Our trip was.... a little rough

FRIENDS

• We left Grand Rapids on Monday, June 11th.  
• American Airlines would not check our bags all the way through to Kigali.
• We flew at 5:30am to Philly.
• We picked up our bags in Philly and loaded all of them onto 3 carts.  We had ten 50 pound bags as well as a carry on suitcase for each of us (where all our clothing was packed).  We each had a backpack.
• It was 7:30am
• Our next flight left at 9pm
• Translation:  We had 13 hours to kill
• We rolled the giant carts out of the airport, down the street, across bumpy construction sites, dropped the 50 pound bags numerous times and found our way to the International airport area
• Nobody was at Qatar airlines.  Nobody was anywhere.
• Lauren had come down with a virus (hand, foot & mouth).  She was crying because her throat hurt and it hurt to eat or drink anything.
• Joel called Qatar airlines & was told nobody would be at the desk until 2pm and we could not check our bags until 5pm.
• WHAT?!?!?! are we going to do for 13 hours with all this luggage???
• Joel scoped out a place that looked like it would be reasonable to store our bags for the day, the unclaimed baggage area ... but the workers refused because after 9/11 they took away any lockers or safe places to leave unattended luggage.
• We chatted with Miss B, an unclaimed baggage worker, who was rumored to be our best chance to leave our bags.  She agreed to keep our bags safe until 2:30pm.
• Took an Uber to city center and explored the Liberty Bell area, and some historical sites, but the kids were more interested in watching birds eat their gummy bears....
• We ate breakfast at a cute, dumpy place that made me wonder how we were still in America
• Lauren couldn't eat anything.  
• Uber-ed back to the airport, got our bags and camped out in the baggage claim on benches until 5pm.  We couldn't go anywhere.  The kids were superstars.... 
• Lauren cried about her sore throat & her blistered hands.  She could barely walk, blisters were all over her feet.  
• Checked in at 5 and were able to check our bags through to Kigali finally.  We felt about 1000 pounds lighter!
• Tried to eat some snacks at the gate - Lauren couldn't.  More tears.  It was so sad!
• Got on the plane and flew at 9pm.  
• Anna woke me up in the middle of the night and she had thrown up all over her lap table and her pants!  
• I woke Joel up from across the aisle - he took her to the bathroom & the nice flight attendant was so helpful & kind!  She helped me clean it up!  It was disgusting!
• Made it to Qatar.  Everyone was hungry and tired and gross.  
• "Welcome to Qatar.  It is the holy month of Ramadan.  Public eating is illegal until sundown."
• Now we knew why this flight was so cheap!!!!!   
• Customs line for 45 minutes
• Shuttled to a Best Western.  Had to ask for towels in our room and if we could drink the water from the tap (NO).  The mattress on the pullout couch was .... icky.  Lauren crawled in bed with me that night saying her bed was stinky
• We were able to eat at the buffet downstairs after sundown - the food was delicious!!!!  
• Levi's leg wound from his plate removal began to ooze and Joel put hand sanitizer on it and a band aid.  
• Shuttled back to airport in Wednesday morning at 5am
• Flew to Kigali - arrived at 3:10pm
• At the desk in customs.... Joel said "look over there"  I looked behind me and about 20 people behind us was .... the Cobbs!!!!!!!  That moment was surreal.
• (Cobbs were visiting Uganda the prior week and were traveling to Kibogora to have a family reunion.... we are wiggling our way into their family this week)
• Collected all our bags - everything made it -- Hooray!!!!!  
• Went to Good News guesthouse and enjoyed catching up with our friends and meeting the whole Cobb family.  
• After a good night's sleep (waking up at 3am) we had breakfast, Joel & I walked to a nearby market and stocked up on what we couldn't get in Kibogora and then we headed out for the 5 hour drive.... after taking Dramamine
• It felt amazing to get to Kibogora.... here we are !  It has been an amazing week - the best ever because the kids all have friends, and they are occupied with creative play all stinkin' day !  I have my best friend here to pass the time with and Joel can't wait to get home at the end of the day to see his best friend !  I think we could live here like this forever.  It has been a gift.  
• We'll just sit in the gift a little longer -  The familiar, disheartening situations are very alive and well - language barriers, exhausted staff, money troubles, there are nearly 90 patients at the hospital for Joel to care for..... usually 70 is overwhelming.  Eeek !  But God :)