The Voyage

August 15^th, 2012

We made it!  The trip to Guinea was pleasantly uneventful.  Lots of movie watching, ipad playing, some napping here and there, and a bag full of surprises and goodies all helped us to pass the time quickly and to keep our sanity.  We even had a nice kid zone to play at during our layover in Brussels.  Terminal T rocks!  The only minor hiccup was during the last ten minutes, as we were descending into Conakry.  True to form, Abigail waited to the last minute to go to the bathroom and ended up going in her pants.  A few tears and a change of clothes later, everything was set to right and we touched down in Guinea.

   Once on the ground our family was crammed into a bus and delivered to the immigration line.  There was a little hassle getting through the checkpoint, and we had to wait quite a while for a couple of our bags, but all six suitcases arrived and our family survived.  Finally after 30+ hours of travel, we were warmly welcomed by the Galvez to our new home country.  Praise God for answering our prayers and getting us here safely. 

     Last night was a rough night.  We kept waking up at odd hours, and somehow I ended up in the bed with the two kids, while Jen had a big bed all to herself.  Still, we were able to sleep in late and that felt good.  Today was spent mostly driving around Conakry, getting our car from the mechanic’s, going to the grocery store, and a short stop to check and send email.  We also stopped to have a late lunch at a shwarma (spelling?) joint, a Lebanese place.  Jen and I had shwarmas while the kids had hamburgers fully loaded with an egg and French fries, on the burger not off of it (apparently they go well together).  While the food was very good, the accompanying host of flies was not so good.  Andres explained that the reason for the flies was its unfortunate location across the street from the trash dump.  The kids were really disturbed by this and had a hard time eating—our kids not the Galvez’, they were totally unphased by it.  Apparently we have some adjusting to do.

     One of the big surprises is that even in Conakry there is limited electricity and it is unreliable at best.  Most homes, at least for the more wealthy population, run on two sources of power:  government electricity, and when that is unavailable, generators or solar panels.  This means there are two sets of switches and light-bulbs to every room.  When the government power is shut off, you just turn on the alternate source.  You have to be careful though of not draining the batteries.

    So, we’ve spent our first full day in Guinea.  In some ways it feels weird, and in some ways it feels totally normal.  The event that brought it all home was when we popped Dixie Chicks into the CD player, driving past African women with huge baskets on their heads, and all manner of little black kids playing half naked in the street.  This may be a big transition for us, we may stick out like sore thumbs, but for the time being, this is home. 

“Thank you, Lord, for getting us here safely.  Thank you for keeping us healthy during our travels.  Thank you for the Galvez and their kindness and generosity.  Thank you for your grace.  Please continue to watch over us and help us to make these transitions and adjustments.  Help us to learn the cultural norms quickly and easily.  Help the kids to be flexible and to adapt as well.  Bless us with your joy and peace and love, and may you be glorified in us and throughout this country.  We love you Jesus, and we praise your name!  Amen.”