Safe Arrival

Hello,

All ground transportation and planes were on time. The trip was long but not as long seeming as I had expected it to be.

Lexi came running in our room this morning and woke us up. When she saw us she did not know what to make of us. She stopped in mid step and stared. I think she had expected her other grandparents who had just been here at Christmas time. She has been a bit more responsive since then, but she cried when Sarah went back to work and Stephen left to work out. She was so relieved to find Jane outside.

In the Minneapolis airport I saw something new. Someone had spread a man’s jacket on the ground by the drinking fountain where I was going to fill my water bottle. Before I got there a man came, got down on his knees, and bowed his head to the floor. I am impressed with that sense of dedication that takes prayers and worship so seriously. Seems to me it would take some courage and commitment. Leaving the coat on the floor, the man got up and a woman came and repeated the process.

Leroy had not been on a plane since we last visited Sarah and Stephen in Geneva so he was surprised at how little paper we got for our boarding pass. It really is almost paperless.

The plane was only about ¾ full. I suspect that Americans are not traveling so much. I was glad because the seat I was assigned would not tilt back. “Leroy you try to see if you can get this thing to work,” I begged. Even though he pushed on the back of the seat as I pushed the button nothing happened. I asked the flight attendant, but she could not get it to work either. Then Leroy volunteered, “I can move over one and then you can have my seat. So that is what we did. It was a blessing that we had that empty seat next to us. Besides that the video control did not work on that first seat that I was in. That would never do! I had a hard time deciding what movie to watch because I did not really know the titles that were listed. I should pay more attention to reviews even though I rarely see them.

The plane to Nairobi was almost totally full. We were sitting on the side with someone on the aisle. Just before take off the flight attendant came and asked if she would like to move because she was a frequent flyer. After she moved we could spread out a little more too. I still do not really sleep so I was up almost 24 hours. By the time we went to bed here I was back in an awake part of the cycle, so it took a little while to get to sleep. We both woke up at 3:30 and were awake until about 4:30, but the rest of the time we slept.

It is so strange to be in another country that also speaks and writes in English. I think this is so unreal because I can read all of the signs and understand them.

I was also surprised in the Amsterdam airport because the first language on most signs was English. Some of them did not even have it in another language. I can imagine the response in the US if signs were first in some other language and some only having another language. The hew and cry would be loud and long. “After all,” some would say, “they are in the US they should learn/speak English.” For sure we Americans would not feel compelled to learn another’s language.

Paula