Day 1769. Last night Sammy woke up coughing, and he was coughing really hard and seemed to not get enough air. Randy ended up holding him for a long time, as he started again every time we tried to put him to bed. It was another night with little sleep. On the upside, Tammy did not need any more fever-lowering sirup today, and I also didn't take any advil. I was pretty tired, but got up earlier than yesterday and never got to take a nap during the day. I still had some preparation work to do for the evening, looking for specific Mali pictures that I put on my USB stick. That was all the work I had to do. The kids were playing. Randy went to the store at some point to buy a fan, as I could not bear the heat. It's been really nice having that fan.
Even with the rough night, Sammy had gotten up really early again. He was saying he was tired, so Randy lay down with him in the afternoon. However, I could soon hear Sammy laughing and having fun with his sister, and when I looked, there was Randy sleeping all by himself, while Sammy had left.
We had leftovers from yesterday that we ate for lunch. At 3:30 pm we got ready to leave the house, and at 4 pm we left. We had a 50-minute drive ahead of us, into Germany, the way we'd come. At 5 pm we pulled up at our friends' house. They told us where to park, and we drove there, then walked back to their house. They had set up a tent and tables and benches in their garage for the summer party we were invited to. Our friends there have an organisation helping children and have been working with us for a very long time. They asked us to come to their big yearly event so all their donors could meet us in person, and that was the reason why we were doing this trip at this time.
We were there early and sat down at the tables. The kids were exploring everything and immediately started talking to people as if they'd known them forever. They were visibly enjoying themselves. Then Tammy wanted to draw, and so all three wanted to draw. They got some paper and crayons and started drawing. While they were doing so, people were slowly arriving. I ended up sitting with Sammy for a long time. He was drawing several pictures for me, and also pictures for Daddy and Grandma. And he'd heard that it was someone's birthday, so he drew a picture for her. He was also enjoying himself, and enjoying my full attention. The other kids had already moved on to other stuff.
Then the program started, later than planned. There was a little greeting and introduction to the organization's project, then a group sang a birthday song for the lady whose birthday it was. Randy turned Sammy around so he could see them sing. Then I told the lady that he had done a drawing for her, and Sammy gave it to her.
Then they showed a longer video they had put together to present their projects in India. I was surprised at how interested Tammy and Emmy were. They were watching attentively. Sammy was tired and getting cranky. A lady finally walked up to him and gave him a cuddly cow as a gift. That helped for a while. When Emmy saw the cow, he said to the lady that he wanted one as well. She was a neighbor and ended up going to her house to get an animal for Emmy as well (a donkey). Only Tammy was disappointed that she had not received anything.
After the video and talking was over, it was time for the buffet. I went there right away to get the kids some food, as it was late, but there wasn't much that they'd like. In the end they'd all had enough to eat. Then they wanted to play with the Duplos/Legos in the house, and Randy went inside with them. However, I'm not sure what happened, Tammy and Emmy changed their minds and came back outside. I had already sat down by my friends. Sammy didn't want to play by himself, so he soon came outside as well.
After everyone was done eating, they did three Christian songs. Tammy and Emmy were sitting with me, and Tammy was singing along a little. Sammy was also enjoying the music. Then it was finally my turn to speak.
I told everyone how I had ended up in Mali, what the political situation was, and what we were doing there. I showed the pictures of different people and told some stories. I was having a good time, even when the computer turned off, but it later came back on. In the end there were a few questions, but I had basically said it all and people told me after how impressed they'd been by everything. They had really enjoyed it.
I went to our table and talked to some people and sold some books. Tammy and Emmy were handing out our flyers. It was getting really late, and Sammy was very cranky because he was so tired. It was time to get going, so I finally started packing everything up, after I'd finished all my conversations. Tammy and Emmy were still going really strong and having fun with everyone. We said our goodbyes and walked back to the car.
It was 11 pm, when we started our nearly 1-hour drive back to the house. Sammy fell asleep right away. Emmy had to have a fit over nothing first, then fell asleep right away, and Tammy needed a little more time. By midnight we were back at the house in Austria. I carried Emmy upstairs, Randy carried Sammy upstairs who was crying, then he went to get Tammy. While he parked the car, I was undressing the sleeping kids and putting them to bed. They never woke up. As for me, I sat down by my computer to do the pictures and write my report, and so it's nearly 3 am now, later than usual.
