Fo-Fo!

Hello to all! I am in Africa at the current moment and it is about 10 pm. This is our 3rd day in Niger and it has been amazing so far.
When we got off the plane, everything was orange and brownish like a dessert (since it is), and the air was hot and dry. When I say hot, remember that I live in a hot climate and I know what hot is. I like the heat and I enjoy the weather when it is 90 degrees. Well, here is gets up to 120. It was probably about 110 or more when we stepped off the plane.
The airport was interesting, there is really no way to describe anything here effectively which is frustrating because I want to share my exact experience so far. I will do my best to describe as much as I can! The airport was more like an open dusty building, and we walked off the plane into the doors to stand in a line and have our passports stamped by sweating African men in linen and cotton suits, tired and French speaking. We walked into a joining room (it was like an old abandoned department store with open windows and doors) and we waited by a multi colored ancient conveyer belt for our trunks. "Number 10" helped us with our trunks and we carried them out to meet our host ladies. They greeted us and handed us each 1.5 liter bottles of water. Many African men were friendly with us and were standing around greeting us and talking to us in French as our host ladies loaded their old trucks with our trunks. The second that I stepped off the plane was also the second that my body entered a constant state of sweating, and I have never sweated so much in my life. It is actually kind of nice, because sweat cools your body off, and everyone here is contantly glistening and glowing in the African heat. (everyone here glows and the people are so beautiful!) Every part of my body was sweating, even the skin in between my toes. I am actually enjoying this experience of sweating in this new way. I feel very clean somehow.
Africa has a smell, I can't really describe it. It's strong, maybe like a strong sweaty and musty smell. Maybe it's like the way an African smells when they sweat when all they eat is corn and mangos. It's a smell that I've never smelled before, and it's overpowering, and it made me naucious at first, but I like it now. All of my things smell this way now.
We arrived at our house that we are staying at for one week, and we were all able to hike up a hill to a tiny house in a closet like room where we called home through headsets connected to computers that were brought by those here.
There are rainbow colored lizards here the size of iguanas. They are EVERYWHERE and they run really fast, up trees and across your feet. They fascinate me! They are like the African squirrel!
So far we have had intense language training, a visit to the market, seen camels, walked over the Niger river bridge, experienced our first African rain and dust storm and met some amazing workers here who are preaching so much raw truth and supernatural mystery that I am in tears while they speak.
I love it here, but every night so far I have woken up in the middle of the night very upset. The enemy is trying to discourage me, so please yarp that I can stay strong in Him. It makes it easier to be surrounded by a wonderful team who I get along with so well, they are very encouraging.
I am a bit homesick but there is no time to think about that. There is no time to do anything here, only time to submit to Him. If you wallow in anything or let your thoughts run, it will kill you. ( not to be to dramatic haha..but seriously).
We are going to the bush on Monday and I am ready to go. I'm getting more and more adjusted to the heat, and we all took our temperatures today and our natural body temperatures here are over 99. It heats everything up in you, it's almost to the point where you wonder how people can survive here. But actually, they don't usually come out in the hot part of the day- they nap, and so do we!
We are staying in the orientation house and so we have electricity now, and american food. It's hard for me to eat because it's so hot, so please pray for my appetite to increase.
I am having so much fun and I feel very alive and joyful.
You don't really appreciate the way water tastes until you feel like you will die without it, you don't appreciate sleep until you feel like you will collapse in exhaustion, and you don't appreciate rain until you live 48 hours in 110+ degree heat. When it rained last night we stood in it and rejoiced in it.
There will be struggles here but I am not using my own strength, but His. He has me on a crazy ride.
Please yarp that we will all be prepared to live in the bush, that we will stay in good health, and that the enemy will not get into our heads. We have to stay strong and I know we will. He wants us all here for a specific purpose. We have already seen an impact in the people we have contacted, and we know that nothing goes wasted when it is aimed at His glory.
I will post again as soon as I can, but I have no clue when that will be. I try hard not to think about home and my boyfriend and family, because it prevents me from being here and makes me very homesick. Contacting home and posting will be minimal so I can stay focused!

Peace be with you lovely readers, thank you for all that you give and support with :)