We're Here!!

On June 1, my team and I left El Paso, and around 7 pm Tuesday, we finally met our hosts! Travel was comfortable - I even watched Avatar as I ate my yummy dinner on one flight! I saw Paris in a flash... We ran through the airport in order to catch our flight, only to realize we had full water bottles at security. With no time to pour them out, we chugged them and continued at full speed... Little did I know I'd be sitting by the window and a very sleepy French couple who kept me in my seat for four hours! Though our luggage didnt arrive, we made it safely and were met by Pastor Djedje, the South Cote d'Ivoire superintendent, Beronje, the NYI president of the district, Parfact, the vice president, and another Nazarene pastor.
The men drove us to our guest house in Tu Plateau, which I've come to understand sits in the "Carmel" of Abidjan. The house sits on a compound shared by the groundskeeper, maid, and boss' houses. It is surrounded by a 12 foot locked, metal fence and two very ferocious-sounding doberman dogs! We have a dining room table for eight, four bedrooms (we share two) and a boys bathroom and one for the girls! Honestly, the walk in tile shower is nicer than mine at home, and we get hot water! What a surprise! We also have a living room and kitchen, and porch, where we currently have our first load of laundry hanging to dry (its been almost 24 hours, its too humid!)
Which brings me to the weather! it is very very very hot and humid. It rains in the afternoon and at night very hard, but the day is cloudy or sunny. We sweat alllll the time, even after a shower laying in bed for the night. But we just laugh and say what they taught us at camp - it's different, but it's okay!
I should also mention that a wonderful Christian missionary has been staying at our compound because of car trouble... What a blessing to have an American to talk to and explain things to us! Sh eassures us that the Ivoirians are very kind to Americans and it is quite safe here. We have never been jeered at or felt unsafe, which is wonderful!
Though the first night was overwhelming, things have become much more familiar... The first day, Parfact came to walk with us to the bakery for sweet bread for breakfast. We do that on our own now each morning, and eat around our table with stir in coffee! (hard to drink when it's so hot out!) It is refreshing in the morning to be among the many, many people walking the streets in the "cool." In the afternoon, Parfafct showed us the supermarket, about a mile in the other direction. It is within a small mall, and also has the clostest Internet! We also went with him to a small restaurant for lunch, then finally had our first dinner just the four of us - leftovers :)
Our second day - yesterday - Pastor Djedje picked us up and we drove 40 minutes to the Nazarene headquarters, passing incredible slums on the way. It was then that I realized our living circumstances are highly unusual. There are BMWs and Mercedes everywhere on the highway, as well as billboards for Gucci... All right next to the slums. The air is polluted black on the streets (sometimes when we blow our noses it's black!), and the people drive, as Jordan noticed, as if the road has three lanes when it has tzwo! There is a lot of honking and the taxis drive all the way up on the curb to pick you up! The headquarters is a church, offices, school, hospital, and HIV/AIDS counseling center all in one. We met ALL of the people who worked there :) After lunch, we had our first French lesson with Pastor Djedje, who used to teach French! It was very helpful. Last night we ventured to the supermarket alone and found it to be quite frustrating... Speaking very very limited French and not fully understanding conversions of their currency was difficult! (I should say that our hosts speak broken English, enough to get along and have many laughs together!) After getting in bed that night, we were scared awake when our luggage finally came!!
Finally, today we visited a Nazarene school, having prepared activities thinking there would be 50 kids. There were 220!! We had so much fun with the colorful parachute, soccer balls, and acting out the story of the lost sheep while Beronje interpreted. They really warmed up to us, and gave us so many hugs when it was time to leave. The tachers thanked us for bringing joy to the children... We were so blessed by the experience. We shared a meal with our friends Beronje and Parfact... We eat a lot of rice, chicken (on the bone - haha!) and plantains!
Well, my hour is up at the Internet cafe. Until next time, your prayers are greatly appreciated.