Movin' In

My first week has been very eventful. I was feeling very homesick the first few days and I think have made a big round about. We got to see a lot of Vientiane which was wonderful and I moved in with my host family! It was weird looking on facebook and seeing my friends with there new lives and starting college and meeting people while I am here and it made me think of all the things I could be doing if I were in college. I think about how easy it would be to not follow what God wants me to do with my life and live a comfortable life in America. But that is not what I was meant to do. I was made to do something different and help people in anyway that I can. It makes it hard to see everyone enjoying college and that I could be there enjoying it with them. Being homesick is hard and I wish it would go away but it makes me realize that next year or anytime in my life I will be able to say if I made it a year without seeing my family and friends and love it then I can do anything! I moved in with my host family and it was so nice to meet everyone in the family and made me feel a lot less homesick. I am living with a single women named Patti and she has a big family and they all live next to each other so we  went from house to house meeting everyone. We sat and talked with the grandma who is ill and she was so nice and sweet to me and said that she was worried about my safety and that she would take good care of me. She said she already loved me even though I had just meet her and I felt like part of the family. Patti gave me a Lao name, Sungmany which means light and vibrant. They told me that I have a vibrant smile and my skin is very white so that is why they gave me the name. I got all settled into my room which is very nice and bright. Next week I will start language school at Candle Light and take classes from 8:30-11:45 everyday for a month. Candle Light is close to my house about three kilometers away so I will bike to school each day. I will hopefully by October have my motorbike license and be able to drive to school on motorbike. It is a long process to get your license and so I might not get it in time. So first you have to be good at driving a motorbike which I of course, am not. Secondly you have to have a visa which we just sent to the embassy. Third you have to have a Laos I.D. which comes after you get your visa. And lastly you have to take a hard test where you can only touch the ground twice and do figure eights and all these things. But until I get my license I will go by tuk-tuk to school which is always an adventure. Then I start teaching school in October which I am excited about because I get to meet so many children and play games with them and teach them English. As much as I am excited I am also a little nervous because some of the kids are just a year younger then me. All the MCC staff told me that I should lie about my age to the kids. I thought that was funny but they said it will make them respect you and not just be your friend. So my new age is 25. Just kidding I am just not going to tell them. MCC has a special section of teaching supplies in their library so I have been reading and trying to see how I will plan lessons and what games I should play so I feel better prepared for teaching. I am excited to be settled and be able to get teaching and learning the language so I really begin to feel at home in Laos. Thank for continue prayers and for everyone's support these past two weeks!