How are all of you doing? I hope that this finds you well. Here, they would say ngororo (nn-go-roe-roe) meaning 'it's just like that'. It's what you say when there's nothing really going on. Of course in all of life there's really never a time when there is NOTHING going on, but of course we all say that when there is nothing exciting going on. :-) So how are things here you ask? It's just the every day ins and outs of living in a foreign culture.
Olive
I have a new houseguest. An adorable but absolutely rotten kitten. :-) McKenzie rescued her from the village.
When she found her she had her whiskers burned off, a huge sore on her leg and the same skinny le
gs and pot belly that the undernourished all have. I am proud to say that after a few months of TLC and proper food that her whiskers have grown back and she looks like a normal kitten now! Being a kitten means she loves biting and scratching both Shelley and I. She is very playful! Her favorite game is to bat at our legs as we walk down the hallway. Normally this is fine since it's winter and we wear pants around the house. However, Shelley wears a skirt as her uniform for work and has to carefully watch her hose clad legs from the claws of the little monster! She is really cute and has an odd brown/grey and white coloring with bright green-yellow eyes that really sparkle with mischievousness. Though she is rotten I have had a lot of joy having her!
Anna's gone and I'm blue :-(
Last weekend I went on another vacation. Yes, again!!! Anna's last request before she left was to go on safari and see elephants one last time, so we went! Daryl, Sabrina, Anna and I went for 2 nights to Etosha then went to Windhoek to see her off. It was an amazing safari and we saw an incredible number of animals on our first day! 23 elephants, 13 lions, 1 black rhino, a half eaten carcass with the lioness just on the other side of the road chasing away the vultures and as we were entering our camping place we came across a leopard! All of that in one day! We were extremely blessed! Our time in Windhoek was nice as well. We actually went to the movies! (We saw the new Batman movie! I enjoyed it but think I missed out on a lot since I never saw Batman Begins...) We also had two windows in our car broken and some bags taken. Mostly it was Anna's last minute souvenirs that she had purchased that day! OUCH! It was while we were having dinner so they didn't get our handbags or anything of vital importance like passports or bank cards. No camping gear or cameras, laptops.... nothing like that, though Daryl was sad that his Swiss Army knife was in the bag of snacks that was taken.. It was incredibly inconvenient to have to get the windows replaced, but we were so lucky that it wasn't worse! The day that we sent Anna off we had to get the windows replaced so it shortened our time with her that morning. Thankfully we were able to see her again a bit later. Though I enjoyed spending time with her it was really hard because I had to say goodbye a second time! I have received word from her that she arrived safely at home. I look forward to the time that I am no longer the one being left behind!!!
The Mystery Rash- caution, contains gross details
I think it's quite disgusting and not at all exciting, but for the last 5 1/2 weeks or so I have suffered from a mystery rash. Due to Olive, at first I thought it was a case of ringworm and for the first 3 days I treated it as a fungal infection. However it was getting worse, not improving, so I finally went to the doctors here at the hospital. No one could figure it out. The rash started on my neck and traveled up to my cheeks, making it look a bit like razor burn (though I don't shave). Then it spread to my arms, hands and legs. I was frantic in my care for it. A different pillow case each night, only wearing my clothes for 12 hrs at a time (then washing them in HOT water), using a different towel each day, using my African wraps as sheets so I could use a different one each night.... I was washing my hands each time I even thought that I had accidentally touched one of the sores or anywhere near one... It was awful! For the most part they looked just like a cold sore, kind of bubbly looking. But then the ones on my arms started oozing a nasty clear yellow substance. This lasted for almost a week and a half!!! YUCK!! That was definitely the worst part! The ones on my face and neck cleared after about 9 days on their own, which was a huge blessing. The ones on my arms and legs still haven't cleared up though! We had a visiting doctor from the UK who was passing through Rundu and he looked at it for me. He decided it was a folliculitis (infection in the hair follicles) with staphylococcus, a type of bacteria. He put me on some antibiotics, but they didn't do anything. At this point, the majority of the sores have cleared up. However I still have two on my left arm that are intermittently continuing to ooze and several more that haven't disappeared yet. I went to a homeopathic doctor in Windhoek to see if she could figure out what it is, but she was also stumped! She just gave me some echinacea to improve my immune system. So far they all look the same. The two on my arm have started coming up with these yellow pimple looking things, which, when squeezed they ooze nasty thick yellow pus which then turns back to the clear yellow that they had in the beginning. No one else is grossed out by them but I think that it is absolutely disgusting! I have some pictures of it, if anyone is interested in seeing the grossness I wouldn't mind sending them along! :-)
Annual Conference
Next week we will be going down to Greiter's Conference Center near Windhoek. This time for our annual AIM conference where all the AIM missionaries gather for a time of fellowship and spiritual retreat. It is always nice to see old friends and to meet the new people who work in other areas of the country. There are going to be several new people that I haven't had the chance to meet so I am excited about it! We will be gone August 20-27th and I don't think I will have email access during that time. Most of our time gone will be at the conference, but we do have another day in Windhoek before hand. (I am hoping to go to the movies again! How exciting would that be?! Two movies in one month!!!!)
My Car
Owning a used vehicle isn't always the easiest thing here. Especially when it breaks down and you live in the middle of no-where Africa and can't get the parts you need!!! At first it was "3 days" then that came and went with another promise of "3 days"... I have been strung along with these continued 3 day promises for 3 weeks now!!! The mechanic is a South African (Africaner) man who is very nice that Rob became friends with. He really tries to take care of us missionaries but it's not always possible since he can't control the availability of parts for our foreign vehicles! I really enjoy having my vehicle but it can be such a pain! Though it has less people room than Rob's vehicle (which Daryl & Sabrina are renting from him while he's gone) it has a lot more luggage room which we really need for 5 of us traveling for a week including camping gear to make our stay there cheaper.... Please pray that it will be ready by the time we leave next Wednesday! The shock has been busted for a long time. Since I had them replaced when I bought the car it is supposed to just be a replacement part. We have been waiting for the shop to replace it for many, many months now. In the meantime the roads here are so bad that the shock finally busted through the top... isn't that fun? I am waiting for the shock as well as that top part. In addition it somehow also managed to mess up the gear box seal when all this happened and so the rubber seal has to be replaced as well... EKES!
I love you all and miss you!
kimmie
Praises:
- Anna made it home safely
- Work is going well
- I am exciting about getting to see everyone at conference!
Prayer requests:
- For continued healing for my strange rash.
- For safety in travel as all of us head into Windhoek from our various places of ministry
- That my car will be fixed by the time we need to travel for conference
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