July 2007 report

I thought I'd give you a little light reading. This, and what follows, are the enews pieces that I send out to people every month or so. So if you haven't seen them or really want to read them again - have at it! ARGH! None of the photos copied so it's just the text. Sigh.

Hello friends and neighbors,

Praise the Lord, I have made it to Dakar, Senegal! My luggage arrived the next night, not having made the plane in Houston. I’m getting used to the time and the weather. I am 5 hours ahead of Central Standard Time. The weather is hot and humid, at 10pm last night we had almost 80% humidity.

Let’s catch up . . .

Thus far, all of my training has been beneficial (you never know). I had a great time in Canada. Mission Prep in Toronto was amazing. I built some strong relationships, as you can see.
Figure 1 - CRWRC interns: Melissa Dilworth, RN - Sierra Leone; Chinyere Nwachukwu - Nigeria & Mali; Amy Thompson - Kenya; Alida Fernhout, RN (good Dutch CRC gal) - Eldoret, Kenya
Figure 2 - The Nigerian and one of the Americans celebrating Canada Day on July 2
Figure 3- The Mission Prep team in Toronto at Tyndale University
Figure 4 - Niagra Falls (US side viewed from the Canadian side)
Figure 5 - Joe(5), Amy and Chinyere on the Maid of the Mist

It was wonderful learning from people who had spent large portions of their lives overseas in ministry as well as being surrounded by such a great diversity as is offered by Toronto. We went to a mosque and spoke with the Imam. We learned about Hinduism and visited Little India. We ate in Chinatown and shopped in the Kinsington neighborhood. Not to mention our twice daily walks to the local neighborhood Second Cup. They knew us well and I am sure are sad that we are gone. We watched a movie from Bollywood and one of my favorite movies and a true classic (given to me by some good friends before I left) Cinema Paradiso.

When our two weeks of training was finished we had some free time and took in the sights of downtown Toronto including the harbor and the CN Tower as well as heading to Niagra Falls. It was great, really.

Finishing training I headed back home for 6 days where I enjoyed time with the family. It was awesome. We all cried as we parted ways but I have been in touch with everyone since my arrival. The folks were the first ones I called with Skype and we’re all very proud that mom figured it all out.

The journey to Senegal took about 34 hours, a car ride, four planes, several tasty airplane meals, a few in-flight movies and little sleep (none of it comfortable). My blog talks about what we’ve done thus far and I hope to be adding more pictures shortly. Here are a few to whet your appetite though.

Figure 6 - This type of tile flooring is in a lot of homes and businesses as well as on sidewalks. It's cheap and prettier than concert and enough so that you don't need to carpet.
Figure 7 - Mangos growing in a yard just outside of my balcony.
Figure 8 - Mosque on the Atlantic Ocean

I hope to send an email once every month or two but encourage you to check out my blog at www.rubyslipperlady.wordpress.com for more details and photos on a more regular basis. Feel free to email me with any questions you may have and I will work on getting back to you. I hope to be posting some solid information on HIV/AIDS soon. I am leaving for a work trip to a small town to visit a partner, so I will be offline until sometime next week and will typically only have internet while I’m at the office and not involved in other meetings and assigments. I have started my work now and have much to do! It’s fun, scarey and exciting! I’m enjoying all that I’m learning but looking forward to being finally settled in Kenya. I’m so encouraged by all of your emails and blog comments, please keep them coming!