Yay for Absolutely Incredible, Amazing, Beautiful Friends!

For about over a week my amazing friend, Amber, was in town! She got here a couple of Fridays ago...in the middle of the night, mind you, but hey we got an extra day out of it so I was happy to stay up until all hours of the night. First time I've done that in quite a few years...man, been out of college too long. But we still got up decently early and headed out to town to do a few things anyway...like a pedicure...that was fun, wish they would have massaged my feet a little longer, but alas, I'm not in America. So we didn't do an extreme amount of stuff around here...mostly we went to campus to visit my friends and we went to the beach, which, of course, is the best ever. We stayed at this cute little bungalow and pretty much just laid on the beach for two days. It was nice to get away for a while and just be able to sit still in the presence of the Lord. And to be able to do that with one of the best people in the world was just awesome...to be honest words cannot describe. It all definitely felt like home with her around. To be able to talk like old times and share what's going on knowing that she understands and could pretty much read me like a book was the best. And to top it all off, the Lord didn't think that the one week was enough for Amber to be here and so her flight was delayed and we got 4 extra days. Yippee! I wish there were words to describe what this time meant to me but there are none that really could portray it so that you might understand...so I will head to the Word of God...no better words than what is in there anyway.
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
AND
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." John 15:13

And this is the post that my friend did...she has more of cultural craziness in hers...

TOP 10 DAR ES SALAAM!
So this past week I’ve been in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to visit a good friend and I thought I’d give you my “Top Ten Reasons to Visit Dar” complete with pictures. Then my plane got delayed a few days so I’m still here and thought I’d add another number for the extra days:

11. English Magazines (All the best – Time, The Economist, GQ…you can probably guess which two I bought).

10. On the Road Stuff: awesome billboards, driving on the “wrong” side of the street and ghetto rigged radio (you have to set these things up if your stereo gets stolen).

9. Two words: Dr. Pepper. It just makes the world taste better. (So do A&W rootbeer and crunchy Cheetos!)

8. Bungalows and the Beach. These are at Kipepeo Beach where Mar and I spent one night on the beach. The place is pretty much complete with restaurant/bar, rooms, the beach and the Indian Ocean. You know a girl from FL has to have the beach on her Top 10!

7. Pedicures. Yeah, we get gross feet in Queensland and having someone else scrub ‘em off, rub ‘em and paint my toenails a pretty pink was amazing.

6. Mama P’s Gingersnaps. That’s right - my mommie’s package of cookies for Marissa arrived while I was in Dar so I got to enjoy them too!!! They are delicious, and you should request your own box sometime or at least ask for the recipe.

5. Restaurants: seafood, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese, American, Tanzanian…mmmmmm.

4. Short sleeves and no bandanas - all day everyday inside and outside.

3. Green grass and awesome students at University of Dar es Salaam. I got to meet lots of the girls Marissa works with and we had some beautiful bonding time on the grass hanging out under the trees. That is something I really miss from UF so it was just like hanging out at home. I also went to their on campus Sunday service which pretty much rocked it just like GCL (my college church). I felt like I was at home for a couple hours there.

2. Marissa! Yes, the best thing about visiting Dar is my friend Marissa. We basically spent the whole week encouraging each other and getting to work out some of our experiences from the last few months. She took me in and created safe space for me to vent, cry, laugh, joke around and just chill with her for a week. It was refreshing to have such a close friend sing my song back to me when I had forgotten some parts. I am thankful for this week and for everyone who lifted it up.

1. Flying regional airlines that cancel/delay and getting bonus days with Marissa!