Well, we boarded a plane in Buffalo, NY only 36 hours after Adie arrived in WNY from Oregon. We flew to Chicago then to Brussels then to Togo and it took 24 hours counting the layovers. I think that Adie got about 5 hours of sleep and I logged about 4 during that time.
It wasn't a bad trip but it was a bit scary at times. We arrived in Brussels and needed to claim our baggage then recheck them. We had no idea where the bags would come in and after about 30 minutes of roaming the baggage claim area we found them. We then headed to about four different "booths" to ask about rechecking our stuff. When we finally did find the right place we discovered that the US doesn't mind how many pounds you cram into a carry on but apparently the folks in Europe do! So we spent about 25 minutes loading and unloading bags to shift wait and afterwards gave the friendly folks with Brussels' Airways another 100 Euros they checked us in.
It was a hectic, tiring and somewhat frustrating trip at times but was so nice to be back...well, for Adie to just arrive for the first time. When we finally cleared customs we headed out some glass doors of the airport and into the lobby area and discovered that 8 missionaries from four different families had come down to greet us and 7 of them had driven at least 7 hours one way. It was so nice to know that even in Africa we have friends that love us so. What an encouragement it was to me and Adie. Afterwards, we headed out for dinner before eventually going to JJ and Melissa Alderman's house for the weekend. We'll be here spending time with them, catching up on our sleep and visiting their church before heading the 7 hours north to Kara and settling into our home there.
It's been such a long trip but completely worth it and so much better not having done it alone!
