Why hello dear friends and family of mine. It’s been a while since I’ve updated here- so
I just wanted to let you all know I’m alive and well. The last few months have gone by quickly and
have been pretty busy! December was a
quick month since I went on vacation to visit my fabulous dad and step-mom for
the Christmas holiday. Being in a Muslim
country there is NO Christmas spirit and I was a bit overwhelmed at the
Frankfurt airport with all the lights and trees (alright, I admit it- I almost
cried) and then getting to be in a warm house, with a tree, my Italian pets, a
super amazing, warm, soft bed and Christmas cookies was amazing. After a fabulous week and a half of luxury I
went to visit some friends in Spain. I
knew I wanted to go when I heard my old college roomie Colby and his girlfriend
Tara would be visiting but decided it would be fun to make it a surprise. So I filled my friend Karin in on my travel
plans and surprised both Colby and Logan in Barcelona. Another volunteer friend of mine, Jackie,
decided she wanted to spend the New Year with us and we had a blast in Barcelona. The trip was WAY too short but it was so fun
to be around friends from home.
In the last few months I’ve just been working with an
association in another village trying to finalize a grant for a grain storage
renovation. We finally got the money and
all the supplies have been purchased but it’s been too cold and windy to
work. They keep telling me it will only
take a month once they start building but it still makes me nervous since my
time here is running out. So keep your
fingers crossed that it warms up soon and we can get started on that!
I also got terribly sick last month- thank you parasite that
I’ve been living with for the last year but decided to act up now. After almost 9 days of being locked in my
house (aka mud prison), sending multiple children to buy me medicine, amazing
taxi drivers dropping off medicine from the big city and awesome site mates I’m
finally better and have been out and about in the village. It’s so funny how word spreads in the
community- everyone knew I was sick and was worried about me. I’m so lucky to have such awesome people
around me. Everyone wanted to help the
foreigner who lives alone- Jamilas family brought me fresh baked bread every
day, Nzhas family brought me fruit and veggies and everyone sent their god
phrases my way.
I’ve also FINALLY got Lily spayed, vaccinated and purchased
her crate for our trip home. The whole
spaying experience was a bit traumatizing, since I ended up having to leave her
for about a week and a half to ensure she was ok after the surgery and the
stiches could be taken out. But she’s
once again home and back to her happy self.
Since she’s spayed we’ve also been on a few walks and the kids are so
happy to see her again (She wasn’t allowed outside until she got spayed because
of all the stray dogs outside.) It’s amazing how the little children aren’t afraid
of her, will go up and hug her, let her lick them and the parents won’t go near
her because they are too scared.
I was a bit in a ‘want to go home-funk’ after my Italy/Spain
vacation- ready to go home and tired of dealing with the everyday stresses that
our lives here entail. But I’ve recently
realized I have less than 3 months left and I’m really going to miss these
people. So now I’m just trying to enjoy every
day with these amazing people and beautiful place that I am lucky enough to
call home.
