Downtime

I have slowly lost interest in posting, maybe because we have not gone on any exciting trips lately and maybe because we have more downtime than usual...or maybe because I have truly just lost the interest. I also realize that posting day by day may not be as good of an idea anymore because it restrains me from writing about things that happen outside of simply what we have done. Now that things are becoming more of a routine, the daily entries sound more like repeats. Yet now it is difficult for me to get out of this habit because I am the type that likes consistency within any work I do. So I am just going to stick with this style, maybe.

But don't worry Mom, I will keep posting. I also changed the template back to the Independence Day one just for you.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
When the generator is off, George, Emma, and I need to occupy ourselves somehow in this compound. So Emma usually does her research, George helps Jerome fix the car or the internet or something, and I listen to Emma's iPod and think about home or my time here.

Sometimes we like to act childish. We have gone on silly missions killing the wasps that come into our rooms with either sun-block spray or shoes. Once, George found spiky spider egg sacks growing beneath his door, and we went on another mission transferring those sacks into Emmanuel's room. Except that we squished them...and they did not look like spider eggs. Emma and I concluded that it was probably just fungus, and that the mama spider probably was not as angry as we imagined it to be. Whatever, it was fun.

Coincidentally, right after we destroyed the sacks, Emmanuel and his crew arrived. The generator came on, and I tried to get as much done as I possibly could with him here. But he was not very helpful in giving me information on ANC clinics, which made it very difficult for me to work with him. So I eventually stopped attempting because I did not want to annoy him any further. It was already a hectic day for him...and now I regret pushing him too much. But again, he is leaving for Narus tomorrow.

So in the short amount of time he was here, the pressure of trying to get work done with him really drained me. So Jerome, Emma, George, and I watched the second Triple X (XXX2) movie from a DVD that Jerome got. Let's just say it was one of the worst action movies I have ever seen. Then I went to sleep.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008
But it wasn't a good sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night because my stomach was not feeling too well. My body forced me to vomit, but all I could get out was saliva. There was no food coming out, so I still do not know what made me feel that way.

I tried to rest again, and I eventually fell asleep. I woke up feeling better and just in time for lunch. Again the generator was off, so it was time to occupy ourselves again somehow. I had some battery life left in my computer, and we watched the first X-Men movie. Oh man, I forgot how much I missed that movie. And then George went off to the Bishop's to fix the satellite. Emma and I stayed behind and talked.

The whole day just went by, dinner came, and then before falling asleep, George and I watched X-Men 2. But it cut off right at the climactic scene! So now I am left hanging... Oh well, when I get back to the States, I think I will watch X-Men all over again. (Wanna join, Kevin?)

Thursday, July 10, 2008
Anyways, Father Vuni is coming back this Saturday. I can't wait. There is no one here in the mission right now--no priestly presence. And I really missed him.

We were supposed to go to Keyala today, but it was heavily raining earlier and the transportation did not come for SSRRC. So again, we are just going to continue doing work here in Torit. I think I am going to go ahead and work on this ANC thing without Emmanuel's help. Or at least do some research on it...

Yesterday I was looking up malaria drug combinations (I only read about malaria now), and I came across this site: http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/combinations.htm
Read about the Artesunate + Mephloquine and note the disadvantages. The next time I come to Africa, I am not taking Mephloquine.

But for some good news: Lopez Lomong qualified for the 1500 meter! Sweet! He made it barely, so let's just hope he follows up in Beijing.

-Neesha