New Things

Ok, so I know I said I would post "tomorrow"- as in last Saturday, but I'm already getting used to being in this culture where tomorrow means whenever I get to it.  No rush.  Pole sana for the delay!

I was greeted by this sweet friend at the airport when I landed last Friday!  After flying for 2 days, it was great to see a familiar face with a huge smile!  Shannon not only met me at the airport, but she stayed with me for a few days introducing me to lots of new friends, getting me a phone, helping me buy things in the market, showing me how to catch a dala dala into town, getting me settled in my house, and of course, we had some girl time catching up on life, etc. etc. She is amazing and I am SO grateful for her and her willingness to help me!  It is such a blessing to have a few friends here that are like family because leaving mine in the states was no fun. 

After Shannon left, I had my first adventure into town all by myself!  I got up Tuesday morning and knew I needed to go enroll for my language school that starts on Monday.  I got dressed and excitedly marched out of the gate towards the street.  Usually you have to walk down the street a bit before a dala dala comes by (or at least a dala with room for you- and by room I mean a tiny sliver of a seat that one of my legs fits on).  I hadn't even fully closed the gate when I saw the 509 come speeding around the corner! I was so excited that I couldn't stop smiling as I waved my hand up and down like I was taught and... it worked!  The dala stopped, there was plenty of room, and I hopped on like I knew what I was doing (believe me, I definitely had no idea).  It was interesting because no one talks on the dala dala and everyone just kind of looks around at each other.  Of course, me being a mzungu got me some extra looks of curiosity.  I couldn't stop smiling the whole time because I just kept thinking, "I can't believe I'm doing this. What am I doing?"  I made it to town and went to the University in search of a lady I had been emailing about language school.  I was told to enroll when I got here, but really wasn't given many other directions than that.  I figured I would write the lady's name down on a sheet of paper and ask around until I found her.  5 offices later (not too bad), I found her and began filling out my paper work.  I am officially enrolled in language school and begin class Monday morning at 8am.  You can definitely be praying for language learning.  I haven't been a student in a really long time!

Here are a few pics of some new things:

Here's my new phone.  Pretty sweet, huh?

And my two new favorite things.  My fan and my bug net :)

And here's my new look.  

(When I go out of the house, I put a longer covering over it.)

Lots more pics of new things to come! 

God is good and I have been welcomed by everyone I have met.  You all know how much I love being with people and making friends and I was worried about the loneliness of not having any friends here in the beginning.  In just this short week, I have been included in movie nights, dinners, lunches, meetings, etc. and am reminded that the body of Christ is way bigger than just friends in Jacksonville, Florida, or the US.  So very grateful.

Praising God for a great week! Thank you for all the sweet emails, texts, calls, notes before I left.  Your prayers have been effective (not that I doubted they would be!) and although I miss you all, I have been engulfed in His comfort, peace, and presence.  

MADE IT

Made it safely to my destination! Thanks for all the prayers- Flights were great, all 7 bags made it through 4 planes and an overnight layover, I got to hang out with Shannon all afternoon, and I have been experiencing His peace in ABUNDANCE!!! Praise the Lord!

I know you are wanting more - and I will give you more tomorrow- but for now, I'm off to bed because I haven't slept in 3 days :)

Just wanted you to know I have arrived!

A Sweet "Good-bye"

For quite some time I had been dreading Tuesday, April 30th.  That was the day that I knew I would be saying "Good-bye" to my fifth grade students.  If you know me, you know that I love Jesus, I love to work with kids, I love to teach, and I ABSOLUTELY love my job!  I have been so blessed over the past 4 years to work on the Westside of Jacksonville at a school called Sadie Tillis Elementary.  I knew going into this school year that I most likely wouldn't finish out the entire year before leaving for Africa, but I had a Principal who was willing to hire me on for any amount of time the Lord allowed.  In January, I knew my time at this school was coming to a close, but I really wanted to hold out until after FCAT testing was complete before I left.  Last Thursday (a week ago today), I sat down all 50 of my kids and with tears streaming down my face, I told them that I only had a few days left with them before I would be leaving.  It was honestly one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.  My kids were so upset - which made it that much harder for me.  Lots of people were praying for me, my students, and these remaining few days, though. Prayer is powerful, y'all!  Friday, Monday and Tuesday were different.  My kids seemed to be comforted and confident that this is what I needed to do.  We enjoyed our time together and they wrote me so many sweet notes saying that they would miss me but they know that this is what God wants me to do, so they were going to let me go.  On Tuesday, students, parents, and co-workers gave me flowers, balloons, treats, financial donations, and just overall, SHOWERED me with love! We enjoyed our last moments together - laughing, crying, and dancing until the last bus was called!  It was great!  I even got a ginormous group hug from all my students!  I'm not sure if they will ever understand how much I truly love them.  I have spent the last 150 days thanking God for putting each of them in my class this school year, and praying that they would come to know our Heavenly Father.  I desire for them to know that they have Someone who loves them unconditionally and Someone who is with them no matter what circumstances they are in or will face.

I am so grateful for the time the Lord had me at Sadie Tillis.  The people I got to work with are AWESOME and I will greatly miss each one of them.  I'm already trying to convince them to come teach with me in Africa! 

What a sweet gift this day of saying "Good-bye" was!  Thank you, Lord, for these kids, this place, and the time you allowed me to be there!

P.S. If any of my students are reading this, you better behave for the sub!  :)