And so it begins...

The good news… I’ve finally arrived in Cape Town and started up my blog, so that you can all enjoy this journey with me!

The bad news… My cable that connects my computer to my camera will not be accompanying me on this journey and therefore, pictures will be temporarily unavailable. I will be have to be super descriptive in my blogging and you all will need to be very creative in your imagining…It might be a good practice in guided imagery for us all (that’s for you child life friends). Perhaps we should start with the view of Table Mountain which I woke up to outside my bedroom window this morning. You don’t even have to use your imagination…just google it and you’ll see what I saw!

My travels thus far have been graciously uneventful. Mom, Dad, Nana and Bethany sent me off from the airport. They were all weepy, but I held back my tears…well, at least until I was on the other side of the glass divider thing. Then a few snuck out. The real ones came when I was sitting on the plane getting ready to fly off. I was trying to decide where they were coming from…I’m pretty sure I wasn’t afraid or even anxious at that point (maybe 10%). But the majority of them came from the overwhelming love I have felt from the moment I decided to go on the adventure. Love from friends, family, and coworkers that in return caused a deeper love in me for them. It has been such a blessing to feel so supported. Thanks to everyone for the parties, the prayers, the support, and the love.

The planes all ran on time, the leg room was bearable (although the poor couple who sat on the outside of me on our 11 hour leg of the journey probably wished I would have had the aisle), and the food was never ceasing – they feed you like every 4 hours! I never quite felt like James Bond or an international spy maneuvering my way through international airports (the way one friend said I would) but it is pretty empowering to travel around the world by yourself. I guess I shouldn’t say by myself, because I did feel His peaceful spirit with me the whole way. I never felt alone or afraid.

When I got to Cape Town, my driver was waiting to pick me up. He told me all out drag racing through Cape Towns streets, taught me some familiar Afrikaans phrases, and gave me some advice – like grab on to a pole when the wind blows through Cape Town so you don’t get blown away! He told all about the club scene available. I told him I wasn’t a clubber. He told me I could dance. I told him I couldn’t really dance. So his final advice to me was to, “Find a black man, he will show you around and you will leave Cape Town knowing how to dance.” I wondered if he’d been talking to Caroline…

This morning I met with the Gabby from Connect 1-2-3 for orientation to the city from the apartment city. I can’t wait to get out and explore, but was warned I should get to know the city a little better before doing that on my own. I may wonder down to the book shop she told me about, though. Hopefully this evening I will meet with other Child Life girls here for the program. Tomorrow I begin work at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

Well, the battery on my computer is running low, and I need to get a converter (sorry Caroline – I think the one I needed was the one you didn’t have in there, but at least I lugged that heavy box half way across the world!). So I’m signing off for now.

Love you all!