Post-Friday Update

Here’s a much-needed update to the last post I made. Saturday was a much better day than Friday. I spent the day in Kisumu by myself. In America, I don’t need much time by myself and get lonely after a short time, but here I am constantly surrounded by people, speaking another language and interacting in a different culture. Here, I definitely need some time to myself. Saturday, I got to Kisumu early (I was there by 8am – unheard of!) so I had enough time to actually sit down and eat lunch. I went to a place that Jessica had recommended and had cannelloni. It was pretty good. I also ate a very yummy salad that I probably shouldn’t have. I’m not sure if that’s what’s disturbing my stomach now or just being sick, but it sure was tasty at the time. I also had enough time to stop by the house where 3 of the kids from my family live, which I had never had a chance to do before.

By the time I got home, I was absolutely exhausted and ended up not eating much dinner and going to bed early. I felt fluish. Just about everybody in the family already had a bad cold, myself included. So I decided that I would just wake up whenever my body was ready and was still sick the next day, so I didn’t go to church and I didn’t go to the monthly meeting for a group my family’s in. Which means that I missed every meeting since I’ve been here. Every time, I was either sick or out of town. Anyway, it gave me much needed time to rest. I slept most of the morning and didn’t do much else the rest of the day. I read some and listened to 2 of my pastor’s sermons from Detroit. It was rejuvenating spiritually and emotionally. I also talked to my parents on the phone which was really good. I had been feeling a bit lonely and disconnected.

Today, I still was just exhausted, so we worked in the morning and then the girls went home after lunch and I tried to sleep a bit but my mind was too active. I played with the kids a bit and then went to talk to my sister-in-law. Right now, I just feel like curling up on the couch and watching a movie. Maybe in Malawi when we have electricity. I was looking at bootlegged movies in Kisumu on Saturday to see if there was anything good, but I didn’t see anything worth buying or watching.

So, I guess there’s not much exciting to say, just that I’m doing better than I was on Friday. I’m still ready to go home and I’m still anxiously waiting for Dave to arrive, but I’m doing okay. Dave wrote to me this week that even though he was “home,” it didn’t feel like home since I wasn’t there and that he felt like when he came to Kenya he was actually coming home because he was coming home to me. So that really helped me, one, to know that home is relative, and two, to know that if I were to live here along with my family with my own things in my own house, it could be home. I’m still not anxious to live here any time soon just now, but now is not my time to live here yet. The last time I left here, I wasn’t anxious to come back any time soon either, but here I am again.

It’s interesting to see the things that I miss. It revolves a lot around food. I miss all sorts of restaurants, most of which I haven’t been to in a long time. I also miss lots of feelings of certain things and places. I miss a lot of things in Louisville. I miss things in East Lansing too. I feel like I miss things more than people, except my husband, maybe because I’ve been in better contact with people than I was last time I was here. I will definitely be excited to be home again after being gone for 8 months. At least in 2 more weeks, Dave will be here with me.

Well, I’d better go get to work. We didn’t get so much done today, because I was sick, so since I have a little energy right now and nothing to do, I should probably get some work done. There’s a ton to do – it’s like the end of a semester – and every little bit that I do right now, I will appreciate later. It’s a little though with the kids running around, but we don’t have enough lamps right now for me to go work in my room. Anyway, love you all. Thanks for your prayers!
Sarah