Never a Dull Moment in Africa

When I woke up today, my stomach told me to move cautiously because things were feeling a bit queezy. I decided to get up anyway and make my way to breakfast where I ate my food slowly because I had little appetite. Despite feeling less than optimal, I decided to go along on the safari into the village for another service. As I got in the car and waited for PH to get packed up, I felt something inside me tell me to stay behind. But in all my stubborness, I repressed the voice and went along for the ride anyway. And what a ride it was. As turned off of the secondary road onto a 'tertiary road' as PH calls it, we met many challanges. A road which had once existed had now been dug up and there was no good path in site. Only cattle trails full of trees and stumps could be found. So after making a lot of wrong turns, we decided to retrace our steps and head back for the secondary road. Once we got back, we stopped to ask for directions and soon we were on our way...or so we thought. About 100 meters past our turn off, PH decided there was more wrong than he would like to admit. As I opened my door, there was the rim sitting on the ground. In the heat of the day, we all got out and tried to find all the necessary tools to fix this thing. With children standing around watching as we began to jack up the car, we quickly realized that the adaptor for the jack that would allow us to actually lift the car off the ground was no where to be found. Unfortunately, Luca was not with us because he was off helping some evangalists move up into the mountains. So with only PH, Omega, Josh, and I, there was the question floating around in all of our minds "what do we do now?" As I stood in the hot sun, I quickly became aware of how sick I was feeling. But I was too scared to actually get sick because I feared that the pressure from throwing up would turn out to be a two ended explosion...something I was not prepared to deal with in the middle of the bush. I kept swallowing hard and kept myself together, but felt pretty miserable. With no turning back I decided to suck it up. Luckily, a young man who had worked in a garage heard about our trouble and came to our rescue. Within 15 or 20 minutes, we were on our way.
Once at the village, I couldn't do much but sit. As they served us tea and fried bread, I did my best to drink the tea, but no relief came. I made my way off into the bush but only found myself nearing the home of more villagers. I found a spot where there was no one in sight and picked up a stick to dig a hole (I hadn't yet decided if it was to squat over or burry myself in) but as soon as I picked it up, a young woman came walking towards me to greet me and because I didn't know how to politely tell her I was ill, I just took her hand and followed her back to the church.
One of the Maasai men offered me a natural remedy made from soaking the soft inner tissue of the bark of a tree in water to make a special kind of tea. I had no hesitation in trying it as I knew that I couldn't hardly feel anyworse at that point. The tea worked wonders. It calmed my stomach and I was finally able to relax, so I decided to join everyone for church. I made it all the way up to communion with little problem. But once communion came and I stood up to partake, all my nausea came back in a hurry. So I tried to casually make my way out to the back, forgetting that as one of three white people in the whole village, there was nothing quiet about my escape. I quickly made my way to the bush, but only made it part way there when I just couldn't retain it any longer. Luckily, it only came up and not down too. But when I turned around and looked back, all of the children and adults in the church were standing at the window watching me. I was glad to finally have some relief, and when I returned, everyone was eager to see if I was okay. I assured them that I would be fine.
We stayed to eat afterwards, but I was only able to manage one bite before I felt too sick to take another. So I sat back and patiently waited. Finally we left. And by the grace of God, we made it home without any more obstacles, minus a few baboons in the road, but luckily they're smart enough to get out of the way!
So we are home safe, but I am still feeling a bit sick, so I think I shall make my way to bed to rest. Tomorrow we may go back to the cattle market, which I am very excited about...as long as my stomach finds some relief. I should assure you that it is not malaria. Josh had this same thing two days ago and was tested for malaria but it turned out negative, so I am confident that it is just a stomach bug that will pass quickly. In the mean time, it makes for unforgettable experiences.