What an amazing morning...some how i had enough energy to get up early this morning and go running with Tara. She's another American here who is not with our team but she stays at our house sometimes and lives nearby. I felt so refreshed waking up and getting exercise. And then an amazing thing happened--the shower worked, and it was HOT!!! such a glorious feeling. I must say the best thing about not having other MSTs around the house is that the water lasts for a lot longer. another huge luxury is that i rode home in a mercedes last night. yes, for real. victor has a friend who's a chauffeur for a big company. hence the car. this guy met us for tea and then gave us a ride home. very nice.
I took Melody to therapy today, and I got to actually watch all of her session this time. Usually there are to many people there, so i wait outside. but it was good for me to see what they have her do. i don't know too much about kids with CP, so i definitely learned a lot today. it's really hard to watch her struggle. even crawling across a mat is so hard for her. i try to draw and color with her whenever i go b/c it helps with her coordination and motor skills. being with her really made me grateful that i can walk. it's such a simple thing that's so huge in my life, but i don't even think about it. i can't imagine what melody's aunt goes through as she carries her around all the time. i carried her part of the time today, and she is so heavy. even just getting into a matatu is a struggle. and to think that her aunt does this all the time. i'm not sure what will happen as she gets bigger b/c right now she isn't really capable of walking at all. sam made this really good analogy about a girl in his neighborhood. she is crippled and someone is always helping her around. he said when he sees these 2 together it reminds him of how our heavenly father is walking along side of us, constantly helping us. very cool analogy i thought. there are so many crippled people here everywhere, by the way. so much more than at home. i always see people walking on the side of their foot--somehow their feet are deformed. and there's all sorts of people who can't stand up and are in this hunched position moving around. it's really sad. i don't know if it's lack of modern medicine that causes these things to persist or just birth defects?
the ants go marching one by one...okay not ants actually, but cockroaches. they are everywhere in the kitchen of our house. i know that sounds really gross but it's not really even bothering me. they don't look like our cockroaches, so i thought they were just some other bug. but i see them crawling across the counter, up the wall, one day out of my laundry too. i hope this doesn't make you absolutely disgusted of where i'm staying. b/c actually our house is really nice for kenyan standards. but i want to give you a better picture of what i'm experiencing.
we have a new house girl now, which is good since amie is due to have her baby in october. the girl's name is everlyn. i think she is absolutely scared to death. wouldn't you be if you went to live with strangers and had to cook for them and take care of their kid and please them? that's a lot of pressure. she doesn't speak much english, so communication has been slim. baraka has somehow become obsessed with throwing balls at people's heads and the t.v. i was trying to distract him, so i made him balance it on his head. good going amy...the next thing i knew he was trying to balance a glass cup. whoops!
someone asked about where i go to type emails. there's a cyber cafe around the corner from the house. or right now i'm at the office. sometimes i go to a place near the office. or we have a wireless modem thing that we can even take to the house and use. although there is usually a forever long line of people wanting to use it at the house.
i'm going to mombassa, the coast tomorrow night, until sunday morning. so i'll be away for a bit. i'm excited to soak up some sun and experience the indian ocean!
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