African Mail

I couldn't post about this until now because I didn't want to ruin the surprise for Serena, but here's a story I've been looking forward to sharing.

As most of you know Serena is in Swaziland (okay, don't go there, it hasn't been updated in months). To be the good friend I am, I sent her a package right after she left. Serena told me to use red ink on the package and also to reference Christianity. Apparently to Swazi mail workers red ink signifies important government documents and tampering could mean trouble. Furthermore, many are devout Christians and are more likely to respect the integrity of a package with Christian references.

We all know that a little Tylenol does good, so a LOT of Tylenol does better. Right? I applied this flawless logic to my packing technique:

The upper left reads, "Love they neighbor, not their personal mail." -Jesus
Across the bottom, "Jesus is Lord. Amen."


The back was a bit rich. On the left:

Jesus said, from verse 12 of The Book of Mail, "I most love those that open packages only intended for the recipients hands. Amen."

On the right a little poem, "God is good. Jesus is just. FYI This is for Serena. The above-mentioned desire it so."

Did it make it safely? Yesssssir.

It's Official

After a five hour flight across the country, a two hour bus ride to New York City, a 17 hours flight to South Africa, and a four hour bus ride to Swaziland, she has arrived.

Serena is in her new home.

Birthday Girl

Wow, two days and two posts about Serena's exploits. Well, yesterday was about her exploits, today is about her parents' exploits. Today, May 9th, is Serena's birthday. Happy birthday Bbe! May all of you in My Vast Readership wish her well.

Big Peace Corps News

Today Serena received her invitation to join the Peace Corps in Swaziland. She decided to accept and will be leaving on June 23rd. Woah.

We both knew this was coming any day, but the news still comes with a ton of force. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that she will be taking off for over two years. That said, it is a fantastic opportunity for personal and professional growth, not to mention the opportunity to impact lives. Congratulations to Serena!

PS For those of you who don't know (I didn't) and don't want to Google it, Swaziland is located on the eastern border of South Africa, next to Mozambique.