Stairway to Heaven

Tuesday

Remember the tetanus guy from when I very first got to the hospital a few weeks ago? Well he finally was able to open his jaw wide enough to eat and can walk with a walker and only falls over with entire-body spasms when he doesn’t take his valium! So he got discharged home!
In other thrilling news, I got to hold 2 brand new babies today!! I saw a nurse walking out of the OR with a bundle of cloths and some instruments. I walked down to maternity to get serial numbers off a machine and saw the stuff she had been carrying on the counter… then suddenly the bundle starts wriggling around and screaming. I think we all know screaming wriggly bundles need to be held. The doctor walked in a few minutes later: “Did you get the serial nu… You can’t keep it. It stays here.” Then that afternoon we had walked down to maternity again to do an ultrasound and I heard newborn crying… walked down the hallway and there’s a different bundle chilling on the counter, yay! I missed the whole ultrasound, but someone’s got to hold the baby while mom gets taken care of. My willing heart saw one in need…

OK let’s have a brief moment of developing country fun. The guest house I moved into is great and I love it, but not quite finished. There are many small bits to work on. The stove part of the oven doesn’t work. But there is a handy dandy little 2-burner gas stove perched on top of the other stove. The neon orange gas tank is displayed quite nicely on the counter by the stove. The handy dandy gas stove lights very well indeed. I would estimate the flames at about 1 foot high, such pretty flames. The microwave doesn’t work either. The light turns on, the turn table turns, it makes appropriate sound effects… but no heat. The washing machine fills up with water but can’t quite get the washing part down. However the fridge does work! As does the electric hot water kettle, the shower, the fans, and the lights. Plugging my computer in to charge involves 2 switches, 1 voltage convertor, 1 voltage stabilizer, and two different plugs. The water filter takes 4 pots of water to fill, and to fill up my Nalgene from the filter takes me at least half of Stairway to Heaven (do you remember laughter?). But y’all, I have a huge jar of organic peanut butter, so pretty much nothing bothers me.

Wednesday

I have so much fun, I really do. I cracked open the gas stove manual yesterday (meaning the half page of misspelled English that basically says “connect stove to gas and turn on”). There is an air damper on the stove that supposed to adjust the flame, but it has to be lit while you lift the stove up and reach your hand inside. I thought about it, then did not attempt it by myself. You’re welcome, Mom. Sorry, Dad. I phoned a friend. So windows don’t close here, because you need all the airflow you can get, and very few have curtains, so everyone can see inside each other’s houses. I was sharpening knives (because they were too dull to cut pineapple and that is just unacceptable) and we were adjusting the dampers on the stove and the coolest looking flames were coming out. My neighbor texted “everyone’s eyebrows and limbs intact over there?” Everything is intact. However the flames are still overenthusiastic and soot gets on everything. Now we know why Rogers and Hammerstein picked Brandy to play Cinderella: so they didn’t actually have to use soot because it gets everywhere.

The car hasn’t had air conditioning since we’ve been here, but it got fixed today! The mechanic came to the hospital, got the car, took it back to his “shop”, fixed the valve and replaced the Freon, and returned it to the hospital, all for about $55. The reason it was so cheap was probably because his overhead is so low… cause his shop is a workbench underneath a tree. Not that we particularly need AC. It got down to 86 degrees the other day, I about had to pull out my cardigan. Piki pikis are motorbike taxis that will take you anywhere in town. The driver wears a helmet, the passenger usually does not. The drivers also wear winter coats, worn backwards to prevent those bone-chilling drafts that come through the zippers. I understand in the mornings when you’re dashing along it might get a bit chilly. But at noon?

When driving along you will also notice unusually tall black men carrying wares for sale on racks on their back, with a specific red fabric wrapped around them. They’re Maasai. Remember, on National Geographic? The tall ones with the red wraps and the spears? When they get tired of herding animals around, they move to the big city and sell stuff on the side of the road. Apparently they also make excellent guards because of their mad skills with spears and these specific clubs they use on wild animals.

My grandmother emailed me today, wonderful tech-savvy woman that she is, with a fascinating thought from her Bible study on redemption versus rescue. Before we get into that, let’s just talk about how much I love my grandma. She is loving, hospitable, wise, humble, encouraging, and downright hilarious. She is the greatest example of someone who has been learning about God her whole life and is still finding new aspects of His character to explore. Family is incredibly important to her and she has found creative ways to show that over the years and the oceans and the generations. For those of you who have not met her, it should probably go on your bucket list. Also, she’ll probably give you an ice cream sandwich.

Rescue is when we pray for Him to deliver us from the situation. That doesn’t always happen. However, He wants to redeem every situation. We can’t always see why He wants us where we are. We can’t fathom why there are so many people trapped in evil. So many times we just want Him to extract us or others from our problems.  

Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear; your God will come. He will come with vengeance; with divine retribution He will come to save you.”

Isaiah 35:2-4

Many may not be rescued, but they can be redeemed.