Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
After Carnivore, I went straight into my room to pack. We would be heading out the next day at five in the morning. I ended up crashing in the middle of packing and had to scramble the next morning to put everything together. I consolidated everything from the two suitcases into the small carry-on. I don't even know how I accomplished this feat. This was probably my worst morning.
I was so groggy, partly because I took two Dramamines and a Tylenol PM- which may not even be healthy. I was told there would be significant bumps in the road, and since we were on the road for 14 hours I decided I wouldn't risk having car sickness knowing my wonderful history that way too many people have experienced. Thankfully, I did not get sick, but my energy was shot from the pills and the lack of sleep I had.
I sat in the front , which I presumed would be fine since I enjoyed being there all week. There was something wrong with the air-conditioner and so the driver turned on the heat, and we had to keep the window down most of the time because of the dust. Before we even started heading to Butula for our next week in Kenya we went to the Nakumatt-- the Wal-Mart influenced store.
This is a rough estimate but I think we were at Nakumatt for almost two hours waiting for supplies. I was hungry and the mixture of heat and cool breeze reminded me of unpleasant days outside.
Once on the road, it was like an oven. I just accepted it and fell back, but those who ended up having to sit with me were doomed to the heat. Luckily, we were there during the rainy, more winter like season, otherwise we might have been crying our eyes out with what our driver wanted to do with the heater.
We saw several interesting sights along the road including tea fields, the Massi, shepherds, and basically a more rural lifestyle that was shockingly different from Nairobi.
We ended up staying at a nice buffet like place for lunch where people exchanged their stories about the horrors of not being able to use the bathroom during the most rocky adventure of their lives-- with all the hype I somehow didn't think it was that bad-- oh yeah, I forgot about the drugs. What I remember most about this place was that on the television Rent came on and that gave me a strange feeling, just to know that our film and media industry was making itself be heard all over the world. That, and I also remember this is where I was beginning to pick up a habit of using toothpicks after every meal. I was doing my best to keep the beefy meat that we ate at every meal from being stashed between my teeth. Otherwise the meat would just stay there to irritate my gums. I haven't had my teeth checked since high school when I had my braces, I imagine my next check-up will be a painful one.
The road was hot and long and my mind was not in its best cognitive or logical mindset. We had a few snacks to keep ourselves from completely going crazy. I have no idea where I put my gameboy but I'm sure I thought about it at this point-- I seem to always forget that I'm prone to carsickness and that a gameboy is not a friend to that.
We had our second Nakumatt adventure around five or six. We had to get more supplies for Butula. I was astonished that we were getting more supplies. We were already packed to the brim. In fact, when we left Nairobi we had to battle with our drivers to take all the goods that we wanted to begin with: our luggage and the supplies for Butula. Now, we were adding more goods because we were going to a rural part of the world that didn't have a supermarket nearby. I figured we were getting a couple of things, or maybe ten things; we ended up with a whole army size list. We actually broke into groups and made it a competition-- whoever picked their groceries the fastest would get to pick their beds first. When you're fighting over your beds before seeing them it does make you wonder what exactly you are trying to win.
My strategy was to be on Sevo's team because he's from Kenya and logically he would know the store better than anyone else, but I could not have been more wrong. I should never make logical decisions. April and I, along with one of the guys, I apologize I can't remember but I think it was Weston, were with Sevo. I think Jenny's team finished first. I've learned my lesson: always go with the most organized person you can find. Sevo had a bit more trouble and was meticulous about what he was purchasing since he was about to see his parents which is a special occasion considering the ordeal it takes to go from the United States to Butula, Kenya. As well he was bringing visitors with him and his parents would be seeing Imani for the first time. It's definitely a journey.
April and Sevo may have discussed which cups and plates to buy for a good 20 minutes. I was concerned because I may not be picky when it comes to food I am however a bit picky when it comes to where I sleep and my mood the next day can be a direct result of it. I might not mind sleeping on the floor or even a bed that you can feel every last spring, but it's more the location of the bed: I hate beds that are right next to the door or the window.
I remember we ran around the store like chickens without heads looking for various items and we knew people we were watching us which was a little strange since we were doing something as normal as grocery shopping. I learned that serviettes meant napkins. I also remember getting giant sized bread. That and somehow there was an incident where a plate was dropped. Oh, and yet again we had to bargain prices. I was also made fun of by the cashier for buying razors-- you should never make fun of someone who only bought razors even though I'm about as much of a threat as a fluffy bunny.
We then ate at the Nakumatt. We were fought over by the Chinese restaurant-- or was it sandwiches how can I remember this day less than previous days-- and the pizza guy. We ate pizza-- and it was unlike any I had prior in my life. Many people did not eat their pizza at all; I was tired of taking the dreaded malaria pill. It seemed like everyday there was a new wave of people that were sick on the team and who were feeling it harder. It's a challenge not to be a little paranoid the more they talk about how awful it is but I was still confident that it was the least of my worries.
We ended up cramming more supplies into the van after dinner, which was a miraculous world breaking record. I sat in the back this time and there were so many things we were carrying at this point that they were stacked to my neck. We still had a couple of hours on the road before reaching Sevo's parents. We wanted to reach Butula before it was dark because that's when it supposedly gets dangerous. I ended up successfully falling asleep partly because something wonderful happened: all the pillows we had previously bought fell on top of me. I was no longer to be found. I was also holding random breakable objects. I wish someone had taken a picture of me because I'm sure I looked ridiculous. It seemed like a fairly smooth ride. Then, I suddenly got an eerie feeling.
Granted I was half asleep, there was something about the way things were happening that I didn't like. I looked outside; I opened my eyes to find that there were police flashing their flashlights into our car. I felt like we were going to be stopped because of me and how peculiar I looked with so many things on top of me. I grabbed the pillow and covered up the window before they had a chance to shine their light on me. I figured I didn't even want that chance to arise-- plus a little bit of light after some sound sleep was not welcomed. As I peeked outside, I was somewhat discouraged by the things I saw. I looked into the distance and saw many shacks as we traveled along. The places had lanterns and strange things hanging from the walls and fires brewing and just a dark sense altogether. Wait, that's not true. What really happened, is right after we were spotted by the police I had a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was like I had entered a whole new place that I can't describe. It was like I was beyond just foreign territory, but more like foreign spiritual territory.
I had this sense that I shouldn't look outside and I don't know why I felt that way. But there was this feeling that we were in the middle of a forest and there were people in the distance that knew we were there; that they knew we were Christians. I'm telling you, at the time it greatly bothered me, and I didn't end up going to sleep but everything seemed to have gone in fast motion. As we traveled towards the edge of western Kenya that feeling in my stomach just kept getting worse. I knew there was something out there that was bad, evil, beyond my knowledge. I felt safe in the van, and I didn't want to think outside it because I felt like we were driving in a night full of dangers but that we were incredibly naive to whatever was going around us. I did some hardcore praying while I was in Butula.
I sat there and prayed for our safety and for God to have mercy on us, to keep us safe, and to send us angels. I thought I was losing it, or maybe one of the objects that hit my head wasn't a pillow. I instantly did start feeling better as I prayed; I also felt like God had sent me loved ones to watch over me. I don't know what was happening, but a few days later when we were traveling to a restaurant I kept my eyes open and looked outside and saw many of the things I had envisioned. That time I was bit more keen.
When we finally arrived we were greeted with open arms by Sevo's parents. His mother was unable to walk, for the most part. I remember his Dad being vaguely quiet. We met in the room that we would so many times throughout our time in Butula and it would be like our sanctuary. I liked the spot where I originally sat and I tended to go back to it almost every time. We had to unpack all of our resources, groceries, and luggage before heading to bed. I was pumped that I had packed everything in such a small suitcase, it made life easier. The boys and girls had their own separate places respectively; Nicole and Josh had a room and Sevo, Kristina, and Imani had a room.
We used a basin and had hot water for our shower; thankfully the water was hot even though I was used to cold water. I did appreciate hot water. Our toilet was entertaining, for one thing you could lock people in the bathroom. There was also the other option, which was-- there's no other way of saying this-- a hole in the ground.
The sink was outside with a mirror. Then, in the girls cabin we had three bunk beds. I ended up being by the window and the door-- I don't like those spots in case in some bizarre situation someone tries to break into a room. These were nice beds, in fact, later in the week one of the animals would sneak into the place to happily lay her eggs on one of the beds. The mosquito nets for these beds were impressive. They pulled over the entire bunk bed so if you were on the top you could potentially be stuck. Fortunately, I had a whole bed to myself-- which isn't a big deal in the world of bunk beds.
Across from me was April, and across from her was Chrissy. Below Chrissy was Jenny and below April was Wacey, and then nobody was in the bottom bed which was where random things were placed. There were two windows that were easy to open from the inside and out even though there were bars separating it from the outside. The door could be locked in two ways: either the people inside had it locked to where no one could come inside or you could lock it outside and the people who were inside were in a jam.
I read my Bible like I do every night before I go to bed. I used to have major problems going to sleep and began picking up strange sleeping habits after a series of horrific nightmares. They weren't normal nightmares and they made being twelve and thirteen a bit more drastic than need be, that is when it came to sleeping. I used to be incredibly afraid to go to sleep because I would have these vicious demonic nightmares and then I would just flat out be freaked for the day. I think some of them were caused by phobias that I had, for instance the driving ones.
When I was nine I was in a bad car accident. When my family was traveling home from church a woman and her son hit our vehicle while she was looking for the airport and didn't realize we were in the lane. I didn't have my seatbelt on at the time-- which was peculiar in itself. I flew forward and almost crashed going 60 to 80 miles or however fast we were going into a mini-van pit. While falling, everything went into slow motion and I was surprisingly calm. I thought I was going to die, and somehow at the age of nine I accepted it. It's amazing all the thoughts I had at once when this happened. I remember seeing a lot of green light and hearing things that were surprisingly comforting opposed to hearing my mom scream when the whole incident started. Fortunately, I came out without a scratch. I didn't hit the the bottom of our van at an unsafe speed and my face wasn't smashed into a horribly disfigured mess and I didn't die. My brother Mike was able to lean forward and grab me back. I was pretty shocked, and I didn't start crying for a few minutes which was not normal behavior for me.
I began having dreams from that at a young age. They got graphically worse as I got older, but the ones that petrified me were the ones that started happening when I was a little older that were seriously alarming. Those started right after a family vacation at some cabin. I don't know what happened but that place scared me bad, something about it spooked me because it was the first time I seriously went hysterical after a dream. There were times I cried, but not like this. I have repressed whatever it was that spooked me.
After reading the Bible right before I went to sleep, I felt like I had received some promise from God. I don't know if anyone will believe me but whenever I would read the Bible those nightmares would go away; they always go away. Whenever I didn't read the Bible I risked the chance of it happening. I don't recall a time that I read the Bible and something happened, or maybe it did. There was one time I knew I wasn't exactly reading the Bible in my heart but was just simply reading words. This was the only time I read the Bible and things were a bit off. I don't know why God was allowing me to experience this but it was unpleasant.
A lot of the dreams I had were similar. They had to do with either the end of the world-- which is not something you want to be facing when you are a seventh grader-- or one of those weird ones that apparently many people, if not everyone, experience. It's where you feel like you are awake in your room in bed and you can look around and everything is placed exactly right. There's one problem: you can't move. You try and try and try but nothing ever happens. You are totally glued to your bed. You look over and there's something looming and it grows more vivid. It doesn't have a face because it's veiled in something black. Maybe sometimes it will have some sort of hand, and where it's watching you could be different. You may feel something from it but it is indescribable because what you're mostly feeling is fear. Whatever that thing is can't be right. I've had that dream too many times in various places-- I've had a strange account where someone actually told me they were awake and saw what was happening which was eerie. They ended up drawing a picture so that I would believe them; they were dead accurate about my dream.
This time there wasn't just one of them but four. I had never had more than one in a dream so that made it all the more frightening to me. I tried hard to wake myself up. What was different about this dream, however, was that behind them there was this white clear like mist all around them, and I felt like I could see the stars somehow in a way.
The next morning I probably would have forgotten this dream with all the activities we had planned and the new experience of being in rural Africa. My friend April asked if any of the girls heard me last night when we were in the cabin. My first thought was did I talk in my sleep? That's a new one. April then told me I was screaming, not talking not whimpering, screaming. But not like a scary movie type of action scene because I would have woke up the whole compound. She had woken up to get a blanket from around the door-- the blankets were behind where what I saw in my dream took place. I didn't say anything at this point about what happened, but at that point I realized we were facing spiritual warfare to a new degree, and that this was the first time after years of reading the Bible that I had one of these visions.
Does anyone remember what I said about Doxycycline? I figure as a Christian I should put in both what I believe and what could alternately be possible so that you can decide what the truth of the matter was in these situations. I think that's fair. Also, I tried my best not to make this imaginative but real to how it felt.
P.S. While looking for a video from youtube I found very slanted videos on witchcraft from Kenya. I think there's a wide consensus from people that they don't think that practice exists in the world anymore. I hate to say it, but it's everywhere.
1 Corinthians 12:2-3
You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
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