The trip to Lushoto did not start on the expected date and neither did my body. Our bus driver forgot we were supposed to leave on Saturday and wanted us to wait until Monday to leave. However, we somehow coerced him into leaving on Sunday at ten which of course turned into like two. Times of departure and arrival are definitely more like a loose estimate here. Not only was the bus driver not ready, but neither was my body. I woke up on Sunday under my restricting mosquito net really disoriented. This fogginess turned into a fever, headache, sore body parts, and just weakness. You all know how I am about medication, so I of course refused to take anything thinking that I would see how I felt when we arrived in Lushoto. Well…the trip to Loshoto took a lot longer than expected and we had to spend the night in “The White Parrott Lodge.” So where we were supposed to arrive in Lushoto on Saturday, we finally made it on Monday. But to get back to the sickness situation, when driving up because I felt so bad I just kept drinking water thinking we would stop at some point for a bathroom break. That was definitely wishful thinking. I seriously was dying for about five hours, literally! Finally, when we did stop on the side of the road, I started to use the bathroom and didn’t see all the people walking along the side of the road as Africans do because they walk everywhere, and heard some people laughing. They of course were laughing at me, and I got so embarrassed and ran back to the bus with all the little energy I had in me to hide. I mean…it was obviously too late to be hiding. When we finally made it to the lodge, I had the two moms on the team help me perform a self malaria test. Y’all know how I hate anything to do with sickness, needles, etc., so that was of course an ordeal in itself. Lisa had to prick my finger, put the blood in this contraption, and wait for one or two lines to appear after fifteen minutes. It was all so dramatic. It was negative, which was great, but then the question arises then what is going on. I woke up the next day and felt so much better but then my stomach was not so good. I couldn’t eat anything without it coming straight out or coming up. I was just having a really hard time until today really…five days later.
However, during all this sickness and not eating I have had some amazing experiences. I have had traditional African cooking lessons with some pretty talented mamas cooking with babies on their backs…although explaining to them why I couldn’t eat the food was a little challenging. Y’all have got to try making coconut rice and this omelet with fries cooked in…soooo good! We also went on this five hour breathtaking hike through four villages up to a viewpoint overlooking the Usambara Mountains and all of Lushoto. I am going to eventually upload pictures, because I cannot give the area proper description, but it is like a rainforest in the mountains with clay, red earth. Every plant, view, person, house, animal is picturesque. Mango trees, eucalyptus trees, corn, sugar cane, vegetable gardens, banana trees, coconut trees, goats, chickens, sheep, cows, chameleons, mud and stick houses, and so much more cover the trails and mountain sides. All the Tanzanians we met along our hike were so sweet and welcoming, and I got to practice my Swahili. The little girls gave me flowers to put in my hair, and the boys ran along with us with their home-made plastic bag soccer balls, and wheels they kept going with sticks. One little girl in particular who gave me a flower wanted something in return, so I gave her a piece of candy from a tin I brought from America…but she wanted the whole tin of course, so I gave it to her and told her to share. That was my last food item from home, but I was okay with it. I couldn’t eat them anyway after all the mango I ate for breakfast came out on the hike.
I think I learned these last five days something I have experienced many times…that God is the supplier of all things including health. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it at one point as I sat just thinking about the situation I was in not being able to eat anything, having no water to shower, the electricity being out for the next several days and so forth. There are so many things that I know are blessings such as hot showers, electricity, internet, sleeping without mosquito nets, and being able to eat and have food in general. But…that doesn’t stop me from taking them for granted. God can take away as easily as He gives. It is in these low places that I really discover the foundation of my being. God alone is my sustainer. At home in America, everything is just so comfortable and we don’t really realize we need God…we don’t depend on him as much to sustain our lives. In our weaknesses we find his strength. God wants to be needed, desired, and primary in our lives, and he is not afraid to strip us down until He is all we can depend on for help. It is scary but exciting to think what else he has in store for this year! This week has most definitely been a beautiful, rough patch!
Oh...and Happy 4th of July!!! I cannot believe I am missing all the fireworks!
Love you guys, Katie :)
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