At Last!

I am here in the Caribbean.

I got into Miami last night at about 6, where I was picked up by two of my PD's and started out expanding my horizons by going out for Thai food (not too shabby, by the way, though I still prefer Indian). We spent the night at Brad & Michelle's house--them, our 2 other directors (Chris and Daniel), 4 guys (Graham, Dwayne, Brant, and James), two of the girls (Atalie and Katie), and me. Close quarters, but it was fun.

We left for the airport at about 6:30 this morning. Miserable. I wasn't even conversational yet. But it was okay, and the flight was good. I slept a little. We got here at about 1:30, and I can promise you that the Caribbean is just as beautiful as you always thought it would be. Turquoise water with white surf, palm trees swaying in the breeze... that kind of thing. It's a different kind of heat than we have in SC. In SC, it's just burning sun, beating down on you all the time, and you kind of hate to even be outside in the summer. But here, it's like a heater is on all the time--it's weird. It's like the heat doesn't even come from the sun, it's just in the air. But near the sea, it's perfect. The breezes keep the heat down to a minimum, so it's just warm and perfect. The ocean feels like bathwater. It's pretty incredible.

Last night was fun. We played Apples to Apples for a long time. I almost won, but the last turn got me. Apples to Apples is a good way to get to know people.

We're still in that stage, of course. You know me. I'm ridiculously shy and the only things I ever get stressed about are my relationships with people, so this is the thing that I'm going to have to work on during this trip. We are making friends, of course. I like absolutely everyone here. I just want us to be really tight and for this to be a summer that really means something to all of us. Pray for that.

I made a Bajan friend on the beach today. (You pronounce that BAY-juhn or BAY-zhun, by the way. Like Asian, with a B.) It was an old man (Bajans are VERY dark, by the way. Don't let Rihanna fool you) and he was talking to Chris and Graham and asked me to come over and he asked if I was on a Christian mission, and I told him that I was. He asked my name and where I was from, and said he was more familiar with the North in the USA. He was asking if I knew any good Christian songs and stuff, and he asked if I was behaving myself as a Christian. He told me to keep God in my heart. I told him I was very glad I had met him.

I hope that was a hint at things to come. I mean, it wasn't a big deal, but you know how much I love foreign people (though I suppose that I'm actually the foreigner here) and that's a major part of why I'm here, and I hope I have many more encounters with people like Anthony (that was his name) and some who are maybe less confident about their relationships with God than he was. I hope to have enough confidence of my own to share Him with them.

This is so unlike anything I have ever done. It's scary in a way--the nervousness finally did hit me. There was a point today when I was just like, "WHAT am I doing here?! I don't know these people, my family's not here, I could be at home playing with my dogs and talking to my sister and I'm here with strangers in a foreign country! I don't even have iTunes here!" But I prayed and calmed down and I AM praying, as constantly as I can manage. I would love it if you would do the same. We've got a lot to deal with here, with each other and with all the new people we're going to meet.

Here's the deal: I think that, each time I update, I'm going to ask you to pray for something specifically. Today's charge is to pray that my group would get really close and form lasting friendships. Get past the initial awkwardness and really get to know one another as brothers and sisters. Pray for that, and everything that follows will become much easier.

Also...to bring my straightener was utterly pointless. There is no use for it in this kind of weather. It will be a waste of energy.

We start briefing tomorrow, and we'll meet the STINT team and do a scavenger hunt they put together for us so that we can get to know the island and what sort of things we need to know to do our job. Stay tuned, folks.