Arrival!

[this is one of those photos i always take. and the security guards almost always look like theyre gonna shoot you. or arrest you. apparently in the DRC they actually do. you know, as you get off the plane at night, goign into the airport, armed men everywhere.. but filled with the excitement of being in a new country, and wanting to photograph ever moment of it.. yeah.]

as soon as we walked into the (cute, homely) airport in Tana, everyone lit up. And seeing Meagan and Tamlin (who had arrived a few days before us, to get everything ready) made it all very real. We'd spent hours talking about being on this mission, and here we all are, in the airport together! CRAZY! Aw and the first thing they did was hug us all, with their bright smiles.. And gave us each hats to choose from! Chloe spent ages fitting them on, tryin to pick the right one. As soon as I went to get one, Meagan told me that they'd picked one out just for me! Tamlin said they saw it in the market and both said "that's so andrea" and had to get it haha it's the cutest!

oh gosh and WE MET NADIA! She's GREAT! We're having so much fun* With all of us being thrown into the deep end, it being our first mission., we've had awesum times finding our way together! 

(christof and chloe. they both look kinda scary here, i swear theyre nice people hahaha)

-aand this is jo, scarlett's mom. she's the childlife therapist. she has the best job in the world! she plays games with kids. and she's SO BRILLIANT. and hilarious!!!

we took two trolleys by acccident, and just couldn't get them apart...

[TOTALLY shouldve invested in a blackberry! haha now all you BBMers know where you can come* YES i just said BBMers.]

We got our luggage (all of it YAY) and our visas and we were OFF to the hotel... (I have no idea whats going on in this photo! But it's showing us in the busses.. so here haha)

one week to go.

wow i haven't blogged here in ages. im mildly obsessed with my other blog, to the point where one day without reading or posting on it, feels like eternity. i guess it also felt like the mission was so far away.. and suddenly it's SEVEN DAYS AWAY. seven days. WOW. (haha i cant hear the phrase 'seven days' without thinking of scarymovie3 "can you hear me now? can you hear me now..? seven days.." yeah, i watched that movie waaay too many times. 

Anyway. Today. I went to buy shorts of appropriate length. Ended up buying some nice tshirts and gladiators as well, buuut let's not dwell on that point...I also spent this afternoon reviewing all the notes I took during mission training in Virginia and Cape Town... And brushing up on my education info.. I'm specifically focussing on Burn Care and ORT (Oral Rehydration Therapy).. Chloe is doing Nutrition and Dental Health.. I'm SUPER excited to be doing this mission with my cousin. But before I go on about her, let me announce.. *drumroll please* that Andries is no longer our sponsor. The date for his thesis to be handed in was pushed up by a month, so it was gonna be too hectic for him. Our new sponsor is.. NADIA!

(facebook profile picture stalking..)
She called me today and she seems really sweet. She's a lil nervous about getting everything right, but we came to the conclusion that we will make sure we are as ready as we can be, but live in the knowledge that it will only become real when we're there, and that we will be there for eachother completely. (She's sure she'll be spending much time crying) 

Right now, I'm waiting for my amaaazing friend, Lisa Adachi, to come online so we can have a Skypedate about my final preparations. Her incredible mission blog and experiences with her mission to Amman earlier this year have been such an inspiration to me. 

Wellll it's weekend, if you have some time, check out Fran's blog. She's currently blogging while on her mission in Fortaleza, Brazil. Really exciting stuff! Okay I have to go, Skype awaits!!

Happy weekend everyone :) As chessy as it sounds, (because im too excited about skype to find an inspirational qute) BE THE CHANGE you wish to see in the world, in everything you do this weekend. 

Love Always Xoxo