Tuesday, April 24, 2007

My face is normal :-)

It turns out that I was having an allergic reaction and that is why my face was so swollen. I got a steriod shot at the doctor's office yesterday and I am looking much better now.

Jase and I spoke in my parrents' church on Sunday night for missionary night (they have it once a month). I was so tired from all of the medicine I have been taking and my face was swollen so I was really self conscious. It went great. We got a lot of compliments and I actually felt very comfortable.

Anyway, it was a good dry run for camp. I think it is going to be good

Sunday, April 22, 2007

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

I look like Quasi-modo. Seriously, I am having an alergic reaction to something here in Little Rock and my eye is really swolen. I went to David's Bridal today to try on dresses for my sister's wedding (Amanda) and my grandmother took a lot of pictures of my other sister (Rachel) and me. I definitely don't want to see them later...

Anyway, I thought you would all like to know that I am a huge freak. Ok, maybe it's not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be, but let's face it, I'm dramatic. So, pray for my face...

(When I say my eye looks like Quasi-modo I am talking about this guy:)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Bathrooms and Weight Loss

We have been in Little Rock for two days now and I am loving it!!!!! I forgot how much I love a hot shower! I have been remembering everyday in the shower. I am really missing the African bread, but I make up for it by consuming large amounts of cheese

Many people have asked me about culture shock coming back to the States. I have only really been around my family and Jason's family so far, so I haven't really experienced anything shocking yet. I bought a new pair of pants at Old Navy (definitely my favorite store) and it was really nice to be able to try them on. Besides that I have just been appreciating weird little things a lot more. If anything shocking comes along I will keep you posted.

Speaking of appreciating weird things I am truly grateful for these things we have here called public restrooms. In Bissau there aren't any bathrooms anywhere. If you don't go in your house you are going to be going on the side of the road. Luckily I never had to do that. Actually, you see men going on the side of the road all the time, but I have never seen a woman doing that. I don't really know what they would do. I was in Walmart the other day getting my hair cut and doing a little shopping (new tooth brushes, q-tips, some shampoo, etc) and I really had to go to the bathroom. I was mad at myself for not going at home and doing a little dance in the isle when I realized, "Hey, I think they have a bathroom here!" I went over and was pleasantly delighted (It really doesn't take much more than a toilet and hot water in the faucet to impress me anymore). Anyway, I don't think I will complain about public bathrooms for a long time.

So far the best thing about being back is seeing the people that I have only been emailing. The second best thing is hot showers and the third best thing is anonymity. When I was in Walmart no one was looking at me. No little children were talking about me. No one was asking me for anything and no one was trying to charge me triple the normal price for something. In fact, the prices for everything were written right on the shelves!! It sounds kind of funny, I mean who wouldn't want to be the center of attention everywhere they go? Trust me, it gets old...

For those of you that have heard the rumors, yes, Jason did loose 35 pounds in Africa. It is not true that I didn't feed him, however. It is just hard to eat a lot when it is so hot out. Also we really didn't eat much meat. Basically we ate a lot of rice and pasta. Hmmm, so on the reverse Atkins diet Jason lost weight without trying… corny, I know. Actually he is taking steps to regain his former girth, starting with a trip to Mongolia Barbeque with a group from his tennis team.

Alright, well I need to get back to the hard work of relaxing. It takes a special kind of person to enjoy a vacation and I am going to enjoy it to the fullest.

Friday, April 13, 2007

We're Home

We're home, we're home, we're home. Just in case you missed that we are back in the USA. We had absolutely no problems with customs, we got all of our luggage, nothing was broken, and we didn't even get sick from airline food.

The trip started out in a fairly tumoultuous manner with us missing our first flight in Bissau because Air Senegal decided a week or so before that the flight that leaves the Bissau airport on Mondays really should leave earlier. (That's right only one flight a day leaves the Bissau airport...) So our 10:30 pm flight was changed to 11 am and no one told us... Jason got to the airport at 6 pm to find out for sure when we needed to check in and he was told that the plane had left and we had missed it. The office was closed so there was no way to find out if we could be on the flight the next day. We had a long debate if we should go over land (which takes 20 hours) to Dakar and pretty much squeek in right before our flight to New York. Anyway long story short we got on the flight the next day and everything went pretty smoothly.

Our flight over the ocean took 2 hours longer than usual because of all of the wind so that was ten hours and even the flight from New York to Detroit had an extra 40 min in the air tacked onto it.

So, all's well that ends well. So far no major stomach problems (I am sure you wanted to know that...) and we are doing good. We will be seeing many of you in the next few days and I can't wait.