Fastforward to Today.

it's 20h45 and it feels like midnight. we just played the name game. -latenight sheet edition. so much fun! we were all kinda hoping itd be cancelled bc we stayed so late at the ambassadors cocktail party! (SUCH a cool house. amazing food. random music.. including "red red wiiine" haha even without kfm, that song found it's way through.. had a great time*)



sorry i've been terrible with blogging, i have so much to say though, the days are full and long. and whenever i have a free moment, there isn't a laptop available.. *sigh*

tomorrow surgery begins. it's SUPER EXCITING! I'l get the correct numbers from Tamlin in the morning, but it's something like 900 surgeries that we would have done in total in Madagascar since we first began doing missions in 2007. Ruben and the dental team are breaking records (literally i think..) with the amount of obturators they're making. (Obturators are plates that fill the gap in the palate, it means lives can be changed even if they don't get surgery this year..amazing!)

In one of Tamlin's brilliant speeches tonight (flip she blows my mind with her passion) she said told us of a boy who, when asked what he was most excited about for after the surgery, answered "to be a man. because now i can blow on a fire"

moments like that.. for a little boy to be aware of the fact that if he didn't get surgery he couldn't make a fire to cook food and provide for his family.. a thing that never even crossed my mind.. i really don't think we'll ever grasp the difference opsmile truly makes in their lives.

The Road to Tana..

this is the first photo i took. of chloe. who is looking over my shoulder right now. she's saying how amazing i am. (okay okay i may have twisted that a lil...) we were in the jhb airport. minutes after we both realised it had been hours since we left home, and neither of us had been taking photos. then we saw this GIANT tabasco sauce and our cameras were never the same...

what else? chloe went into every stationary shop looking for sillybandz. and EVENTUALLY(after Christof and i had rejected her. "you can go by yourself to this one, meet you at spur" --yes mom, we made sure she'd be safe first. CAMP RULES APPLY.

she found them, and bought so many she couldnt buy food haha (THATS dedication. especially from chloe..)

"there must be twentyfour letters in the pack" -chloe, about her alphabet sillybandz

"you know there are twenty six letters in the alphabet, right?" -andrea

*silence*

aaand we had a wonderful team vibe, anticipating GREAT times with our new family.. OH and they all realised how weird i am when i spent half an hour figuring out what i wanted.. changing my mind a hundred times.. (WHO doesnt have cranberry juice and a kiddies grilled chicken combo?! come on. OBVIOUSLY life gets complicated after the greatest meal ever has been denied.) and then eventually decided to satisfy the craving for a chico the clown. #mostdelicious

At Spur, we also spent some time asking Genevieve a ton of questions, bc she was the only one at our table who'd been to Tana before.

The rest of the journey was good... sat opposite Scar for the onetime journey CT to JHB.. on a tiny tiny plane. I haven't entered a plane from the back before.. that was interesting.. Aaand I met Dawid the Anaethetist. and Christof became our LEGIT BRO. we got lost in the airport. well, not lost. ALL the airport staff gave us incorrect directions. HOW do so many people not know what's going on?! gosh. In the end though, we ended up exactly where we started, and all was fine. "I just couldn't do any of that by myself. I have to travel with a man. -or Chloe." -andrea

We had a really long wait in the airport before our flight to Tana. Spent most of it at Exclusive Books, a group of us set up camp there. #great times

(Oh Tim, the lady on the plane intercom speaks French, you'd love it. -And all the stewardesses are French. Even here in Tana, everyone has that cool French accent!)

LV bag update: It KILLED me. KILLED ME. Bc yes, it is beautiful. But yes, it's me. And ofcourse the rolly thing didnt work. AND ofcourse it was way more full than ideal. "put EVERYTHING youd need into your carryon bc your luggage may not arrive" Anyway. My arm was slightly swollen for a bit, and i have legit scars on my shoulders. But it's alll good.

Kept having these 'Ohmygosh this is real. This. Is. Happening.' moments. So much time knowing it's gonna come, so much theoretical knowledge, so many stories heard. But this is ME. Here. Now. Whaaaat.

Other news: I had my first canned pawpaw experience. And they gave us HUGE cashews. They eat so much eggplant here, its divine. I end with a quote I got from Britt's goodbye letter:

"Remember that nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion"

Feel it. It is here. (cheesy, but true)

how AMAZING is this ball? im obsessed. it's sparkly and bouncy and superfun! Aaand it's one of my cool toys for the mission. Ialso got these cute teacher stickers..

some of my other favourites are a cool blue skipping rope, Ben10 playing cards, colourful chalk and looong balloons (hope chloe knows how to make actual balloon animals, else we're gonna have hundreds of balloon snales crawlin round haha) oh and i got the cutest notepads from ali ali ali. they have cute lil phrases on them like

"relax and enjoy life. know that whatever you need to know is revealed to you in the perfect time and space"

"the work you are doing within yourself is not a goal, it's a process. -a lifetime process. enjoy the process"

"when good comes into our lives and we deny it by saying 'i dont believe it' we literally push our good away"

i mean, seriously, can u get cuter? -and so profound. thanks ali!!!!

this is one of my favourite photos from the recent DRC mission. (there are hundreds! shouldve posted more.. oh well, madagascar ones will come soon. TOMORROW! aaaah!) it's crazy! aaah im getting butterflies just thinking about it. i CANNOT believe it HERE. aaaah. those of you that know me will know that 'aah' is literally happening. im screaming. and smiling. and jumping up and down like crazy!! aaaaah i cant stop i cant stop. okay *breathe*

what else? im sorta packed. oh wait let me take a photo of my bag quick...

okay seriously. I LOVE TECHNOLOGY. how EPIC is it that i just took this photo, im staring at my bag on the floor infront of me, and now its.. aaah haha maybe im just being a lil dramatic, but we live in such a cool time, guys!

okay yes. that is a LV bag. DONT JUDGE. *i know Scarlett will when she sees me at the airport --and I will ALWAYS be the girl who came on a mission with her LV bag gooosssshhh* BUT you see, being clumsy me, i may or may not have broken the rolly thing of my first bag. and then the alternative just failed on me. so hello, lifesaving-and-coincidentally-stylish bag. the world must just accept you bc youre filled with everything i need. as we learnt at Mission Training in Virginia last year (can't believe it was a year ago.. feels like yesterday..) everything is in my carryon. (incase my checkin luggage doesnt arrive) yes indeed. it's a miracle, everything. the weight fluctuates from 7-9kgs (haha math lit) but either way, it's all good. yes even those extra four pairs of cargo shorts i DEFINITELY dont need but i figure if i gonna rock the cargo short look i might as well do it in a variety of colours and styles (omg i sound like sucha barbie.- im not, i swear) are in there. oh i still have my case though...

ive got a bunch of stuff thatd be nice to have but arent like NEEDS. extra coloured paper... jeans.. a skirt... coloured markers.. an aliceband (ya i literally found that rightnow, i think i wore it last in like.. ninth grade, but hey you never know, i could need it haha.) .. a couple of tanktops and a lightweight warmtop... yeah.. oh other toliteries...ziploc bags..and much space for stuff ill be buying :) YAY BUYING STUFF! that book. SO GREAT. Jack Reacher is amazing, i want to be him. But he's busy investigating some stuff that just... I dont need in my head while I'm on the journey haha.

(got a lil carried away with the photo taking..) this is my 'im wearing you tomorrow so i wont pack you' pile. with a yummyyummy almond and cranberry bar, all on my camprock blanket. which i may bring with, we'll see.

OHMYGOSH i havent told u guys where we're staying. have i? i dno? but wow. it's amazing! not just for a mission, in general, wow.

okay it's already tomorrow aka THE DAY. I have been stalking Lisa Adachi's missionblog and advice and aaah (so sad i didnt get to skype with you before i left...) I am bursting with anticipation! I just realised that, as much as I am like.. I dno, I've been waiting for this day for two years. I feel emotionally prepared, I mean ofcourse there'll be tears and I can't even begin to imagine what's gonna hit me.  But I feel ready. And I've realised, it's so much bigger than me. My family and friends have been so great about it all. I kinda... sometimes forget they're in this equation, too. I guess, I take it for granted how much they care. How much I mean to them. SO thank you, all of you. You really do mean the world to me, and I hope I make you feel that way. Please know you're always in my heart. Someone wise once said that "you've made such an impression on people that when they cross the borders of distant countries they take you with them" -And in a couple of hours you'll be in Tana :) I'm going on this trip and I will make you proud, grow in ways beyond expectation, and make a difference that will last a lifetime. Bc that's what I'm called to do. This is where my heart lies. I am completely certain. And completely EXCITED!