Unexpected Delays

My journey for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania began on August 10th at the airport in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I set out for the 18 hour flight with Cathleen, a good friend from college who is also going to Tanzania. (Let me just take a moment to say what a blessing from God it is to be able to travel to another culture with someone who already knows you quite well! :-)) After departing from Minneapolis despite an hour delay on the runway due to an open panel, we arrived in Chicago with little trouble. Our arrival here found that the airport at Chicago stayed true to its name by displaying our flight with an already posted hour long delay hours before it was even set to go out! :-) We did, however, board our flight in Chicago with food purchased by British Airways vouchers and an excitement to arrive in London.

With that last sentence, something may have triggered in your mind relative to the story that is approaching. :-) The reason that we entered the plane in Chicago with food purchased through British Airways vouchers is because their catering company had unofficially gone on strike earlier in the day. This system of vouchers, was, at the moment working out fine though, so we assumed nothing more in London. My, were we wrong! :-)

We arrived in London at 10:30 AM ready to enjoy the 9 hour layover by meeting up with my lovely friend Tricia and having a bit of a walking tour around the Paddington station area of London. The layover, pre-return to the airport, was truly enjoyable. It was a blessing beyond measure to have the chance to see Tricia again! After our luncheon, however, things took a turn in another direction- make of this what you may. :-)

Upon returning to Heathrow we found that a number of BA flights had been cancelled, and just an hour later, all BA flights to Europe were cancelled. At this time, staff members were still very hopeful that the every other day flight to Dar would go out- delayed, but nonetheless, in the air. :-) Another hour would prove this to be false, however, and the next hours were spent in this sequence:

7:30 pm- Flight cancellation announcement made
7:35-9:35 pm- Stand in line of thousands of people to attempt to rebook flight/receive vouchers
9:45-10:30 pm- Go through customs (again) and try, again with thousands of others to find a vacant hotel room (THANK YOU GOD, MOM and the INTERNET!)
10:30-10:55- Wait in line with hundreds of people for a taxi to our hotel
10:55-11:40- Take taxi to hotel in Central London
11:45-1 AM- Make calls and connections to tell friends and family of the unexpected vacation

So, after all of these arrangements and many more the day after, my flight has been rebooked... for August 18th! :-) This means one of two things: On the plus side, God has a plan and this is a HUGE blessing. London is one of my favorite cities in the world and any time here is a blessing to be cherished (not to mention the fact that I'll be over jet lag by the time I get to Dar!!) On the negative side, why are things so expensive, where on earth is a grocery store, and why didn't I pack more than one extra outfit? :-)

With this story told dear friends and family, a prayer request for you: that my flight goes out on Thursday without a hitch and that me and my friend are able to quickly adjust to life in Dar, make our house liveable with the help of our third roommate, Emily, and the other AIMers there, and prepare for school before new teacher training begins on August 31st!