The Fog Is Lifting

We arrived in Senegal one week ago into the new airport that was supposed to open 5 years ago, but finally made had its inauguration a month ago.  Jet lag hit us harder than I remember from the past.  Thankfully we had built in a week of adjusting before major stuff began.  We needed it!  Sleep has been a struggle for us.  We would fall asleep and wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to sleep.  It didn’t help that our neighbors like having lively discussions at all hours of the night right below our window.   It was brutal and left us feeling like our brains were functioning at 50 percent.  However besides the fog of jet lag, our transition has gone much smoother than last time.  There were fewer things that seemed shocking in our readjustment back, and most things came back quite naturally.  Last night we all slept through the night and just in time as this week starts normal life for us.  The boys are off to their first day of school and Joel and I are buckling down to dive into ministry.

Just for Fun Random Things that Strike us in our Transition

• THE DUST!!! Oh the dust it is everywhere and covers everything daily.
• That moment when you almost drink the water from the tap
• Or when you wonder why the stove is not turning on and you forget to light it
• Remembering how much easier meal planning is when there aren’t that many options
• The boys saying, “I can’t wait to have bread and eggs for breakfast” (Cherishing the joy as it will soon become old :))
• Checking out the new grocery store that opened in our town (oh yeah our town is entering the big leagues now!)
• Remembering that cheese has to be a garnish and not an ingredient
• Making Pizza from scratch…so much work, but also so good!
• Friendly reminders to our children that long hot showers are a thing of the past.  Just jump in and out, water off while soaping…
• Dusting the cobwebs off our French and Wolof as we try to communicate.
• Oh yeah and nothing like being able to dance at church rather than just stand still and sing

The best thing by far has been seeing people and handing out our gifts (which is an important thing culturally here – bring back a gift when you travel).  Thank you for your prayers.  We arrived safely with our bags.  We really had no trouble in our travels besides a few hour delay in JFK.  Pray for us this week as we swing back into gear with normal life.