Friday, November 5, 2010

Toughen up, dont be afraid to Gag! 52 days to go

I keep thinking preparation...How do I prepare myself for the unpreparable?

I am so excited to see and love on the people. The women and the children grab my heart like nothing I can explain. The food is kind of weird sometimes and good others, I could take it or leave it but it doesn't stress me. I generally am not afraid of getting sick. I am not worried about crime or something happening to me. The travel is long but it isn't worse than a marathon.

My only fear, at least for the time being is, loosing it. Full on smell or site induced chucking your lunch without any control. Not motion sick, not sick sick but the waive of nausea that comes from sights and sounds that are just over the top.

I feel very drawn to Korah, the trash dump outside of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. We will be spending days there if at all possible. I can barely take my own trash out or wipe out the can. I can not even help with my own kids getting sick or barely left over food. Not that I'm not tough or too princess like, I just begin to uncontrollably loose myself.

Is there a way to toughen up? I'm trying. I keep sniffing nasty stuff to see if I can mentally control my heaving. Why would I have such an intense desire to be with people in such a terrible place but not even be able to control my own body? I heart Korah.

2 comments:

  1. Sniffing bad stuff. Sounds like a plan.
    Some tips: First, for the plane, and out and about, take some triple antibiotic ointment for your nose. That way you MENTALLY know that lots of bugs will stick to it, then you blow it out at end of plane ride, or end of day, so it doesn't get trapped in your mucous membranes. Will keep you from worrying. Take some Vicks with you, and get your kids used to having it in their noses at night now.(You can combine it w/the antibiotic) CSI's use it and my husband's horsepacking/hunting friends used it in their horses' nostrils so they wouldn't freak out around the animals in the wild, especially when they were slaughtering and hanging a deer to eat at camp. I used to go to my uncles pig farm when I was a kid. At first we would about gag all the time from the horrible smell. Then after about an hour, we didn't smell it. Guess your brain gets used to it. Later, when I would ride my motorcycle through the countryside, I immediately could tell we were near a pig farm, but I kind of like the smell as it mentally reminded me of fun times on the farm, jumping in the hayloft, etc. Final tip, keep your stomach empty while at the dump! Easier on the throat if you lose it! - Toni

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  2. We have learned that if you smile it stops the gag reflex. Joe does this when he changes Theo's diaper:)

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