White sands, and maybe later

Yesterday I didn't blog because we spent the day at the beach and on the road, and came in late. I was tired because of little sleep the night before (jet lag), and as soon as the dishes were done I went to bed.



In the morning we went to a beach on the northwestern side of the island. It was very different from the local beach just a quarter of a mile away. We pulled up to the private beach, and a nice man showed us where the restrooms, the bar, the showers, and the beach was. All you have to do to swim there is to buy a drink or some food. We bought both, and enjoyed ourselves. They brought up chaise longues covered with towels and put them under some shades. We went into the slightly cool water with water shoes on because the bottom is both sandy and rocky. It was lovely. Of course it was lovely. I spoke with Jackie last night and he said that it was 25 or 26 degrees in Texas. I'm so sorry. I'm sweating over here. And we enjoyed God's creation of the sand, the sun, the seashells, and the surf yesterday. I really do absorb the beauty and worship the Creator.



I used some sunscreen but still managed to get a little sunburned. But the sea glass, seashells, and coral that I picked up more than made up for it. Let other girls go to the malls. I love the beach.



It was so beautiful to watch Rachael and Gilbert, knowing that soon, perhaps in a day or so, there would be one more in the equation. Happysad.



We showered off on the beach, then headed up to the car. We saw some small monkeys in the trees as we waited for Bob to settle up the bill. I'm not sure if they were watching us more or we were watching them more. We all enjoyed it.



We headed further north, going all the way to the north end of the island. We got stopped by policemen about five times, Bob talking all the time. I think they think he's a guide without the permit. You know, because he's native and we're not. So he's met quite a few of the local policemen.



We stopped several times on the trek, once to see a family with a little 4-year-old girl who was paralyzed shortly after birth by malaria. The mother held her, and Bob asked me my opinion about what might be best for her health, from nutrition to physical therapy. Hmmm. In the meantime, Jan is playing with the group of children that has gathered, and there are happy squeals and dancing and laughter beside us.



We also stop to buy about 20 pineapples. And we eat one in two sittings and make juice out of another one for lunch today. All in all, we stay out all day. It's really hard to believe that you can do that on the island, but I get the feeling we didn't do half of what there is to be done here.



Oh, and Mom, they have okra here. I thought I recognized the plants but was unbelieving of my own eyes until I asked Rachael. And sure enough, it grows here. We had a papaya from the back yard papaya tree for breakfast today. And Bob planted a mango seed today, after we ate the delicious mango.



This morning I head out for a walk by myself. It's the first time I've been out of the house by myself, and I get pictures of the flame tree and the anglican church that's about two blocks away. I'm not afraid, and I really enjoy myself.



When I come in, I meet Rachael. She looks a little...different. She keeps working through the morning and makes us lunch, but right now she's taking a little nap. She may be working real hard later on today. I'll keep you posted.

I tried to upload a picture, and it sure messed with this computer's mind, so I don't know what I'm going to do when I need to show you all a picture of the little one! I'll try to figure it out...

Swimming

Hi all! This morning Rachael wanted exercise...so we walked a quarter of a mile to the beach!!! Gilbert had new flipflops that kept falling off his feet, so Jan finally took them off him and carried him. Fun!

There were two fishermen sitting in their canoe mending their nets. That is age-old, I thought. I took a picture of myself like the teenagers do, just holding the camera out at arm's length and clicking. Not bad, really.

There really is no surf on the west side of the island. The water is warm. Rachael takes off, swimming. I recall how she was a lifeguard for several years as an adolescent. She's already working on teaching Gilbert how to swim. He loves to splash anyone, but has the most fun splashing his Baba, his Daddy.

Jan has fun videotaping the several children that congregate and are playing on the beach. We find two starfish that are already dead and on the sand. I do my usual, looking for seashells, however plain they may be. They are mementos. I love seashells, and take some from every beach I visit. I love the beach. I love the beach.

We see a little jellyfish. And we have to warn Gilbert not to touch it. I'm grateful it doesn't touch me!

Tomorrow Bob's mother and her adopted granddaughter will come from the mainland. It will be good for Gilbert to see his Bibi.

It has rained again today. I learn that we are in the rainy season. It definitely makes sense. It has rained every day we've been here.

I can access my emails now. I have a ticket for Lebanon!!!!! And I can read emails from people I haven't seen or heard from in several years -- James Thompson and Josh and Abigail Ransom. I feel that God loves me. He indeed is full of compassion and lovingkindness. I read this both in Psalm 86 and in Joel 2. That is my Word for today.

Moanaherri, the housegirl for the Gwassa's, has a bad burn on her foot. I take my St. John's Wort oil and put it on the burn. I hope it will help. Bob says he will tell her it is pork oil. Oh boy.

Gilbert said a new word today. He was sitting at the table eating lunch with us, and suddenly said, "Wow!" I know he learned it from me or Jan. That's what Rachael and Bob said. And I think it's probably from Jan...It was so cute.

Love to all.

Just another day

Today we saw some of Stonetown, where we are staying. We visited the Anglican church and saw the old Arab fort, went into a holding cell for slaves, saw the boats and the harbor, and then went out to eat.

I ordered kingfish and plantain, and then shared a dessert with Jan that was a date cake with a wonderful creamy sauce. And fresh pineapple juice. I am enjoying Rachael's cooking, too.

Today Bob went to the market for groceries, carrying home baskets of oranges, coconuts, sweet potato greens, carrots, onions, potatoes that were still damp from just being dug, fresh beef wrapped in newspaper, cabbage, and I'm probably forgetting something. Rachael fixed us cassava and sweet potato greens for lunch. It was so good. Gilbert ate a double portion.

Gilbert played in the water outside today. He got soaking wet, then put some water in a bucket and brought it inside to get the inside of the house wet, too!

Rachael washed all the baby clothes and diapers and wipes that we brought for her. Jan accused her of nesting, but Rachael denied it.

It rained again today. So far it has rained every day that we've been here.

Oh, by the way, if you are emailing me, I cannot seem to get to my email. The server times out. So I apologize, to all of you who are wondering why I'm not responding.

My facial skin is still burning. I don't know what I'm reacting to, but I think I will stop taking the antibiotic I brought against malaria. I may be having an allergic reaction to it.

Looking forward to the baby, but enjoying just being with Bob and Rachael...

Finished the Move

Bob finished moving today. He is tired.

I have had fun with Gilbert. I am learning Swahili. Paca is cat. Moto is hot, or fire. Habarigani means how are you? Mtoto is baby.

I also have developed some burning, stinging skin around my eyes, and have been sneezing and blowing my nose all day. Please pray that I will know what is going on...it may be a reaction to the malaria medicine, or a reaction to some bug spray that was used on the house, or something else.

Love all of you.

I'll check back in later!

We Are in Zanzibar

We got to the island today about 1 pm. It was a long trip, but all the luggage got here. I only had one bottle break on the way, my Rescue Remedy. Praise God!

Rachael didn't have the baby before we got here, either. We have had naps and we're helping them to finalize moving. Tonight is their first night in the new home.

I don't know how often I can blog because they still don't have internet connections at the new house. This time we're at the old house, connecting with you.

Got great pictures of the island on our descent! It's a lovely island, too...

God bless you all, and keep checking the blog!

I Hope I Look this Good Two Days from Now...

I'm off! Jackie and I will be leaving home to go to the airport in about 40 minutes. He and I will pick up Jan and Jim, and then we'll be on our way.

The trip will last two days. After the first 10-hour flight, one of those days will be a twelve-hour layover in Amsterdam, and we're hoping to see some of the city. It will be cold! And possibly rainy, with the high in the 40's.

After that we'll have another night-long flight with a five-hour layover in Nairobi, then a little hop to Zanzibar, where the weather is slightly different than in Amsterdam. At about five degrees south of the Equator, the island is heading into summer. It's very hot and humid.

I will miss you all, friends and family. If you're wondering if this means you, yes it does. I love you all, and will be excitedly waiting to share new experiences with all of you.

Pray for us -- Rachael, Bob, Jan, and me.

Jan and I will get to our destination on December 2. And we'll probably want a shower and a change of clothes.

Catching up...

Well, how to catch up? It's been more than two months since I've blogged. Hmm, I guess that might mean that I'm not a very good blogger. For me it means that I've thought about blogs and thought about posting them, and then the phone rings and it's a friend calling to catch up (thank You, Lord, for friends), or a student comes over for algebra tutoring, or a client calls with a question, or I'm answering an email. And then Jackie comes home and I want to spend time with him, not on the computer.

Since the last blog, I have delivered one baby and paced the hall of the hospital at the birth of another.

The one I delivered was the first home birth for this couple, a waterbirth. Her previous birth had resulted in cutting, tearing, and her tailbone breaking with a posterior presentation of the baby, aka "sunny side up." This birth had none of those things, a true blessing. Little Eliyah was born and welcomed by his two older brothers. And postpartum was much easier than before, thankfully. No mastitis, either. So much to be grateful for. A phone call to 911 and arrival of the paramedics because of a little too much loss of blood and lowering blood pressure and really faint pulse came to "I'm not going in" statements by mom. And she did really well.

The hospital birth went well, too, although the doctor threw me out of the room, so I was not able to witness the birth of the little one. You know, I think that if the shoe were on the other foot, and an OB/GYN were invited to one of the births that I was caregiver for, I would not throw him/her out of the room. But there! My emotions get in the way. And so does my pride. They both get sort of bruised, and it takes time to recover.

Since the last blog, I've also done some canning. The end of the year produce covered the kitchen counter.

I looked at all that clean, fresh produce and groaned. I knew it would mean doing something. Now I have a wonderful heritage from my mom. I grew up in a household where canning and freezing were just a normal everyday occurrence during the spring and summer. And Mom involved all of us in it. We all had peach/pear/apple/you name it juice running down our arms onto a towel placed on the table as we pared, cored and plopped them into the bowl to await further processing. I never really cared for it. But it is valuable. And so Jackie scoured the internet for recipes for green tomatoes for me. Now I don't like sweet relish. Yuck! Just not good. So I skipped all the recipes with sweeteners and stopped at one that didn't have any. Hmm, this one had possibilities, although it called for 2 pounds of green tomatoes, and I had 11 pounds. Oh, boy.

Well, I chopped all morning, and just used the tomatoes and green peppers that I had on hand. I added onions and garlic to ratio, and then started simmering the stuff with vinegar and cumin and salt. After it had all softened, the canning jars were washed in the dishwasher, and I added the jalapenos that I had. Not to ratio. Just all that I had. The result -- ta daa! -- was a wonderful lovely tangy not-too-hot salsa! Not relish! I was so grateful that I had been obedient to use the harvest and not let it go to waste! One of the goals that I had wanted with a garden was to have salsa. And it didn't happen until the end, when the yield was 11 pints and 1 quart of the wonderful food.

And you can tell that Jackie and I like it, because there's only 8 pints left now. Wow.

Another thing I've been doing is getting ready to go to Zanzibar. I leave in a week. It's incredible, but it's happening. I am so grateful to the people who have contributed money so that Bob and Rachael can have their baby at home. If it weren't for you folks, I wouldn't be going. My ticket is paid for, and I have enough to pay for my visa once I get there. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are true blessings. I invited my good friend Jan Pack to go with me to help with the birth, and she's going! Her ticket is not yet paid for, so if you'd like to help with her expenses, just drop me a line. We are sure that we will be going to encourage Bob and Rachael, and are really looking forward to times of prayer, worship, and love. Other people have purchased gifts for them, and we will be delivering those. Everyone has something coming, and if I wrote about the gifts, it might not be a surprise for Bob and Rachael, so I will leave the gifts a secret for now...

This is my first international birth, and I'm not real sure about anything, except that God is guiding me. And that's all I need to know. I've sorted through supplies, and I know I will sort through them again this week, but please pray that I will take all the right things, and leave all the unnecessary things behind, and that I won't worry about anything. God is going before me and surrounding me, and I don't need anything else.

Speaking of "first international birth," one of the dreams I had way back as a midwifery student was that I would get to deliver babies for m couples. You all know that. And this Zanzibar trip I consider as a first fruit of that dream. But, I have also been in contact with another m couple about being their midwife as well. So plans are underway for me to go to Lebanon in early February 2009. God is good. I'm very excited about this birth as well. And I will ask all of you to be in prayer about this trip. It looks like I will be leaving February 6, and returning sometime at the end of February (after the baby!!!!).

I was at my mom's house earlier this month. While there, she started looking through some stuff of hers, and found some baby booties. These baby booties were old and stained. She fingered them and said, "All of you wore these booties." I have four sisters, and all of us wore those booties. Wow. I hadn't even known of their existence!

Isn't it sweet? Well, I've been crocheting since I was eight years old, and I started looking at that bootie. I asked Mom if I could bring it home to see if I could replicate it. I made a pair last night. Granted they don't look exactly the same, but they are as close to the original as I could make them. And I have the instructions, too. I just have to type them up.

They don't exactly look the same, I know. Different thread, no embroidery on the tops, ribbon instead of more crochet thread for the ties. I may add the other details later. For now, I feel like some history has been preserved. Who knows, I may keep these booties for my grandchildren! That may be a while, too. Nobody's even contemplating marriage yet.

I will try to blog the picture of the Gwassa's baby from Africa. It all depends on the computer they have, and whether I can link my camera to their computer. I'll try!