I've arrived in Canada! And here's some about my travel day...

I’m quite the suspicious character. 

Or at least that’s what the Canadian border officers thought this time! I flew on Wednesday from Atlanta to Dallas, and Dallas to Vancouver, and other than some weather making the first flight's take-off a little late, everything went very smoothly until I arrived in Canada. I had some dear friends from last summer meeting me at the airport, but the process from landing to finally getting to meet them behind a glass door took about two hours! 

The Vancouver airport was considerably quiet in the evening, and by the time I was in line to sort out my student visa, we could see staff was a bit low and everyone had been working for many hours already..   I was part of a motley line of mostly forlorn faces---one plaid-clad young man explaining that he'd been Ecuador-bound but "no one from his charity had been there to meet him, and so he was sent back", one American couple distraught over lost bags, one South American family with an adorable child that needed to breath from his nubilzer treatment while they waited to situate entry plans. There were so many stories, tired and waiting, in front of me, and I found myself grateful for the workers before us, trying to stay positive and discerning  as they looked over each person's documents and asked them questions..

When it was all said and done, everything for my entry was fine, I just hadn't brought official- enough proof of the address I would be living at or of the small on-campus job I will be working. I was granted the visa and was able to tromp out to my waiting chariot of people, and groggily chatter with them all the way to Langley to crash to sleep after 20-some hours of being awake!

The rest of the travel day was beautiful though, and I took a few photos out of the plane windows for you of some of the things that caught my breath:

Sunset over the British Columbia coast as we circled for a landing!

Arrival in Vancouver!

Light spills out of the top of a paper lantern before me, and the sun has just fully left the sky dark, although it’s nearly 10pm.. This summer British Columbia sky has caught me off guard every night this week, but I’m enjoying its temperamental rain-cloud tantrums and layered-cloud blue bliss!

How strange to begin the week on one coast and end it on another! The last few weeks have gone so quickly, let alone the last few days! Packing and precious people filled them—last-grabbed hugs, words, clutched-at hands and moments. Small bits of weighty prayers I tucked away from off your lips. Laughter that I've bottled to smile about for the next three months until I see your faces again. 

I flew here on Tuesday… Atlanta to Phoenix was a sleepy blur—eight a.m. across time backwards, arriving in Phoenix only minutes after I’d left, though I’d flown for hours. Phoenix to Vancouver arched and skimmed over carved, crooked grins of pink and brown, jaggy curves of canyon-teases kissed with blue haze. And so here I am!

It's been a lovely few days with my uncle, who lives about 30 minutes north of CanIL, the school I will be attending. His kindness has made me at home, and his company has made me thankful. It's been a joy to cook with him and run errands—to learn each other as adults and to revel in story-telling! Early this morning I drove him to the airport, as he’s a tour guide and will be in and out of this area all summer…

I took today to skype with GA-family :), and to anchor my head and heart a bit.
I got to jog a long, incredible stretch of New West Minster, too, down the Fraser River, and the sky burst down a chilly downpour as I pounded out glad-feet in a new town..

For now sleep~ And tomorrow I will drive down and continue this week of transitions, as I move into the dorms on campus for the summer!