"Thanks for coming back!" and "Why do you always come when it's flood time?"

Hello from Namibia! I made it here safely and with little trouble (our trouble being the 5 gate changes in Johannesburg before leaving to Livingstone). I was traveling with Travis and Lorna, the couple who will be the new permanent missionaries starting this fall. They are a very nice couple and it was great to have someone to travel with this time! This was their first time in Africa, so they relied on me, since I'm the veteran, to show them the way :)

I want to go back to the first flight over here. We had to stop in Dakar, Senegal, which is usually only a 1 hour stop, but we were a bit early because of the winds, so our 1 hour stop became 2. Now this was right around midnight U.S. time so even though I was tired, it was nice to get up and stretch. I also got to see the sunrise there- a beautiful, bright orange sun rising over sand. I noticed that the houses there look alot like ones you would see in the middle east, which was pretty interesting. Taking off, we flew right on the coastline and could see more houses and little canoe type boats right off shore, fishing. I also saw some bigger, pirate ship looking boats. Last time I flew over here, I didn't have this stop in Senegal, and even though it was 1 hour too long, I really enjoyed being able to see a different part of Africa.

The Lilypad, the bed and breakfast that we stay at in Jo-burg, was just as nice as last time. It was nice and cool outside so Travis, Lorna and I took our Indian Food that we had ordered out to the patio, and enjoyed the evening swapping mission stories. The next morning, we arrived at the airport and had plenty of time to look around the shops there. There is a large shop there called "Out of Africa" which really has a lot of neat African things. After shopping awhile, as I already said before, we had to walk all over the airport because they couldn't seem to decide where we were supposed to be boarding from. Once we were finally on the plane, everything went smoothly. I even got to see Victoria Falls from the plane again! Once we landed in Livingstone, we met up with two people from the Children's Home and made our way there. On our way, the smells of Africa brought back memories and I kept thinking that it was great to be back! (And in some ways I felt like it was great to be home haha)

The closer we got to the Children's Home, the more nervous and excited I became- I was hoping that they would remember me!! I was greeted by some of the older girls with lots of hugs and excitement! (They had remembered!!!) The girls were first of many to ask "Auntie, why do you always come when it's flood time? Maybe you like the water?" I assured them that I did not and that I was hoping for no Hippo Lodge again this year! :) The rest of the afternoon was spent with hellos, hugs, handshakes, old nicknames, thank you's (for returning) and that question, "Why do you always come when it's flood time?!" It was really great to see everyone again, and I was happy that everyone remembered me...except for my three little pre-schoolers, who have since warmed up to me.

This has been a lot longer than I thought it would be and I need to go, but I will try to update more tomorrow!