She's Back!

I don't have any photos yet.... but it has been wonderful after a L-O-N-G month of no contact whatsoever of a personal nature to be able to see, touch, and hear Indie again! She has been entertaining us today with some stories and we expect to get bits and pieces some more as she processes her experience. I can't wait to read her paper.

She had a good trip. Let's do a bug report first, shall we? We get alot of those stories since Indie and I share a similar revulsion of the critters. But, all's well! The special clothing, and the repellent treatment worked! Plus, when they were told to choose huts, Indie went straight for the one closest to her and, well, it was the only one that had a mosquito net that was treated to KILL the bugs that flew into it! And somehow their hut just didn't have the bug problem that all the other huts had. Was Somebody Upstairs looking out for my daughter or what?! Other people had to pick tons of trapped live bugs out of their nets and off their floors every morning and get rid of them. They did not really have that problem. And not just mosquitoes...we're talking scorpions and nasty acid spitting bugs too. Ew, ew, ew.

I was so relieved to hear Indie did well physically. She had a problem with her eye and couldn't wear her contacts for most of the trip which was a huge bummer, but didn't suffer like the others did from many of the other common problems that are expected. She was blessed! She worked hard and was able to keep up with the physical demands of carrying 50 lbs of sand up the mountain. They were at an elevation of over 5,000 feet. 3 of the team members were unable to do this, and one could not even carry 2 liters of water the mile uphill. Indie of course was not one of those! She was a workhorse and hauled sand with the best of them, side by side with the Sisit women and guys on the team, and the professors and the other couple of girls who could do the work. And it was challenging, grimy, and exhausting work. Followed by classroom work in the evenings.

The one challenge she had to endure and will continue to wrestle with for another week is a side effect of the anti-malarial and that is nightmares. I hope that now she is home, her subconscious won't be so freaked out by weird experiences of the day and they will subside. She is so tired from not sleeping well.

Indie has a gift for telling the funniest stories and we are having a great time listening to her adventures. We were all rolling hearing about one trip to a market where 3 warriors were encountering some trouble with an angry cow tied to a rope. It was hobbled and only had 3 good legs to drag these warriors around with but that was all it took. It had a nice set of horns that Indie felt were deserving enough to run from when the cow took one look at their group and went after them. It kinda knocked one girl aside (she wasn't hurt) and Indie took off running! She got behind a hut and was peeking around the corner laughing at the whole scene...because let's face it, this is funny stuff. Bascially a 3 legged cow because one leg is tied up, 3 warriors trying to keep it under control, and it's going after the Americans. All of a sudden the cow sees Indie as they are going past her and it makes a sudden detour and heads straight for her. She pretty much stops laughing and starts screaming and running. She had to hurtle 3 half walls to get away from it. The whole time the market was in an uproar of laughter, as were all of her companions and their professor. Afterwards, Indie walked away waving and smiling, and saying "Jambo! Jambo!" She says they were suitably impressed with her speed and jumping ability! It was a really funny story. I hope she will retell it in her own words because that was the very short version of a very funny tale!