East London

I know I said I wouldn’t have internet for a while, but the hotel we’re staying at tonight gave us free internet and I decided I should leave the blog on a happier note. Free internet is not the only thing this hotel has; it has delicious food, fancy rooms, showers with no bugs in them, a beautiful view of the ocean that’s literally right outside my window and a comfortable queen size bed for each one of us. After spending a week in the wilderness and in such a mess, it feels so good to have clean rooms and sanitary restrooms.
I can’t say the illness is over because everyone is still feeling slightly off and we couldn’t fully enjoy dinner, but I think the worst is over and the sky is going to be a little brighter from here on out. Last night was terrible. One of the girls in my chalet slept in front of the toilet because she was so sick, nurses were in and out of our chalet checking up on people, and I had a high fever on top of my stomach sickness. My roommate Kayla was the sweetest thing in the world and nursed me through the night. I’m on a strong medication for the stomach illness and it’s giving me really bad side effects, but it’s kept me from getting sick enough to go to the hospital so I think it’s worth it. I felt nauseous and dizzy throughout the night as I was in and out of sleep. My fever struck hard around 1 in the morning and I woke up because my whole body was shivering and I was sweating. I hadn’t eaten an actual meal for two days so my body was having trouble fighting off my sickness and I was dehydrated. Kayla brought me water and salty crackers, which the nurses said would help, and she also gave me medicine to bring down my fever.
There was a point where I just wanted to cry because I wasn’t comfortable in any position. If I laid down my stomach hurt and if I stood up I got too lightheaded to stand. Sitting down was a good compromise, but I got to a point where I was too sick to move. The medicine and crackers helped and Kayla forced me to drink the full water bottle before playing an episode of Friends to help me fall asleep. I felt better after eating and I lay down and watched a couple of minutes of the TV show. It didn’t take long for fall asleep.
This morning I woke up in a daze and climbed onto the bus. We’re traveling down the coast of South Africa and our first stop today was East London. It should have taken 9 hours, but our bus broke down and we had to wait for the other bus to drop off people and then come back to us. After a while we found out that bus had a flat tire and we had to wait about 2 hours for it to come back for us. We walked across a dangerous highway to use a very unsanitary bathroom and then sat in the bus watching Troy on someone’s laptop.
I wonder what people think when they see our group because everyone looked half asleep today and so many people looked pale. No one really bothers about looking good because we’re so exhausted. Arriving at the hotel was like taking a breath of fresh air and it made me feel human again. My stomach is still upset because I have to keep taking the medication for 4 days even if I don’t have any symptoms anymore because it’s like an antibiotic and if I stop taking the medication I can get sick again. The bus ride hasn’t felt too good, but everyone has a positive attitude and we’re getting through it. I know I’ll sleep well tonight.
We are well taken care of because we have God guiding us through this week and, like I said before, the sky is clearing up and I think the worst is over. I’m excited to see Cape Town because I’ve heard so many wonderful things about it. Tomorrow our drive will only last 4 hours and we’re going to spend the night at Port Elizabeth, which is the hometown of one of our Community Life Coordinators. After that we only drive a couple of hours each day and do fun stuff like visiting an ostrich farm and climbing through caves.
My fever is gone and I just have a slight cough, but it goes away when I put my scarf on. I’ve been wearing my scarf all day, so I’ve been fine. My stomach ache will probably last until I finish the medication, but I’m having no trouble at all sleeping on the bus so I’m getting plenty of rest. Everyone else in the group is looking better too and the leaders have stocked up on medication like motion sickness medicine and re-hydration formula. The sun never fails to come out after a storm.