So... you know how they say "the worse the wedding, the better the marriage"? Well I have to wonder if it goes "the worse the flight, the better the trip"... because if that is the case, I am off to a fantastic start. I began my flight to Africa attempting to do a good deed by switching seats with a passenger traveling with a friend who was seated next to me... well the airline had apparently double booked his seat, and somehow in the confusion of me not looking like a man from Senegal, and him not speaking English very well, I ended up getting yelled at approximately 3 times by various flight attendants. In the end however, they allowed the two gentlemen to sit together, and I got to sit next to two absolutely lovely ladies. Mols was a missionary on her way to the children's home in Johannesburg and is originally from Capetown, and Renee is a Johannesburg native who now lives in America but travels to South Africa for business every now and again. So I had a great chat with the two of them during the very long flight. So aside from my two saving graces, the rest of the flight was pretty terrible- once we were in the air, I discovered that my 'in flight entertainment system' did not work (not exactly great news on an 18 hour flight) and since I had so ingratiated myself with the flight attendants earlier, they did not help to resolve the problem... then there was the lack of food on the flight because I do not eat red meat, and naturally that was all that was left when they got to my aisle. To top it off, I polished off my water bottle about an hour into the journey, and they only served drinks 3 times in 18 hours. Oh the dehydration. That all being said, though, it was a huge blessing sitting next to Mols and Renee- Renee even escorted me out of the airport, allowing me to use her mobile to ring my friends who were running a few minutes late.
All that is to say that I have arrived in Lesotho safe and sound. Sarah-Jane and I had a nice lie-in this morning and then headed to the orphanage around lunch time. I finally got to meet some of the children I will be working with these next few weeks! Very exciting. So we played in the baby room for a while then ran the after schools program for the boys; all of the children are absolutely lovely, and I can't wait to learn their names and spend more time with them. This evening I have also gotten to get to know the other missionaries living in the hostel with us; there are 5 others- Tamara is from England, and she is married to Danger, who is a Lesotho native; Sue is from New Zealand, and Kerrina and Justin are from Australia. They are all lovely, and we had a great chat sitting around dipping our feet in the paddling pool (basically an over sized kiddie pool) once we had all returned from our various volunteering sites.
It is absolutely gorgeous here, and I already know that I will be sad to leave it in 3 weeks time. I am excited to explore town and get to know more of the local people here, as well as do some hiking and go on an overnight safari- so many adventures to be had and so much to look forward to!! Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming!
"We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
~Romans 8:28
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