I’m here in Polokwane and all is well. Trying to get settled in properly and am still without internet at my flat or a phone. Will update once I have more than five minutes online.
All I’ve got to say is, “what up free wi-fi!”
So I’m sitting at my gate drinking a Starbucks drink. I almost typed “enjoying” but let’s face it, we’re talking about Starbucks here, there is very little enjoying that nastiness. Where is a Jubala when I need it!?
As I arrived at the curb of the Charlotte airport, Sterling hopped out to grab a trolley to cart my stuff inside. I’m traveling with three action packers (footlockers), a roller carry on, my backpack, and a pillow that is so stuffed with stuff you may as well call it a weapon. The guy that helped us load my stuff was like, “Where you going with all this stuff darling!?” to which Sterling replied, “She’s moving to Africa.” The guy was like, “Dang I need to get in touch with your travel agent! Who is that?” I couldn’t help but reply with the most cliche answer ever, “Jesus.” Haha.
I got to the check in counter and put my action packers on the scales, nearly throwing out my back in the process. The guy told me my bags were overweight. No surprise there. I weighed those things several times and dad weighed them this morning, but the least I could get was fifty-three pounds. I was hot, flustered, and so tired, which I think the guy noticed. As I began asking him how much it was going to be he put his hand up and was like, “hush”. He weighed them and DIDN’T CHARGE ME the overweight fees. Now granted it was only over by three on one and two on the others, but still he could have taken an arm and a leg for those seven pounds. Unfortuantely I did have to pay two hundred dollars for the third bag, but whatever I need that extra pair of jeans yall!
I said goodbye to Dad and Sterling in front of security and made my way through the hot mess that is airport security. They made me stand in one of those sketchy machines that can see everything. Talk about feeling uncomfortable. I made it through no problem, or so I thought. The TSA guys who I will affectionately call John Candy and John Cena. They said that some of the stuff in my carry on looked like trouble and asked if they could look through it. Of course I don’t care if the look at my stuff, I have absolutely nothing to hide. The only bad thing is that my carry on was CRAMMED with stuff. I would put money on it that you’ve probably never seen a carry on luggage with that much crap in it. It has a week’s worth of clothes, a pea coat, seven pairs of shoes, thirty pairs of socks, a camelback water bottle, and maybe even a few bottles of fingernail polish. John Candy and John Cena decided to take everything out. Now I don’t mind except the whole time I’m thinking how in the world am I going to get this thing back together?! There was now a hole in the pag of clothes that I had vacuum sealed. They tested my fingernail polish and my makeup remover (dangerous stuff I tell you) and eventually let me go, but now I had to figure out how to get that stupid thing packed again! Know what I did? I took it to the table where ‘ol John and John were and made them help me get it back together! Ahhh, sweet revenge! In all seriousness though, they were kind and just doing their job.
So Now I’m at the gate enjoying sweet wi-fi and writing you this post. The United Airlines lady just came over and told me that I would have to let them put my carry on under the plane because it was so big. Ha! Fine by me, that means that I don’t have to lift it over my head. Yall know I have no upper body strength.
Pray that I am able to sleep on the way from Washington to at least Dakkar. I may or may not have brought a few extra NyQuil pills to help me out. (Sue me.)
Love yall so much. Thanks for allowing me to serve on your behalf.
I thought my last post would be my last until touching down in South Africa, but I not only underestimated the time between the two dates, but also all that would happen. Goodness gracious!
As I wrote in my last update I had to delay my ticket because the of the consulate. I called Wednesday just like the lady said last time we spoke. I called three times yesterday, but no one ever answered even after leaving three messages. I guess I was mistaken by thinking that when you work for a consulate that you would answer the phone to help those who are trying to get to their country. My bad. I called again Thursday morning and left another message, only to call back a couple of hours later and actually talk to a human being. It was the same woman that I had spoken to last Friday. Although she was the one who told me to call back today, she was completely annoyed with my persistence. I mean, listen, they’ve already cost me a week and $300, I was getting that visa if it meant me going up there and busting down the doors. This red tape, powertrippin’ act is pure nonsense. She said that my visa was being put in the mail that day (Thursday) and would be here the following day (Friday).
Friday I met my former teammate from Central Asia halfway between our hometowns for lunch and on the way back called my youngest brother to see if the visa was here yet. He was at the shootin’ range behind the house, so I called his girlfriend who was at the house to see if she would look for it for me. At 4pm it still wasn’t at the house and no one was answering at the consulate. I was about to have an emotional breakdown. While I couldn’t do anything about the visa, I called my travel agent just to double check that everything was in line for my ticket. She didn’t answer. This seems to be a common theme throughout this whole process, you know? I then called South African Airways and immediately was able to chat with someone about my ticket. Awesome right? No. The guy says that they have me down for a Monday flight. Great. He then says, “You’re flying from DC to Dakar on the 23rd, then Accra to Nairobi on the 28th, then Nairobi to DC on the 30th.” Um, FALSE. I’m supposed to have a one way ticket from Charlotte to Johannesburg via DC and Dakar. I hadn’t lost my cool at all through this whole process but I was on the verge of hitting the roof when all of a sudden in all my frustration all I could do was LAUGH. Really. I laughed. Absurd, right? This whole thing has been so frustrating. The only thing that could muster was laughter! Oh you silly roller-coaster of emotions.
I pulled into the driveway and leaning against the workshop door was a FEDEX envelope! I nearly jumped out of Jonezetta (my car for those of you who haven’t met her) and ran to the door. Sho ‘nuff, IT WAS MY PASSPORT WITH THE VISA IN IT! Hallelujah, thank ya Jesus! PTL yall, PTL. 
Although that was taken care of I still needed to get my ticket sorted out. I called my travel agent again, but got no answer so I decided to email her. Thankfully I received a reply shortly thereafter and was able to take care of everything. FINALLY everything has come together. I slept incredibly well last night, which I’m sure comes from the huge weight that had been lifted off my shoulders because all my paperwork is complete. Unfortunately I still have to pack. For. Two. Years. Where my magic wand when I need it?
It’s a huge sigh of relief to know that my visa is here, in my hands, and ready to go. I hesitated updating Facebook or Twitter with the information because I kept thinking that something could still go wrong. Suddenly holding it in my hands makes it that much more real. Not to say that moving life and living out of a suitcase for the last two weeks hasn’t made it any less real, but I’m sure you know what I mean.
Between now and the next update please pray for sweet time with family and friends. Saying goodbye is never easy, but saying goodbye for two+ years is miserable. Also pray for good flights. I have a two hour flight to Charlotte, then a seventeen hour flight to Johannesburg. You know I’m trying to get that window seat so that I can sleep. Hellooooo Nyquil pills!
Love yall. All of yall. I’ve been blessed beyond belief over the last month. It’s honestly hard to really put it into words. Thanks to those of you who have prayed, given, and encouraged. Each of you have been instrumental in so many ways. I’m happy to report that I’m at 51% of my monthly funding goal. Thank you Lord! Pray for the remainder of my monthly financial needs to be met. If the Lord would lead you to join me in partnership, please contact me.
In the meantime since I’m flying out in less than 48 hours, I guess I should begin packing right? Psssh, nah… I’ve still got almost 48 hours!
Well friends what a crazy past few days it has been.
Yesterday I called the consulate to confirm that they had received my security clearance and were going to put my visa in the mail. I included in my money order $18.30 for the to overnight it back to me via USPS. The woman that I talked to said they had received my security clearance and would accept the electronic copy. She said that my visa has been approved and is in my passport, but wanted to rehash my repatriation form. She had the nerve to ask for the $1,055! That was taken care of in the original package, then reaffirmed in a second letter from my sending church on Tuesday. By this point I knew she was just powertrippin’. That’s all it could be. Well, that and ‘red tape’.
I told her that since my visa had been approved that I needed it in the mail that day (Friday) so that it could be overnighted back to me. She said that it wouldn’t be get here because FedEx doesn’t deliver. I reaffirmed that I wanted it sent USPS overnight, which is one of the two options they list on their website. She didn’t like the questions that I was asking, so she said to call back at 2:30. So I called her back at 2:31 and every two minutes after that but no one ever answered. This is just icing on the cake you know? So at 3:15 I called my travel agent and delayed my ticket.
I did everything I could possibly do to avoid that, but there was no other way. Unfortunately, the penalty for delaying said ticket is a whopping $300. I guess the consulate assumed I own a money tree or something. So as it stands now, I am flying out the following Monday the 24th of January. Although I had to spend a fourth of February’s budget on that ticket at least I know where I stand. The lady at the consulate said that I will have my visa by next Friday in time to fly out next Monday.
Obviously I wasn’t planning on staying in Denver for more than a week, but this will give me more time to spend with family and friends. I won’t be spending all my time visiting as everyone will be working during the day. I’m not one to sit around and twiddle my thumbs, so I’ve already picked out a few projects to complete around the house to help out dad.
My next update will hopefully be from South Africa. Until then please be in prayer for sweet time with family and friends. Also for my financial support. I have had to spend so much extra money that wasn’t worked into my budget on this last minute visa stuff. (Ex: another set of fingerprints, even though I already had those done in November.) Please pray that the Lord will provide for my monthly financial needs and for opportunities to share with folks what the Lord is doing through Samaria Mission, so that they too can be involved through financial partnerships.
If you’re in the area, let’s grab lunch or coffee. Yall know I can’t live without my coffee!
See you on the other side!
I’m not even really sure how to begin this post. So much has happened since last week that I had to go back and read my own post just to know where to begin! Be forewarned, it’s a lengthly story.
On Friday I talked to a guy at the consulate in New York and he said to overnight it to them. Friday morning I mailed my passport / visa application and they received it on Monday. On Tuesday I got a phone call from a lady at the Office of Home Affairs, which is the department responsible for handing all things related to visas, she said that I was missing four documents. I told her she should only be missing one (the security clearance), she said, “No, you’re missing two passport photos, a copy of your itinerary, $1,055 for your repatriation fees, and the security clearance.” Now riddle me this, why on earth would I not put that stuff in if it was listed on the website? You can even take a look for yourself at what the requirements are. I told her that I would forward her my itinerary, a rewritten copy of my repatriation letter from my sending church, and that I would overnight her two passport photos. There goes another $30.
I still hadn’t heard back from the FBI, so I had no idea what to do from there. She suggested that I contact my local or state government, just keep in mind that I had already done this including contacting my local congressman. I immediately went straight to the Wake Forest police department where they said to go to the Bureau of Identification in downtown Raleigh. So I hopped in Jonezetta (my car) and literally ran all the way from the parking deck to the building and ran upstairs to the office. The lady at the desk was really kind. She called the FBI for me, but got no where. Big surprise at this point, right? Then she suggested that I call the SBI to see what they could do. I didn’t do that earlier, because the security clearance application said it needed to go through the FBI. I called the SBI and was transferred to probably six or seven different people before and I’m pretty sure she felt sorry for me. I’m pretty sure I was an absolute hot mess by that point. Living out of your car for five days will do that to a person. She said there was nothing that could be done that evening because it was so close to five, but she told me to call back the next morning at nine.
I wasn’t sure where to go from there because I couldn’t go home, so I decided to go to Jubala until I could get my thoughts straight. And let’s be honest here… I was in desperate need of coffee. I called a friend on my way and she told me to come hang out / sleep there for the evening. What a blessing. There have been so many people that have offered me a place to stay, but I was so frazzled that finding a place to stay for the night wasn’t even on my radar. Thank goodness Anne Marie was on her game because I sure wasn’t.
After a fun night of tacos, cookie dough, and Alias (What I wouldn’t give to be Sydney Bristow!) I called the SBI at 9:05am the following morning and the lady that I had spoken with the day before said I needed to bring her my fingerprints, so I drove to southeast Raleigh to hand deliver them. All day I waited to see if they would be returned while running all over Hell and half of Georgia (please tell me you’ve heard that expression before?) running errands and completing the rest of the application that she emailed me. Eventually I got touch with her again and was able to get the okay that there was no more need for me to be in Raleigh and that the clearance should be done by this morning. All I could think was, “Halllelujah!” followed by “Wow, I’m tired!”
I hadn’t planned on staying two extra days, but all things considered I enjoyed the two extra days to spend time with friends.
Fast forward to today. I received the electronic version of my clearance at 2:56pm and by 2:58pm I had forwarded it onto the consulate. I then called several times to follow up. Unfortunately, I didn’t get an answer thus I will be calling tomorrow morning at 9.
Tomorrow I’ve got to call my travel agent to delay the ticket if need be. Please be in prayer that the consulate will accept the electronic version and send me that stinkin’ visa!
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
Psalm 27:14
