Traveling -- parts 1-3

Travels Part 1

15 August 2008

 

So, I’m in the airport now (although I won’t be able to post it till I figure out if there’s wireless). For now  I’m just getting a cheeseburger because my first flight is late by a little over an hour.

 The itinerary (should you want to know where I’m at when) is generally:

6pm  fly from Cincinnati to NY

 

11 pm fly overnight from NY to Casablanca, Morocco

 

5 pm (Friday) fly from Casablanca to Libreville, Gabon

 

So I’ll arrive in Gabon about 11:30 pm Friday their time (5:30 Ohio time).

 

 

So far everything has been great. One of my bags was overweight and the guy said it would be $150. I had known there would be a fee but I only checked the domestic flight fee which was considerably less. The man at the counter explained that this would be the only fee and they would be checked through. I in turn explained that Royal Air Maroc allows 70lb bags so it wasn’t overweight for them, and my Delta flight is Domestic, (thus hopefully I could just pay the domestic fee). He went and checked on this, allowing me to clog up the bag-checking counter instead of carrying my bags (actually my parents and Kristi did most of the bag lugging for me...) to where he was going to have to check on Royal Air Maroc’s rules. He checked, and came back and didn’t charge anything after saying I met their guidelines. I was in shock that I wouldn’t have to pay anything at all, and decided not to question and find out the details there. Anyway, I think my Dad rightly summed it up by saying, “I think we’re in the part where God sees you through everything.” Yipee! So it should be smooth sailing (or actually, I hope just flying; I want my plane to have nothing to do with the ocean) from here!

 

Still I appreciate your prayers as I travel, that everything would go smoothly with my connections, and with my luggage, and the actual flying itself.

 

I miss everyone already!

 

Jessica

 

Travels part 2 – 16 August 2008

 

(The short story: I’m in Morocco, read on if you want copious details!)

 

If you think about it, the concept of anything “going smoothly” is really quite relative.

My travels have gone rather smoothly, but it’s certainly not what I was thinking of when I said that in part one.

 

I am not enjoying the Casablanca Airport during my 9 hour layover. It’s not a bad place.

If you look at my previously posted schedule you will notice that I ought to be in Gabon right now, but apparently God had other plans.

 

My travels were slightly disrupted by a storm on Thursday night, so instead of leaving at 4:40 as scheduled, or even the delayed time of 6pm, we left at 12am. They slowly changed the delayed time hour by hour. The time would creep towards the new departure schedule and then you would hear the sigh, the hushed  (or not so hushed as time went on) swear, or the unbelieving guffaw as the screen would stealthily, and unceremoniously change the departure time to yet another hour away. They gave our plane away. Then they notified us that our flight attendants were going home because there shift was over. This is understandable, but painful as they continued to announce that our new plane was to arrive at 9, and our flight attendents would arrive at 11. So close, and yet so far.

 

Eventually we did leave around midnight. We circled above NYC for probably half an hour, which I won’t complain about because I had a window seat and the city lights were absolutely stunning. It was like Christmas without the tacky colored lights (sorry Mom, I know you like them) or the blinking! It was really lovely.

 

My incredibly helpful and kind uncle, Michael came our to the airport at some ridiculously early (or late?) hour to help me get to my friend’s, Heather’s, apartment in Manhattan. Michaels efforts were really impressive since I think told him that our plane would land at 1:30am, and in actuality we were just touching down at 2:30 and then the baggage claims were probably 100 miles away (that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but my not quite 30lb carry on makes every step feel like 100) so that he basically had to wait till 3 for me. Then we began our hour and a half (this is not an exaggeration at all, I wish it had been) metro journey, complete with scurrying cockroach. One train, two subways, some walking and a taxi later we arrived at Heather’s at 4:30am.

 

Luckily Heather got off work early the next day and we were able to get lunch together  and stop in to the Met quickly (where we just happened upon a display of African wood carvings! We found several from Gabon). Then we met up with Michael and walked around Central Park. It’s a neat place, there weren’t any song and dance routines like in “Enchanted” but we did see an impressive jazz band complete with drummer, bassist, trumpet-ist and saxophonist/flautist. We also went to the zoo in Central Park, which was really fun. It was a nice zoo, very pretty and fun exhibits.

 

From there we headed back to Heather’s apartment from whence Heather and I set out on the hour and a half metro journey back to JFK. I went a little early because I hadn’t actually talked to anyone the night before. I think I was supposed to but I forgot in my horror at the late hour and trying to find Michael. So all night I kept worrying that they weren’t going to let me re-schedule my missed flights and that they would’ve incinerated my luggage since I left it unattended. Luckily, those were all unmerited and my flights were re-booked and (they say, I haven’t seen it) my luggage will arrive in Gabon with me.

 

The flight was not too bad. I’m not a huge fan of flying because I hate landing. But it all went well. It is terribly exciting to finally be in Africa. Morocco is a lovely place I’m sure although all I’ve seen is a lot of brown dirt and some scraggly bushes, but the pictures in the airplane magazine were beautiful. I did almost leave the airport because I was told to by the lady at the counter. She told me to go to the guesthouse because I have a long layover. I don’t know where this is and apparently neither does anybody else. But it was an interesting experience. I am really wishing that I had brought a French/English dictionary since I can generally figure out most of my questions in French with the exception of key words like “guesthouse.” And the question “where is the..” just doesn’t get you too far. Another thing I have learned: it’s sad to travel without the local currency. I would love to get a drink so I can take some tylenol, but I can’t find anyway to get money around here and if I use my credit card I think I have to spend a lot of money. I’m not sure if its a lot because I don’t know what currency they use here, only that I have to spend 90 of it and a soda was only 15.

 

At anyrate, once here I stood in line for an hour or so to get my ticket (which the lady at the JFK ticket counter told me I would have to do even though she gave me a boarding pass) and then the lady and the counter here said what I had was fine and sent me to the guesthouse. I got my passport stamped, got through customs (where I ran into a nice man who was trying to push two huge carts of luggage. He offered to let me set my suitcase on one if I would push it. Actually he sort of told me to, but he told me nicely, and it meant I didn’t have to hold my bag. It also meant I could follow him very closely, because people here definetely do lines differently. In the US with have this “rights” kind of system where you have a right to your place in line and if someone cuts you, you have the right to let them know exactly how you feel about it. Here if there is an inch between you and the person in front of you that means that you are happy to have someone jump in there. Or 10 someones, until you close that little gap. So I followed the nice man with a lot of luggage very closely (you basically push the cart till you bump into someone in front of you) And he in turn tried to help me find the guesthouse, but it didn’t work. I asked another person near the vacant information desk and discovered that he doesn’t know English and I don’t know French, but once again he seemed very nice.  I talked to two policemen too, but I think I confused them I showed them my ticket to explain I have a long layover and I’m supposed to go to the guesthouse, but they saw the ticket and directed me to where I could check-in. So I went back through another passport stamping place and filled out more cards (where the passport control man and I were stumped as to what to put for my occupation. I think we settled on Volunteer because he didn’t seem to recognize any other words I could come up with. His suggestions were student or military and in the end I think he wrote that I was in the peace corp. volunteering.

 

Then I sat down and basically passed out till I woke up an hour later, impressed that I can sleep through all the noise here, and a little worried that I can apparently sleep through all the noise here. But I’ve got two hours of sleep now (I think I got 2 on the plane also) and I feel a little better. So it’s 16:40 here now as the little screen is telling me, and I think that my flight might show up on the screen soon (we’re all the way to a flight at 17:35, and mine is at 17:50). It’s been a weird few days. This is kinda of fun though.

 

Uh oh...my computer’s battery is dead, so that’s it for part 2. If you read this all, I’m impressed. I just needed something to keep me awake now that my flight is approaching!

-Jessica

 

Part 3

17 August 2008

 

I’m in Libreville! The flight from Casablanca went relatively well. It seemed that there was a problem with my ticket after all. I guess at JFK they printed a boarding pass for me and I was supposed to get a ticket in Casablanca, but I didn’t (I tried...) so they had me wait till everyone else was on a plane and they could get someone to come and find my ticket number. It all worked out. Then, to my amazement I got the whole row of 14 D, E, and F all to myself. I could stretch out and sleep. I was happy.

 

I got in about midnight, someone helped me find the visa counter and it turned out that as he put it “I worship at Alliance!” So he new the right people to find to get my money and the original copy of my letter of invitation to Gabon.  It all went smoothly and after I got through passport control I stepped through the door and there was Songoy who introduced himself and he knew who I was right away and how to do everything. At first I wondered how he knew who I was, then I realized I kind of stand out here. Songoy introduced my to Tim, and then gave us a ride to where Tim was parked. Then we drove to the STMO (Short Terms Mission Office) Center or “The Center.” The drive was pretty nifty. The weather he is pretty much perfect here, warm during the day and cool in the evening with a nice breeze. But don’t get too jealous because I hear that very soon it will be rainy season and very hot.

 

Today I slept in a bit and got up about 9:30. I finally got a chance to shower and I ate breakfast with Meredith who stayed home from church so I wasn’t all alone this morning.

 

Tim and two guys, a father and son duo, Paul and Mike, who are here for a 12 day Mission trip went to Church. Once they got back we headed out to see the festivities because today is Fete de Independance, (their “fourth of July”) We drove down town (let me tell you, driving is always exciting!) and found that we had basically missed the parade and band and everything else. We got a nice little walk in on the Rue de la Mer. We saw cool black crabs and lots of people enjoying the beach. The only bad part was it smelled pretty bad sometimes because the Gabonese men urinate whenever and wherever. We saw the presidential palace too, and a huge weird statue that’s half man and half woman.

 

After walking back to the van we headed to the Solvig’s, who are another missionary family. Arnie Solvig helped me get into the country by getting me my Invitation letter into Gabon. We ate Chawarmas at there house which they had picked up for us. They’re basically Lebanese Gyros.  The Solvig’s have three daughters too.

 

We came back in the afternoon and the guys went to see the port and I took a nap. Then we went to the airport to pick up another guy, Greg, who is on the 12 day trip with Paul and Mike. Then we all went out to dinner and got pizza. It was good.

 

Tomorrow we’re going back over to the Solvig’s and the guys are going to do work there to help get a house in order for another missionary family (the Straws) who are coming. They have a plane that they fly as an ambulance for Bongolo Hospital. I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing there. We’ll find out tomorrow.

 

Oh, and there are two fantastic kittens here, Bandi (Naughty in French) and Jaunti(Nice) they’re cute. I like them.

 

Ok, well feel free to email, I miss everyone at home!

 

Jessica