monitor session, monitoring Baby C. As usual, my shift will be 6am-noon. So that should be okay, since technically I'll be able to "rest", since we're not supposed to have interaction with the kids while monitoring, just observing and writing things down.
Well, we just popped in Princess Diaries, so I really HAVE to go. For those of you that haven't seen this.... you probably don't understand. Haha I'll fill you in tomorrow with more.
Thanks for checking this today, and I pray that everything's great where you are.
God heals!
Love,
Linds
** P.S.- I added some pictures of our living quarters, because I know at least a few of you were curious.
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