Cameroon, West Africa ready or not!

Wow everyone! What a trip! I am safe and sound all tucked into my dormroom in Mbingo complete with my own bathroom. I feel a little spoiled, but i'll tell you how I got here

The journey:

Leaving Germany was exciting. First off the airlines didn't want to let me bring both of my suitcases within the EU unless I paid 250 euros. Matze (my host brother) and I tried to find a way around but it wasn't until my deutschpapa came that the ball got rolling. Because they had checked my suitcases in when I was in Belgium without an additional fee, they must do it once again. God is a miracle worker. My deutschpapa said "Der Herr sei Preis" the Lord be praised exactly what a 500 euro gift!

Belgium: after a little cafufal(sp?) finding my driver, things were worked out and my stress disappeared. I was to be the only guest at their home for the night. They are missionaries from South Africa and their ministry is providing a place of rest for teams and missionaries. They had family visiting but were oh so kind and considerate. Though I had been warned about the crime, I was not afraid being with them. They knew some of the other American Baptist missionaries so we had an instant kinship. I'd love to go to South Africa now, maybe for the world cup, who knows! ;-D

Next leg: of course I beeped going through the scanner, so they had to empty all my bags and pat me down only to find nothing. I well better safe than sorry! ;-D I soon entered French world. (Liberty, you have to teach me.) I need to learn french, I can sorta follow along but answering, yuck, so awful. Sorry Canadian heritage, I am letting you down! Anyway I survived though my seat partner only spoke french so we were incredibly quiet until he realized that he should probably let me out to use the bathroom. He ran ahead and saved me one and gave me some space. So great! I arrived in Douala without the huge crowd of people grabbing for my bags that I imagined (I later found out that more people turn up for AIRFRANCE then other flights). What a relief as I was incredibly worried about getting everything together. Vic was there to pick me up and the few guys bothering us quickly took off, except for some children asking for candy. We had a delicious supper of plantains and chicken (which I was so delighted for) and went to bed.

Final journey to Mbingo:

Next morning, I hope that I had the time change right but got up early as to go swimming before we left. It is the rainy season hear so practically everything is always swimming but it felt wonderful to really stretch! We took off around 8 a.m., pick up a yummy apple crisp and were off. We made a few stops on the 6 hour journey to Bamenda to pick up fruit or for Vic to fix my window as it didn't shut right and I was getting soaked! Thanks again to God, we arrived safetly in Bamenda between rain showers and I got to see the Hones in their new headquarters. They were under a bit of construction, but were happy to see me and gave me a quick lunch. As we were not sure of what I was suppose to do there, we didn't stay long but continued on to Mbingo. There was more confusion African style as to where I was suppose to go. We finally got my room, place my stuff inside, and head directly to Rev. Godlove D. house to greet his family and him. We were to have pizza but as the cheese they had asked me to bring had spoiled, we changed the meal to rice and chicken and banana bread (which was fine by me!). They gave me a grand tour of the hospital after supper and I went right to bed at 8 p.m. Wild, my parents would be proud as that was my bedtime when I was little but never really worked. That meant I was super perky at 5:30 when I had to get up and start the day. Crazy 'cus normally that would be torture! God be praised!! Well, hope you survived this monster of a beast blog. I haven't written in a while and my schedule the next few days looks insane! I'd love to hear from you all. Know you are loved and being prayed for even across the sea in Africa! Love, joy, and peace!!