After reading some of my fellow SLM's blogs ive realised that mine will be no where near as esthetically pleasing or witty but hopefully its as enjoyable.
It's really just beginning to fully set in that I'm going to be in Africa for another 14 months. Ive woken up so many times literally furious that my alarm would dare go off at 6:30 am only to be reminded that its 6:30 am in AFRICA! After that mental wake up call the dawn is much more tolerable. It becomes even more so after opening my door to a breathtaking sunrise. Every morning is even more unique and beautiful than the one before. Be advised now of all the sunset/ sunrise pictures that will be coming this year.
The 29th marked our first month-aversary of being in Africa! It was unfortunately celebrated by Theresa sleeping from what we thought was Malaria and my stomach in writhing knots leaving me unable to sleep not quite a blow out bash but still monumental. My mystery illness has unfortunately continued. I've been throwing up and having severe stomach pains which has left me like a turtle on its back the past nights. Thankfully grace had some medicine and I took some benedryl amd was able to sleep. Cait mentioned having a similar problem in the first half of her year. As I was writhing with pain I was thinking, "Umm Cait's a beast at everything, I'm not that tough... cool im going to die." For now I survived so hopefully my awkward "sample" will give the doctor some idea what's freaking out in my stomach.
During the time I've been sick I've been able to find some peace. Aside from really wishing I was comfortable in my bed I found myself wishing not for the United States but for more time with my community here. I was longing for my bed, but for my bed to be in South Sudan. I remember during orientation Amber shared a story about when she discovered she had really adjusted to being in Bolivia. She had previously had a difficult adjustment to life in Bolivia and was feeling that she had finally come around. She
was sick in bed during a celebration in the community. She was wishing that she was with her community celebrating not that she was home in the States as she had before. Adjustment for me has not been a challenge. There are of course modern conveniences and luxuries that I miss like diet coke, internet everywhere and air conditioning, but there is nothing that I have found to be insurmountable. Grace, Cait, Theresa and I were discussing this one afternoon while we were walking to visit a baby that was less than 24 hours old. Victoria, the sister of one of our students, Mariam, who are both very active in the community, school and church had her baby. As is custom here we went to visit the baby and congratulate the family. It was a scary and humbling experience all in one. It was humbling to have such a delicate and precious life in my arms. It was scary because in the United States it is unheard of to have a parade of people not only visiting a newborn but holding and touching them. My first thought was how crazy this was and no wonder so many children become sick being exposed literally the day they are born to so many germs. When talking it over more I realized that it is more often lack of nutrition and vitamins along with diseases that are contracted from the environment such as Typhoid Fever and Malaria, that cause the children here to be sick. We were taking part in, while risky to a degree, a beautiful tradition. We were celebrating the very symbol for love and hope even in the midst of struggle and pain. While walking to greet the new bundle of joy we were talking about our own adjustments and the ease of ours versus some of the ones we had heard about from other current and former SLM’s. Cait said something which seemed to explain our ease perfectly. For all of us, serving in Africa had always been a dream and call for us. We all feel that part of our hearts are truly at home in this place which makes any changes and struggles easier to cope with. 
We are making it more and more our home everyday. Grace has been cooking, amazingly, since she got here. Theresa and I are trying to learn all the techniques and tricks she has for substituting ingredients and cooking over a coal fire pit. Two weeks ago Theresa helped Grace make a chocolate cake for Br. Julius’ birthday with frosting and all. It was delicious! Last weekend Grace and I made pizza. We used a Bobby Flay recipe for the dough and used fresh tomatoes and onions for the sauce. We topped it with greens, onions and cheese. It was a huge success! We paired it with Tusker, a Ugandan beer, and had a feast! In an attempt to counter act all of our feasting, but more so to stay healthy we have all been doing quite a bit of exercising in various forms. Collectively we have developed a cheer leading team. I had to come all the way to Africa to be cool enough to be a cheerleader, thank goodness there weren’t actual try outs. We are choreographing a dance to Roar by Katy Perry with stunts and all. We are going to perform for the students at their morning assembly in a week to get interest and recruit girls for a team that way. We will have them perform for the school’s football (soccer) games. On top of that Grace, Theresa and I have taken to Jillian Michaels. We do one of her videos at least three times a week. Grace and Theresa both have one so we can switch up which format she kicks our butt in. It has been great to feel like we actually earned how much we are sweating rather than just standing, walking or breathing and being just as sweaty. We want to take a picture of us doing her workout in Africa and send it to her to see if she sends something back. Getting fit and famous! But probably not. It has also been awesome for self care and taking time for ourselves to not only build community but to relax and process our days. Next week we are going to have plenty more opportunities to relax. Next week we are off of school because we will be finished with exams. 
We are taking one day to go to a dam near by and spend the day by the water. Another day we are going to try and explore more of Maridi. There is a boarding school for the girls that we want to visit. They have 50 of the smartest girls that attend from all over the state.Through donors they are able to receive a great education for no cost. It is a secondary school which is like our high school. It is generally expensive and very difficult for anyone to attend. Due to years of war many students had their education disrupted and greatly delayed. This is double for girls. In this budding and still very patriarchal society the options for women are slim to none. We are also going to try and meet up with some other American volunteers. They are here doing different things including trauma counseling with the community. She is the one I am most interested in meeting. I think what she is doing is so needed and amazing. I would love to get a chance to hear her stories and to learn from her. I am hoping to make contact with her this week so we can spend some time with her next week. I am excited for the fun week ahead and the great months to come! Sorry this post is so long, hopefully I will keep up with it better in the future and they won’t be novels every time. Thanks for lasting this long, unless you were smart and just skipped to the end! =)