Made It!!

Well, I'm here!! After about 18 hours of travel, God has brought me safely to Portugal! The flights went very smoothly- as a matter of fact, I don't think they could've gone any smoother really. All my bags made it here and the only damage was one broken picture frame. Cal and Joyce Voelker picked me up from the airport and we went to the mall so I could eat some dinner. I ate at a place called Tosta Mix which basically serves panini-type sandwiches. After a couple of brief stops, they brought me to the apartment which will be my home for the next 9 months. It's very beautiful. It's a 3 bed, 2 bath that I will be sharing with 2 other girls. I'm the only one here so far though, so I have it all to myself! Today I unpacked and went over to Cal and Joyce's for an early dinner, and then Joyce took me to see the school and I experienced my first Portuguese conversation. I say "experienced" not because I spoke at all, but that I just stood there and listened to them. I certainly did feel a bit out of the loop, but I didn't mind. Joyce then took me grocery shopping at Carrefour. We used to have one in NJ... it's like a Super Walmart. It was pretty crowded and Joyce had to explain to me lots of stuff. Overall though, you can get most of the things here that you can get back home. There are a few various things you can't get here of course. The yogurt selection was truly amazing. They had an entire aisle of yogurt.
Next week one of the other teachers offered to take me and Leslie (my soon-to-be-as-of-Monday roommate) sightseeing, so I will be sure to post some pictures and keep you updated!! I also have a couple meetings next week and a classroom to set up, so I will be busy. School starts on September 10th, so please be praying for me! Also continue to pray for my health as the cough has not gone away yet and has migrated a little bit up into my sinuses.
So that is all for now- praise God that everything has been such a smooth transition so far! I pray that it will continue and that He gets the glory!