Where Gnats Roam

I thought I'd do a little post on what a typical day is like here in case you don't wanna read all six weeks of journaling to get the same idea. 7:00: Wake up and get ready for the day. Don't forget lots of deodorant. And no need to worry about makeup because that stuff will melt off after 10 minutes outside. 7:30 - 8:00: Eat the breakfast the telecentre provides. It's usually toast with something, so toast and eggs, toast and cornflakes, toast and coco, etc. If you're lucky, they also have milo which is basically just hot chocolate and sooo good. 8:30 - 10:00: The Crystal Eye Clinic staff arrives to pick you up. You and five other volunteers pile into the car and begin the drive to the outreach. The drive is usually somewhere between one and two hours and you spend the time listening to podcasts, sleeping, or just talking with the other people in the car. Party van 10:30: You arrive at the outreach and unpack the car to start setting up. One of the staff...

Sunday, May 26th: The closest LDS branch was hours away, so no church today for Christian and I. I held a mini devotional for myself in my hotel room and read a General Conference talk. It was really good and I think I’ll do a separate blog post about my thoughts on it. No options for breakfast today, they simply placed a heaping pile of jollof rice and fish salad in front of me and that was that. Dr. Wanye explained that there wasn’t really a difference in “breakfast food” and “dinner food” and I felt like this meal exemplified that nicely. Before we got started with the surgeries today, Dr. Wanye met with each of the patients from yesterday for their post-op check-up. There were a few minor complications and one guy we had to send back for a bit of corrective surgery, but for the most part the results were greatl! One of the patients came in practically giggling because they were so happy they could see. Tomorrow I’m hoping to get there earlier so that I can watch them ta...

Sunday, May 19th: Woke up at about 2:00 am to a quiet house. I quickly realized that both the fans and the AC were off and I was drenched in sweat. I stumbled into the living room and tried to turn on the AC to no avail. Power outage. I went back to my room, starfished faceup on my bed, and waited for morning. At about 4:00, the Sabbath day worship started. As is the case every Sunday, loudspeakers started blasting music and both the barking dogs and crowing roosters joined them. Somehow I fell asleep from 5-6:30 which was a huge blessing. I feel like this all happened just as I was starting to take our AC for granted, so I have been thoroughly humbled. The pump for our shower also runs on electricity, so I gave myself a wet wipe shower before heading downstairs for breakfast. Gladys has the day off, so Dr. Wanye pulled out some rolls and milo for us. I happily took a bite of my roll right as Gabby slapped my arm. She showed me the inside of her roll, and I saw movement. Ants. ...