To SPAIN and BACK to AFRICA!

This blog should have been posted BEFORE my Thanksgiving blog.

On Monday morning November 18th colleagues and I flew from Africa to Spain where we attended an "All-Africa" conference. It was great seeing people we had not seen for years, and meeting others we had heard about but never before met. We had helpful meetings and workshops. All of our food was included in the price of the hotel, much more food than we needed at the various buffet tables!

Although I was in a tourist area, I was able to do very little site seeing. Friends and I did walk around the hotel where there were cobblestone walkways between stores. On Friday a friend and I took an elevator down to the beach so we could walk on the boardwalk for awhile.

Saturday Nov. 23rd was travel day. We left the hotel at 11am and then had two flights to get to the equator where I live. It took til about 5:30 am Sunday before we got to the guest house. Tuesday we did the ten hour drive down to the hospital where we work on Tuesday.

My left leg/knee that I broke last year swelled up quite a bit all week. It will be good for me to get it home and back to my recliner with my feet up. I did not do extra walking during the week but I did lots of sitting with my feet down. This is not good for a leg that has bad circulation. Others drove us back to Bongolo on Saturday and since then I have been on antibiotics for my leg which seems to have "cellulitis".  Today it is back to "normal".

Also, many people passed around some sort of a respiratory virus during the week. I went to the conference having problems with my allergies but that did turn into a "cold" and with my asthma, getting a cold is never a good idea. My lungs got what may have been a secondary infection. The antibiotics that I am taking for my leg have also helped clear up my lungs! :-)

Here are some photos of me in Spain.

Yep, I broke down and ate a B.K. Whopper! We have NO American chains  in the African country where I live and eating a Whopper was a "little bit of America" to me.



Here is me by the Mediterranean Sea.

Celebrating Thanksgiving!

We celebrated our Thanksgiving Day yesterday, Friday. There were ten of us here: four doctors, three nurses, a Pilot, a school teacher and a Pastor! Oh, we were ten adults and one baby! Our meal was traditional, with turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole down to the pumpkin pie. After the meal we even had an American football game that we had taped off of satellite TV the night before. Here are a few photos.







For an update on my health. My leg is back to normal after a ten plus day bout of swelling. I am to finish off the ten days of antibiotics that I was given for that which is good. The antibiotic is clearing up my aggravated bout of asthma so coughing less.

Today's Positives:
1. I had a nice Thanksgiving time yesterday.
2. My leg is back to normal and my coughing is much less.
3. I am finishing decorating my home for Christmas.
4. A neighbor couple (pilot and doctor) is coming over this afternoon so I can give them some of my extra Christmas decorations. This is my last Christmas in Africa so everything will go at the end of the season.
5. I'm on vacation (Staycation) for another week. YES!!!!!

Have a nice weekend!

 

School, Church and Spain!

The second year of classes for the Bongolo Nursing students started out with a three day Spiritual Retreat. Pastor Konde from the Theological Center in Libreville came to be the special speaker. Our 16 students and we the profs all appreciated his ministry.  The day after the retreat ended the regular 1st Trimester started of classes. Each trimester is ten weeks long, followed by a week of Exams. We are now in week ten so the students take final exams November 11-14th. I am sure they will be glad to be done with theses classes. I know I will be!!

I have been attending the Kanda Alliance Church. About last March a strong tornado like wind took the roof of the parsonage completely off. This photo was taken two weeks ago, with the parsonage in the background and the church to the left. Last week the parsonage roof project was completely finished and the Laypastor moved back into the home. How happy the church members are to have that project done, especially the Laypastor, Wilfried.

On Saturday March 16th I plan to drive with others to Libreville so we can fly out early Monday morning, March 18th. We'll be headed to Malaga, Spain to attend the All-Africa Field Forum. About 330 people are expected to attend the conference, coming from many countries. I will try to update my blog after the conference, letting you know how it went. Thanks for your prayers for safe travel and a good conference.