Travel and First Day!

My travels were nothing but exciting... My travel from Jacksonville, FL to DC was great and easy, Met my team, and so far love them. We spent the next hour getting our boarding passes and bags ready (Ethiopian airlines does it different), still easy. Then went to get dinner as a group, and let me tell you this airport is big. We got our dinner and then I headed back with two other girls because one girl had food for her Dad who was watching stuff by the gate. We got talking, and got lost. Before we knew it we ended up in baggage claim, not good. We had to go back through security which wasn't that bad because we still had an hour and a half before we took off, but one girl didn't have her boarding pass. We were so scared that we were going to miss our flight. Thankfully, we got in touch with our leader who ran to get the boarding pass to come meet us by security. The TSA people definitely took care of us and got us through fast. We ended up sprinting to our gate- because the airlines were trying to give our tickets to standby thinking we weren't coming. So thank God we made it on the plane!! 15 hour flight not too bad... long. I sat with a couple girls from my team and got to know them. We laughed a lot, and slept maybe 5 hours. I was so so tired. It's weird, I can sleep anywhere, but I wasn't tired. I was excited to watch a movie, but then my tv broke. Sad day, no tv, no music. Our plane stopped in Rome which was cool, we couldn't get off and didn't see much. We finally arrived in Ethiopia around 730pm. Luggage took forever to get, but thankfully all of my arrived. I think we are only short two bags outside of 120. Next problem, went to take some pictures and my camera is broke. WHAT?? I was so sad, this was the final straw considering I'm exhausted and it's been a long few days. So, I'm trusting that my team will take lots of pictures :) We got to our guest home that we are staying at, and the people here are awesome, so nice. Stayed up late hanging out with people, then finally crashed. I slept great.

Today was our first day getting to go out and meet kids. We went to Mother Theresa's aids orphanage. There are 400 kids and everyone wants to hang out with you. We did arts and crafts then played. I was with the boys, and loved it. This little boy became my best friend, I don't even know his name. He was prolly like 4 and just clung to me. He would hide and then run as fast as he could to catch me. He laughed all day, and wouldn't stay away from me. He held my hand and went wherever I went. I fell absolutely in love with him. Sadly, we aren't able to take any pictures in that orphanage so I can never show you how cute he is, but he will forever have a place in my heart.

The rest of today has been easy- it's been rainy. We are taking it easy, playing cards and reading. I may not be able to use email again, but thank God I was able to send one. Thanks for all your prayers. You guys are amazing. Please keep praying for our team for safety and for unity. Please also be praying for my heart... it was the hardest thing to leave these kiddos I can only imagine how hard it's going to get.

Love you all!