UGANDA TIME: 2:20 AM
OKLAHOMA TIME: 5:20 PM
Well, this was an unusual day.
From an airplane, I saw the lights of England and the countryside of Belgium. I saw the Alps, the Mediterranean, and a little slip of Italy off in the distance. I saw the Sahara, I flew over Sudan, and I saw my first African sunset. I flew not too far from Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Just your average, run-of-the-mill day for an Oklahoma housewife.
I feel like a walking miracle—y’all know how anxious I normally am about flying, and I can tell you in all honesty that I felt not one bit of fear in the last 36 hours of travel. Purely amazing. The trip was smooth and uneventful, even pleasant. The flight from Chicago to Brussels was a little cramped (though Sophie and I scored an extra row and each had two seats to ourselves!) The seasoned world travelers on our team informed us that this was the leg of the journey in which we should sleep.
Guess who couldn’t sleep?
Even with a sleeping pill, I only managed about two hours of shut-eye, so I felt pretty toasted when we arrived in Brussels.
But oh, my friends, let me tell you about the luxury that was our second leg, from Brussels to Nairobi. We flew on Brussels airlines, and let me tell you that those Belgians know how to make an airplane. The seats were spacious and comfortable (and foot rests! There were foot rests! A little slice of heaven when you’ve been on a plane that long). Best of all, our flight was less than half full, so everybody on board got to stretch way out.
That leg of the journey was close to ten hours, and you know what? Ten quiet hours on an airplane is a little vacation for a busy momma. I read, I napped, I watched movies, I prayed, I looked out the window, I thought quiet thoughts. I actually feel a little re-charged (in an un-showered, jet-lagged sort of way). Maybe I should circle the globe more often.
The last leg was a quick hop from Nairobi to Entebbe Airport in Kampala, Uganda, then a one-hour van ride to our hotel (which is beautiful, by the way, pictures to come tomorrow). Before traveling, our Ugandan Compassion escort asked to pray for us. In a voice hushed with reverence, he prayed one of the most beautiful prayers I've ever heard.
I’m writing at this moment from the hotel--we just checked in, and we are one weary, scraggly, happy, smelly band of travelers. I (hopefully) have a few hours of sleep ahead of me before the real adventure begins tomorrow morning. Our blogging team is such an awesome group—I urge you to look through all their blogs this week. Between all of us, we can hopefully paint an accurate picture of what is going on here.
I’m too bleary-eyed to wrap this up neatly, so I’ll just say good night. More to come soon--we have our first meeting with the kids tomorrow. I can hardly wait.
