safely in swaziland

i'm sitting in an internet cafe in manzini now, where faith bible school has already opened an account for me. so it doesn't look like internet use will be a problem.



this post is just to say that we arrived safely to the manzini airport yesterday, after three long days of travel. hlobi took us to dinner at nando's, a fast food chain! we got a little introduction to faith bible school - we're staying at their offices here in manzini until friday, when we will go to meet our host families.



it was so lovely to have a warm shower last night and feel clean, and to sleep for a beautiful 14 hours last night! and i could have slept more, but in the interest of getting into the rhythm of days here, i made myself get up.



so there is already much to tell. but the thought i would like to share right now is how i felt landing in the manzini airport. we taxied up to the tiny building with one door marked arrivals and one marked departures, with a sign in the middle welcoming us to the kingdom of swaziland. and it seemed so bright and technicolor, with exotic plants, and as we came to a stop i felt a leap of joy when i recognized my bag, checked in all the way back in philadelphia, sitting on the tarmac. and as i stepped off the plane into the sunny warmth, i felt so content. this feeling intensified as we drove through the streets with hlobi (although it was also unnerving because we were on the left side!). but i thought i'm glad to be back in africa. and in a way it does feel very familiar, as if i've been here before.



so thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during my travel. i'm here and glad to be here, eager to begin finding out where i fit in.