Sunday, June 12, 2016

Journey to Romania

Here I sit in our apartment in Romania, still in a bit of disbelief that I'm actually here.

The journey here went much without incident, thankfully. I drove down to LAX with Bailey and the madre, and we made it in plenty of time to check in and grab lunch before we boarded our flight.

While Mom drove home through LA traffic (sorry!), Bailey and I boarded our KLM flight to Amsterdam. I ended up paying a bit extra for exit row seats since I feel the need to move around quite a bit, so we were really looking forward to our spacious area as we entered the plane and got settled.

However, immediately upon attempting to sit down, I was second guessing my decision. Because the entertainment screen and the tray table are stored in the arm of the seat, the (bulky) remote for the screen was located on the  inside of the arm rest--in other words, it was RIGHT where my hip should have been. The seat was narrow in the first place, so this just cut off a bit more than necessary.  Needless to say, while I thoroughly enjoyed the leg room and space in front of and around us, the hips were not super pleased with the seat. Thus, I spent a great deal of time standing up or sitting on the floor (when the stewardesses would let me). Neither Bailey nor I really slept during the flight, so I knew the rest of the journey and evening ahead were going to be quite long.

We had about a four and a half hour layover in Amsterdam (and we didn't have anything to do), so we found a little computer area, plugged in, connected to wifi, and touched base with home and Romania. While Bailey updated her blog, I promptly plopped my head on my pillow and attempted a power nap/short coma.

Unfortunately on the flight to Romania, Bailey and I weren't sitting together, but it didn't end up mattering much as we both fell asleep for the majority of that flight.

As the plane touched down in Bucharest, I was startled awake and I immediately began thanking Jesus--for getting us here safely and for allowing me the opportunity to once again be "home."

We proceeded through the airport, praying that our luggage would arrive. Praise the Lord it all did! And, a lovely gentleman helped us lug it onto a cart and haul it out to a waiting Bogdan, Marc, and Delia. I can't even tell you how happy I was to see each of them at that moment. It was a surreal feeling.

We stopped by the ministry center first to store our passports and exchange money before heading to our apartment. I must say, I was (and am!) incredibly grateful to Bogdan and Marc for hauling our luggage from the van downstairs to our apartment.

After settling in a bit, Bogdan and Marc went to get us some groceries and dinner while we got to visit with Delia (so great!). At some point (my chronology is a bit skewed since I was so delirious), we took a walk to the Metro stop so we'd know where to go in the morning. After a while, the three of them left and Bailey and I settled in for the evening--praying that sleep would come easily.

Stay tuned to find out if it did! #sorrythatwascheesy


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