Glenda's Story

Glenda was one of the Nurse Practicioner's on the Burkina Trip over Thanksgiving. I came across her video while I was looking at our picture video today. This says so much more than any picture can :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/HEsentmeorg#p/u/0/TchTtN6RIUU

For Personal Use?

So in packing for Panama the pharmacy portion of the team was responsible for carrying the over the counter meds for the team. I ended up with about 70lbs of vitamins, supplements, creams, etc packed in my 4 bags. One of my bags was purely meds, a scale, and toys for the kids and a extra tent.

Going through customs was super nerve racking because there was a definite possibility that they could confiscate all the meds I was carrying or worse. So we prayed over the bags and got in line. Well as we were going through customs everything was going smoothely 4/5 of us made it through with no problems. They only asked to open one bag. My bag. My bag with 30lbs of meds in it….

I was chatting with the guy before he asked to open my bag and as he opens it he sees all of these huge bottles of vitamins, etc. I can see in his eyes that he is torn because he doesn’t want to see what he does. So he pulls out a 500 count bottle of Calcium/Vitamin D. My heart drops.
“Caaal-CEE-UM…for personal?” He asks
“Um, yes?” I squeek, praying so hard I’m sure it counted as my daily workout
“Ok” He says zipping the bag back up, “Enjoy Panama”
I grab the bag, still in shock and scurry away and start breathing again.

Thank you Jesus!

What NOT to do in DC

So DC is filled with countless museums, parks, all forms of history, art and all sorts of cool stuff. But of course my most memorable experiences thus far have had little to do with any of those. So instead of the DC must sees and dos, I thought I would provided you with a list of what not to do. Of course these are all from the wisdom of my personal experience…



1. Do not pack 3 suitcases if you are traveling by yourself. Why? Because you have 2 arms.
2. Do not book your SuperShuttle from the airport for the wrong day. You get to wait an extra hour and pay for it twice.
3. Do not walk 2 miles uphill with your groceries. No matter how fit you are, this is just obnoxious.
4. Do not use the word "fun" w/o careful discretion especially when doing HIV counseling
5. Do not take the metro with people who walk faster than you/ are more aggressive than you. You will end up standing on the wrong side of the metro door.
6. Do not rely on other people to know where you are going even if you are traveling in a group. See #5.
7. Do not walk on a bridge, in the rain, when there are cars. You will get covered with water.
8. Do not show up to work soaking wet. See #7
9. Do not plan air travel w/o knowing how far the trip is to the airport. You will miss your flight.
10. Do not forget your metro card.
11. Do not try to take the bus w/o correct change because they don't give change.
12. Do not forget to brush your teeth after every meal if you have braces (or in general). Things will get stuck in them and ruin conversations with cute guys.
13. Do not get proposed to by a random guy at Au Bon Pain whose pick up line is "You look like you like to eat"
14. Do not get proposed to by one of your patients

And my personal favorite:
15. Do NOT pass out in the elevator at work during your first week. Cause that my friends is just a fail.

I hope this list will help steer you away from my mistakes and will make any future trips to DC that much more enjoyable :)

***Miles: 52.5!!!***

WoRdS

You never realize how important words are till you don't have them...

While I've been in DC I've been going to National Community Church and right now they are in a series called Words. I hadn't really though much about the concept until yesterday.



Yesterday was my first time at Bible study in spanish. I got an email on Tuesday that we would be going over the first 4 chapters of proverbs for our first meeting. Not bad right? Well, 4 chapters can seem like an epic novel when you're reading it in your second language. But I got through it and was even able to learn and hear God speak to me through my rusty spanish.

Then came Bible study. There were so many things the Lord had shown me and that I wanted to share and engage with the group. But there was a lack of words. Not knowing one word can wreck a sentance, shake confidence and interrupt a train of thought. But one word can also be powerful and can encourage and uplift and strenghten.

I'll have to be more careful about the words I choose from now on...

****Miles: 29.5!!!!!!****

Walking to Paris...

So over the last few months I've been working on support raising for my mission trip to Burkina Faso. And as it gets closer we are starting to figure out things like plane tickets (exciting!). Well, we have a layover in Paris on our way home and some of the team is extending the layover to check out Paris for the day since the tix was the same price either way. I wanted to go SO bad. But I felt it was too much of a financial burden so I said no, prayed that God would close the door and didn't think about it. Weeeeeell, the door wasn't closed... and one last time I had the chance to stay. Ok, ok. I could pass once, but not twice! I will only have to pay for my hotel (which I'm splitting with someone else) and food. Though I was still stuck with the question of where the funds would come from...

So, this is where the walking comes in... I was working on my budget and my biggest expense is taking the metro (especially to work) and I was spending $20-30/week!!! So I mapped out the route, strapped on my tennis shoes and water bottle and hit the pavement. It's a 3 mile walk each way, not too bad. Today was the first day I did it and of course it was HOT and uphill the majority of the way but I felt very accomplished when I reached my door stop. So 3 miles and $2.60 saved so far and I am so excited!

Step by step, walking with Jesus and walking the streets of DC :)

****Since writing this post on Friday I have walked 15 miles!!! I'll keep track and post my miles each week :) *****

Torpe goes to Washington!!!

First off, people actually read this!!? What!?!

Ok now that I'm over my shock I suppose I will update you all on my time in "The District". I can't believe it's been 3 weeks already!!! I live in an apartment with 3 other BU students and I have mastered the metro/ walking around the city. Me and busses are still a fail... I've loved exploring and getting involved.

But I've been keeping pretty busy. I haven't gotten to see a lot of the sites yet but here is what I have seen/done:
-The White House
-The Zoo
-I went on a walking tour of all of the embassies of countries I have been to or am going too soon
-Arlington cemetary
-Iwogima

Man that's not a lot huh?? I gotta get more on top of it! Luckily a lot of the museums and such are free here and free is my favorite price :)

I'll try to be better about posting from here on out.

Burkina Faso