So.. I haven't blogged in a few days, mostly because of poor internet access and limited battery. I was able to charge my computer today so here's an update on my travels thus far.
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| The huge plane - an Airbus A330 |
After arriving in Brussels, I had to take a bus from one terminal to another which transferred flights to Africa. On the bus, a lady approached me and asked if I was with Mercy Ships. She had spotted my shirt (Mercy ships wanted us to wear a Mercyship shirt so it was easy to identify us when arriving in Sierra Leone). She was also with Mercy Ships and was from Toronto, Canada going on her third trip with Mercy Ships. Her name was Jen and she also was a nurse and was going to serve for an unknown amount of time. It was so comforting meeting someone else. I was in this large airport of the unknown, praying that I was following the signs correctly and getting to where I really needed to be. Once at the gate, another lady from Germany approached. She was a long term server on the boat. She is approaching her third year with Mercy Ships and was coming back to the ship after a 4 week vacation. Her name was Sandra and she works as a dental assistant on the ship. During the layover, more Mercy Ship people came to the gate and we all met each other. Another Jen, was from London and was going to be working on the ship for 3 weeks as a sterilizer; Claire, from Sydney, Australia was going to be a nurse for 2 months; annd Markos, from Texas who works with IOC and is going to the ship to do some education for the engineers. We also met a lady named Karen, from Alberta, Canada who was going to Freetown with UNICEF as a pharmacist.
We boarded the plane for our 9 hour flight to Freetown, with a stop scheduled in Banjul, Gambia. The flight was good. I slept alot. We landed in Banjul at about 3pm, their time (four hours ahead of NY). We let people off and I believe only one passenger boarded. We began to take off; and as we sped down the runway, we abruptly came to a complete stop. It was so scary. Black smoke could be seen out of the windows, the exit sign in front of me broke off the ceiling and all of our bodies were jerked pretty violently. We had no idea what had happened just that we were up to full speed and then stopped. The captain then told us that a bird had flown through the engine and they needed to return to the gate to check it out. When back at the gate, they had us wait for a long time (about an hour) while flight personnel, the pilot and copilots were checking out the plane's engine. We then received word that the bird had bent a blade and the flight to Lungi airport in Sierra Leone was canceled.
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| the sky over Banjul |
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| everyone looking at the engine |
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| our stranded plane |
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| Sandra and I in Banjul |
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| Me in The Gambia |
I was soo thankful to the Lord for preserving us. The plane could have crashed had the pilot not realized what happened so quickly and aborted takeoff. I definately felt the Lord's hand in it all. While waiting, another Mercy Ships member, found the rest of us. Jess, from Alberta, Canada who is going to be a nurse on the ship for 3 months. The Brussels airline sent us to a beautiful hotel, and provided us with three meals (dinner that night (monday night), breakfast and lunch on tuesday), drinks and a 3 minute phone call. It was so much chaos getting all 100- something of us to the hotel in buses with our luggage. They said we could have left our bags but I took mine with me (which you'll see why it was a good decision). I made it on the 3rd and last bus from the airport to the hotel and arrived after most of the rooms had been filled so I got placed in one of the presidential suites :) It is a beautiful suite with a sitting room, dining room, bedroom and bathroom. I spent the night, with anticipation of flying out on Tuesday.
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| how I knew what time it was at home ;) |
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| the suite |
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| The Ocean Bay Hotel and Resort |
Tuesday morning, the hotel still hadn't received any news about when our flight would be.
I was so thankful that I met others going to the Africa Mercy. I was able to talk to those who had been before about the ship and what to expect. It also gave me people to "go through this adventure" with. I don't know how much at ease I would have been had I been by myself. About mid afternoon, we received word that we would fly out of Banjul at 11pm, and that buses would pick us up at 9pm. That afternoon, to pass time, Claire, Karen and myself went to a local craft market. It is slow tourism season in The Gambia and the merchants are eager to have you purchase anything from them. It was a very intimidating experience. All in all, I'm glad I experienced the market. I didn't purchase anything; the atmosphere was really aggressive. After dinner, I packed up my stuff very anxious to get to Sierra Leone. Water taxis run from Lungi to Freetown up until 6pm and since we were arriving later than that, Brussels had arranged for a water taxi to transport those of us on this flight. However, the captain of the Mercy Ship didn't want us taking this taxi, unsure of its safety and arranged for the Mercy ship crew, now 7 of us, to spend the night in Lungi. We would then take a ferry to Freetown in the morning and then arrive at the ship that afternoon. As we were loading the buses to go to the airport, we received word that the plane was still unfit to fly. It kind of made me uneasy knowing that we were going to fly on the same plane. It was scary to think we got so close to getting back on the plane that wasn't working. Everyone had already checked out, so they had to check us all back in, which took a few hours and we spent another night- I was thankful for my bags. My carryon only had one change of clothes. The 7 of us girls, 6 from Mercy Ships and Karen watched a movie in Sandra's suite and then celebrated Jen's birthday with chocolate :)
Its Wednesday now at about 1pm (9am in CT) and we are still waiting to hear when we have a flight. Generally Brussels only flys to Banjul twice a week and the next flight is tomorrow Thursday. I suppose if they fix the plane we could potentially fly out tonight. I'm just going by faith.
This whole experience definately adds to the adventure. I know the Lord is in control as I have seen His hand in the whole situation more than once- I met people from Mercy Ships thus not going through this alone, His saving grace in preventing a possible plane disaster, His providing hand in providing a hotel and meals, and again his protection in preventing the flight last night. I must trust Him. I was disheartened last night and just wanted to get there. In my mind, the mind of a planner, I am supposed to be on the Ship, probably working at this point. I'm learning that while I may plan my ways, the Lord directs my steps and am reminded of His sovereignty. Gambia is beautiful despite its severe poverty. I have enjoyed being here and the time spent with the others with Mercy Ships. I can't wait for the rest of my adventure to begin. Until then, I wait on the Lord and wait on the airline to arrange a flight to Sierra Leone.
Sorry its really long! I will upload pictures when I have better internet. I'm very thankful for the WIFI at that hotel :)
Love you all. Thank you for your prayers! They have definately been felt. Continue to pray for a safe arrival and for continued peace.
~Apphia
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| the beach |
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| Crocodile lake |
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| the Crocodile lake |
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