As I looked around it was night, the bus was crowded and all the shops out the window looked the same. I could hear the computerized voice saying what the stops, but I couldn’t understand it because it wasn’t in English. I was beginning to feel that I had been on the bus to long and when I saw a “Care Fore” sign I was sure. I was trying to get to a large store called Metro, to meet some of my team mates and buy some food. I knew that Care Fore, another large store, was after Metro but I wasn’t sure how far. I called Reebok who was already there and new the area better then me. She told me to catch the bus going the other way but then I couldn’t find a bus stop after I crossed the street. Finally I found a three wheel motorbike cab and managed to figure out how to say Metro in Asian and got to Metro. I overpaid for the ride, it was only like 2 minuets, but I didn’t really care I was finally there!
It seems like the simplest of things like going to a store at night are an adventure here. I am still getting use to the city and everything here. At the store I bought a few things I miss from home as they have a imported food section, things like Pringles, gummy bears, and they had some donuts there that where not to bad for not being American. I tried to get some cheese as nothing seems to have cheese in it here but it turns out it was really expensive and they only had huge blocks of cheddar, so I wasn’t going to spend $100.00 US on it. However things are good here and I do like the food. I just have to do with out cheese.
The trip to metro was just a few days ago and it can still be hard to get around by myself, though most of the time I don’t have to. The past 2 weeks have been very busy with getting here, getting use to the food, getting to see the campuses, and settling into our apartments. Things have been going well. We are making friends and getting all the essentials we need. I am excited for the upcoming months here as we really get in to our work here.
In all the running around it is easy to lose focus on our purpose here and on our Father. Please pray for me and my team as we are in this time of settling down in to a routine, that we maintain the focus we need so that we can be as effective as we can be while we are here. Also as we are making friends here and trying to figure out where each of them is at, please ask the Lord for wisdom for us as we decide who we should invest in.