Usually when I write a blog, I like to pick one topic or occurrence that happened during that specific week and write about it. However, I haven’t written a blog in all of February! And I have been in Africa for one month, so here’s just a concoction of an update of everything that has been going on, where I’m living, and what I’m doing here. Let’s start on the plane ride over to Africa..

I had 4 different flights to get here to Malawi Africa. From The Philippines, to Malaysia, to Thailand, then Nairobi ,and finally we landed in Lilongwe, Malawi! Traveling this time around was quite an adventure to say the least, because of a wonderful thing called- food poisoning. After our Malaysia flight I felt incredibly nauseas, and spent my 10 hour lay-over in Thailand, curled up in a ball, lying on the cold airport floor. My squad is wonderful and took great care of me though. For example, I’m on an escalator, barely able to stand and my team mates are holding a plastic bag open, while I’m throwing, and throwing up. They even carried my very heavy 50 pound pack for me, and were taking care of me the whole time. They’re wonderfulï�Š Then when we got to Malawi, I come to find out that Kenyan airlines lost my luggage, as well as others. ( However, we ended up getting it back a couple of days later along with $100! So, it ended up being a blessing in disguise:): )

Now, fast forwarding to what my living situation looks like here- I live in Senga Bay. I am staying at Zehandi Missions, and they’re in the middle of building their missions site. They have many amazing ideas, and a great vision for the people here in Malawi! Some being- building a bible school for the community, as well as building an orphanage. So, it is exciting to be a part of it! I live in my little tent over-looking BEAUTIFUL Lake Malawi. I can not even tell you how blessed I am to be waking up to that African sunrise every morning. I can’t fully grasp the beauty in this little country tucked away in Eastern Africa. I wake up around 5:30 every morning, and spend some time reading the bible. At 6 my team gets together, and then we start off with our chore for that week. Either it’s walking to the well, pumping and carrying 20 liters of water back. I could be axing down branches of trees, or watering and caring for the goats. I then finish at 7:30 to eat breakfast. Which is either oatmeal, or the most popular dish- Sima. It is a mix of boiling water and white all-purpose flour. Weirdly, I am one of the only people who actually enjoys it. I try and convince my team that if you put enough sugar on it, it kind of tastes like a sugar cookie. Kind-of.. After breakfast we have manual labor duties, and this last week has been pretty intense. I’ve been digging, and digging so many holes. Like 4-5 hours of digging. I’ve been planting a whole lot as well. It’s nice though, because I’ve learned how to plant fruit trees! It gets very tiring especially because we’re in the hot African sun. It’s very, very, extraordinarily hot here. At one-o-clock in the afternoon we have lunch, which is usually sima and cabbage. Then, in the afternoon we have outreach. We sometimes go to orphanages, or visit the people in the villages. We spend time, hang out, pray and build relationships with them. We get done with outreach around 5, and then it’s hygiene time. So we can either walk back to the well and carry water for our showers, or go walk down to the lake and bathe there. I prefer bathing in the lake. At 6:30 it’s time for dinner. Again, usually we have sima or rice with a small side of cooked vegetables. After dinner we have either have team time, worship, or we just hang out. Then it’s time to sleep and get a lot of rest for the upcoming day.

        So my days are packed, and very busy. Also, our last month in The Philippines I got asked to be a team leader for the month of January. However, when arriving in Africa I got asked to team lead the rest of our time here, so I agreed. And, I absolutely LOVE my team. We have grown so much, and it’s amazing to see. Once being a team who wasn’t as close, and was quick to complain; Now to being a team who works hard, encourages one another, and feels like a family. I really am proud of them all!:)

I fall asleep with sore muscles from manual labor, but I love working hard. My feet are constantly black from the dirt here. It’s impossible for me to get them clean. I also wear the same outfit 3 days in a row. I never wear makeup, and my hair is always a catastrophe. During the day I am constantly sweating, and the only time I see a mirror is on our off days, when we go to a hotel to take a real shower, and use wifi. The life I’m living is a foreign land to the world I once knew, and I love it. I wake up every morning completely blessed to be here. I breathe every breath with a thankful heart. Every day on this trip I’m learning to be so much more appreciative of this life. Like for example, Running water. You never realize how precious it is, until you have to walk a mile 3 times a day to carry heavy, HEAVY canisters of water in the hot sun, dripping sweat, feeling like you just ran a marathon. I’m thankful that if I want to talk to someone I can just pick up a phone or log onto Skype, and not have to travel far to use wifi. I’m thankful that back home I can eat an abundance of fruits, veggies, and anything I desire.-That I have so much freedom and options in this life. Being on a trip like this, you realize a lot. You become so grateful for the smallest things back home, that you could easily over look daily. I realize how BLESSED I am. Thank you for everyone reading this, and who has been keeping up with me on this journey! I really feel your prayers from on the other side of the world! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.