(Africa is beautiful)
Hello everyone!
We made it to West Africa safe and sound, after a long trip of late flights and one missed connection in Paris! We had to have our flight changed and made an unexpected trip to Casablanca, but we did make it!
In case you are wondering about the title of this entry, don't be scared - I haven't seen a snake yet! Most of you know that I'm scared to death of snakes, so you will find it interesting that our M's told us that just last week a 6 ft. spitting cobra was killed on the M center where we are staying for a few days! AGH!!!! I keep trusting that Father will keep us safe from the snakes that I know are all around me! There ARE lizards everywhere we go - climbing on walls and running over our feet. It's amazing how fast they can move for being such little guys! And the heat - well, you don't even have to ask! It is extremely hot here - and humid too. I didn't expect the humidity, but because this is rainy season it is indeed very sticky.
(A lizard on the guest house at the M center)
Back to our arrival. When we finally arrived at the airport in Niam-ey - and after we found out that our bags had been lost - we went outside to find our M's. . . who were not there. Come to find out, when we called them to let them know we'd be later than we first realized due to our flight transfer in Paris there was some miscommunication and they thought we were flying in at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, but we were really coming in at 3:30 a.m. FRIDAY morning!! It was a little intimidating to be at the airport - in the middle of the night - alone. However, the Father kept us safe and even though we couldn't speak the language we managed to borrow a phone to call our M's. They felt really bad, but it ended up being no big deal! One of the airport men kind of "watched out" for us and waited until M got there to pick us up.
There are many stories I could already tell (and probably will in the future) but I'll just tell you one more before I go to bed.
Right now we are staying at the M center until Monday, when we move out to the "island." Because of the heavy rain this week and not having our luggage we have been deterred from moving to the island sooner. We visited there today, and made the trip by canoe across the river. That was a little scary, but a Fulani man paddled for us, so we knew he had it under control. After crossing the river we hiked to the small village where we will be living, and met some of the people there. We also got to see the mud hut we will live in, as well as our "shower house" (grass mats in a circle around a stone to stand on) and the well we will be getting our water from. It was great to see the island, but difficult because we do not start language learning until Tuesday, so we were unable to communicate with the people.
(What we will soon call "home sweet home")
Please yarp for us in our adjustment to this culture and to every part of the African way of life. Also yarp that we learn the language quickly, as we have heard that it is a complicated language. I will post again soon!
Love,
Cheryl
