Packing Up

Last night and this morning was spent packing my big bags so PC could pick them up today. All I knew was the PC would come sometime after 11:00 to get them; I got tired of waiting around. By 14:00 (2pm), they still had not come so Ezra and I headed to town to get a few things. I had bought earrings earlier in the week and went back for more to give as presents and bargained a better deal. Woohoo! We bought some chocolate and 20-in-1 movie DVDs for our teacher too. In honor of Tim, who is Chinese and jokes about kung-fu, one of the DVDs was kung-fu movies – some Jackie Chan even. We also ran into other PCTs who were out shopping. Most notably (tall) Lisa was out and bout looking great. I learned that she had come down with malaria right after having food poisoning during Shadow. She was our first malaria victim. The juice box she was drinking was the 1^st thing she’d had in days but she looked and sounded wonderful. Definitely recovered from the car crash feeling of malaria. For those who don’t know, our malaria prophylaxis pills are not 100% effect against malaria so we can get it even if we are taking our pills.

After town I was able to pick up my mom’s birthday present: a skirt, blouse, and matching bag made from a kanga. The kanga was poorer quality than I thought but at least the bag is good if the skirt doesn’t fit. Jordon’s mama still wasn’t done with making my outfit (it was supposed to be ready Thursday) so I went to the internet café. The only computer available wasn’t working so I tried to get it working. The thing has a couple of Trojans still but it is doing better. I left instructions with the guys on what to do to try to get rid of them because it was dark and I had to get going. On my way home, I stopped to get my outfit and waited with Vero and Jordon for a couple of hours until it was finished. I felt bad about being away from my family on my last night with them but didn’t want to walk in the dark more than necessary.

When I finally got home and had eaten dinner, I gave my family the last of my gifts for them. Before I left home, I went to the Farmer’s Market and picked up 3 wooden whistles, a glass ring, and a few sticks of flavored honey. From the NYS Fair, I gave them 2 “I ♥ NY” pins and a ruler with pictures of the US presidents. In addition, I gave them my map of the US, a fun-size packet of M&Ms each (thanks mom!) a glow-stick (thanks dad!) and a kanga I picked up in Njombe. My family was very thankful for the gifts, however small they may seem to many Americans. The family also received a framed picture of me with them, courtesy of PC, which was dropped off when my bags were picked up. As an added treat, I gave Simon a small bottle of vanilla flavoring because he likes to bake (& the whole family benefits).