Hello everyone! Lots of love to you from across the world ;)
The last time you heard from me I was sitting in a McDonalds in Dublin, Ireland NOT SO ANY LONGER! Ha ha but we have had a lot of adventures in between then and now.
So why don’t I tell you a few of them. :)
FRIDAY
On our first Friday we woke up early ate breakfast all together and headed off to Glenandough (pronounced Glen.da.low) we hopped in our bus driven by an excellently accented Irishman. (I now have a new favorite accent)
It was a windy road, a lot of sheep and rolling hills, but so BEAUTIFUL AND SO GREEN!
We arrived at Glenadough and the highlights of the stop were the over 1,000-year-old Celtic cross in the middle of the medieval grave yard and the building called St Kevin’s Kitchen…yes St. Kevin. The only thing I can picture is Kevin as Cookie Monster from the Office. Sigh.
After a ton of pictures we hopped back onto the bus and headed for Blarney Castle, home of the Blarney Stone, but not before a stop at Subway. Yes came all the way to Ireland to eat a Subway sandwich.
Blarney Castle was excellent. And I was so proud of our group because we all (well most of us) risked our lives to kiss the Blarney Stone! And if you kiss the Blarney stone you are given the gift of blab or the gift of blarney.
Hopped back onto the bus and headed for the small city of Cork. We stopped and had a traditional Irish meal(s) ranging from steak (ha ha) to chicken salad.
SATURDAY
Woke up and headed off to explore a little more of Dublin before we left that afternoon. Stephanie and I explored and looked for wifi…we were unsuccessful in finding wifi but we were successful in making an Irish friend.
A random Irish man, whom we are pretty sure was homeless, came up and talked to us while we were waiting to get back into our hotel. He asked where we were from and we said, “America.” And he said, “What nationally are you?” and we said, “American.” He replied, “I know that, but what is your ancestry?” He looked at me and said, “Are you Israeli……………”
Never heard that before. Ha ha
Lauren walked by soon after and asked us to come “help her” so we were saved. Ha ha
Got all of our bags, met our driver, and headed for the ferry.
After we lugged our bags and checked them we all GOT ON THE FERRY! So exciting. It reminded me of the scene in Indian Jones and the Last Crusade when Jones and his dad get on the blimp. We all had our little seats and there was food…there were no Nazis though so not exactly the same thing.
The ride from Dublin to Holy Head was longer than I thought about 2 and half hours. But there was free wifi, coffee, and the British news so we kept ourselves entertained.
Arrived in Holy Head and met our driver ROBBIE! He drove us around the UK for the entire week! He was excellent.
But any-who we hopped on (which we seem to be doing a lot) our bus for a 3ish hour drive to Ambielside, English in the Lake District. We had a group dinner at a great Italian restaurant attached to our hotel. The rooms we stayed in were all decorated so great and there was a free coffee/tea machine in our building. Yes please.
Sunday
We woke up and had breakfast at a great placed called The Apple Pie Bakery. :) And yes you can have pie for breakfast.
Headed off to Beatrix Potter’s house. It was a bit rainy but still great. The house was so cute and fun really reminded me of the type of place Louisa May would have lived.
After the author of Peter Rabbit’s home we headed to Dove Cottage, which was the early home of William Wordsworth.
A quaint lunch at a local restaurant, a quick look at Wordsworth’s grave and we were off to our hotel.
After a private church service in the Organs’ room we decided what to do for dinner. It was a free night for dinner so Courtney, Lauren, Lyndsey and I got dinner from a little grocery store and had AN OFFICE MARATHON! Yes please. Ha ha
MONDAY
We had a drive a head of us on Monday. After a quick breakfast at the Apple Pie bakery, we drove or Robbie drove us to Scotland! Specifically to see Hadrian’s Wall!
We had the cutest tour guide who reminded me of the historian in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who gets killed….ha ha ha yeah that one. But he was so cute with his little hat and glasses and then his pants were tucked into his socks! And his name you ask?...Dr. Bryan!
Hadrian’s Wall was awesome. Beautiful scenery! The wall/fortress is on the top of a hill so you can see for miles! It was not raining so the sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and there were sheep everywhere. A classic English or Scottish rather countryside.
We not only saw the Roman fortress and Hadrian’s Wall BUT we got to walk on top of one of the sections of the wall! The wall is almost 1,000 years old; so it was very surreal to be there and experience a big part of history.
After we saw the wall we headed off to lunch at the cutest little cottage restaurant BUT not before we discovered that our bus would not turn on….so while our excellent driver Robbie tried to solve the mystery of the broken bus the rest of us took public transportation to the restaurant.
We were at the restaurant for quite a while but with a little dessert and a couple of riddles we passed the time in good form! Ha ha
We found another bus company who offered to take us to Stirling BUT as we were about to load our luggage onto the new bus we get a call from Robbie saying HE’D FIXED OUR ORIGINAL BUS! We were excited but also a bit disappointed when Lauren told us that the replacement bus we would have been on had wifi, satellite tv and Playstations….ha ha it is used for some of the national football clubs.
We got into Stirling but not after a lot of napping took place on the bus.
Lauren, Tyler, and I had Thai food then gathered some snacks for the group because we were watching BRAVEHEART!!!
BECAUSE
We had to ready because we were going to see the William Wallace monument the next day!
TUESDAY
Woke up and had a great British breakfast including tea, eggs, meat, cereal, and toast.
Loaded up our luggage and loaded up the bus to go see the Wallace monument! It is a huge tower with a lot of steps to the top…was I a bit scared…. maybe. I do not enjoy heights BUT I MADE IT and it was WORTH IT! Beautiful view of the Scottish hills!
After the monument we headed to St. Andrews—home of the 4th largest university in the UK and site for one of the greatest golf courses in the world.
It was fun. I wandered off by myself and found a great little coffee shop THEN I found Courtney, Brad, and Lauren on the beach making a sand castle so of course I joined them ha ha
Back on to the bus and onto Edinburgh!
I feel asleep every time we got on the bus so I decided to go to bed early…so I got some cereal from a grocery store and turned in!
WEDNESDAY
We had a tour of Edinburgh! Including the castle and the Royal Mile!
It was fun and a bit adventurous because half of the group got the wrong time for the start of the tour so we had to wait for everyone to start the tour. Ha ha
But once we got the whole group together it was great to see the Castle and the Scottish Crown Jewels! Then after we finished our tour….which was long…but good we grabbed some lunch at a really cute placed called Chocolate soup! They had soups, sandwiches, coffee, and a ton of chocolate desserts! Including, yes, chocolate soup! Ha ha
We all wanted to see the palace where the Queen stays when she comes to Scotland so we headed on down the HUGE HILL! And took a look around…we were confused on some of the Royal Family policits/what makes you a queen and not a queen…basically why is Elizabeth queen and her husband Phillip is not the king…so we got a lesson in British-ness… ha ha and the reason is Elizabeth did not have any brothers so she can be the ruling queen but her husband since he is not in the direct blood line cannot be ruling king….
We were all EXHAUSTED! Well some of us were. A few people decided to climb this great big hill called Arthur’s Seat, which looks over the whole town…I opted for a nap before dinner!
AND DINNER WAS AT THE ELEPHANT HOUSE!!!
AKA THE BIRTH PLACE OF HARRY POTTER!!!
The elephant house was one of the coffee shops J.K. Rowling sat and wrote the beginnings of Harry Potter in! It was great BUT not decorated in H.P. stuff so the place felt authentic and not campy.
GREAT FOOD! And so so so good. Mary and I spilt a burger and a club sandwich (it has become our unofficial tradition to spilt meals! Ha ha)
Then after dinner Stephaine, Mindy, and I went wandering around town. We had some bonding time ;) and go to experience the city at night!
THURSDAY
Another wonderfully full English breakfast at the Hotel Ibis! (my France friends will remember this excellent chain hotel establishment) and headed for York!
Yet another long drive…and more napping. Which is probably good because it helped us all get over jetlag.
We arrived in York around lunchtime, and after a quick bite we headed to the York Minister, which is a huge church, for our tour!
Our guide was funny and informative! The perfect combination. The Minster was beautiful! The outside reminded me a lot of the church in Rheims, the city where I lived in France.
We walked the outer wall of the city and got to explore some of the cute little streets.
After our tour a lot of us waited to go to Even Song, or the Evening singing service at the Minster. It was so beautiful. The little boys that sang were precious, but more importantly it was cool to see the sincerity and the heart behind a lot of the people present. I just love experiencing the heart of God and the hearts of his people all over the world and in so many different settings.
I have been abundantly blessed.
A quick dinner at the hotel….and a lot of laughter….(Yeah for a moment I could not breath. I cannot remember what was being said, but all I know is Brad is one of the funniest people on this trip!) we all turned in for the night BUT not before we ALL AT ONCE tried to get on the hotels internet. That was interesting because the signal was not strong enough to take care of all of us….
FRIDAY
OFF TO LONDON!!!!! WHOO HOO
After ANOTHER EXCELLENT full British breakfast we hopped on our bus, greeted our faithful driver, and friend Robbie we headed to the capital city!
Some more napping and ipod listening; a quick stop for lunch at some services (UK speak for a huge rest stop) WE ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!
Got to our apartments WHICH are down the road from the British Museum! Can’t beat that! Met with the Florida State facility managers (we rent a section of flats or apartments from FSU) and headed to the grocery store.
AND
Oh yeah can’t forget this one…we are on the top floor. And there are 4 or 5 (a lot) of windy, close stairs we must scale to get to our flat…not fun…especially with our huge suitcases…boo.
Ok so we went to the grocery store to get a few things to tide us over for the weekend!
Also Jacqueline Dillion the former director of the London program and the director of the French program I went on invited me and the Organs out for coffee!!! It was so great to see her and to have some amazing coffee! And your know being in London was not a drag either. ;)
Then we all unpacked, settled in, enjoyed the wifi!
WHICH I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED BECAUSE I GOT TO SYKPE WITH ANNA B MIELKE ALL THE WAY IN CALI!
☺
SATURDAY
Today. Today!
I slept until 11…not planned.
Had some breakfast, hung out with the girls! We are all in one big apartment. Stephanie and I are roommates! And there are two other rooms, one with 3 girls and one with 2! We have two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room!
Got ready for the day and Stephanie, Mindy, and Mary all decided to come exploring with me and get coffee! A must have at all times!
On our explorations we stopped in a ticket shop to see how much some show tickets for like Wicked or another show would be…the prices were great. Almost half off….and as we are standing there I look at the other girls and was like, “Do you guys want to go see a show today?”
We asked what time the next showing of Chicago was and it was in 40 minutes……SO WE BOUGHT TICKETS (after we found an ATM and got cash) AND WE WENT AND SAW THE SHOW!!!
IT WAS FUN AND SO SPUR OF THE MOMENT (not like me at all ha ha) and wow it was just an amazing show period! And we had GREAT SEATS ON THE FLOOR ALMOST SMACK IN THE MIDDLE! So so great! ;)
Headed back to the apartment and now here I sit.
Ha ha
It has been a busy last week and I am sorry for the lack of details in some areas but I had a lot to tell and I thought an overview was the best! Plus the details have gotten fuzzier as they have gotten farther away.
Thank you for reading! I hope it was fun and I hope that my rambling has been somewhat coherent and grammatically correct.
With much much love please continue to pray for our group and for the Lord to move mightily in the hearts and minds of the students, and all of us, here as they experience and grow this semester!
<>< caroline
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
heading to ireland!
Ah Dublin we have arrived! :)
Hello dear ones, family and friends, I have arrived with the Harding in England group of students in the wonderful country of Ireland. Whoo hoo
Our flight was about 7 hours and went smoothly, aside from the fact that after riding on the Middle Eastern airline company Emirates this summer I am FOREVER spoiled. Our flight to Dublin did not have two meals and free snacks on request, there were no personal tvs, no hot towels when I arrived and the seats were so small! Bah!!!!! Whew ok now that my rant is finished I will admit that I am being a tad bit of a brat and continue on with what happened after the plane ride. Ha ha
We got into Dublin at 8 a.m., local time, and fyi the time difference is 6 hours different from Central Standard Time.
Our group of 11 (8 students, the Organs (teachers), and me) got off the plane and into the customs line just fine HOWEVER there was only ONE person working at the immigrations and customs desk…for about oh 250ish people. Oh my my my. So we stood standstill in line for almost 45 minutes and the entire process to get through customs took almost 2 hours. They eventually got some more people in help.
BUT
We made it out and everyone got ALL of their luggage. Praise! Then we headed off to meet Lauren Knight and her husband Tyler. Tyler is in school at Oxford and so Lauren has been hired to be the hands and feet of HUE! She is amazing and has done an awesome job coordinating and directing us so far…. I expect to see many more great things ;)
Headed out of the airport and into the crisp 50 degree Ireland air! Very refreshing, especially after only 3ish hours of sleep, which I was grateful for, but still coffee was a must. Loaded all of our bags and selves onto a “coach” which dropped us off at Trinity College where we are staying.
Got our rooms, well most of us got our rooms, several others had to wait for keys, but the room situation was eventually sorted out.
After we dropped our bags off and stared at each other (jet lag) we headed off (yes we hit the ground running) to get a bit of breakfast and meet our first tour guide!
The place we got breakfast had gluten free AND organic options! Needless to say I was very pleased and so was my tummy. We grabbed our cappuccinos and oat bars and headed down to meet our tour guide Lorcan. Lauren described him like this, “Look for the guy who is kind of dressed like a preacher, but cooler…” ha ha so we found Lorcan and he in fact did look like he was wearing a collar, but he also had some sweet glasses that rounded out his look. Ha ha.
We all sat down and got ready for the 1916 Rebellion tour, which goes through the history and significant sights around Dublin that led up to the Irish revolt/rebellion of 1916, which eventually led to the creation of a separate nation state from Britain in 1922.
Lorcan was hilarious. Entertaining but so knowledgeable! He has been leading this tour for 14 years and has co-written a book called Easter Rebellion: 1916 with another one of the tour guides. He said his mother has told him it’s the best book she’s ever read…so I guess we are to judge for ourselves ; )
After the tour we were all a little tired and hungry so we received some cash for lunch and were released upon the city. Sort of we only had an hour before we had to meet up again. Ha ha So I went off with a couple of girls, Lauren and Lyndsey, to find a bathroom, which can be an adventure of its own in Europe BUT we were successful.
And I was also successful in ordering a ham and cheese sandwich from a local vendor…but I had to repeat what I wanted a couple of times because I guess my “thick southern American” accent threw him off. Ha ha It was fun standing in line (messing with/ trying to figure out my UK phone that I am using for the program) and listening to some local high school kids on a lunch break. It feels good to be back in Europe, or rather back in a historically saturated environment. Not that there is no history in American, or even Arkansas, BUT the type of history and the type of essence that rests in most of Europe’s large cities in indescribable and energizing. Like Louisa May Alcott said being in Europe is like walking into a novel.
After lunch we met back up to go and see The Book of Kells…which is one of the oldest and most beautiful illuminated manuscripts! And I was excited because my mom was pumped for me to see it! She saw it on our itinerary and got very excited! Ha ha It was interesting but my favorite part was not the Book of Kells BUT the huge massive awesome library of classic works, letters, and different culturally iconic works of literary. Sigh. It was amazing. I just stood there. It was somewhat like when the Beast, in Beauty and the Beast, lets Belle into his library! Except this place was made of wood and had ropes blocking me from the books…otherwise exactly like Beauty and the Beast ;)
After we sampled the Book of Kells museum which is on the Trinity campus, right down from our rooms, we were let go for the evening…it was only about 4 o’clock and most of us did not want to go to bed yet (even though we are exhausted) in an effort to get our bodies on schedule with this time zone.
So here I sit…in a McDonalds down the road from Trinity with two of the girls, Mindy and Stephanie. We hoped to find free wifi to occupy ourselves with until it was time to go to sleep…however free wifi was not available…so we will see where we find some internet SO I CAN POST THIS and tweet and stay socially connected etc….or as an arrogant former youngest VP and current temp would suggest I should just “Woof”…because it connects ALL social networks : ) if you can tell me the reference you will get a prize and I will be extremely impressed.
Please pray for the transition and meshing of the group; pray for safe travels and a spirit of encouragement and support to flood through our group. : ) God is moving all the time.
Also just a disclaimer I probably, well who knows, but probably will not be blogging every day. I hope to blog every week AT THE MINIMUM and maybe more depending on what the schedule looks like for the week.
Love and prayers to you all. Kisses.
Hello dear ones, family and friends, I have arrived with the Harding in England group of students in the wonderful country of Ireland. Whoo hoo
Our flight was about 7 hours and went smoothly, aside from the fact that after riding on the Middle Eastern airline company Emirates this summer I am FOREVER spoiled. Our flight to Dublin did not have two meals and free snacks on request, there were no personal tvs, no hot towels when I arrived and the seats were so small! Bah!!!!! Whew ok now that my rant is finished I will admit that I am being a tad bit of a brat and continue on with what happened after the plane ride. Ha ha
We got into Dublin at 8 a.m., local time, and fyi the time difference is 6 hours different from Central Standard Time.
Our group of 11 (8 students, the Organs (teachers), and me) got off the plane and into the customs line just fine HOWEVER there was only ONE person working at the immigrations and customs desk…for about oh 250ish people. Oh my my my. So we stood standstill in line for almost 45 minutes and the entire process to get through customs took almost 2 hours. They eventually got some more people in help.
BUT
We made it out and everyone got ALL of their luggage. Praise! Then we headed off to meet Lauren Knight and her husband Tyler. Tyler is in school at Oxford and so Lauren has been hired to be the hands and feet of HUE! She is amazing and has done an awesome job coordinating and directing us so far…. I expect to see many more great things ;)
Headed out of the airport and into the crisp 50 degree Ireland air! Very refreshing, especially after only 3ish hours of sleep, which I was grateful for, but still coffee was a must. Loaded all of our bags and selves onto a “coach” which dropped us off at Trinity College where we are staying.
Got our rooms, well most of us got our rooms, several others had to wait for keys, but the room situation was eventually sorted out.
After we dropped our bags off and stared at each other (jet lag) we headed off (yes we hit the ground running) to get a bit of breakfast and meet our first tour guide!
The place we got breakfast had gluten free AND organic options! Needless to say I was very pleased and so was my tummy. We grabbed our cappuccinos and oat bars and headed down to meet our tour guide Lorcan. Lauren described him like this, “Look for the guy who is kind of dressed like a preacher, but cooler…” ha ha so we found Lorcan and he in fact did look like he was wearing a collar, but he also had some sweet glasses that rounded out his look. Ha ha.
We all sat down and got ready for the 1916 Rebellion tour, which goes through the history and significant sights around Dublin that led up to the Irish revolt/rebellion of 1916, which eventually led to the creation of a separate nation state from Britain in 1922.
Lorcan was hilarious. Entertaining but so knowledgeable! He has been leading this tour for 14 years and has co-written a book called Easter Rebellion: 1916 with another one of the tour guides. He said his mother has told him it’s the best book she’s ever read…so I guess we are to judge for ourselves ; )
After the tour we were all a little tired and hungry so we received some cash for lunch and were released upon the city. Sort of we only had an hour before we had to meet up again. Ha ha So I went off with a couple of girls, Lauren and Lyndsey, to find a bathroom, which can be an adventure of its own in Europe BUT we were successful.
And I was also successful in ordering a ham and cheese sandwich from a local vendor…but I had to repeat what I wanted a couple of times because I guess my “thick southern American” accent threw him off. Ha ha It was fun standing in line (messing with/ trying to figure out my UK phone that I am using for the program) and listening to some local high school kids on a lunch break. It feels good to be back in Europe, or rather back in a historically saturated environment. Not that there is no history in American, or even Arkansas, BUT the type of history and the type of essence that rests in most of Europe’s large cities in indescribable and energizing. Like Louisa May Alcott said being in Europe is like walking into a novel.
After lunch we met back up to go and see The Book of Kells…which is one of the oldest and most beautiful illuminated manuscripts! And I was excited because my mom was pumped for me to see it! She saw it on our itinerary and got very excited! Ha ha It was interesting but my favorite part was not the Book of Kells BUT the huge massive awesome library of classic works, letters, and different culturally iconic works of literary. Sigh. It was amazing. I just stood there. It was somewhat like when the Beast, in Beauty and the Beast, lets Belle into his library! Except this place was made of wood and had ropes blocking me from the books…otherwise exactly like Beauty and the Beast ;)
After we sampled the Book of Kells museum which is on the Trinity campus, right down from our rooms, we were let go for the evening…it was only about 4 o’clock and most of us did not want to go to bed yet (even though we are exhausted) in an effort to get our bodies on schedule with this time zone.
So here I sit…in a McDonalds down the road from Trinity with two of the girls, Mindy and Stephanie. We hoped to find free wifi to occupy ourselves with until it was time to go to sleep…however free wifi was not available…so we will see where we find some internet SO I CAN POST THIS and tweet and stay socially connected etc….or as an arrogant former youngest VP and current temp would suggest I should just “Woof”…because it connects ALL social networks : ) if you can tell me the reference you will get a prize and I will be extremely impressed.
Please pray for the transition and meshing of the group; pray for safe travels and a spirit of encouragement and support to flood through our group. : ) God is moving all the time.
Also just a disclaimer I probably, well who knows, but probably will not be blogging every day. I hope to blog every week AT THE MINIMUM and maybe more depending on what the schedule looks like for the week.
Love and prayers to you all. Kisses.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
wafrica: week number 6 (the finale)
DISCLAIMER: this is a really really long one…like almost twice as long as some of the others…ha ha please take your time if you would like to indulge! Also forgive any and all grammar and spelling mistakes! Thank you!
As I write this I’m sitting in my living room in the states…it is strange to be back…it has been almost two weeks that I will have been back…so hopefully my memory will be fresh and I can give you a great account of my last week in Africa!
MONDAY
Monday’s are deemed the Sabbath for the Howell’s and the Westerholm’s and accordingly each Monday we have been joining them in their “day off.” This was our last Monday so those of us who were not making dinner decided to head to the market for some souvenir shopping.
So Kaitlyn, Mark, and I ventured into the market to look for soccer jersey’s and other African novelties. :)
Kaitlyn and Mark were both successful in their find however I was not; but the day was not lost. Mark and Ted came over and played games, read and just hung out while, KP, Kim, Jon, and Zack cooked…all…day…BUT it was so worth it.
They did an awesome job and made a Greek feast: including goat gyros, with homemade pitas’, Greek salad with Taziki dressing (they even had black olives), and lots of french fries!
It was also a celebration for Chad’s birthday! So after dinner Rachel came over and had cake with us! Amy made an amazing beyond amazing chocolate cake with coffee icing. She is a wonderful baker AND the decorations on the cakes were smaller cakes made to look like legos…Chad likes to play with the girls and build massive buildings and other structures. So funny!
We had worship time with the girls, they went to bed, then we had a game night in continued celebrating of Chad’s birthday; so we naturally had to play Bang! Ha ha such a great game. It’s like mafia but with more detailed rules and it’s amazing.
It was Kaitlyn’s first time to play…and she did not understand the rules exactly (there are a lot of rules so it is difficult and it takes you playing a couple of times to really get it)…but anyway Kaitlyn got the character that is supposed to protect the Sheriff, who was me. But instead she kept trying to kill me! ha ha we didn’t figure it out until the last few rounds, but when we did we all just busted laughing because she had basically be playing against her team the whole time! Ha ha
But she was a good sport and we played another game and she caught on :)
TUESDAY
Our last village visit day.
Our last day in Montepuez.
Our group, Kaitlyn, Ted, Mark, and I, went with Chad to three villages. We drove down the paved road and our first stop was the village where Kaitlyn did her bounding. All of us had been to this village with Chad before so it was good to see familiar faces.
Kaitlyn’s African dad is learning to read; he is an elder in the village’s church and such a sweet man. We sat, read, journaled, and just tried to enjoy our last day in the villages, while Chad taught the reading lesson.
Village kids came and surrounded us; I just sat and stared at them; I tried to soak them in: their sweet faces, and their innocent eyes. Honestly, I started to tear up. They are just beautiful.
We had what we thought was our last African lunch: ixma (sheema) and greens or matapa. Then we packed up and road to the next village, what we affectionately call the wind up village. The reason for this name is: there is a wind up speaker thing that Chad uses in this village sometimes to teach lessons in Makua; he uses the recording, which you wind for it to play, and a picture book to go with what is being said. I’m pretty sure I’ve written about it before.
BUT today we did not wind up anything, we sang, got boiled pumpkin as a snack, and heard a message from Chad.
Side story: I had to go to the bathroom in the first village—however the latrine was basically non existent so I thought I would wait until the wind up village…come to find out there is no latrine in that village…you have to walk a few huts over and/or go into the woods…so I waited for the next village.
We showed up in the next village, which is the village where Chad is doing the men’s study with the village chief. We sat down read, journaled, and again tried to soak in our last village.
Remember how I said we thought we had had our last African meal…well as we are about to leave they tell us to sit down they have made us some food…the look on Kaitlyn’s face was priceless because she thought she had finished with ixma. Ha ha
Left the village and drove home.
We had homemade pizza…excellent. And packed up because we were leaving for Pemba the next afternoon.
WEDNESDAY
We woke up and started or finished packing up because after lunch we were headed to the BEACH!
We also had a lot of cooking to finish so we all hurried and packed then started to help Amy cook, popcorn and some other snacks and desserts’.
After I packed I played with Maggie and Jane so they would stay out of the kitchen ha ha and give their Momma a chance to get herself packed as well.
While we were getting packed up the Howell’s and the boys made their way over the the Westerholm’s. We all filed outside and started packing up the cars.
I rode shotty with Alan while Ellie, Maggie, and Ted were all in the back. Ted slept, Maggie and Ellie colored and Alan and I chatted it up on our 2 and a half hour drive to Pemba. It was very strange leaving Montepuez—sad, yeah just sad. Ha ha But I was excited to go to the beach with the families, the kids, and my friends.
We got to the beach! We stayed at a South African run restort called the Bush Camp. They had buildings that are open air where you can stay and they also have campsites. The intern girls stayed in one of the open-air buildings and everyone else camped out!
After we had set up some of the tents I got to venture down to the beach with the little girls. We got to the water and in one of the pavilion there was a television…and it was on Cartoon Network. KP pointed out that most parents would exclaim, “Don’t watch the TV you can watch TV at home.” But these girls’ don’t have TVs at their house…so is it more of a vacation for them to spend it in front of the tube than on the amazing Indian Ocean beach? Ha ha I don’t know your call.
But I did try and get them unglued so we could put our feet in the water! It was successful to a point, but I continued to loose them one by one.
It was getting close to dinnertime so we all piled into the cars and drove into the city! We headed to the Blue Dolphin!
It was on the water and it was so nice.
Mark and I spilt the grilled lobster…yes please and they even had pizza and hot dogs! Best restaurant ever! Ha ha BUT one of the funniest moments of the night was this: for some reason Maggie (oh yeah Maggie and Ellie sat at a table with me, the Kaitlyn’s and Mark) but for some reason Maggie kept asking us who was going to get married today? We were all like, “Maggie we don’t know? Who do you think is getting married today?” and she said a couple of the interns, but then for some reason she said, “Mark and Ellie! They’re getting married!”
We all laughed. But almost as soon as we had finished our laugh Ellie (who was sitting next to Mark) precedes to sit in his lap, facing him, in an effort to give him a big ole kiss on the mouth! Ha ha ha HA HA Rachel and Alan saw what was happening and all of us were like, “Woah woah woah Ellie, please don’t do that.”
It was hilarious to say the least.
All I can say is Ellie knew what she wanted and she went for it. :)
After dinner we all piled back into the cars…I rode in the back with the boys and Ellie and Abby. They wanted to have story time. So the guys started to tell them some stories. It was funny watching a 7 year-old and a 4 year-old’s faces react to some of these stories. A few were a little scarier than they should have been, but they redeemed themselves. Ha ha but story time is always a funny time especially when they think something is funny! Because their laughs are just hilariously contagious!
THRUSDAY
I woke up and before breakfast…headed to the beach. It was so nice to just sit on the beach and read or hang out, watch the water.
The great thing about this beach was it was on a bay…so the water was very calm and lake like. So you got the beach feeling and atmosphere without the huge waves.
They also had kayaks available for use, so Kaitlyn and I took one out! It was so calming and just fun to go out with one of my best friend’s and kayak on the Indian Ocean in Africa….yeah awesome.
After breakfast we all headed out with Chad to go souvenir shopping. We went to shops that were more touristy, but interestingly enough I didn’t really see any of the things some of my friend’s have brought back from Africa. Now I know I was in a different country than my friend’s who have gone be fore me were in…but it was just interesting to see the different things locals were selling to tourists. There was not a lot of jewelry or beads, there were no fabric bags of any kind, and there were no weaved bowls or other weaved items…just interesting how different areas of a continent produce so many different things.
Shopping like I have sad was very geared toward Western people; there were a lot of carvings, a lot of beautiful woodwork, and a lot of people in your face trying to sell you stuff.
One of the coolest things I bought was a Nativity scene carved from dark wood…it is beautiful and I love it.
We also visit two different missionary families one who is helping promote local business by teaching locals how to make necklaces from recycled flip flops…yes recycled flip flops that they find on the beach! They are very colorful and really easy to make! We also visited some missionaries from South Africa who makes post cards with personal photos they have taken of the area. It was fun to visit these two families on our souvenir-shopping trip.
It was lunchtime. So we headed to a Chinese restaurant. Rachel, Amy, and all of the little girls met us there. It was fun and it was really good food.
After lunch we headed back to the bush camp and proceeded to swim and kayak the day away! I got to give kayak rides to all of the little girls and that was just amazing because we got to go on an adventure together! The adventure consisted mainly of singing silly songs at the top of our lungs, but there was also some good conversation ;)
We also swam, became alligators, made sand castles, and splashed each other—a lot.
We had sandwiches for dinner and then all gathered around the fire for worship time and debriefed about the internship. (I’m actually not sure if this was on Wednesday night or Thursday night…but we will just put it here…the point is it happened.)
After the girls got in bed Alan asked specific questions about what we enjoyed about the internship, things we would change, suggestions, etc. It was fun and good to kind of process what we had learned and what we had seen over the past 6 weeks. It was also good to be able to help the families think of ways to make the internship even better for the next group!
FRIDAY
Woke up. Went to the beach.
Ah. Just love it.
After we had had breakfast and hung out at the beach for a while, some of us left for the city. We wanted to do a little more shopping in the actual market before we left.
SO
Rachel took me, the Kaitlyn’s, Kim and Mark into the market to look for some “real” souvenirs (none of those touristy things!)
I really love going into the market. It’s crowed. There are people everywhere. You have no idea what they are saving. There is music blasting, people talking! I mean I couldn’t live there, but it is so exciting to walk into this tight little ally stuff with….stuff.
A lot of the men in the market came up to us girls and tried to talk to us…we didn’t know what they were saying but apparently…according to Rachel they were asking to marry us…they were picking out which one they wanted. Hmmm
I held Katie Joy for a while so Rachel could have a break…and that was funny because people stare at white people in general but they REALLY stare when they see this little pale blonde white baby! I’m pretty sure a random woman in the market asked to hold Katie and basically took her from Rachel…. oh my.
After we shopped we headed to lunch…. at the Captain’s Club.
It was SO NICE! It reminded me of the resort I went to with my family in Cancun, Mexico. Wooden floors on the outside deck, we got a huge table under an awing by the pool, which was right on the beach in view of the beautiful blue ocean!
It was just awesome. We saw a lot with the girls! It was fun; and naturally we started to play pool monster…why does it always come to water or lava monsters with kids?
Mark was the monster and he was trying to get them out of “his” pool; and I was the “savor” but eventually Ellie got frustrated because she thought Mark didn’t want her in the pool….she started crying and we explained it was just a game ha ha and she bounced back pretty fast.
We sat down to eat and I had ordered a fish…I was thinking a nice little filet….WRONG! It was A WHOLE FISH! LIKE HUGE! We were all shocked ha ha
I ate as much as I could, KP helped me even, but I couldn’t eat that much it was so big! So the boys finished it off.
After lunch Jane was getting kind of restless so I got her life jacket on and I got to swim with her! She is fearless…she walked straight into the water! Ha ha she kind of bounded in the water but I got in there and spun her around and around…it was precious.
OH and I was kind of cold so I got out of the water and lied down on one of the lounge chairs…and Abby was so sweet, she came up to me and asked if she could lie down with me! So cute. So we took a little catnap…then Abby got back in the pool and Ellie joined me! They are the sweetest girls EVER! I love them. :)
More swimming, some volleyball on the beach, and a photo shoot with Abby on the beach!...it was a great day.
That night we went back and prepared for a grill out! It was also a celebration for Amy’s birthday! Horray! Yes Amy and Chad’s birthday are within a week of each other AND their anniversary is two weeks before that!
We had chicken and grilled veggies that we chowed down on by the beach.
Rachel had not been feeling good for most of the week and the little girls sick started getting sick as well…so they got some medicine and headed to bed early.
We played a huge game of picto.phone. so so SO FUNNY! We laughed so hard!
Headed to bed….and got excited for our last full day.
SATURDAY
I helped make breakfast and while I was cracking the eggs to scramble one exploded on me….ha ha
That had never happened before so it was just hilarious! I was just talking away to Amy and all of the sudden BOOM all over me.
On our last day the eight interns went snorkeling in the Indian Ocean. Yeah! How great is that? We went into town….and were stopped by the police on the way…yes we were stopped because we had “too many people in the car.” They asked to see all of our passports but they were all at the camp…Chad explained we had an appointment to make we couldn’t go back…so he got out to talk to the guy in charge…while another police man and woman stayed at the car and tried to talk to us…we were like, “We don’t speak Portuguese!” ha ha
Chad spoke Makua to them so he said he thought that was one reason they let him go…but he did have to pay on outride bride of a few dollars for them to let us go. He said that was only the 3rd or 4th time he’s had to pay an outright bride since he’s lived in Africa, which is amazing from some of the other stories I’ve heard. But anyway we made it through and we drove to the diving shop and headed out on a boat with two Africans.
They took us to two spots…most of us thought we were only going to go to one…so we took our time checking out the wild life and having fun just swimming around.
I saw Nemo and his dad Marlin…a lot of starfish one of them was bright blue! And a lot of other shiny fish! So fun.
So after about an hour or so we hoped back in the boat expected to head back…but the guys take us to another spot where there is a submerged boat!!!!
So the boys and I jumped back in and headed down to swim through the boat! It was kind of scary but really cool! I felt like I was in that one James’ Bond movie where they have the under water war!
So all of us but Ted and Zack got back in the boat; we let them swim around for a while…but then we were hungry so we called them in!
Chad and Jane were waiting for us when we got back to the dive shop…we all piled in the car and someone needed to hold Jane…she had a poopy diaper…no one would take her…so I stepped up. Ha ha Jane is too cute even if she does have a poopy diaper.
We headed to an Indian restaurant. It was so nice. Right on the beach—wonderful. I haven’t had a lot of Indian food so I wanted to try some…it is so spicy. And I’m not a huge fan of spice…but it was good and I’m glad I tried it.
After lunch we all piled in the truck and headed back to the bush camp to enjoy the rest of our last day.
We got back and played some games, hung out by the fire while the sun went down and helped get our sandwich dinner together.
After the girls went to bed we all gathered around the fire again for some worship time and some amazing time of encouragement.
The Howell’s and the Westerholm’s went around and individually encouraged each one of us interns. The told us very specific strengths they had seen in us through out the internship. They also related some funny and encouraging memories they had. But what was one of the best moments was when they individually prayed over us…one of my love languages is words of affirmation…so I was all over this! It was wonderful to be encouraged and loved on!
AND it was equally wonderful to hear my friends encouraged and affirmed! It made me so proud to know them and to be friends with them! Each one of the 7 other interns taught me something, and encouraged me in so many ways! (I miss them very much.)
We played a few games (you know us) and did some stargazing. Wonderful. And yes we saw shooting stars. Ha ha
SUNDAY
I woke up made breakfast. Packed up my stuff.
After breakfast we all headed down to the beach and had worship time together! We sang and Chad was very encouraging. He reminded us that when we were back in the states they would continue to live life in Montepuez. The churches would continue, the people would continue and he encouraged us to think and pray for them---my view of the body of Christ and His church has grown so much! Knowing that when I go to church on Sunday’s earlier that day thousands of people in Mozambique were also going to church! And we are all apart of the same body; just wonderful and so encouraging. It just makes me excited for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is KING! Bah!
I didn’t start crying until Abby asked if she could pray for us…she prayed for each of us by name…and I just lost it. It was such a blessing to have a little one love on us in such a way that she would want to pray for our safety.
We packed up the camp. Packed up the cars. And hoped in to drive down the road to the airport. It was not a long drive…maybe 5 minutes.
We got to the airport. Checked in. Checked our bags…it took almost an hour to get us all through, but we did.
We hugged and cried and it was so sad. We all went through security and waited for about 10 minutes before they started to load our flight.
We walked outside of the airport onto the pavement to walk to our plane…and as we left we looked back to the building and everyone was standing and waving at us as we walked out to the plane!...it was so bittersweet. But I was so in shock that I was leaving I really didn’t know what to think! Ha ha
We hoped on plane and surprisingly it was way nicer than one we rode on the way from Dar es Salaam to Pemba. It had air-conditioning…that’s all I cared about.
The plane ride was about 2 hours and it was just beautiful! We saw the blue ocean and the beaches!
We flew into Dar es Salam, Tanzania. We got our and went through customs…we were waiting for our bags, but could not find Zack and Kim…we waited for a while, but then decided that we needed to get checked in and go through customs again…so we got Kim’s bags and went through security.
While we are in line checking into Emirates (the airline we flew) we see them! We were all really excited because it’s just a little nerve racking loosing two of your friends in an African airport. Ha ha
What had happened was they had just not gone through customs the first time. They’d gone straight upstairs to the waiting room. Zack didn’t have any checked luggage…so he didn’t think he had to go through customs. Kim did have luggage but had just forgotten. But it was no big deal because some of the boys checked Kim’s stuff under their names.
Kaitlyn and I got to sit next to one another. We requested at the counter! We went through customs and waited for about and hour and a half before they started to load our flight.
It was fun sitting and just talking, hanging out with our group while we waited for our flight to board.
It was bout a 5 and half hour flight. Nice. EXCEPT we had to wait for almost two hours in the plane on the runway because of some technical stuff problems they had to fix. Kaitlyn and I sat next to a girl from London; she had been visiting her grandparents in Tanzania for a few weeks and was headed back home. I told her I was living there this fall and she said I would really love it! She said it’s really fun in the city especially during the holiday season!
We finally took off. And we just hung out and watched movies! We tried to sleep some, but I mostly just watched movies and helped the woman who sat next to me figure out how to work her TV. Ha ha
We got to Dubai at 2 in the morning Dubai time, which is 12-midnight Mozambique time, which is 5 in the afternoon Central Standard Time. Yeah…I was thinking in like 5 times zones. Ha ha
Sooooooo we have been traveling for already almost 12 hours. BAH!!!
Oh and the airport is so big, or maybe it was because our flight was so big…well anyways we got off of our plane on the asphalt and loaded into shuttles which drove us to the terminal. The Dubai terminal is huge and it is so nice and it is full of stuff to buy!
They had cars to raffle off, computers, souvenirs, food….it was like a mall.
So as we walked through the airport to our gate I guess it could be considered to be…MONDAY (ha ha?)
We get on our Dubai flight, which is almost 13 hours long….I was a little nervous that I would be sitting by myself BUT LUCKILY KP and Ted both sat next to me! And yes we were in an exit row! So we had a lot of extra legroom. We watched movies. Slept some…actually I slept for almost 4 hours (which I was glad for). KP slept almost the whole time!
As we were flying into America I got my ipod out and KP and I listened to Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA. Oh and we sang our favorite Makua worship song about wAmerica. Ha ha
Soooo at this point we have been traveling for about 24 hours. (I still have two more flights)
We get into New York and we are tired. But excited. We go through customs. And as we are waiting for our luggage we look around and Zack is no where to be found…ha ha
We lost him again… ha ha Because he didn’t have to get any bags he went to straight to his gate…our group started to split up from here because Jon and Zack flew out of JFK the rest of us flew out of la Guardia.
So we got a shuttle to la Guardia. Said goodbye to Jon (strange. Very strange).
We all get in the shuttle and we get a call from Zack. He has called to say goodbye (ha ha).
KP flew Delta the rest of us flew American so we had to say goodbye to her as we are getting dropped off at the American branch of the terminal. Sad.
Then there were 5.
We get checked in. Go through security. And get some FOOD! Because we’re hungry. We sit down because we are tired and notice that oh surprise our flights have been delayed. Ha ha so we all wait a bit.
Kaitlyn’s flight to Chicago left first. Then Kim, Mark, and I waited about 30 minutes after that for our flight…which was also to Chicago, but a different airport.
Ted’s was about another two hours later. So we sad our goodbyes to Kait and Ted…sad. Weird. I didn’t like it! Ha ha
(And KP actually didn’t get home until a day later because her delayed flight from New York to Atlanta caused her to miss her connection. No big she stayed with family in ATL!)
And then there were 3.
So we got to Chicago in about 2 hours, said goodbye to kim and mark then booked it to my gate which was on the other side of the airport! I had made it this far I was not going to miss my last connection! Ha ha
LUCKILY I made it just as they were starting to load! Whew.
Got on the flight to little rock. I was hungry and I was tired and now I was sweaty and a little out of breath from running. Ha ha but I got on the plane and sat under the air and zoned out for 2 hours.
So after I landed in little rock I had been traveling for like 32 hours…oh my gosh. Ha ha
My flight got there early so I had to wait for mom and daddy. But it was no big deal because I got my luggage, got a drink and just sat while I waited for them to get there. It was a little anti-climatic but good to see them none the less!
They came. We went home. Mom made some WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES! I talked and told stories and they showed some pictures to mom, dad, and Joseph!
I gave gifts once the boys got home and then I went to bed because…the next day Tuesday was the only full day I had at home before I flew out for my best friend and college roommate Anna B Shaffer’s wedding!!!!
So early Wednesday morning I flew out for Washington State! So I had my head full of Africa and of not sleeping. (ha ha)
So I’m still in the process of processing (ha ha) Africa and Anna getting married!
It was a beautiful, perfect wedding and so fun. I’m so so glad that I didn’t miss it. And it was actually a great transition back into “normal” life. Having a big event helped my mind to kind of transition with out pressure back into America from Africa.
Wow. That was long. Hope you made it.
Well I will be continuing to process thoughts for a while; and yes in answer to a question to I want to go back to Africa?
Yes.
I want to go back. I don’t know when or for what reason, but I do I really do.
But for now…I’m home. I’m here for about 6 weeks before I go off on another adventure.
This fall I’m going to be living in London, England working for Harding’s overseas program. Yeah I know right!?
So stay tuned. There is plenty more to come.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for staying connected to me in this way. It means so much! A lot of love and appreciation!
As I write this I’m sitting in my living room in the states…it is strange to be back…it has been almost two weeks that I will have been back…so hopefully my memory will be fresh and I can give you a great account of my last week in Africa!
MONDAY
Monday’s are deemed the Sabbath for the Howell’s and the Westerholm’s and accordingly each Monday we have been joining them in their “day off.” This was our last Monday so those of us who were not making dinner decided to head to the market for some souvenir shopping.
So Kaitlyn, Mark, and I ventured into the market to look for soccer jersey’s and other African novelties. :)
Kaitlyn and Mark were both successful in their find however I was not; but the day was not lost. Mark and Ted came over and played games, read and just hung out while, KP, Kim, Jon, and Zack cooked…all…day…BUT it was so worth it.
They did an awesome job and made a Greek feast: including goat gyros, with homemade pitas’, Greek salad with Taziki dressing (they even had black olives), and lots of french fries!
It was also a celebration for Chad’s birthday! So after dinner Rachel came over and had cake with us! Amy made an amazing beyond amazing chocolate cake with coffee icing. She is a wonderful baker AND the decorations on the cakes were smaller cakes made to look like legos…Chad likes to play with the girls and build massive buildings and other structures. So funny!
We had worship time with the girls, they went to bed, then we had a game night in continued celebrating of Chad’s birthday; so we naturally had to play Bang! Ha ha such a great game. It’s like mafia but with more detailed rules and it’s amazing.
It was Kaitlyn’s first time to play…and she did not understand the rules exactly (there are a lot of rules so it is difficult and it takes you playing a couple of times to really get it)…but anyway Kaitlyn got the character that is supposed to protect the Sheriff, who was me. But instead she kept trying to kill me! ha ha we didn’t figure it out until the last few rounds, but when we did we all just busted laughing because she had basically be playing against her team the whole time! Ha ha
But she was a good sport and we played another game and she caught on :)
TUESDAY
Our last village visit day.
Our last day in Montepuez.
Our group, Kaitlyn, Ted, Mark, and I, went with Chad to three villages. We drove down the paved road and our first stop was the village where Kaitlyn did her bounding. All of us had been to this village with Chad before so it was good to see familiar faces.
Kaitlyn’s African dad is learning to read; he is an elder in the village’s church and such a sweet man. We sat, read, journaled, and just tried to enjoy our last day in the villages, while Chad taught the reading lesson.
Village kids came and surrounded us; I just sat and stared at them; I tried to soak them in: their sweet faces, and their innocent eyes. Honestly, I started to tear up. They are just beautiful.
We had what we thought was our last African lunch: ixma (sheema) and greens or matapa. Then we packed up and road to the next village, what we affectionately call the wind up village. The reason for this name is: there is a wind up speaker thing that Chad uses in this village sometimes to teach lessons in Makua; he uses the recording, which you wind for it to play, and a picture book to go with what is being said. I’m pretty sure I’ve written about it before.
BUT today we did not wind up anything, we sang, got boiled pumpkin as a snack, and heard a message from Chad.
Side story: I had to go to the bathroom in the first village—however the latrine was basically non existent so I thought I would wait until the wind up village…come to find out there is no latrine in that village…you have to walk a few huts over and/or go into the woods…so I waited for the next village.
We showed up in the next village, which is the village where Chad is doing the men’s study with the village chief. We sat down read, journaled, and again tried to soak in our last village.
Remember how I said we thought we had had our last African meal…well as we are about to leave they tell us to sit down they have made us some food…the look on Kaitlyn’s face was priceless because she thought she had finished with ixma. Ha ha
Left the village and drove home.
We had homemade pizza…excellent. And packed up because we were leaving for Pemba the next afternoon.
WEDNESDAY
We woke up and started or finished packing up because after lunch we were headed to the BEACH!
We also had a lot of cooking to finish so we all hurried and packed then started to help Amy cook, popcorn and some other snacks and desserts’.
After I packed I played with Maggie and Jane so they would stay out of the kitchen ha ha and give their Momma a chance to get herself packed as well.
While we were getting packed up the Howell’s and the boys made their way over the the Westerholm’s. We all filed outside and started packing up the cars.
I rode shotty with Alan while Ellie, Maggie, and Ted were all in the back. Ted slept, Maggie and Ellie colored and Alan and I chatted it up on our 2 and a half hour drive to Pemba. It was very strange leaving Montepuez—sad, yeah just sad. Ha ha But I was excited to go to the beach with the families, the kids, and my friends.
We got to the beach! We stayed at a South African run restort called the Bush Camp. They had buildings that are open air where you can stay and they also have campsites. The intern girls stayed in one of the open-air buildings and everyone else camped out!
After we had set up some of the tents I got to venture down to the beach with the little girls. We got to the water and in one of the pavilion there was a television…and it was on Cartoon Network. KP pointed out that most parents would exclaim, “Don’t watch the TV you can watch TV at home.” But these girls’ don’t have TVs at their house…so is it more of a vacation for them to spend it in front of the tube than on the amazing Indian Ocean beach? Ha ha I don’t know your call.
But I did try and get them unglued so we could put our feet in the water! It was successful to a point, but I continued to loose them one by one.
It was getting close to dinnertime so we all piled into the cars and drove into the city! We headed to the Blue Dolphin!
It was on the water and it was so nice.
Mark and I spilt the grilled lobster…yes please and they even had pizza and hot dogs! Best restaurant ever! Ha ha BUT one of the funniest moments of the night was this: for some reason Maggie (oh yeah Maggie and Ellie sat at a table with me, the Kaitlyn’s and Mark) but for some reason Maggie kept asking us who was going to get married today? We were all like, “Maggie we don’t know? Who do you think is getting married today?” and she said a couple of the interns, but then for some reason she said, “Mark and Ellie! They’re getting married!”
We all laughed. But almost as soon as we had finished our laugh Ellie (who was sitting next to Mark) precedes to sit in his lap, facing him, in an effort to give him a big ole kiss on the mouth! Ha ha ha HA HA Rachel and Alan saw what was happening and all of us were like, “Woah woah woah Ellie, please don’t do that.”
It was hilarious to say the least.
All I can say is Ellie knew what she wanted and she went for it. :)
After dinner we all piled back into the cars…I rode in the back with the boys and Ellie and Abby. They wanted to have story time. So the guys started to tell them some stories. It was funny watching a 7 year-old and a 4 year-old’s faces react to some of these stories. A few were a little scarier than they should have been, but they redeemed themselves. Ha ha but story time is always a funny time especially when they think something is funny! Because their laughs are just hilariously contagious!
THRUSDAY
I woke up and before breakfast…headed to the beach. It was so nice to just sit on the beach and read or hang out, watch the water.
The great thing about this beach was it was on a bay…so the water was very calm and lake like. So you got the beach feeling and atmosphere without the huge waves.
They also had kayaks available for use, so Kaitlyn and I took one out! It was so calming and just fun to go out with one of my best friend’s and kayak on the Indian Ocean in Africa….yeah awesome.
After breakfast we all headed out with Chad to go souvenir shopping. We went to shops that were more touristy, but interestingly enough I didn’t really see any of the things some of my friend’s have brought back from Africa. Now I know I was in a different country than my friend’s who have gone be fore me were in…but it was just interesting to see the different things locals were selling to tourists. There was not a lot of jewelry or beads, there were no fabric bags of any kind, and there were no weaved bowls or other weaved items…just interesting how different areas of a continent produce so many different things.
Shopping like I have sad was very geared toward Western people; there were a lot of carvings, a lot of beautiful woodwork, and a lot of people in your face trying to sell you stuff.
One of the coolest things I bought was a Nativity scene carved from dark wood…it is beautiful and I love it.
We also visit two different missionary families one who is helping promote local business by teaching locals how to make necklaces from recycled flip flops…yes recycled flip flops that they find on the beach! They are very colorful and really easy to make! We also visited some missionaries from South Africa who makes post cards with personal photos they have taken of the area. It was fun to visit these two families on our souvenir-shopping trip.
It was lunchtime. So we headed to a Chinese restaurant. Rachel, Amy, and all of the little girls met us there. It was fun and it was really good food.
After lunch we headed back to the bush camp and proceeded to swim and kayak the day away! I got to give kayak rides to all of the little girls and that was just amazing because we got to go on an adventure together! The adventure consisted mainly of singing silly songs at the top of our lungs, but there was also some good conversation ;)
We also swam, became alligators, made sand castles, and splashed each other—a lot.
We had sandwiches for dinner and then all gathered around the fire for worship time and debriefed about the internship. (I’m actually not sure if this was on Wednesday night or Thursday night…but we will just put it here…the point is it happened.)
After the girls got in bed Alan asked specific questions about what we enjoyed about the internship, things we would change, suggestions, etc. It was fun and good to kind of process what we had learned and what we had seen over the past 6 weeks. It was also good to be able to help the families think of ways to make the internship even better for the next group!
FRIDAY
Woke up. Went to the beach.
Ah. Just love it.
After we had had breakfast and hung out at the beach for a while, some of us left for the city. We wanted to do a little more shopping in the actual market before we left.
SO
Rachel took me, the Kaitlyn’s, Kim and Mark into the market to look for some “real” souvenirs (none of those touristy things!)
I really love going into the market. It’s crowed. There are people everywhere. You have no idea what they are saving. There is music blasting, people talking! I mean I couldn’t live there, but it is so exciting to walk into this tight little ally stuff with….stuff.
A lot of the men in the market came up to us girls and tried to talk to us…we didn’t know what they were saying but apparently…according to Rachel they were asking to marry us…they were picking out which one they wanted. Hmmm
I held Katie Joy for a while so Rachel could have a break…and that was funny because people stare at white people in general but they REALLY stare when they see this little pale blonde white baby! I’m pretty sure a random woman in the market asked to hold Katie and basically took her from Rachel…. oh my.
After we shopped we headed to lunch…. at the Captain’s Club.
It was SO NICE! It reminded me of the resort I went to with my family in Cancun, Mexico. Wooden floors on the outside deck, we got a huge table under an awing by the pool, which was right on the beach in view of the beautiful blue ocean!
It was just awesome. We saw a lot with the girls! It was fun; and naturally we started to play pool monster…why does it always come to water or lava monsters with kids?
Mark was the monster and he was trying to get them out of “his” pool; and I was the “savor” but eventually Ellie got frustrated because she thought Mark didn’t want her in the pool….she started crying and we explained it was just a game ha ha and she bounced back pretty fast.
We sat down to eat and I had ordered a fish…I was thinking a nice little filet….WRONG! It was A WHOLE FISH! LIKE HUGE! We were all shocked ha ha
I ate as much as I could, KP helped me even, but I couldn’t eat that much it was so big! So the boys finished it off.
After lunch Jane was getting kind of restless so I got her life jacket on and I got to swim with her! She is fearless…she walked straight into the water! Ha ha she kind of bounded in the water but I got in there and spun her around and around…it was precious.
OH and I was kind of cold so I got out of the water and lied down on one of the lounge chairs…and Abby was so sweet, she came up to me and asked if she could lie down with me! So cute. So we took a little catnap…then Abby got back in the pool and Ellie joined me! They are the sweetest girls EVER! I love them. :)
More swimming, some volleyball on the beach, and a photo shoot with Abby on the beach!...it was a great day.
That night we went back and prepared for a grill out! It was also a celebration for Amy’s birthday! Horray! Yes Amy and Chad’s birthday are within a week of each other AND their anniversary is two weeks before that!
We had chicken and grilled veggies that we chowed down on by the beach.
Rachel had not been feeling good for most of the week and the little girls sick started getting sick as well…so they got some medicine and headed to bed early.
We played a huge game of picto.phone. so so SO FUNNY! We laughed so hard!
Headed to bed….and got excited for our last full day.
SATURDAY
I helped make breakfast and while I was cracking the eggs to scramble one exploded on me….ha ha
That had never happened before so it was just hilarious! I was just talking away to Amy and all of the sudden BOOM all over me.
On our last day the eight interns went snorkeling in the Indian Ocean. Yeah! How great is that? We went into town….and were stopped by the police on the way…yes we were stopped because we had “too many people in the car.” They asked to see all of our passports but they were all at the camp…Chad explained we had an appointment to make we couldn’t go back…so he got out to talk to the guy in charge…while another police man and woman stayed at the car and tried to talk to us…we were like, “We don’t speak Portuguese!” ha ha
Chad spoke Makua to them so he said he thought that was one reason they let him go…but he did have to pay on outride bride of a few dollars for them to let us go. He said that was only the 3rd or 4th time he’s had to pay an outright bride since he’s lived in Africa, which is amazing from some of the other stories I’ve heard. But anyway we made it through and we drove to the diving shop and headed out on a boat with two Africans.
They took us to two spots…most of us thought we were only going to go to one…so we took our time checking out the wild life and having fun just swimming around.
I saw Nemo and his dad Marlin…a lot of starfish one of them was bright blue! And a lot of other shiny fish! So fun.
So after about an hour or so we hoped back in the boat expected to head back…but the guys take us to another spot where there is a submerged boat!!!!
So the boys and I jumped back in and headed down to swim through the boat! It was kind of scary but really cool! I felt like I was in that one James’ Bond movie where they have the under water war!
So all of us but Ted and Zack got back in the boat; we let them swim around for a while…but then we were hungry so we called them in!
Chad and Jane were waiting for us when we got back to the dive shop…we all piled in the car and someone needed to hold Jane…she had a poopy diaper…no one would take her…so I stepped up. Ha ha Jane is too cute even if she does have a poopy diaper.
We headed to an Indian restaurant. It was so nice. Right on the beach—wonderful. I haven’t had a lot of Indian food so I wanted to try some…it is so spicy. And I’m not a huge fan of spice…but it was good and I’m glad I tried it.
After lunch we all piled in the truck and headed back to the bush camp to enjoy the rest of our last day.
We got back and played some games, hung out by the fire while the sun went down and helped get our sandwich dinner together.
After the girls went to bed we all gathered around the fire again for some worship time and some amazing time of encouragement.
The Howell’s and the Westerholm’s went around and individually encouraged each one of us interns. The told us very specific strengths they had seen in us through out the internship. They also related some funny and encouraging memories they had. But what was one of the best moments was when they individually prayed over us…one of my love languages is words of affirmation…so I was all over this! It was wonderful to be encouraged and loved on!
AND it was equally wonderful to hear my friends encouraged and affirmed! It made me so proud to know them and to be friends with them! Each one of the 7 other interns taught me something, and encouraged me in so many ways! (I miss them very much.)
We played a few games (you know us) and did some stargazing. Wonderful. And yes we saw shooting stars. Ha ha
SUNDAY
I woke up made breakfast. Packed up my stuff.
After breakfast we all headed down to the beach and had worship time together! We sang and Chad was very encouraging. He reminded us that when we were back in the states they would continue to live life in Montepuez. The churches would continue, the people would continue and he encouraged us to think and pray for them---my view of the body of Christ and His church has grown so much! Knowing that when I go to church on Sunday’s earlier that day thousands of people in Mozambique were also going to church! And we are all apart of the same body; just wonderful and so encouraging. It just makes me excited for the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is KING! Bah!
I didn’t start crying until Abby asked if she could pray for us…she prayed for each of us by name…and I just lost it. It was such a blessing to have a little one love on us in such a way that she would want to pray for our safety.
We packed up the camp. Packed up the cars. And hoped in to drive down the road to the airport. It was not a long drive…maybe 5 minutes.
We got to the airport. Checked in. Checked our bags…it took almost an hour to get us all through, but we did.
We hugged and cried and it was so sad. We all went through security and waited for about 10 minutes before they started to load our flight.
We walked outside of the airport onto the pavement to walk to our plane…and as we left we looked back to the building and everyone was standing and waving at us as we walked out to the plane!...it was so bittersweet. But I was so in shock that I was leaving I really didn’t know what to think! Ha ha
We hoped on plane and surprisingly it was way nicer than one we rode on the way from Dar es Salaam to Pemba. It had air-conditioning…that’s all I cared about.
The plane ride was about 2 hours and it was just beautiful! We saw the blue ocean and the beaches!
We flew into Dar es Salam, Tanzania. We got our and went through customs…we were waiting for our bags, but could not find Zack and Kim…we waited for a while, but then decided that we needed to get checked in and go through customs again…so we got Kim’s bags and went through security.
While we are in line checking into Emirates (the airline we flew) we see them! We were all really excited because it’s just a little nerve racking loosing two of your friends in an African airport. Ha ha
What had happened was they had just not gone through customs the first time. They’d gone straight upstairs to the waiting room. Zack didn’t have any checked luggage…so he didn’t think he had to go through customs. Kim did have luggage but had just forgotten. But it was no big deal because some of the boys checked Kim’s stuff under their names.
Kaitlyn and I got to sit next to one another. We requested at the counter! We went through customs and waited for about and hour and a half before they started to load our flight.
It was fun sitting and just talking, hanging out with our group while we waited for our flight to board.
It was bout a 5 and half hour flight. Nice. EXCEPT we had to wait for almost two hours in the plane on the runway because of some technical stuff problems they had to fix. Kaitlyn and I sat next to a girl from London; she had been visiting her grandparents in Tanzania for a few weeks and was headed back home. I told her I was living there this fall and she said I would really love it! She said it’s really fun in the city especially during the holiday season!
We finally took off. And we just hung out and watched movies! We tried to sleep some, but I mostly just watched movies and helped the woman who sat next to me figure out how to work her TV. Ha ha
We got to Dubai at 2 in the morning Dubai time, which is 12-midnight Mozambique time, which is 5 in the afternoon Central Standard Time. Yeah…I was thinking in like 5 times zones. Ha ha
Sooooooo we have been traveling for already almost 12 hours. BAH!!!
Oh and the airport is so big, or maybe it was because our flight was so big…well anyways we got off of our plane on the asphalt and loaded into shuttles which drove us to the terminal. The Dubai terminal is huge and it is so nice and it is full of stuff to buy!
They had cars to raffle off, computers, souvenirs, food….it was like a mall.
So as we walked through the airport to our gate I guess it could be considered to be…MONDAY (ha ha?)
We get on our Dubai flight, which is almost 13 hours long….I was a little nervous that I would be sitting by myself BUT LUCKILY KP and Ted both sat next to me! And yes we were in an exit row! So we had a lot of extra legroom. We watched movies. Slept some…actually I slept for almost 4 hours (which I was glad for). KP slept almost the whole time!
As we were flying into America I got my ipod out and KP and I listened to Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA. Oh and we sang our favorite Makua worship song about wAmerica. Ha ha
Soooo at this point we have been traveling for about 24 hours. (I still have two more flights)
We get into New York and we are tired. But excited. We go through customs. And as we are waiting for our luggage we look around and Zack is no where to be found…ha ha
We lost him again… ha ha Because he didn’t have to get any bags he went to straight to his gate…our group started to split up from here because Jon and Zack flew out of JFK the rest of us flew out of la Guardia.
So we got a shuttle to la Guardia. Said goodbye to Jon (strange. Very strange).
We all get in the shuttle and we get a call from Zack. He has called to say goodbye (ha ha).
KP flew Delta the rest of us flew American so we had to say goodbye to her as we are getting dropped off at the American branch of the terminal. Sad.
Then there were 5.
We get checked in. Go through security. And get some FOOD! Because we’re hungry. We sit down because we are tired and notice that oh surprise our flights have been delayed. Ha ha so we all wait a bit.
Kaitlyn’s flight to Chicago left first. Then Kim, Mark, and I waited about 30 minutes after that for our flight…which was also to Chicago, but a different airport.
Ted’s was about another two hours later. So we sad our goodbyes to Kait and Ted…sad. Weird. I didn’t like it! Ha ha
(And KP actually didn’t get home until a day later because her delayed flight from New York to Atlanta caused her to miss her connection. No big she stayed with family in ATL!)
And then there were 3.
So we got to Chicago in about 2 hours, said goodbye to kim and mark then booked it to my gate which was on the other side of the airport! I had made it this far I was not going to miss my last connection! Ha ha
LUCKILY I made it just as they were starting to load! Whew.
Got on the flight to little rock. I was hungry and I was tired and now I was sweaty and a little out of breath from running. Ha ha but I got on the plane and sat under the air and zoned out for 2 hours.
So after I landed in little rock I had been traveling for like 32 hours…oh my gosh. Ha ha
My flight got there early so I had to wait for mom and daddy. But it was no big deal because I got my luggage, got a drink and just sat while I waited for them to get there. It was a little anti-climatic but good to see them none the less!
They came. We went home. Mom made some WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES! I talked and told stories and they showed some pictures to mom, dad, and Joseph!
I gave gifts once the boys got home and then I went to bed because…the next day Tuesday was the only full day I had at home before I flew out for my best friend and college roommate Anna B Shaffer’s wedding!!!!
So early Wednesday morning I flew out for Washington State! So I had my head full of Africa and of not sleeping. (ha ha)
So I’m still in the process of processing (ha ha) Africa and Anna getting married!
It was a beautiful, perfect wedding and so fun. I’m so so glad that I didn’t miss it. And it was actually a great transition back into “normal” life. Having a big event helped my mind to kind of transition with out pressure back into America from Africa.
Wow. That was long. Hope you made it.
Well I will be continuing to process thoughts for a while; and yes in answer to a question to I want to go back to Africa?
Yes.
I want to go back. I don’t know when or for what reason, but I do I really do.
But for now…I’m home. I’m here for about 6 weeks before I go off on another adventure.
This fall I’m going to be living in London, England working for Harding’s overseas program. Yeah I know right!?
So stay tuned. There is plenty more to come.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for staying connected to me in this way. It means so much! A lot of love and appreciation!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
why hello there
hello friends and family
very soon i will most def be posting my final thoughts and events from my last week in africa!
the reason for the delay...after i flew into little rock from mozambique i was home for less than 48 hours before i flew out (again) for the lovely state of washington for my best friend and roommate anna b. shaffer's wedding!
i just flew in tonight! and i must say it was a prefect wedding! i'm so happy for anna and her hubs nathan mielke! and i was so blessed to be apart of their ceremony and apart of their lives in general (ha ha seriously though i love them).
blessing and prayers to them.
kisses and love to everyone. talk to you very soon.
very soon i will most def be posting my final thoughts and events from my last week in africa!
the reason for the delay...after i flew into little rock from mozambique i was home for less than 48 hours before i flew out (again) for the lovely state of washington for my best friend and roommate anna b. shaffer's wedding!
i just flew in tonight! and i must say it was a prefect wedding! i'm so happy for anna and her hubs nathan mielke! and i was so blessed to be apart of their ceremony and apart of their lives in general (ha ha seriously though i love them).
blessing and prayers to them.
kisses and love to everyone. talk to you very soon.
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