No More Mo-Mos for Me

Hello Everyone!

This Thursday will make three weeks in India! Bah. It feels like I have been here so much longer than that. (In a good way.)

Some more things I have learned:
-No matter how long you have been here, you still get winded by the shortest, slowest walks. And the sight of mountains every morning is still breathtaking.
-Monkeys may be cute, but they are also devious. And they aren't friendly. An umbrella or a handfull of rocks will keep them at a comfortable distance.
-Cows, goats, and stray dogs are everywhere. Therefore poop is everywhere. Watch your step.

We have been getting rain more and more frequently now. We had an especially strong thunderstorm Wednesday night. The thunderstorms in Iowa are nothing compared to the thunderstorms here. We'll be having a nice sunny day and then suddenly the sky gets dark and the wind picks up and it will rain hard for 20 or 30 minutes, then stop as suddenly as it started. But the thunder continues long after the rain is done. Monsoon season could start anytime, and when it does, we will be getting rain non-stop for the next three months. Which is fine by me - I love rain. But rain will make camping and hiking a bit more uncomfortable.

We left for our second camping trip on Thursday. We went back to the place we camped at last time. Thursday was simply a travel and set-up day. Friday, most of the team hiked to a village. It took us an hour and a half to get there (on foot). There were lots of kids there. We took a guitar along and stopped in front of one house to sing some songs, both in English and Hindi. Then we split into smaller groups and visited different houses. We gave vegetable seeds to the families we visited. On Saturday, a majority of the team went to a village to help put a roof on a toilet. The toilet is a rectangular stone building with a flat cement roof. It was funded in part by the money we raised to come here. A few of us, myself included, stayed at camp that day and just relaxed. We prepared lunch for everyone, but otherwise sat and visited. With the long hike the day before, I was happy for a free day. We packed up on Sunday morning and got back around 3:00. We were all ready for a shower and some food. Amazing how clean a person feels when you get a shower after four days of going without.

We have been taking turns being sick. It seems that every morning I wake up to learn that someone had been sick during the night or woke up not feeling well. I had been doing a good job avoiding it, but my turn finally came last night. I felt off when I went to bed, and I must have had a slight fever because I woke up quite a bit during the night with body aches and I would sometimes be cold, sometimes hot. I got up around 7:00 and the minute I stood up, I had to go to the bathroom. Diarrhea. Then out of nowhere I developed a massive headache which left me feeling light-headed and nauseous. I took some Tylenol and went back to bed. I did eventually fall asleep and when I woke up I was soaked with sweat and headache-free. I went downstairs and showered and had something to eat, and now I feel fine. One of the guys who was here before we arrived went home today, and we had a going away party for him last night. We made mo-mos, which I have never had. Apparently it is Chinese? Anyway, it was good when I ate it but I'm pretty sure that's what caused all of this.

Tomorrow some of the girls are going to a nearby village (an hour hike away) to visit with the women and maybe have Bible school for the kids. We're going to spend the night there. Otherwise, this is a quiet week. We don't have anything big planned. The people who are sick can use this time to get better and we can all take some time to rest and do some laundry. I think we're planning another camping trip for sometime next week.

Thank you for reading my blog, and leaving comments! I don't have time to respond to them all, but know that I appreciate them and look forward to seeing what you all have to say when I log on to post.

Prayer Requests:
-The health of not only my team but also the rest of the SOSers around the world.
-Safe travels for SOSers who are leaving soon.
-Safety for the girls as we hike to the village tomorrow.

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