There's Too Many Bassetts!

Oh man. Yesterday wiped me out. Emotionally, spiritually, physically. And my stomach started to outsmart the "Magic Pills". I was up really late, and when it was time to wake up, I could barely open my eyes. I told Heidi how I was feeling, and asked her if she could let Brad know so he could bring me some more pills.

And then it hit me. I thought, "What am I doing? Suck it up, Hamilton." So I told Heidi that I was going to try to take a shower and then I'd re-evaluate.

The shower helped tremendously, and I decided I'd go and do what I could.

When we got to the village, I knew going out in the heat was not going to be an option, so I took over setting up the home visits. It was rough, because this village has a lot of children that Lake Pointe members sponsor, so it was kind of tricky making sure they were all grouped together the way everyone wanted.

After I got that up and running, I went out and helped find some glasses for Rebecca in the vision clinic, and then helped for a few minutes in the dental clinic - making kids laugh and smile through the tears. It never fails to amaze me how different the culture is. Corin was having to cheer women and men on to make the decision to get glasses in order to help SEE - because in the Egyptian culture, glasses are not really accepted. Women are embarrassed to have their pictures taken if they wear glasses.

Another cultural difference is the security situation. Every village had members that carried around rifles all day. These men would come to the clinics...and hold their rifles while they got teeth pulled, or were fitted for glasses. There was one guy today that was really nice, and let Steve and Martha take pictures with him and his rifle.

There was a new dentist working with us today, and he offered to teach me how to do an extraction. I was pumped...unfortunately there weren't anymore that day. Figures. :)

I got to meet the famous Refka. She's officially Brad's sponsoree, but they fight over her like cats. It's silly. But she's smart as a whip, and very charming.

Gloria gave me some water balloons (empty), and I quickly drew a crowd of four boys who blew them up and I tied. We had a lot of balloons floating around, and of course, they started popping them. It was loud and echoed quite well in the large room we were in.

Unfortunately, we had to stop because it sounded a little too much like gunfire to the police downstairs. Oops!

After that, I helped Gloria pack up her bags, and we headed back to the hotel.

We hung out by the Nile at the back of the hotel, and took a couple of group photos. The sun was in our eyes, and the Bassetts couldn't figure out how to get the remote to work.

"There's too many Bassetts!"

Eventually, we got it taken, and I wondered back to my room to grab the Cholula and go to dinner. They had the amazing potatoes again, and I decided what the heck. I'd risk it. And it was totally worth it. MMMMMmmmmm!

Tomorrow, I will get to go with the water team to install a water filter and I am beyond excited. I've been able to see some of the systems, and the impact that they've had on the villages. It is an amazing thing to see - people coming to the churches to get clean water. It's an amazing thing.

If you're interested in donating towards a water filtration system, go to transformegypt.com and click on GIVE, then follow the link to the water systems. One system costs $3,000, and every dollar helps.

Much love,

*L*