Day One
3:16 AM Edit This 1 Comment »
I'm thinking what better way to begin than at the beginning. :-) November 24/25, I hitched a ride to the airport with Joe & Norene Beavers.(our church secretary and her husband) They happened to be taking their daughter for a flight back to Arizona after a Thanksgiving visit. This is a better option for us because of the sheer number of children we have. :-) I met up with the other nurse, who is now my Guinea sister, Julie and her entourage. We had 4 trunks, packed to 70 pounds each with medical supplies, we were EXCITED! We met up with the Doctor in Cincinnati, we arrived at our gate as it was boarding and he had been there for 6 hours thinking to himself, I'm not boarding without the girls. We knew right then we had the right traveling partner. He has done several trips to Haiti and it had been made clear to him that he was responsible for the rookies. :-) We arrive in Paris, I was surprised to learn that not everyone in the world speaks English! (It is my understanding that this is a very "American" way of thinking.) Dr. Ken was a trooper, he marched around the airport with us trying to find something to eat and drink other than chocolate and alcohol! (to no avail) He also did his part assisting me in trying to mail a postcard to my family, the cheapest souvenir in Paris. :-) As we flew in the evening and early hours a couple of times, en route to Guinea; Julie and I commented on how the pilot navigates in the maze of runway lights, this info. comes in handy shortly. We meet up with a dentist and volunteer in the Paris airport, and press on to Guinea! We arrive in Guinea around 10:30ish, the FIRST clue that we weren't in Kansas anymore, there were scattered, dim and a fraction of the typical runway lights. We knew before arriving, that the city is without power for certain times of day in a somewhat random manor. (not a comfort when flying at night) We begin to exit the plane, there is no ramp the leads to the airport, we walk out of our Air France (huge plane) down several flights of metal steps to the ground. Doc immediately says, "This is not a time to get separated, stay together girls". The air was hot and thick, we began to sweat as soon as we reached to door of the plane. We had been told that an escort would be meeting us from CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance) it would be a tall white man and his wife, our eyes were peeled for them. We walked toward the airport and were greeted by men lining the walkway wearing fatigues, barrettes and M-16 guns. The people were rushing and shoving to get into the door, we were trying to make ready our passports. We entered a side door, there were two lines one for Nationals and one for visitors (not that we could read the signs), while in line we looked forward to our right and saw a white mans arm waving furiously. Yeah! We got through the passport check and were immediately taken aside to a dark walkway, Kent (our escort) requested our luggage claim tickets. I had given them to Julie in Paris, she could not find them. Let us pause for a moment: Neither of us had ever traveled outside the U.S. and have never needed those tickets to retrieve luggage. Had we known this, they would have been kept with our passports. NO ONE told us the value of these little stickers, not World Partners, not the ticket agent in the Ft Wayne airport. Continue: We don't have the stickers, it's hot, we are tired, the environment is a constant reminder that we are very far from home. Kent is pressing us to search our carry on for the 7th time, I shed a couple of tears and begin to pray feverishly. The "officials" are looking irritated, Kent is trying to pull in a favor. He had done a dental clinic for the airport employees, which makes him an asset. (he has security clearance throughout) After much time, he returns to us and says to follow his wife out, don't make eye contact with anyone and don't let anyone search our bags. Right in front of the door out was an 8 foot table with people in fatigues grabbing bags and "searching" them. Apparently this is an unofficial process that we needed to avoid. LOTS of praying going on, we exit the small building only to find mounds of people in the lot surrounding. Just sitting, it's like an obstacle course getting through them. We are taken to a mini bus and introduced to Mr. Bah, he will end up being a part of Africa that we will never forget. My face must have said it all, he greeted me with "You are are O.K.?" He kept saying thank you for coming, Guinea welcomes you, this would be the first of many times that he takes very good care of us. He ushered us out of the line of vision and puts our bags where they would be safe until the Doc and Kent arrived with our trunks. Mr. Bah speaks Creo sp? a mixture of forty different languages, the main language spoken in Sierre Leon. The English portion pops in that environment and we could definitely understand him. He was a great comfort to us as he drove us through Conakry to the mission building we would spend the night in. There is no air conditioning in the vehicle, but just the movement on thick air helps. The odor in the air is just as thick, the vehicles are diesel with LOTS of exhaust, people are cooking in the street, there is only fire light in the tin houses along the way. We pass the American Embassy, it is a reminder of home, the most beautiful thing we saw in the city. We didn't get a good view of Conakry that night because there was no electricity, that comes tomorrow. We arrive at the facility and honk to be let in the gate which is guarded 24/7, it's not glamorous though, it's all concrete and every cement house has the concrete wall around it. The wall has spikes coming out up top to prevent people from coming over the top. Julie and I washed up in our room with ice cold water and did not care, it felt great! The generator was started so that we had a light fan to blow the hot, thick air through our mosquito netting. Ah, we are in Africa. Cliffhanger: Do you remember when I mentioned we went through the passport check right before the claim ticket saga? Hold that thought, it comes in handy in the morning!
Thought for the day: Just because you are in an International airport, does not mean anyone speaks your language.
Thought for the day: Just because you are in an International airport, does not mean anyone speaks your language.
1 comments:
What a first day! So reminds me of my travels overseas, especially my first trip to Albania. Can't wait to read more!
Post a Comment