days 11 🤢, 12, 13

on saturdays, we traditionally attend church with alex. we love these unbelievably welcoming people. even though we've been there numerous times, they are still overjoyed and so so thankful for the care we are giving to the girls at the rescue center. 

after church. we had invited christine over to spend the day. we met christine when she was a server at itibo. we became fast friends and wanted to cultivate our friendship with her. it was a girl afternoon  🙂. 

how to describe sunday.... hmmmm. scary? mortifying? grateful? surreal?? al] of those, yes.

as i wrote earlier (in an attempt to justify my guilt for flying business class on long flight here ), this is my 16th trip internationally. probably every single time before leaving the u.s., i have a quick thought regarding how it would really stink to get sick abroad. legitimate concern with the real stress that comes with going to a different planet basically...

... and then it happens in POSSIBLY THE MOST EMBARRASSING HOUR OF MY LIFE!!! i truly am not exactly sure what all collided in my body to cause such a violent reaction IN PUBLIC! thank God, He lets me laugh now 😜

saturday afternoon. my stomach didn't feel great so i skipped dinner. sunday morning, i was still questionable, but i am a big believer in not whining about minor health things. suck it up, buttercup. we were going to church where our friend martin is the pastor. we've been several times, so we know how things work... sing 42 songs (exaggerating only slightly), sermons, group photos. and drink bottle of coke and eat white bread. all manageable in spite of feeling meh.

we head to itibo (where we first met martin ... he is bi-vocational as a pastor and a worker of a clean water project) to have lunch with his family and pastor charles. as we are ordering, i start to feel bad b-a-d. like something is happening, and i don't know what. so what do i do? try and hide it.

i start sweating profusely. i put my head down thinking, "jan, get your crap together." well actually i was 😳. i felt kinda like being in a trance maybe. i put my head back down, and lydia realizes something is way not okay. i ask her to come to the bathroom with me. this is where it's a blur. between the table and the bathroom. i start to faint maybe? and poop my entire intestines out!!!! i would have died of embarrassment except i am oblivious to what has happened. until i am not 🫣 i wanna crawl in a hole and die. but with many people trying to help, there is no hiding.

i cannot believe it happened. and it was a super cute thrifted dress. and miriam begs me to let her wash it.... uh, NO!!!! alex drives bella and winnie our nurse over. temperature and blood pressure were good, new clothes put on, and that story goes into the memory books.

sunday night, i drank their go to natural remedies - charcoal made from a certain tree. followed by sugarcane iuice. in the morning, it was porridge made from cassara. sorghum, and millet. winny had gone to hospital for azithromyecin but then we opted not to take it because i couldn't make myself eat. and finally, blessed sleep.

i was thankful to see monday! there was no question, it was a rest day. for some reason, i am so driven to get as much done as i can while i am here. i am wired (or maybe just years of training) to see results. not saying it's a good thing. and it was such a peaceful and beautiful day that i would have missed if sunday wouldn't have happened (i still wish it hadn't 😪)

i stayed in jammies in the apartment all day. stephen came from homabay to see for himself i was fine. we talk for two hours which is pretty normal for us. then george the vet comes up. we talk for an hour. then bella, winny, and lucy come up for the evening. such easy, enjoyable conversations all day long. bella and lydia had been in town all day buying kitchen staples for linety and fabric to make dresses for the girls. they came with only what they were wearing. we had given out the trunk of donated clothes, and they have just been washing them several times a week. winny also went out to thrift each girl a dress and pajamas. going to market to shop for 23 sets of clothing is a workout, trust me! we brought the girls in groups of three. they tried everything on, and you'd have thought it was christmas 🎄 in march. 

(pastor martin and his son felix who is translating)

(pastors martin and pastor charles)

and the roof is almost on the homabay community center ☺️!

(and a truck next door loading sugarcane as it heads to nairobi)

(and nancy modeling the first dress they sewed!)