A TON OF BRICKS

Well since I was here on Saturday things have been a bit difficult. Saturday was quite uneventful. Our dinner though is still leaving its mark on me today. Our main course was rice with vegetables but it was cold. Since refrigeration is not huge here I am sure it had been sitting around but I never gave it a thought. That night I was up sick all night ( I will spare you the details) I did have a slight fever and got no sleep. I had been looking forward to going to church on Sunday but around four in the morning put a note on the door that I was sick and would not be getting up. (so happy I brought tape with me) I did get about four hours of sleep before I was startled awake by a screaming three year old. Oh well. Sarah and Louise were at church, Mirjam (correct spelling) was out and Maria was doing her laundry. I went to ask Tolli for some bread (our normal breakfast) but it was all gone. She offered me a chocolate covered donut and my stomach jumped. I went out onto the porch to read. I was excited because our afternoon plan was to go to the Hilton to swim and take hot showers. I was going to skip the swimming and just pay to shower. Sarah and Louise got home much later than expected so they decided not to go. I had been crying off and on all morning. I think it all hit me like a ton of bricks. The things that happen here to a foreigner would get people in the states in trouble. Imagine everywhere you go you are called foreigner, people are begging at every turn, taxi's pull over hoping you will get inside. The smells are almost indescribable it is spicy mixed with diesel and some other things I cannot pinpoint and probably do not want to. We have been without water for so many days and on Sunday we had no electric. I could not take a shower at home ( we were not going to Hilton) because all of the water was gone from laundry. I was so overwhelmed I just wept. For those of you who know me this is not normal. I cried more yesterday than I probably do in a year. Sarah and Louise had me in there room for a while and then we moved to my room for a couple of hours to chat and encourage each other, they really are lovely. For dinner I had a very small amount of plain pasta and two bananas (my third of the day) Just before dinner they had a coffee ceremony. Let me tell you on a good day it nauseates me. They close everything up to trap the smoke so have a weak stomach made it terrible. The good news is my mom phoned during this time so I did not have to be in there for most of it!!! Thanks mom, she prayed for me which really helped a lot. The other thing that also added to this was the conditions of the care home and how changes can be made. I am praying that when Sami gets back he will be open to some ideas. I went to bed just after nine and slept all night. I decided not to go in today when my breakfast did not stay inside, the thought of being on a shared taxi did not interest me today. I called Bikeseyn (from Projects Abroad) and he offered to take me to the hospital (he always does even if you have runny nose) it made me laugh. I am doing much better today in terms of my spirits being lifted, I think it was just all to much with my stomach and all of the newness. I really thought about coming home and even calculated how much it would cost to stay in a hotel for the remainder of my time, but today things look better.

This morning I took a shower (we have running water, I sure love the sound of a flushing toilet) and because I had not showered for two days (remember I could not yesterday) the water that came off of me was grey, I have never had that happen, it kind of grossed me out. I also did laundry for the first time. To do laundry you fill one bucket with water walk across the yard to the bigger bucket and keep doing this until this bigger bucket is full enough. You then fill first bucket one more time for rinsing. You then hand wash everything and yes this water was also grey and then hang it on the line. So bummed my clothes pins were one of the things that did not fit in my suitcase. Once I finish this I am heading to the grocery store to get some crackers - yum!!!

Thank you to all of you who have e mailed me, I will try to come back at the weekend and answer some I just do not have a lot of time today and wanted to update this way for today.