I'm in Africa!

It's true...I am here! There are so many amazing God things that happened so that I made it to Africa. First, my flight from Raleigh to Detroit was supposed to come in a lot earlier than it did, so I only had about 10 minutes to make it to my next gate. Insert insane anxiety on my end (and running and shoving people out of my way out of the plane). However, after accosting the airport worker person and yell/asking where the Amsterdam flight was, I found out that the next gate was right across from the one I just came out of! Wow! The flight to Amsterdam was ... long. I was hoping to sleep on the flight, but I only got about 2 hours. So when I came in to Amsterdam the plane landed way far away from the main terminal and we had to be bused to where all the information was about flights. I once again started freaking out. However, the flight came in early and I had about an hour to get to my gate. I actually got to use the bathroom before this flight! It was great! The flight to Entebbe was really long, too (8 hours - the same as my flight from Detroit to Amsterdam). The person next to me slept the whole way, so I was kind of stuck in my seat for the whole time. I'm also NOT looking forward to more airplane food. It's really not good at all... I really don't like it. And a note to all of you who, like me, have (had) never traveled internationally, the vegetarian dishes are way better than the ones with freeze dried meat. Blech! I finally got to Entebbe, and got my first VISA stamp in my passport, (which I had to have my picture taken and I had been wearing a hat for about 9 hours - can you imagine how that picture turned out? I'm not so excited to know..), and then waited FOREVER for my luggage. Luckily the girl sitting next to me on my flight to Entebbe was from Virginia also (wild) and I had a partner during the visa/waiting forever for luggage adventure. Finally, I saw Sarah waiting for me and we hugged and jumped and hugged some more and got into our "cab". Sarah had her favorite driver (I didn't know you could have favorite drivers until now), Bosco drive us home. It is AMAZING how Ugandans drive, because frankly, it terrified me! First of all, they drive on the wrong side of the road and second of all they drive on the wrong side of the car. INSANE! So, I got to the compound, unpacked, met the missionaries, showered, and hit the sack (with the help of Ambien). I slept for about 10 hours!

Today I had the great pleasure of meeting Katharine (Hope Alive! Uganda's director), Kate, Kacie, and Al (Hope Alive! Missionaries), as well as Richard, Francis, and David (Ugandan Hope Alive! workers) at a yummy lunch (of African food). Then we headed to the Hope Alive! office so Sarah could get some work done. I got to meet Dorothy, whom I have heard TONS of stories about. She is just as sweet as Sarah said she was. After that we headed to coaching (which we call tutoring) and I got to meet Moses (who teaches in a local school and also teaches for Hope Alive!) as well as a lot of the kids in the Hope Alive! program. It was a fantastic day! Now, I'm trying to stay up a few more minutes (it's about 8:42 here - even though my blog says it's some other ridiculous time) so I won't be so tired tomorrow.

I'm so excited to meet more Ugandans and to help all of the precious children here! I am motivated to be a better teacher in the States so that I can come here and help these people even more. Thank you all for your amazing prayers! God has definitely been listening :) Love you all!!

Has it really been 6 months already...?

In January I felt like my trip to Uganda would never come. Now that it's here, I'm quite uneasy. I am not a fan of traveling alone and I'm feeling very anxious about my two day, three plane, four airport journey. Please pray for early flights, accommodating airport personnel and eased nerves on my trip.

I'll possibly be online at one of the airports, though I have very short layovers (hence the prayers). I'll update once I get to Uganda and rested!

Typhoid down...Malaria to go

Success! I finished all of my Typhoid meds and the last day I didn't even get sick! I had a really bad reaction the third day of the meds and I was NOT looking forward to day four (the last day I had to take them). BUT, luckily I had no reaction at all on day four. Now I just have to start taking Malaria pills (which are roughly the size of a baked potato). I start taking those two days before I leave, the duration of my trip, and four weeks after I get back. I'm going to be super mega ultra deluxe Malaria free!! :)

Well, in 12 days I will be an international traveler for the first time in my life. I am so excited and scared and anxious all at once! The Lord has really calmed most of my anxieties about flying solo across the world. I also realize that people fly alone all the time and that all of the airports I have layovers in speak English (except for maybe Detroit...).

This week I'll start packing and getting last minute things together. I also have to go through all the books I want to take with me and start working on some lesson plans! I can't believe my trip is so close!

I just want to say a huge THANK YOU to all my family and friends who continue to pray for my trip. You guys are doing more than you think! I love you all!

Here goes nothing..

My friends and family have asked that I stay in touch with them while I'm in Africa. I thought that a blog would be the easiest way (although I'm sure Mom will probably require video sessions so she can see that I haven't been eaten by a lion).

Some of you may not know exactly what I'll be doing in Africa. I will be teaching teachers with the Hope Alive organization how to teach Math. I will be showing them techniques and methods to make their job easier and to allow the students to learn more quickly. I will also help teach Bible studies with the kids and help out with whatever the missionaries there are doing. I am going to be staying with my good friend, Sarah Pisney, who is a long term missionary in Uganda.

How did this all come about, you ask? God. That's how. Although, I believe Sarah had a lot to do with it as well. Somehow (God) I became Sarah's travel partner while she was raising money for her mission to Uganda. We aren't exactly sure when this happened, but it did. So after Sarah moved to Uganda, I kinda thought "Hey... I should go visit her....I've always wanted to go to Africa.." I'm pretty sure this is the result of Sarah praying "Send Mary to Africa, send Mary to Africa, send Mary to Africa" the moment she stepped on the plane. Regardless of Sarah's wiley ways, the Lord really placed Africa on my heart. What better way to serve than to do it with a good friend.

So, here I am. I've been blown away at how God has been working on this trip. I've had many reservations - specifically because I'll be traveling alone. But, God reminds me in the small things - the comments, prayers, encouragement from others, that He will be with me through all of it. I'm amazed at the number of people who have offered not only to regularly pray for my trip, but who have donated money. I also had a lot of anxiety about all the needed shots for an international - specifically African - trip. When I saw the list of vaccinations needed, I almost decided to just call it all off. I didn't want that many needles anywhere near me! However, I only had to have five vaccinations and two of them are oral. Speaking of which, I just started my typhoid medicine today. I am lucky enough to be one of the few people in the world that will always, no matter what, experience all side effects of medication. So...today is going to be quite fun, I'm sure.