Woah...that is scary!!

So Friday my friends and I started getting calls from all over the world to see if we were ok. We had no idea what was going on (I love it when this happens, it's not the first time!!) and it actually took us a while to figure out that there were some pretty big riots going on.

So there's riots, no big deal, we just stay inside and 'maintain a low profile', I've gotten to be a master at that. Last night was the first time I saw the news footage of what has been going on around here...those guys with all those swords actually did look a little scary!!!

But, more than likely (haha), the media is making a much bigger deal out of this than it really is...and the fact that not even the locals on the ground here knew what was going on but the international media was present at the riots has caused even the locals to think it was all a big show/media event to take attention off of some of the other major issues going on in the Sandbox. Wouldn't be the first time!

So for all of you who are following the news, it's not that big of a deal and everyone I know and everyone they know, we're all just fine. Life is going on like normal, although who knows what could happen tomorrow!!! Thanks for all your thoughts!!

Goats Can Get That?

All this time I've been worried about this hemorrhaegic (sp?) fever outbreak (similar to ebola, no treatment if you get it) that I forgot to watch out for the other normal but random diseases.

Today I spent my entire morning running around town with a possibly rabid goat trying to determine if I had, in fact, been exposed to rabies. Turns out the goat does not have rabies, although goats can get it, who knew?!?

What did you do today?

Everyday Battles

I think this picture is the best representation I can give you of the place I live in. In every imagineable way, physically, emotionally, mentally and the unmentioned 'other', people here are dry. Anything I throw out there lands in places like this and we all know what happens to seeds after that. Even me and my friends while we are here, we all just feel so dried up.

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling great. Things were going good and I decided that I would go visit my friend Mary. I have this special gift that I still haven't been able to give her and I resolved that I was going to go see her and give her the gift. The very minute that I made the decision I threw up.

Sorry that's kind of gross, but I did. I immediately recognized it for the battle that it was and not just another stomach thing and decided that I was going to press through. So I got dressed, threw up again, and headed out for Mary's.

We had been there only about 5 minutes when some little kids came in and started saying something about our car and the 'neFFis'. I don't know what 'neFFis' means but I know that 'nefs' means 'the same' and we were driving a different car than usual so I thought they were just pointing out that we weren't in the same car. Then a grown man came in, pulled my friend outside and showed him the nail in the tire where the 'neFFis' (air) was coming out.

Since we were in a different car and unsure of the spare tire situation we kind of needed to get back to town quick to avoid being stuck out in the village forever. Mary tried to make us stay and eat the bananas and drink the coke that we'd brought for her family but we really didn't know what we would do if we got stuck out there so we went home. When we got home I barely made it in the gate before I threw up in the front yard. Again, sorry it's gross, but that's life here and at least I didn't do it in the street in front of all the neighbors!!!

But the tire just helped to affirm that the throwing up really was more than just a bug and it's just a small example from this huge battle that we fight in this dry place on a daily basis. I know the present I have for Mary is really special and important but I did not see this battle coming, which makes me think that it will be even more special to her than I imagined.

We are planning to go back one day next week and deliver some more coke and bananas and other things...I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of dreading what will happen that day to keep us from getting there.

Yesterday in My Life

Here's what I did yesterday:

I visited this family and played with this little baby boy...now don't be deceived by the pink blanket (despite the fact that it was 100 degrees) or the pink clothes that you can't see underneath the blanket. The baby is about 3 weeks old and for the first week or so I kept referring to it as 'she'. I think that the mom thought I was just confused on my Arabic and that I knew it was a boy but just didn't know how to talk about it as a boy b/c yesterday she referred to it as a 'he' and I was like 'oh, it's a boy?!?' Good thing she wasn't offended!
Then I played with this little girl...I know, work can just be so hard sometimes!!

I did some other things but no more pictures will load so you'll just have to guess what it was. Now today I'm having some sort of 24 hour bug type thing...at least I hope it only last 24 hours b/c whatever it is it really stinks. Anyways, I sure hope none of the above kids got it.

Although I shake about 100 snotty little hands every day I go out (see friend in above pic) so more than likely I probably got it from one of them. Maybe the Purell hand sanitizer really isn't as good as it's supposed to be...

Glasses

Notice that one of the lenses is missing? This kid spent a good 15 minutes looking around trying to figure out what was different...it was pretty much the cutest thing!

Class Pets

I never realized how much having a class pet in elementary school could affect your life. Looking back, do y'all remember all your class pets or is it just me? I especially remember the 2 praying mantises (sp.?) we had in 2nd grade. They were pretty gross and at recess the boys would take them out and play with them. Over long holidays someone had to take them home but there was this one kid who liked bugs and snakes and so he always volunteered.

Anyways, so life goes on over here and I was recently reminded of how great or just how incredibly horrible class pets can be. It's a good thing my second grade teacher didn't allow us to name our insects. We never voted and decided on one specific name, although what a great way to teach young kids about democracy...maybe that's the underlying issue here...hmmm.

If you've been reading the international news lately you might have heard a story about a class pet around these parts. It's funny. I've been living in the Sandbox for a while now and I've gotten so used to the tension that a lot of times I forget about it. Over time strange things become normal and then they fade into the background of life, until something happens and I'm suddenly reminded of how things are not OK here, this isn't a peaceful country and there are people here who do not like foreigners and are just waiting for a reason.

One of my friend's moms is here this week. We were talking with a local friend and it came up that she teaches at a school in the states that is very close to an airport. The guy we were talking to was totally confused about how they could maintain order in that school, how the kids weren't totally afraid and hiding under their desks every time an airplane passed by. He didn't realize that our country is actually a peaceful place where airplanes don't necessarily mean that the bombs and the bad guys are coming.

He told us his story. He was 12 and going to school in another village when the planes came. They dropped some bombs nearby and all the children ran into the woods to hide. Next the bad guys came, killed everyone they found and burned the village down. He said he and his friends didn't know where they were going, they just ran as fast as they could. Last year, after 24 years, he returned home for the first time and found his family.

Stories like this one not uncommon and my heart breaks every time I hear someone talk about their horrible childhood. The people here have seen and lived through some of the most atrocious things, and yet they are resilient. Somehow they have managed to survive, I don't know how, but they have.

A Few More Pictures

Some more pictures from out in the camp.

This guy has tuberculosis...Every time I leave their house I just pray that the purell hand sanitizer really is that good!

I have no idea who these kids are but I recognize them because they always follow us around. No matter what day it is or what time I go I can count on these kids to be there. You'd think I'd get old to them after a while, I mean, I'm out there all the time. I was hoping that they'd eventually get used to the white girl, but for some strange reason they are still fascinated.

This little girl in the white is my favorite. I don't know her name but she lives near to the place where we leave the car out there. She is always the first to say hello to me and shake my hand. This day she heard the car coming and raced out of her house so that she could wave to us, then she rushed up to greet us when we got out of the car. On another day she wasn't around or for some reason she somehow missed us when we arrived. When we were finished and got back to the car to go home she was sitting on the bumper just waiting for us. She shook my hand and greeted me, let go of my hand and then immediately shook my hand again and told me goodbye...I think it was one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time!

It's Winter Now

Yesterday I was out in the camp and everyone was decked out for winter...sweaters, toboggans, the whole get up. We were having a meeting and I asked if they wanted to meet inside or outside...they said definitely inside because of the 'cold wind'. I did notice that it was a little windy but definitely would not have called it 'cold'.

As I looked around I noticed that everyone was dressed in winter clothes and so I asked them if they were cold and they were like 'yes, the weather changed today. It turned cold.' I didn't really think it was cold, but then again sweat wasn't dripping down my leg like usual so I realized that it actually was cooler than normal...not cold but definitely not as hot.

After that every single local person I met, it didn't matter if I knew them or not, commented on how cold it was and how the weather had changed. Then last night my guard was bundled up and just couldn't believe that I was wearing a tank top in this cold weather.

So I guess it's cold now....definitely not as cold as I remember from last winter, but somehow colder. Woohoo!!!

The Gym

We have a gym here, surprise!! Actually the 'health' fad is slowly catching on...I can count about 8 different gyms in this city of 8 million people. When you think gym, don't think 24 hour fitness or anything...think 3 broken machines in a small, unairconditioned room.

Anyways, I joined one the other day (the best one, it has about 10 machines and maybe 3 are working). It's getting to be winter which means 100 degrees instead of 120 so I won't have to worry about heat exhaustion or anything like that...figured I might as well. Plus they have a track, the only track in this country. It's just rocks, not the special spongey black rocks like y'all have, just plain rocks but it works.

The gym works like this. 3 days a week the gym is open for men and the other 3 days for women and it's open from 3pm-7pm. Since men aren't allowed in on the women's days it means that we can actually be outside and not be the center of unwanted attention...and I actually roll up my t-shirt sleeves and show my shoulders...shocking!!!

Anyways, the point of all of this is to describe my doctor experience. To join the gym you have to have a 'physical'. When I went to her 'office' she recorded my height...apparently I grew a few inches in the last year. Not real sure how that happened since I'm fairly certain most people don't have a growth spurt in their early 20's.

Then she took my weight. I believe her exact words were 'oh, you're still small. You do not need to make exercise.' First off, I'm not that small. Second, if you work at the gym don't you think you should be encouraging people to go there and not trying to talk them out of it?!?!

After that she took my blood pressure. She gets out the thing, puts it around my arm, gets situated with everything, goes to pump it up and, surprise, there's not bubble thing. It's just not there. She looks at me and says 'you're blood pressure is probably fine since you're still small'. Another lady comes in and tells her where another cuff is and she gets that one out. This one has a bubble pump, however it does not have any velcro to hold it to my arm. Still she gets everything all situated and then holds it on my arm while she pumps it up. I just laughed when she wrote 110/70 on my paper and said 'perfect'. The cuff never even got tight on my arm but I have perfect blood pressure. Who knew???

The last thing she did was take my pulse. In the middle of counting her phone rang and she answered it. When she was finished with the call she wrote down a number and then said that I was perfectly healthy and approved to join the gym.

She was a doctor, an actual medical professional. Some people may wonder why we have to leave the country to have even very basic medical care...now y'all know.

Games

I visited some of my friends in the camp yesterday and there were some other women at her house. One of the new ladies (pictured above with 6 week old baby) husbands works as a night guard at a western embassy. She was telling us how excited she was about the Christmas party they would have.

Then she started telling us about this game that they play every year. All in Arabic, of course, so it was pretty entertaining when she tried to explain how they put a spoon in their mouth and then put a lime in it and run to see who can be first without dropping the lime.

I let her fnish the explanation and then told her that we have that same game in America but we use an egg instead of a lime. That just blew her mind. She couldn't fathom why anyone would be foolish enough to put something as valuable as an egg on their spoon and take the chance that they would drop it and not be able to eat it later.

You just never know when you'll be reminded of how much you take for granted and just how wasteful us Americans can be.

This kid is a University of Texas fan, although I doubt he even knows it!!!