So here I am in Arlington, officially graduated from staging and leaving from D.C. tomorrow to fly to Jo'burg in South Africa. And I have to say...God is so gracious and continues to amaze me in ridiculously large doses--by placing people and new perspectives in front of me at every turn. The group that's going with me is nothing short of fantastic, unique, down-to-earth, and comforting. It has been such a blessing to be placed with these people who have the same fears, worries, expectations, experiences, and much of the same heart as myself--they know where I'm coming from and are going to be with me where I'm going. The interesting part about this group of potential life-long friends is that most of us were not "supposed to be here". Many of us previously had different assignments, but because of delays in clearance or program changes we somehow all ended up in this program together...and I'm thankful for that. Everyone is vastly unique in where they come from, both in location and experience, and each has a great personality, many of which I can see so many of my closest friends in. Immediately after meeting everyone, I can point to several of my fellow trainees and say, "woah, that person laughs, talks, acts like ______." --It's absolutely a huge comfort and source of smiles to know that so many of them are just like me and like you and they are all very loveable. Madagascar better be ready--because it has one heck of a group coming to love on it a whole lot! And...if I can say this for the record...the Malagasy people are pretty darn lucky (:

So now that I've pointed out all the great goodness of my group and people experience thus far, there of course are the inevitable downers that should be noted briefly. We had a lot of health and safety training, which contained many topics that were quite scary and eye-opening, from
harassment to vehicle accidents to illness--all things that are very possible in the U.S... but very much more manageable in the U.S. too. However, the PC training staff has been amazing and I feel well prepared to a) prevent situations and b) handle any situations that may arise. We also talked a lot about integration and acceptance into our communities. That is, working WITH and not FOR our community. Seems simple, but turned on a lot of lightbulbs in my head. I am so excited to meet my host family, play with the kids, and love on the people as I become a part of the Malagasy culture. We had this really awesome analogy today about sunglasses: I won't explain it all, but basically it talked about a person with blue sunglasses going into a culture of people who wore yellow sunglasses, and then coming away from that culture with green sunglasses. Blue + yellow = Green. Again, seems simple (and the entirety of the story makes it much more interesting than what I'm explainig here), but there's much more to think about than I realized. It's important that I remember that I AM able to maintain my identity--as an American, as a Follower of Christ, as a female, as a (fill in the blank)...yet I'm adding some really great new things to my identity. I am also now a peace corps trainee, I will soon be a member of the Malagasy culture, and I am a new friend to lots of really awesome people. In so many ways, it's easy to both question yet expand my identity--and that's so cool.

These experiences are stretching me in more ways that I can explain. I have been overwhelmed with so many emotions and new experiences in just two days that I can't possibly express to you what it's like. My heart has ached more than I thought ever possible and I've been broken a lot--only to be built up and filled with joy minutes later. God's presence here and in the places to come is very existent. And for that, I could just lift my hands and spin around...

So, for now friends, I leave you with a great newly-heard Kenyan proverb that goes like this: "We do not inherit the land from our parents; we borrow it from our children." I miss you all, love you more, and you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. HUGS!!!!