Homeward Bound

Well, we’re coming home . . . *cue shouts of joy from our parents* (no seriously, my mom literally squealed when I told her.)

This is all very unexpected and Hannah and I are trying to adjust our expectations from getting more research done to just trying to get home. It’s soo strange to think I’ll be home in 4 days. It’s always a weird feeling when big plans suddenly change so drastically. I’m a planner so this is especially throwing me for a loop, but at the same time, there’s a whole new thing I get to plan, so I’m loving it. My week is now devoted to taking care of Hannah (which I love to do) and planning and packing (two of my favorite things). So, all things considered, this is not so bad.

Becky (our awesome roommate) and Hannah. Day 4 in the Hospital. 

Hannah is doing a lot better. She has an infection called Erysepalis and it’s really good that we came to the hospital when we did because she definitely needed an IV drip of antibiotics not to mention a semi-clean place to stay for a week. . . there are not a lot of sterile places in this part of Africa. She is starting to be able to put weight on her foot and her blood test results are improving. Hannah is especially bummed to be leaving early but the decision was a little easier for me. I think she wanted to tough it out and not “quit” the internship, but I am just concerned about getting her the best care she needs. She was a little out of it for the days when she was the worst and she’s brave, so naturally she wants to stick it out. But, there is such a thing as the dad-trump card and alas, we are coming home. We all came to the same conclusion in the end, it was just nice to have such a firm decision and wise advice from her dad. It took the tough decision out of our hands.

Looking back on our internship, we are so thankful for all those crazy, exhausting days of research. Without them, I don’t know if we’d be ready to come home. Ideally, we’d be able to stay and finish our last two research trips, but we feel alright with how much data we’ve already gathered. We’ll be able to finish writing our papers and reports and analyzing our date from the States. It’s really amazing how God has orchestrated this all. We are sad to leave, but totally prepared to go. There’s a sense of needing closure still and we’re sad to cancel plans and not get to say goodbye to a lot of people, but from the logistics side, we’re ready.

Once we decided we were definitely going home (which for me, was as soon as Hannah and I woke up on Tuesday morning. She wasn’t better and I decided that was it. She took a little longer and some more logical arguing to persuade, but by noon, she had decided that was best too.) I began making plans to get our flights switched. Will was working on the medical insurance stuff (which we found out will be completely covered! Thank you Covenant for the automatic travel insurance you get every intern) and I was on flight duty. After calling several times and getting disconnected because of the whole calling-from-Africa-thing, I did what I always do when all else fails: Call my mom. Best decision I made all day because within 20 minutes, she had called a travel agent for advice, then made best friends with this awesome Delta employee named Robert who was determined to do whatever he had to to get us on a flight home this Sunday. Our flights weren’t booked together and were kind of complicated, but he manually searched for the best flights and then pulled a bunch of strings so that we wouldn’t have to pay a cent! Hannah and I hadn’t purchased travel insurance, so we knew we’d have to pay at leave $250 each and at one point, a representative told me it might cost up to $1800 each to change our flights, but Robert was the man and got us free flights. God is so good. Hannah and I were stressed about money (before we had our internet connection back and our parents threatened us not to make a single medical decision driven by our college-student instincts of saving money) and thinking about paying for staying in the hospital and switching our flights. But we didn’t have to pay a cent for either of those things. In the stress of this week, it is so good to know that money is not something we need to worry about. My mom then got Robert to give us all these extra privileges like wheel chair assistance at every gate, priority boarding, and the best seats so Hannah will have room to prop her leg up if she needs it. We are so set for our flight home on Sunday.

Now, I just need to spend this week tying up all our loose ends. I’ve already made my checklist, so I’m good to go. Hannah and I are in excellent hands. Our friends check on us everyday and are helping us with anything and everything we ask them to. It’s sad to think about leaving them, but when God has so clearly worked this all out, it’s hard not to trust him in this. Everything these last several days have been out of our control, but God, continuing his theme of teaching me who’s really in control, has been faithful. We are totally taken care of and we’re looking forward to coming home.

p.s. Sorry if some of you got multiple notifications of the same post. This internet connection isn't the greatest and I didn't realize they were going through.