Day 75

So, I cried today.

But don't worry, they were happy tears. Really happy tears, because the doctor said Sule's heart is perfect!

OH MY GOSH, PINCH ME!

After a second echocardiogram, there appears to be no hole in his heart, no valve stenosis, and no hypercalcemia. His oxygen saturation was 100%! His blood work showed low levels of hemoglobin, but this may actually explain his pale hands and feet. The doctor said he likely did have a hole in his heart, but that it has since closed up!

Hallelujah!

Best case scenario, that just happened. Boom.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for the health of this sweet little boy. I'd like to think my sleepless nights might have actually contributed to the healing of his heart. It wasn't easy but it was worth it, and if I had to do it all over again, I would!

What an incredible, unpredictable, unforgettable summer.

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 74

Pretty sure I could navigate to the aiport with my eyes closed.

Today two new volunteers arrived, which means I was at the airport twice in a matter of 8 hours. They're both really great though, so I guess they were worth the trip.

One of the new volunteers from the UK also brought with her a package from Emma. Look at all these goodies!

Funny story, not everything she sent actually made it to Tanzania. To preface what's to come, Emma is the one who decided to adopt the cat, Thomas, while she was here for six months. Being a good mother, she sent in the box a sachet of cat food for him.

Well guess what exploded all over in the box? 

The nasty sachet of cat food.

Olivia, the volunteer bringing over the box with her, had to email Emma and ask if it was alright to open it up before she packed it. Apparently something inside was starting to smell. I cringe and laugh at the thought of this. Poor girl had to try to salvage what wasn't absolutely covered in cat food!

XOXO,

Amanda 

Day 73

Another new baby!

Meet Jennifer. 

She's three weeks old and the sweetest little thing. The mamas at the orphanage definitely have their hands full with so many little ones!

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Let me tell you about last night. 

Somehow, I got roped into taking Sule for the night. Everyone else had some silly reason they couldn't do it. Fine, fine, deciding to take one for the team, I agreed to do it. 

It. Was. Awful.

(Do not let that yawn fool you!)

I didn't sleep. Sule didn't sleep. And at 5:00am, I walked across the compound and knocked on Carrie's door. I'm sure she wasn't very happy to see me, but boy was I thrilled to see her! I think the poor guy had an upset tummy because no matter what I tried, nothing worked to settle him. My head finally hit the pillow at 5:30am.

I'm feeling overwhelmed at the moment with a list of work tasks (is this what a real job feels like?), but am somehow making the time to apply for another internship starting this fall. Carrie has real life job experience, unlike me, and has offered to look over my resume and cover letter. Thank you Carrie, you're the best!

XOXO,

Amanda

P.S. Two weeks from today I'll be on a plane back home!

Day 72

Guess who's back?

It's the SuleMonster!

And he's more adorable than ever. He is now 1 month old and doing so well! The baby home who has been caring for him has done an amazing job and completely fallen in love with him, but who wouldn't? Tomorrow, Ali is accompanying him to Mwanza where he will be seeing the only pediatric cardiologist in all of Tanzania. Cross you fingers and say your prayers for this little guys heart. We're all hoping for good news!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 71

I'm baaaaack!

My week in Zanzibar was incredible! We didn't have dreamy weather, but the resort was beautiful and the beach was picture perfect. Despite the lack of sunshine, we still spent the majority of each day laying on the beach. It was an all-inclusive resort, which meant we ate a lot of food. We didn't take full advantage of all that Zanzibar has to offer, but we went wanting to relax and that's exactly what we did.

Possibly my favorite part of the entire trip was playing soccer on the beach. I don't think any of the local Maasai took me seriously until I called them out for not passing me the ball. As soon as I scored, that all changed.

The beautiful sunrise we woke up way too early for.

Two days in a row the tide was way, way out. For the locals, this meant tending to their seaweed farms. For us, it meant an opportunity to explore!

Sea urchins were everywhere!

I only have 16 days left in Tanzania.

How is that possible?

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 65

Crash and burn. Literally.

I’ve decided to start training for my half marathon now, rather than wait another three weeks. When you haven’t run in two months, maybe it’s not the best idea to start by running hills, on the slopes of a mountain. I may have started out a little too quickly and not two minutes down the road hit my first hill. A really long, really steep, ugly hill. My chest started burning first and then my legs. I ran approximately ten more minutes before deciding to walk. I walked another five minutes before turning around and running home. With the compound in sight, I managed to trip. I went flying head first, and probably resembled someone sliding into home plate. I wish I could say no one saw me, but they did. Aside from a bloody elbow, scrapped up hands, and a bruised hip, I’m just fine!

 My day completely turned around when I finally received Kelsey's package. From the dented and worn exterior, it looks like the box had quite the journey from Italy to Tanzania. This package, from my best friend Kelsey, made my cry really happy tears. Kelsey, how did I get so lucky having you as my best friend? I have experienced and learned so much these past two months, but most of all I have realized just how blessed my life truly is.

 (No picture today due to the slow internet at the airport!)

I leave for Zanzibar in one hour! I’m not taking my computer, which means I won’t be blogging. I can’t wait to share of my pictures when I get back!

Happy early birthday to two of my best friends and birthday twins, my beautiful momma and my best friend Kelsey! I wish I could celebrate with each of you. I love and miss you both dearly!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 64

Buildin' the base.

The base being a base tan... for Zanzibar! We leave tomorrow night and are so excited. We've been counting down the days all week long. While laying by the pool today I enjoyed a glass of my favorite juice! What a life.

The weather here really hasn't been that great so we did our best to enjoy every minute of our day. For dinner, we went up to the guesthouse Emily and Didier are staying at. We had guacamole with tortilla chips,  bruscheta, samosas, french toast, and banana cake. It may sound like the most random combination ever, but that's because it was! Nothing short of delicious though. They leave tomorrow to go back to Belgium and we're all so sad. Yet another group of wonderful people I am so happy to have met!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 63

Thrift shopped like Macklemore.

Today was market day and we decided to shop! I think I mentioned before that Tengeru slightly resembles a very large garage sale, with practically every item imaginable. With a little patience and a lot of time, I came home with some really great finds!

For 30,000 shillings (less than $20 USD), I bought three scarves, a pair of white low-top converse, and a pair of sweat pants. I meant to take pictures but started washing them before I remembered. I will add pictures tomorrow!

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SuleMonster update:

We've partnered with another orphanage that is brand new and has no other infants, which means they are in the perfect position to provide one-to-one care. Temporarily, Suleman will be staying at Kumbuka Children's Center in Arusha. We're still in the process of contacting doctors for surgery, but in the mean time I'm confident he is getting the care he needs. 

We all miss you baby Sule!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 62

Happy Friday friends!

Another day without power, but I managed to stay busy. I went up to the orphanage this morning and attempted to retrieve a package from the post office this afternoon. For some absurd reason, I am required to pay a customs tax before they will give it to me. A tax of nearly $50. Um, no thanks. They also need to see my photo ID, which I don't carry around with me because why would I? 

Kelsey Lankow, I would just like to let you know that your package is worth all of this craziness! Thank you for being so thoughtful. I can't wait to find out what's inside! Hopefully I will finally be able to get it on Monday.

A mama from the orphanage also brought us an entire bag of passion fruit. I've had passion fruit juice but never eaten an actual passion fruit. It was sour, but good!

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Last night I registered for my second half marathon! It's not till October but having not run since May, I'm a little worried. Regardless, the race is on Cape Cod and I cannot wait!

XOXO,
Amanda

Day 60 & 61

Transformation Tuesday 

(because I already used my Throwback Thursday)

Before:

After:

Look how big the twins are getting! 
And guess what, I can now tell them apart!
Joaquim on the left, Jon on the right.

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Yesterday we were without power and internet. I hadn't missed a day of blogging in nearly 60 days but I suppose it was bound to happen at some point. We had a list of errands to run in Arusha and one included stopping at the immigration office. Since every new volunteer needs a CTA permit to legally volunteer in Tanzania, we use the same immigration officer each time. After dropping off the passport, I received this text message from Abu:

When the power finally came back on this afternoon, I set out to accomplish my long to-do list. My midpoint review for my practicum was due 10 days ago, which by default made it my top priority. The now functioning internet also allowed us to book our hotel in Zanzibar.

I'm so excited!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 59

Throwback Thursday (on Tuesday)

I know that is all wrong, but I needed a reason to add this picture from Sunday night in Arusha watching the World Cup.

Look at all those beautiful people!

We had no power all day, which is per the usual lately. I have a to-do list a half a page long but nothing got done today. Cross your fingers tomorrow is more productive! I finally gave up on the terribly slow book I was reading and started a new one, which I am already half way done with so I guess my day wasn't a complete waste.

Time to go watch the Bachelorette! I've avoided any spoiler up to this point, which I'm quite proud of. This horrible reality show is my guiltiest pleasure!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 58

Power's out, sun's gone, sad day.

Today was busy, but what day isn't? I had three meetings today, which took up the majority of the afternoon, and then we cooked dinner for the Gertrude family. We had to cook in the dark because of course the power is out again but it didn't affect the outcome! Ali and I cooked chili, Carrie made a salad, and Ashley made teriyaki rice and dessert. Sadly, we had to skip the corn bread since we had no way to bake it.

And because we deserve a vacation (or at least I think we do), we bought tickets to Zanzibar! Ali, Ashley, Carrie, and I leave next Monday to spend 5 days lounging in the sunshine on a white sandy beach.

Sounds like perfection to me!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 57

AR-GEN-TIN-A! ARGENTINA!

We took Suleman back to the orphanage yesterday. It was my turn again to take him for the night and after only two hours of sleep, I was kind of okay with it. He didn't fall asleep until 2am, and then woke up at 3:30, 4, 5, 6, etc. 

Poor me, right? 

Despite my lack of sleep, the rest of my day was great. The sun returned, I washed two buckets of clothes, Emily made delicious guacamole, Ali made beef stew, and we all went to Arusha to watch the World Cup final.

It was one of those nights I'll never forget with some of the most wonderful people I've ever met.

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 56

Only 30 more days!

Believe it or not, I'm already dreading the day I leave this wonderful place. Not because I don't want to go home, but because I don't know when I will come back. The first month of my trip absolutely flew by, which means these last 30 days could too.

We're considering taking Sule back to orphanage on Wednesday. In the mean time, we have a mama here at the compound daily from 9am-3pm to give us a little break. Today we took full advantage of that and went to Arusha for lunch. I ordered a gourmet BLT, complete with egg and avocado. 

Considering the freezing temperatures lately, a hot chocolate was also necessary. When I first arrived in Tanzania, I giggled at the sight of children dressed in snow suits. Their mothers are clearly just being dramatic because it's not that cold. Fast forward two months and I would also like a snow suit! Another fashion trend here is socks with sandals. Back home I would not be caught dead wearing this awful fashion faux pas. 

But those are my feet and today I caved. I can guarantee I won't be wearing this outside of the compound, but I can now say I've rocked socks and sandals.

I'm turning into a Tanzanian!

Please send the sun back! I'd really like a pool day. 

XOXO,
Amanda

Day 55

The SuleMonster

This little three week old is a piece of work!
We love caring for him but are quickly realizing we can't do it alone. He constantly wants to be held, and bounced, and rocked. We really don't want him to go back up to the orphanage because we know his health is fragile, but we're all completely exhausted and running out of other options. 

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We spent our morning at Baba Glory's family farm and then Ali and I went to see her host mama from her last trip here. The people in this country are the most welcoming and friendly human beings I have ever met. I can't tell you how many times I have been invited into the home of a complete stranger and treated like family. We could all really learn a thing or two from these sweet Tanzanians. 

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 54

Power is a luxury.

We're without power, again. I was however able to order way too many goodies from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and bake homemade brownies from scratch before it went out. I'd call that a win for sure. 

And in other news, I had a delicious tomato and feta salad for lunch today. If you had told me three months ago that I would eat an entire plate of tomatoes and actually like it, I would have laughed in your face. Africa has changed me. 

The generator is only on long enough for us to wash Sule's bottles and get him ready for bed. I'll write more tomorrow!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 53

Slowly but surely making progress.

Today we finally went to Moshi to retrieve Sule's records. 

About time!

Funny thing about these silly Tanzanian hospitals, they don't save x-rays or echocardiograms. If any are kept, I swear it's by pure luck.

What we found out from their notes is that he has an atrial septal defect (ASD) with a left to right shunt. The hole is approximately 5mm wide and there's a possibility he also has stenosis of the pulmonary valve. If that meant nothing to you, you're not alone. I had to google it!

I stole this picture from Wikipedia (I'm not really up to speed with what is and isn't legal in the blogging world, so we'll just pretend it's fine). The red arrow is where his hole is. Basically it means oxygen-poor blood is able to flow directly from the right side of the heart and mix with oxygen-rich blood in the left side of the heart. This can lead to lower-than-normal oxygen levels and while ASD may not always produce symptoms, they have most certainly presented themselves in Baby Sule. I've scanned a copy of his records and am sending them out to The Small Things board. Hopefully this bit of information will be beneficial moving forward.

When we returned to Nkoaranga, we found out three children from the orphanage were also taken to the hospital this morning and two of them were admitted.

Stop this madness!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 52

Reality check.

Today was hard. It took a tough conversation with a pediatrician to really put into perspective Baby Sule's future. My eyes fill with tears every time I am reminded he isn't the healthy baby he portrays on the outside. It's so much more serious and complicated than it seems, and it's so easy to forget that.

Thank goodness for best friends! Jilly bean, you made my morning. I miss and love you so much!

It's my night to stay up with the baby. Wish me luck, and hopefully some sleep!

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 51

Week 7.

It's very crazy to think I have already been here seven weeks. Tonight we dropped Emma off at the airport and on Wednesday four more volunteers leave. Everyone I have met here has truly been so wonderful and it has made saying goodbye really hard. There's no way my experience here so far would have been the same without them. 

Baby Sule is still living with us at the compound. To our surprise, today was a national holiday so our plans to go and retrieve his records had to be postponed. As soon as we have them, we will be able to send his x-rays and echocardiogram to doctors in the UK and United States.

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 50

Babies and board meetings.

We had wanted to go lay by the pool today, but the sun hid behind the clouds all afternoon. We grabbed lunch at Tanz Hands instead. I've lost count the number of times I've eaten there the past seven weeks. 

We also had a board meeting, via Google hangout, with all of The Small Things board members. We updated everyone on our progress with No More Orphans and our work so far as interim volunteer coordinators. It was very nice to hear our work here is being acknowledged and appreciated!

The majority of our day, however, revolved around Baby Sule. We aren't complaining though. This little ham has us wrapped around his tiny fingers. 

XOXO,

Amanda

Day 49

My new birth control.

But actually, all you need is a two week old newborn. I am in no way ready for parenthood. He's so sweet, but so much work (and we are splitting the work between four people). He slept in Ali's room last night and will be in Carrie's room tonight. I'm off the hook until Monday.

Emma has returned from safari and is here two days before she returns home to England. That calls for a beer, or three! 

And then there's my sweet sister. Your text and our FaceTime made my night. I love and miss you so much!

XOXO,

Amanda