Sickness seems almost inevitable in a new country. We're not used to the food, the water, the air. Our immune systems are different and often sickness just happens. We've been incredibly lucky to have made it through the first two weeks without any problems, but on Sunday I woke up with a bad sore throat and by that night felt feverish. On Monday, we took a trip to a doctor in Kisii town to make sure it wasn't anything serious. As usual, I don't know what I was expecting but the clinic we walked into was far from anything I could've imagined. Straight off a small crowded street through a wide open door, across from a tiny shop with "wal mart" painted on the wall, the waiting room consisted of a few ragged benches and hand written signs advertising the availability of just about anything including HIV/Aids tests, typhoid vaccines, and women's clothing for sale. Another door led into a room with a desk and disheveled shelves of medication and around the corner was another desk, a cot, and a table covered in lab equipment. The doctor, a nice Indian man who has daughters working in America and who Samson seemed to know well, took a malaria test just to be safe, and a women examined it through a microscope right behind me (it was negative). The doctor looked down my throat and decided that it was just a really bad case of strep throat, just as Cailin had diagnosed that morning. He gave me a huge injection (it was sterile, Cailin double checked and watched his every move), followed with antibiotics and painkillers, told me not to get worked up about it more times than I could count, followed every time with "this could be really really bad" then charged 1800 kSh (about $20) for the whole visit and sent us on our way making sure we knew that even if we had no money to come see him if we felt sick again. Especially after spending $200 on a visit to a walk-in clinic in America to have a prescription written the week before I left, I couldn't quite believe the kindness of the doctor and that it only cost $20. The whole visit was very surreal and I am very grateful for medical professionals, and Cailin who was there to actually do all the thinking and persistent questioning for me when I was just concentrating on bracing myself for feeling like I had knives in my throat every time I swallowed. The last few days have mostly started to blur together. It's been a lot of restless sleeping and trying to not read all the books we bought in town in one week. Having strep is taking me back to being in middle school when I got it several times. It was always a nice excuse to spend a few days on our couch with all my favourite blankets, a never ending supply of my favourite lemon honey tea, and all my favourite DVDs. Needless to say, this experience has been a bit different from that and home seems very far away. I've been so well taken care of and I'm so grateful for Samson and his family. And even when I can barely talk and can hardly think, Cailin has looked after my every need and kept me sane. There sure are some wonderful people in this world. Being sick is all the more frustrating when I really want to be working and making it to the orphanage every day and experiencing this place. Today I'm feeling much better, and I know that this will pass and then life can get back on track. I'm glad Cailin has been able to keep up with the work at the orphanage, and we do what we can from home. This trip won't be without it's challenges, and this is just one of them.