life update

avocado tree in my backyard

Just wanted to give you an update on what living has been like these past couple days. It has felt slow and somewhat lonely. As you know, I am living in my own apartment. I guess SIM is wanting to ease me into my time in Jos so I haven't been very busy. I think they don't want to overwhelm me with information while I'm trying to get over jet-lag.

On Friday I managed to sleep until 8. Sleeping has been difficult. It's hard for me to fall asleep. I didn't have any hives Wednesday or Thursday so I was super excited. Sadly, I woke up with more on Friday. Praise God my eyes haven't swollen! At about 9:30 Kauna, an SIM missionary from Jos who has spent some time living in the west, picked me up and we walked to the SIM headquarters. Headquarters is right across the street from me. She introduced me to the staff there and I had two informational meetings. One was about travel and the other was about internet. During the travel meeting I learned that immigration only marked my passport to stay until March 3. Even though I told them I was staying until April 3, they stamped me for one month. This means SIM is going to send my passport somewhere to get that extended. Immigration is just trying to get as much money out of me as possible. At the internet meeting I learned that I can get wifi at SIM headquarters and I also bought an internet modem. It was pricy but it allows me to get internet in my apartment. These information meetings were over by about 11. I went back to my compound and read underneath the avocado tree. That evening I went to the Fretheims to have dinner with a bunch of other SIM missionaries.

Yesterday Gay Lynn showed me the shops around the corner from me. The shops are very convenient and have a bunch of basic items. I haven't had to buy any ingredients because I've had meals arranged for me so far. I start cooking for myself on Wednesday. We also walked more downtown and got some lunch and ice cream. For dinner we went to Niger Creek (an SIM compound) and shared a meal with other missionaries.

That is a quick summary of my past couple days. Here are some prayer requests:

+Pray that I wouldn't be lonely. Another short-termer who lived in my apartment a few years ago said she felt lonely too. Everyone else living in my compound kind of keeps to themselves. Pray that I would find ways to get involved so I don't have to be in my apartment by myself too much.
+I have been in Jos for 4 days now and I feel like there is a lot of "nothingness". I'm hoping this is just because it is the very beginning for me. I talked with some other missionaries who said they went through the same thing. At least I'm not the only one. Pray that I would know where to get involved and what relationships to build.
+Continue to pray for my hives. They have not gone away.