four weeks.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11

Basi. Finished. Done. That’s what we are. With Kiswahili and official homeschooling. I spent this last week in a state of shock. Do you ever get to the end of something and find yourself in slight disbelief that you actually did it? That’s me. Who travels to Africa for six months, lives with missionaries, and gets to learn another language with them while tutoring their kids?

Now, two of the four of those things are done. And Tuesday was the four week mark until I fly across the sea to HOME! My feelings are mixed. They range from excitement to fear of culture shock and adjustment to I kinda need a job. The months are a slight blur. As usual, where does time fly away to? Well, one thing’s for sure: you only get that time once. It never comes back again. It remains alive only in one’s memories, pictures, and writings. And maybe a video or two J

We now find ourselves in a beautiful house just steps away from the Indian Ocean. I can shower, potty, and wash my hands all in the same room and its right next to my room. It’s really quite amazing!

Garrett and Avery both have colds, and my tummy’s been grouchy since Sunday, that day being the worst, complete with stomach cramps and almost losing my lunch. Avery and I are roomies now, and our first night here she took a Benadryl and woke me up with her coughing about three thirty. “I feel better now! … When is it morning?” Silly girl!

Dar is much more pleasant now than in January when we were here, but it’s still stiflingly muggy and I think I look almost constantly shiny in the face. Our eight hour drive from Iringa on Monday took us from the cool mountains of Iringa province to baobab forests and then on to different forest, unique beauty, Mikumi National Park and animals, and eventually to palm trees and city. And our driver only scared us a few times and we didn’t die, so life is OK.

Before one of our town days last week, Bob, one of camp’s drivers, told me: “If you find yourself alone in Africa, find a friend.” The way he put it just cracked me up. I then felt rather funny walking around town all alone. And the fact that I was a single white chic surrounded by Africans doesn’t help either.

I had ANOTHER spider incident. Same song, third verse, right? Well, not quite. This one was full of me saying naughty words because I was so freaked and talking out loud, mostly to myself and God.  It was after I’d made my usual potty run to the Morrison house. I sat on my bed, journaling. I saw something on my rug. It was a spider. A giant spider. Like the ones I’ve had to call someone else who isn’t me to kill. But this time, it was too late. So there I sat, on my bed, praying and wondering what to do. I had to kill it, somehow. But how was the imperative question. I was freaked. He made his move a bit, so I made mine, sweating. I moved swiftly off my bed and grabbed a shoe. He was frozen, on my floor. I was frozen too. Fear grabbed hold of me with a painful grasp and wouldn’t let go. He finally made another move, this time under Megan’s old bed. I reacted, but not in time. He got away.

Now I was furiously nervous and scared. He finally ended up on the wall and crawled about. I decided to take a picture of him, hoping that would help him seem not as scary. It didn’t. But, at least I have evidence that he was actually there and big. I had my rain boot in hand hoping that I could kill him with a farther distance between the two of us. Then I tried switching back to my tennis shoe, thinking it might make me feel more secure. Nope. I didn’t make my move, I was too freaked out. He crawled behind one of my curtains. I shook the curtain, but he didn’t scamper out. I decided to journal and wait. Every little bit I’d look over to where I thought he might pop out.

At almost midnight, I finally gave in and went to bed, the spider still at large. I covered my head with my sheet. I couldn’t really breathe. I poked my head out of the sheet, and went to sleep. Except for waking in the night to potty, which was an ordeal because I was sure I was going to see him on the wall, I slept fine and didn’t get eaten by him. The kids and I went on a spider hunt the next day, but no luck. Maybe he was as scared of me as I was of him and fled the scene!

Our teacher for our last week of Kiswahili was Mai. Her baby became ill, so Wednesday we had class with DJ and Tricia, and Thursday we didn’t have class at all. Friday I feared we wouldn’t have class either, a sad and unfortunate way to finish up four months of language school. Mom and I were praying, and God in his goodness sent Mai for our last and final day. After that and chai break, the kiddos and I went to their house, ate chocolate that I’d bought, and celebrated the end of homeschool (and Kiswahili too I suppose!) with a movie.

Lea and Anette, the two Danish girls who came to Rivervalley for language school, are quite sweet and down to earth. They too freak out about creepy and crawly things and we had lots of fun movie nights and talks. They even showed me pictures from their Europe trip last year. Eek, can I please go already?!

A boy who was one of Mom’s former piano students who I also used to babysit and one of my best friend’s little sisters graduated from high school this year (I missed both of them - picture me now with a sad face). I’ve been graduated for four years. I guess that makes me a little bit old and a lot a bit grown up. The thing of it is I don’t feel old. I feel kind of young and maybe a bit insecure. Here I’m about to come home from six months abroad, and it’s almost like I’m starting all over. I actually kind of am. It’s a nice feeling actually, but scary. No job. Where to live. I’m supposed to be a big girl now, right? Ha! Good thing we can always be God’s children (*wink*).

My week’s thank you Lords….

      God’s protection even from the biggest spiders in my life

      That we didn’t die on our drive to Dar from Rivervalley

      Four months of survival for all five of us through Kiswahili and homeschool

      A comfy bed to sleep in, a toilet the door next to mine, and a roomie (even if she has woke me with her coughing the last two nights J)

      God’s beautiful beach just a stroll away

      A few more precious weeks to spend with my Morrison family

      Getting to see Mama and Dad and all my wonderful friends and family in a few weeks

Enjoy the last week of your spring my friends. Then onto a new season, new adventures, and probably a suntan or two. See you soon! J