It is a beautiful Saturday afternoon here in Kazembe. The last few days have been pretty slow. Thursday night was my turn to make dinner, and if you know me then you know that me cooking is flirting with danger. I ended up overcooking the pasta and sausage and undercooking the zucchini. About three hours later, I was relatively certain that my stomach was clawing its way out of my body. I was sick several times through the night and was pretty much miserable for the next 24 hours. I still feel a little queasy every time I eat. Mostly I'm just thankful that I didn't manage to poison anyone but myself. Its my turn to cook again next Monday, so hopefully round two will go better. I never ever want to see sausage again.
I've spent a lot of time in the past few days just getting to know Jasmine, Troy, and Timmy. It's been a lot of fun. After the kids go to sleep, we still have at least a couple of hours to play with. There have been rubber band wars, ping-pong tournaments, late-night movies, card games, drawing contests, and a few minor accidents involving Timmy's head and the kitchen door. We spend all day trying to figure out what we're going to do at night.
Not to go off on a tangent, but I was just brutally attacked by a tiny little furball named Chai. I think the Morrows are harboring a terrorist kitten. I think she can tell I'm a dog person. I'm actually kind of fond of her, but don't tell her...
Moriah and Elias have been my two biggest time investments this week. Moriah has a little infection on the side of her head between her ear and her eye. The first night I cleaned it up there was a pretty large amount of drainage. It looks like there is still a lot of infection in it, but I can't seem to get it to drain. She's on an antibiotic and I'm doing my best to keep it clean. It's not really getting better, but it's not getting worse either. She's not running a fever. This is the fourth full day of antibiotics, so I'm hoping to see some improvement by tonight. I can't wait for it to heal. It's apparently really painful, because she screams bloody murder every time I clean it off. She runs in terror everytime she sees me now. She's only two. I've worked mostly with the kindergarteners, so pretty much my only interaction with her has been painful for her. I'm looking forward to making friends with her.
Elias isn't sick, but he is unbelievable stubborn. Twice this week Timmy and I have fought him for at least an hour. What frustrates me is that you can see it coming. He gets this little gleam in his eye, and then he throws a temper tantrum or starts jumping on the table or something, usually with a bit of a smile playing on his lips at first. He also has this nervous habit of chewing on the neck of his shirt, which is both gross and really hard on the clothing. If I ask him to stop he ignores me, and then all out war ensues. I think part of it is his way of testing me to see what he can get away with. Interestingly enough, when he's not making trouble he's one of the friendliest kids here. He craves attention, and he doesn't seem to care if it's positive or negative.
Since today is Saturday, I don't do "school" with the kids. It's nice to have a break, but I've barely seen the kids all day. Since I'm physically incapable of walking past the nursery without stopping in and making googly eyes at a baby, this is a pretty big deal for me. I need to go hug a short person.
Much love!
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