One month

I've been at the hospital for a month now, and its been a good month. I've had 3 people get lightheaded on me and have to sit down. I've had one person pass out on me. 2 people have vomited in the bucket I was holding. I've eaten cafeteria chicken strips and curly fries once. I've had 3 people ask me if I am in high school. I've had 5 people point out that my eyes match my scrubs. I have cried zero times at work. It's been a good month.

I had the intention of writing a long post about Sabbath. And how I just recently was given the revelation of what Sabbath truly means, and that man WAS NOT made for the Sabbath, but Sabbath was made for man. But I'm tired now, and I will write it later. I've got work tomorrow, and as you see in the list above, that may involve some heavy lifting, or heavy dry heaving...

It was the best of times....

In the last 9 years since I moved out of my parents house (the first time), I've had 12 different roommates (including my current two). Of those 12, only 2 of them have been bad roommates. I'm not going to give those two any space on my post, but I would love to talk about my current roommates, and why they are keepers.


1. I asked Colleen and Allison if I could move in on a temporary basis only. 9 months later I'm still here and I have thus decided to stay permanently and they've been completely cool with it.

2. I only knew one of my two roommates before I moved in, and Allison was gracious enough to let me move in when she didn't even know me... props to her.

3. A month and a half after I moved in I brought home a 6-week-old boxer puppy, un-housebroken and whiny. 6 months after that, my brother moved in during his furlough from school. They've welcomed both with open arms, both literally (as in the puppy) and figuratively (as in the brother).

4. They've both put up with my unintentional, yet not-so-subtle rudeness.

Exhibit A: One of our first all-inclusive roommate movie viewings was "slumdog millionaire". I apparently talked it up a little too much because it didn't become an all-time favorite by either of the girls. However, in the middle of it, Allison asked me a question about the movie and I (according to her, and she is very truthful), stated, "I don't like to talk during movies" and went back to watching it... ouch! how rude am I? What I meant to say was that I don't like to give away things about the movie plot that will become evident later. Needless to say, I'm still working on my communication skills.

Exhibit B: If you've slept withing 20 feet of my room, you've likely experienced my annoying habit of not hearing my alarm at all. at all, at all, at all. After a couple months of hearing my alarm go off without any response from me {please note that Colleen and I sleep only about 3 feet apart, it's a small room}, her alarm goes off one morning for about 2 seconds, and I wake up long enough to say "Yours". End Scene.

That's just a couple reasons why these girls are definite keepers when it comes to roommates.

________________________

The weather is changing, getting slightly cooler, and its perfect weather to read. Here's two of my recommendations.

The Covenant by James Michener. It's a fictional account of the history of southern Africa. I wanted to visit South Africa before reading this book, but now it's a definite MUST in the next couple of years, specifically Cape Town. Don't let the size of this book and the smallness of the font deter you, it's a great read.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. A classic, and so much better in novel form. I've read this book countless times and I plan to read it again before the year's end. This time I'll try to read all of the book, but secretly I love to skip ahead and just read the parts that involve Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. It's like eating just the icing on a cupcake. The whole thing is good, but the icing is always extra delicious.

Where's Waldo?

Ellie Mae you bring up a great question, where in the world is Emilysandiego? the answer is, where haven't I been? Actually that's not true. I came back from a wonderful trip to Africa and spent about 2.5 weeks finding a job. I'm fortunate to work in a field where there is always a need, so on October 12th, I started working. I'm at a local hospital, working as an acute care therapist. It was not where I wanted to be, but so far its been good. Crazy things happen. I start at 8am, I finish at 430pm, and I don't have to stay late unless I want to work overtime. Yes, overtime, as in I actually get paid for work I do beyond my hours! It's really nice.

Lately, I haven't felt like I've had anything worthwhile to say on here, so I haven't. Here's something worthwhile to say: For the past month a half, I've realized that I'm happy where I'm at, and I'm even happy being single.... AAAhhh! Yes! I said it! I'd like to blame all my past, "woe is me", blog entries about my unhappiness being single on hormones, but I'm not sure that will fly. Nonetheless I'll say it again, I'm happy being single. I can do whatever I want, I can go wherever I want, I answer to no one but God. And that's kind of cool....

my archenemy

Thanks for all the nice comments about my recent change in haircolor. It's lightened a little, and I'm no longer jumping out of surprise every time I look in the mirror.

My archenemy, who showed his ugly face this past spring in Austin, has done so again, only here in Windhoek. I thought I could out run him, well, at least outsmart him changing hemispheres and all, but he found me nonetheless. Cedars, blooming bushes, trees I never knew existed while growing up in dusty West Texas, all have joined forces to keep me down for a week. Allergies. What a puny sounding word to describe something so miserable. I used to (have prayed for forgiveness for this), roll my eyes at people when they said, "I'm sick with allergies". Boo hoo I thought. No big deal. I now have great empathy for them.

I feel like I've been run over by a steam roller. I'm sneezing, runny nose, stuffy head, sinus headache, itchy, sore eyes.... the list goes on. For one week my archenemy, the allergen, has been beating down my door. Allegra has made a small, temporary dent in my symptoms, but no lasting relief. I need something more powerful! Like all the bushes and trees removed from Windhoek!! Too extreme?

My years growing up in West Texas, where nothing grows on its own, did not prepare me for life among the flora and fauna. I lived in a bubble, blissfully sneeze and itching-free. Alas, I shall pay for those years of innocence... or at least buy a life-time prescription to claritin and flonase...

In other news, I was informed that the female missionaries who come to Windhoek are warned that they should carry a condom in their wallet.... WHAT?!? Yes, you read that right. Here's the idea. You can survive a rape, but you can't survive HIV. Sounds harsh, but its a reality. And while it may seem silly to think about shoving a condom in the face of a rapist, its worth asking. A recent study published by the government-funded Medical Research Council of South Africa, found that 1 in 4 South African men admit to committing an act of rape. And with over 15% of Namibia's population infected with HIV, it may not hurt to wave a condom in front of his face....

A little update

My parents and I spent 5 days at a conference center located just outside of Windhoek that had no internet capabilities, therefore I wasn't able to send my weekly update. The conference center is run by an Austrian, now Namibian, with a beer belly and no capability of buttoning his shirt completely. We were there for an annual conference for African Inland Missions of Namibia. There are about 25 missionaries in the country of Namibia that are with the same organization that my parents are here with. Those 25 couples/individuals represent the States, Cananda, Germany, the UK, and Scotland. Within those 25 couples/individuals are 25 children... Missionaries do know how to raise up families! Of those 25 children that we spent 5 days with, 3 little boys were from Scotland, and I was ready to take them all home with me, however their parents were attached to them pretty well. Children with little accents are cute. One little girl, Erin, who has an adorable British accent, started crying because she "can't get my pants over my tubby bottom".

Poverty, no matter what form it is in, is disheartening to see, but so much more in children than adults. While making rounds with my dad at the local hospital, I met a little 10-yr-old boy David. David had been brought to the hospital by his 18-yr-old brother who was desperate for help. David, and his 11 siblings, were left home alone for days on end as their parents went back to the farm where their extended family lives, and David had no food to eat for 5 days. David's parents are part of a particular tribe in Namibia that have no qualms about leaving their children. David also had a fungal infection on his head that left open sores on his head. I met another boy named Vernon. Vernon had idiopathic esinophilia. A disease in which his white blood cells attack his body for no reason. I met Vernon on a Friday and his grandmother was the only family member there. Katatura hospital, where my dad primarily works, is the last resort for children in the country. It is common for children as young 4 years of age to be put on a bus from their local village and will travel alone for hours on end to get to the hopsital for treatment. To Westerners, this may seem appaling, however many parents have children to care for, farms to run, and jobs to continue in order to put a meager amount of food on the table for the remaining children at home. They call it survival. I met Vernon on a Friday, and by Monday he had succomb to the disease. Even in the States, the disease has a greater than 95% fatality rate. My dad has had to become accustomed to 6 or 7 children dying a week. I still think its difficult for him, even though this has been his reality for more than 9 months.

In other news... despite it being the middle of the dry season, there are still bougainvilleae every where, beautiful, and the clumps of them look like velvet. Its pretty common for fires to break out around town in the fields, but all the homes are made of cement, so no one really gets too excited. Maybe the one fire station in town will respond.... maybe not... :)

I have 2 more weeks here, and I hope to spend some one on one time with my parents. Part of their ministry over here is to host people in their small flat. Currently the front door is a sliding glass door, but I really think a revolving door is more appropriate.

American Football season is starting and I'm ready to get back to the states to watch it! We have a lot of cricket, rugby, soccer, and Australian Rules Rugby. If you ever get a chance, check out Australian Rules Rugby. Very cool. Very rough.

That's all for now. Take care. Eat some Mexican food for me. :)

a change would do you good

When I was 18, about one week post high school graduation, I cut all my hair off. Literally, my hair was about 1.5 inches long at its shortest. I was excited to do it and even though I decided to grow it back out a week after I did it, I was glad I tried it.

Today, I did something equally as drastic and I was nervous through a lot of the 3 hours it took to do it... Yes, 3 hours. Things in Africa can sometimes take a little longer than in the states... and let's be honest: I have a lot of hair. As I was sitting in the chair, watching my hair transform before my eyes, I wondered why the change was so much harder 9.5 years later.

Change is a lot harder as we get older. The less change that happens, the harder it is to deal with when it does happen. AND it will happen.

So, changing yourself every now and then, even if its a small change, is good practice for when the big changes happen.

So, here's to change!

african trip

On Tuesday we traveled to the western coast of Namibia to a village called "Swakupmond". it's a German-type community with lots of European influences in both the architecture and lifestyle. On our 5-hour trek through the Namibian mountains (dirt road only, we took the scenic route), we were passed by an SUV with a Texas flag on it. A few kilometers up the road they had pulled over and we stopped to talk. They were two Texans, living in Botswana who were on holiday in Namibia... and one was an Aggie! It is such a small world. (cue theme music).

Today, my dad and I drove 2 hours north along the coast to a small placed called Cape Cross. There are approximately 25 seal communities along the coast of Namibia, and one is at Cape cross. Thousands of seals! It was incredible, and a little stinky. Pictures to come when I have a faster internet connection.

In Africa, there are no such things as soda fountains, and diet coke is called "coke light". you have to ask if you want ice in your glass, and most glasses come with a lemon in it. A "bakki" is a truck.


hmmmm also, I'm realizing I should have brought a buffer for me and my parents.. I forgot what its like to spend 10 days nonstop with them without a buffer... I'm gonna work on that....