And the Adventure Begins...

Well, I made it!!! There were a few bumps along the way but I am just so grateful to be here in this beautiful place. And I was given the best send-off I could have ever asked for with almost all my family and close friends showing up! It meant so much having them all there hugging me goodbye, taking pictures, and praying over me. I even got an amazing hand made Africa workbook for my travel over! I've never felt so loved and supported :)

But back to the bumps. On my journey over, I experienced to of my biggest travel fears: extreme turbulence and lost luggage. The tiny plane that I rode from Medford to San Fransisco warned us before we even took off that we were going to experience "heavy turbulence" and to stay seat belted for our own safety. The pilot warned us again before takeoff and sad the last fifteen minutes coming in were really bad. I think it would have almost been better for my own sanity not to have the warning because right then and there I wanted to deplane. Sure enough, the turbulence was so bad the plane was not only moving up and down, but swishing back and forth. I was clinging onto my arm rests for dear life praying out loud. Don't worry, no one was sitting next to me. I can't tell you how happy I was to get off that plane. From then on my whole travel experience was filled with little sleep and a lot of discomfort. And to top it off upon arriving in Cape Town I was told my bags were still in Frankfurt. Great. So I was stuck wearing my nasty travel clothes for two extra days. But you know what? Once I got to Bridges...well, even once we started driving there and I took in the fact that I was really here, I forgot about all my travel woes and was just SO incredibly happy to be here. My living quarters immediately made me feel right at home. I can't believe I get my own space complete with a spacious bathroom and kitchen filled with everything I need! Today I was taken to the store to do some grocery shopping and I finally got my bags back! So now that I have some food in the kitchen and am completely unpacked, I feel more settled in and ready to focus on other things.

Right now, I'm actually the only person staying at Bridges Academy because everyone else is still on winter break till Monday. Most of the staff doesn't live at the school and those who do are from the states and are still gone visiting their families. Those people will be back on Sunday, along with a team from Rock Harbor church that will be here for two weeks. Because the team will be here taking over everything, I don't officially start teaching till next Monday. This gives me some time to ease into what I'll be doing and get aquatinted with everything. It will be the perfect transition for me, especially after a few days staying here on my own, settling in and getting used to the time change. I just love the complete peace I feel being here knowing that this is where God wants me right now. He couldn't have picked a better place :)