Taking a Sick Day

I am glad that this day went well, because I was incredibly sick on the 4th. I woke up and everything was basically okay. Jeremy and I found a Chinese run print shop that made us souvenir shirts. Besides the shirts, the shop was an excellent study in the different cultures now evident in Lesotho. The Chinese owners and their child were incredibly courteous and kind. They went out of their way to apologize if they even perceived that something they were doing was an inconvenience to us. There were a few Africans working for them. They were also very kind and helpful, but when they carried a large item past us and we had to move, the Chinese shop owner urged them to apologize and say ‘excuse me.’ When they didn’t, she looked at us, smiled, and shook her head. The owner’s daughter was about 5 or 6 and it was incredibly cute to hear her practice here numbers and sing Christmas carols to us. Watching Jeremy interact with the daughter and the different owners and workers really made me marvel at how well he does get along with people; shame on him for the constant harassment that he gives himself.

After the shirts, we walked up the street some and found a shoe store where Jeremy purchased some nice hiking/casual New Balance shoes. I also bought some cheap sandals at the PePs store. This store is slightly more upscale than a dollar store, but not as nice as a Target back at home. They are all over the place and the sandals will be perfect for Mozambique. We stopped by the Pick n Pay for lunch, but by this time I was starting to feel terrible. I wasn’t in the mood for eating, which made Jeremy a bit grumpy at me, but the thought of food made me incredibly queasy.

We went back to the Training Center and I sat down on the sofa to read for a bit. After about 30 minutes, I tread eating a bite of food, managed to get it down, and then my stomach revolted. I spent the rest of the day (it was only 12 at this point) in bed and in the bathroom. I could barely move and I definitely couldn’t eat. I felt so terrible and I was also very worried. I didn’t know if I had food poisoning, the flu, or something worse. Jeremy helped me out by making a rehydrating mix, and this did help out throughout the day and the night. When I woke up the next morning, I didn’t feel 100%, but I did feel good enough to make the journey on the 5th.