My Trip into Congo!

After celebrating a semi-Cajun, tender Tennessean Christmas complete with a nice dinner,
my uncle took my Louisiana cousin and me about 40 minutes away to the Nashville airport around 4:30pm (after a tearful goodbye).
I couldn't check my luggage all the way to Congo (which is what my original plan was), but I made it through security
and sat and waited to board my plane (with plenty of time). After being in the air 20 minutes, we had to turn around
back to Nashville. Apparently, the pilot forgot to inform us the de-icer was overheating, and we all deboarded
glad that we'd rather be on a safe plane, but mad that we had to rebook or stay in Nashville for the night. I had to borrow
some lady's phone to make some fast decisions. United stinks, because of my bad experience in May (of never getting
to Boston), and now this, I have decided I don't ever want to use United again. My uncle kindly found me a flight out that night
on good ol' Southwest, who was way more helpful than United (who closed and I still have yet to get on a phone and demand a refund and complain).
That plane was delayed, but I got on at 10:20 and arrived in Baltimore (having to cancel my plans in Dulles, and very
grateful to a kind family friend) around 1am. After waiting a while for the luggage carausel, we finally discovered
one of my trunks in Oversized, popped, cracked, busted OPEN, with my undies hanging out and the guys apologizing saying they promise
they tried loading it all back in from the cargo area (come to find out I did find a stray bottle of lotion from some other lady's luggage!).
Being so tired and knowing this family friend would be waiting for me, I just gave up trying to fight for a claim about it, so I finally found
my ride, and they kindly took me all over Annapolis looking for an open WalMart to replace my trunk. We were all so tired and nothing was open (Walgreens wouldn't
be selling storage like that until after Christmas), so we came home. They had to locate one of their old storage bins in their attic!
I feel eternally grateful to this kind family. I got to sleep a little but had to be up again for the trip to Dulles (to meet my sister).
I actually rode past the Washington monument and the lit Capitol dome!! (I've never been to DC and having always wanted to go I was super excited she pointed it out to me)!
After a long line lugging my trunks through to the Ethiopian airlines counter, the man was real rough with me warning me I'd had to pay for my oversized CarryOn.
I promise you this thing has been through lots of plane trips, carryon, so I KNEW and KNOWS it fits. So I decided to wait and see if I could take it with me, and then was more than relieved,
so excited to see my sister at the gate! We waited in line to board and then had a wonderful flight all the way to Rome, only to refuel tho, not to get to deboard to see any of Rome.
They fed us 3 fabulous airplane meals (note the sarcasm). Oh, right, and my suitcase didn't fit the not-deep-enough compartments (the guy was right, so I let them take it to Addis, they wouldn't check it all the way to
Congo for me, so I told them I'd try and pick it up in Addis). I tried to sleep on the plane but my neck doesn't do well sitting while I'm sleeping, so I dozed, watched movies, read the rest of Jeremiah
(the book of the Bible I've been plugging through), and read some of Derek Prince's book on rejection. So I got to watch "No Reservations" (which I highly recommend) and "Gracie" (if you like soccer
I guess you'll like it okay but if you're an actor who watches movies for acting, don't watch it). I listened to music (altho my ipod nor my MP3/radio didn't work) on the plane and enjoyed talking to a nice Malawi guy and his sis-in-law.
For some reason my sister didn't sit in her spot (there was a couple already taking it up) so we couldn't sit together b/c she enjoyed her leg room up front the flight attendant gave her. When I couldn't sleep, it was also
because there was a group of choir boys going to Rwanda, and they were livin it up enjoyin too much caffeine and sugar. Their harmony was okay, but they were amusing.
In Ethiopia we tried locating my bag but were almost late boarding our plane to Congo, so we had to give up, telling the nice lady my bag wasn't there and we needed it. She said she found it (once we boarded it) and not to worry.
From Ethiopia to Congo I tried sleeping but really couldn't - it's that point of exhaustion that you're even too tired to sleep (which is hard to understand unless you've been there).
Once we arrived in Congo we waited and waited for our luggage, but decided to give up on the lost bag. I almost fell asleep in the car, even though I was excited to experience ALL of Congo, and cried when I saw my mama coming out of her house, having driven through
The American School of Kinshasa (TASOK). We started sat down with water and oranges to refuel and enjoy the Christmas tree with family.
Then a nearby Chinese American missionary friend showed up so us girls went for a cool dip in the school pool. After swimming we came home to what we were all really waiting for, good ol home cooked food, Mama's fresh salsa, chicken, rice, veggies - YUM!
After dinner we watched Evangeline's Gordon College chapel video (of her singing on worship team), but I started to get sleepy, so I started unpacking (the luggage I did bring), then went off to bed.
I'll be sharing baby sister Sarah's room, and we woke to both share a hilarious story of both of us talking in our sleep (I'm not used to being told that I talk in my sleep but that is funny!).
This morning we had homemade wheat Cinnamon rolls and oatmeal! Then we got to experience the Int'l. Protestant Church of Kinshasa (IPCK). Driving all around Kinshasa is so interesting - to see and learn the bad roads, scary old cars driving horribly fast and in your way, but also observing the different economic classes, and people-watching different levels....!
The choir did 2 excellent Handel's Messiah selections, and we sang Christmas hymns, and a missionary man spoke, sharing the Paul Harvey Christmas story (the birds teaching this guy the Gospel!). When church was over, we had a wonderful lunch at a sweet missionary couples' home, and then went to a Christmas party at a family's house - they work for the Embassy!
Enjoying a long rollicking game of RHYTHM (which my mom ROCKS at btw)!, we are home now listening to Christmas music and playing with kittens.
"Be ashamed to die until you have scored a victory for mankind." Dr. TP Kalogris