The 24 Hours of Travel

We've made it to Rwanda! It feels like home. <3

Now that I have traveled for 24+ hours in a row three times now, I feel like a pro.

This is how it’s done:

• Red satin eye mask
• Bright orange earplugs
• Hot pink neck pillow
• Hot pink slippers
• Neon pink jacket
• Stolen blanket from the first flight

I’m a sight for sure. Don’t care. I slept GREAT!  :)

All the flights were fine. No glitches, delays, or cancelations. Thank you Jesus!

Interesting things from the day:

• The Lego Movie is awesome.
• The sweet little French man flight attendant on plane 2 called trash “rubbish”.  That was amazing.
• I made a friend with a 10 year-old boy who had a Darth Vader t-shirt on.
• There’s a strike going on in Brussels with the catering company for the airlines. We were worried we might not get our VERY important “pick-me-up” ice cream on plane 3. We did…no worries.
• I only had 1 pat down today. (although she was thorough…fun times)
• John and Yvonne from trip 1 picked us up from the airport. It was like being reunited with family!

People I’m doing life with for the next 2 weeks:

Wes: Wes is the missions pastor at my church and the official leader of the trip. He has been to Rwanda a couple more times than I have and pretty much travels all the time. He taught 7^th grade math and was a Teach for America teacher for two years. He likes to leave us to get good wifi in the united premier club. He’s “working”. I’m kidding. He’s great!

Janet: I sat next to Janet on plane 2. She’s from Idaho. Her travel time is 36 hours. (not jeal jeal) She teaches Government and 9^th grade social studies, Common Core.  In a matter of hours, we had discussed some of the lowest points in our lives and how the Lord overcame them and used it to make us love Him even more. Cool stuff people. Can’t wait to spend two weeks with her!

Lauren: Lauren and I were Biology partners and we did a project together in World Geography our freshmen year of high school. We also agreed to take a stand against evolution on our test in Biology. Now, Lauren teaches 4^th grade in Katy.

Jessica: Jessica teaches 3^rd grade in my district, a mile down the road, so she and I definitely understand each other’s struggles in the classroom. She just finished her first year of teaching, and she’s going to be the bomb on our trip.

Zach: Zach is from Portland, is married with 3 kids, and teaches middle school social studies. This is the longest time he’s spent away from his kids, and they wrote him sweet notes. 

Emily: We just met up with her in Brussels and immediately got on the plane. She’s from Chicago, and she teaches 8th grade special education.

So now you can be praying for each of us by name…not just me.

New prayer requests now that we are all together:

We are all feeling a little uneasy because we don’t know what situations we are walking into. Will it be one-on-one with teachers? Will it be each of us alone with a group of teachers? Will we be teaching a lesson? We’re just uneasy, feeling inadequate, and fearing the unknown. Pray for the Lord to calm our fears. Seriously, we have no reason to be afraid, but we’re human.

Love you guys! XOXO