I was a strange feeling waking up in a different bed, in a country across the world! The first thing I did when I woke up was to open my blinds to see what my view looked like. Here is what greeted me the first morning...
I slowly woke up and got ready for the day... not knowing what it my include! I met 2 other girls who live in the dorms and one of them invited me to have lunch with her and the couple she is there nannying for. What a blessing as I didn't have any food :)
The family I had lunch with is wonderful and they have kids! That simple fact helped my heart a lot! They kindly fed me and then I stayed over at their apartment for a few hours talking with Rachael about school, life here and about what ministry they are doing after they leave. Rachael and her husband Dan are going to Togo, West Africa. Togo is a country just to the south of Mali!!! It was so wonderful to talk about Africa :)
After I left there I was able to Skype with my parents. Wow, am I so stinking thankful for technology! It was crazy though as it was 2:30pm here and it was 7:30am for them. I was halfway through my day and they were getting ready to go to work.
As I Skyped with them a school-mate came to my room letting me know they were having S'mores and wanted me to join them. Mom, Dad and I all looked at each other and just laughed. Yep, I guess I'm going to go out on the roof and have S'mores :) I'm glad I went because Violet and Lee are a married couple who have been in missions for many years. Violet grew up in Mali and they are going to Togo, West Africa after school. More Africa!!! I was starting to get goosebumps... then one of the single gals Mercy tells me she grew up in Chad, Africa. My heart could have burst with excitement at that point. We all enjoyed good conversations and S'mores out on the terrace looking out at the mountains. Yes, this is now my life ;)
View from the terrace
Later in the evening Rachael was amazingly sweet and took me and Melissa (who's family is also going to Togo) to the grocery store! Of all things the grocery store was a fear of mine. With Rachael's help it was a wonderful experience. She took time to explain things to us that are different here then in the States and prices differences. What an incredible blessing. But let me tell you... it is a very, very strange feeling going to a grocery store where you can't read anything, you can't understand the person standing next to you or the cashier, and sometimes you can tell what something is thanks to the help of pictures on the package. The Lord is so kind to me though. Look what I found...
Nutella!!!!! Jesus really loves me ;)
My first grocery haul
By the end of the day I was exhausted. So, after answering a few emails I headed off to bed. However, the lovely thing called jet lag decided to rear its ugly head :( Didn't get much sleep but enough to get me through...
What an amazing first day I had. Beyond anything I could have imagined. God is good to me :)
~Nicole
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