Arrived!...Well, sort of.

I'm here!!! No, no, not here in Nigeria, here in Charlotte. What? You didn't think they were just going to toss me out into the wilds of Africa without even a word of advice, did you? No, no, I am here until the 10th being oriented. Actually, from the sound of it, I'll just be oriented for one day, and then have 2 days to hang out, and then leave for Africa. Which means that it would be a truly superb thing if I could get my wireless connection to work. I suppose that I ought to be grateful that I can get any kind of internet at all, but it is so maddening to know that the wireless network is there, right there, at my veritable fingertips, and my stupid *%#$ computer won't connect to it! It would also be a lot less frustrating if this didn't happen to my stupid computer every time I try to set up a new wireless network that it would feel this incredible need to freak out and drag the entire computer down with it. Ugh. Jeff, why are you not perpetually on call? Probably because other people do not exist for the service of me.

So, today was overall a good day. This morning, although I am a seasoned flyer, I did have another first, parking at a park-n'-ride-type-leave-your-car-and-come-get-when-you-get-back-I-can't-remember-the-name type place. That, however, was basically uneventful. Actually the whole flying experience was pretty uneventful, which in itself is an event nowadays. Then I made it Charlotte and got picked up and headed over to the SIM campus, which is in fact a campus, which is larger than I was expecting. Then I no sooner dropped off my luggage than it was time for my first meeting, which was like more of a devotional time than a meeting, thinking about missions and why missions and what God's purposes for missions might be. Then we went out to dinner at this great Ethiopian restaurant where we got this flat bread stuff that we got to use to eat with our fingers. And we had beef and lamb and chicken and it was cool because the SIM people know the owners and so after the meal the owner's wife came out and chatted with us and we talked about religious persecution in Eritrea and that was cool too. So that was day one and I guess just as much as I wanted to tell you about my day, I also wanted to let everyone know that you can still more or less get ahold of me and that this will not be the last time you hear from me. In fact, I may still be able to continue posting while in Africa, which would be sweet. And also, if you had expected a personal type letter from me for a reasonable reason, there is yet time for me to write it before I head off. If you did expect one, you might want to drop me a line and let me know, because you might not be one of the people I have in mind.

And now, as my batteries are running out (both physically and technologically) and my eyes are doing fuzzy things and rolling around in my head, so I need to go to bed. O yes, I do.

Yours gratefully,
S.