So I am sure most of you have heard by now... if not, I missed my flight to Frankfurt meaning I missed my flight from Germany to Ethiopia. Because Ethiopia isn't such a hot spot the next flight out isn't until Monday morning at 6:45 AM. When I first found out I was being delayed for 48 hours I was pretty upset, I had just gotten off of my all night flight from Benin to Paris and I spent an hour running all over the airport on minimal sleep to find out I had to find a place to stay for 48 hours. At first I thought I might just stay in the airport and save some mula... but I finally got my head straight, bought some wifi and got a hold of my mom who of course made everything better just with talking to her.
Long story short I made it to a nearby hotel on Saturday and slept the afternoon away to catch up on my lack of sleep from all of the excitement of leaving the ship. Last night I did a lot of housekeeping stuff on my emails and pictures and just took it easy and tried to adjust from being around people constantly to being all alone. It was strange eating a meal by myself surrounded by people who don't even speak the same language, but I got used to it.
Today I decided to make the most of my time in Paris and ventured out to the city. My hotel has a free shuttle service to the airport and from the airport I took the train to the Latin Quarter to explore Jardin du Luxumborg and Notre Dame. On the way some men boarded the train and entertained the train with their violins, it was so fun. Then they got off and just a couple of stops later a husband and wife boarded the train and he played his accordian and she sang, it was so interesting. This was just the first of odd run-ins with an eclectic assortment of people. I have seen more people with pigeons eating out of their hands and sitting on them today then I have in my whole life. As Amy has said, pigeons are like rats that fly, why you would want a living carrier of diseases to perch on you I will never know, but it was strange to witness nonetheless.
Paris is also home to a wide variety of entertainers... from mimes, footballers, artists, puppeteers and everything in between, I was definitely entertained all day. I think I could have sat on a bench and just people watched all day long.
The absolute best part of my day was how much God provided. Even the small things, like I really wanted McDonalds (don't judge me), and there happened to be on right next to the metro station where I was headed to right around dinner time. In the back of my mind I kinda wanted to find a unique but not expensive little souvenir to remember this whole random trip and to celebrate my birthday with and I found the coolest little boutique in the Montmarte section of Paris and got some earrings and a necklace.... just down to the last euro He had all the details worked out for me and the past two days have been such a breath of fresh air for me, which reminds me....
It has been amazing to breath CLEAN AIR!!!! :) Oh I have loved it! I feel like I can relate to someone who was a smoker and quit, all day I couldn't help but take the deepest breath just to savor the delicious clean air. And the weather was unbeatable, clear, crisp and cool. About an hour after I got to my room it started to rain, but all day long it was clear.
Also I met a Ghanian on the train home! How random is that??? But it made me acutely aware of how much I miss all of my Ghanian and Mercy Ships friends, but was a neat reminder to pray for them. I also had a random man approach me and tell me "Hakuna Matata! It means no worries, share it with your friends and family!" He then proceeded to make me a bracelet out of green, yellow and red string (the National colors for my 3 favorite African countries, Ethiopia, Benin and Ghana) while talking to me and didn't even charge me for it! It was like God's way of giving me a reminder of all my special experiences in Africa.
All that to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for all of your prayers!!! They have been noticed and responded to with love and care that I have experienced in such a real way throughout my time alone over the past couple of days. My flight leaves at 0645 Monday morning (about 4 hours from now) and I will arrive in Addis around 7pm Monday night. I will spend the night in Addis alone for one more night and will meet up with the team (and my dad and Ashley!!!!!!) Tuesday midday. Then I will have 2 full days of ministry (wednesday and thursday) before we all head back to Addis on Friday and I venture onto the Middle East for one last week abroad. I can't believe that I will be home in less than 2 weeks! Crazy!
Please continue to pray for safety and mercies as I continue to travel. I just got word today that one of the girls that I am meeting up with in the Middle East may have pneumonia and I am going to try and pick up some medications for her in Addis. Please pray for her health and that I could be of help and get a hold of some drugs.
much love to you all back home! I will write more when I can!! :)
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