One of those days

We had one of those days today.  Actually, our day started yesterday - so I guess that means we had two of those days.

We have been planning to go to Nairobi to pick up Stephen for his midterm break.  So far, so good.

Plan A:

Because we've noticed that the prices for airline tickets drop right before the day of the flights here (which is just the opposite of what air fares do in the usa, as we all know!), Tim and I decided to be "smart" and wait until the last minute to buy our tickets, saving us about $50 a ticket or more.

Wow, we were so brilliant with this plan.  (Not!!)

Yesterday I had a pretty long list of things to do before we left town.  One of those things was "buy airline tickets".  I allotted 2 hours for this task.  It took 10.  Needless to say, I have a list of things that I will do when we return waiting for me!

Turns out, the online purchasing only works 72 hours or more in advance of take off.  So, when I was trying to FINALLY buy the tickets yesterday evening, which took an ENTIRE DAY TO BOOK due to our ridiculous internet, which continuously turned off and on all day yesterday (causing me to start over in the reservations process so many more times than you want to know) -- the website turned down my card!

Can you say, "AAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH"?


Plan B:

The nice lady on the other end of the "help" phone line told me to simply bring cash to pay for the flight tomorrow.  This would have been fine, if I'd had that much cash.  Or if there was a way to get cash at 10 p.m. in Rwanda.

We planned to leave a little earlier than planned, so we could go to a bank, use an ATM, and withdraw the needed cash on the way to the airport.  We needed to be there at 7 a.m., and the airport is 1 1/2 hours away.

We actually left later than planned, due to the smoke that came pouring out of the front of our car when we turned on the engine.

Quick change of plans.

Plan C:

I ran to Sheila's house, another missionary here, who has actually worked here about 30 years, to get the keys to her car.  We changed the luggage, hopped in her car and took off.

Silas, the driver, stopped at the first ATM, I raced out and.....it didn't work.

Went to bank #2.  Same story.

Bank #3.  Yep.

Bank #4.  The last bank I knew.  Didn't work either.

Plan C:

I told the kids we would simply go to the airport and explain why we couldn't pay, and see if they would let us on the plane anyway, if we promised to pay once we arrived in Kigali and could get to another bank.

(This is one of the things I love about Africa.  Can you imagine, can you EVEN imagine, doing this in America?  ......Then again.......of course, in America, the 4 ATM machines would have worked, and I wouldn't have put off buying my ticket until the night before to save money.  So, never mind. )

But anyway, in Africa, this actually didn't seem like a crazy request.  In fact, the man at the desk AGREED to let us do this, IF we tried one more bank (a bank that just opened) and they also couldn't give us money.

We only had 30 minutes until our plane left the ground, and here I was, racing back to the town to try one more ATM -- Ruthie and Sam waiting at the airport by our luggage.

We found the bank, I rushed in, punched in the PIN and request and.....I almost fell over when the money came spitting happily out of that blessed machine.  Wow!  It worked!  It really worked!

So, we raced back to the airport, purchased our tickets, went through security and walked right aboard the waiting aircraft.  (Yes, they decided to hold the plane for us, because we had been having trouble collecting our money.  Ever heard of Delta doing that for someone?)

AAAAHHHHHHHH.  Sweet relief.  We were on the plane.

But, we weren't finished.  Once we arrived in Kigali, we had a 6 hour wait until our connecting flight to Nairobi.  I was supposed to use this time to pay for the rest of our tickets online (our return flights, etc) and to pay for Tim's and Hannah's flights scheduled for tomorrow with my credit card in person at the bigger airport (the smaller airport doesn't take credit cards).  Tim stayed back one more day to get some more surgeries done.  We left today so we could be here to say "Happy Birthday" to Stephen, who is turning 17 tomorrow!

Except, again, the internet, even in Kigali, wasn't working and wasn't letting me load up the bills to pay for the tickets.  Why does Facebook always work when nothing else will? That is the eternal question.  I mean, I love Facebook (obviously), but, seriously?  If that can work, why can't an airlines' website?

And locally, trying to pay for Tim's and Hannah's tickets with my credit card wasn't working at all. They couldn't find their reservations, and when they finally did, they realized they'd been deleted by a "robot" (whatever that means) and, "oh, so sorry", the flight was now sold out.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

So, now Tim and Hannah get to take the vomit bus ride tomorrow morning to Kigali.  (We call it the vomit bus ride because every time our friend, Janet, has ridden on this bus, a few people have thrown up due to all the curvy roads and ensuing car sickness.)  They will miss their connection to Nairobi.

When we arrived in Nairobi, I realized I'd maxed out my daily amount to deduct from an ATM and now didn't have any money to pay for my entry visa to Kenya.  You have to pay in American Dollars, and all I had was Rwandan Francs.  The Forex Bureau doesn't event take Rwandan Francs, so I was out of luck.

Thankfully, a Rwandan boy who we'd befriended on the flight, graciously offered to loan us the money.  He is here in Kenya for an interview with the American Embassy to try to get a student visa to go to University in the United States.  He has never left Rwanda before, so we had been helping him navigate the airport, etc.  We had decided to share our driver with him and also take him to the guest house where we were staying, because he didn't have any of that pre-arranged!

Funny - we thought we were helping him, and he ended up saving us.  We'd still be at the airport trying to get our money for our visas if he hadn't spotted us the $150.  So grateful!

But you know what?  After our crazy day, we are now all tucked in at the Mennonite Guest House.  Hopefully, Tim and Hannah will find a way to get here tomorrow.  We made a new friend in the airport (the sweet Rwandan student, named Abdul).  And we get to see Stephen tomorrow.

Compare that to a super sweet and tired mom I met tonight, a missionary from Tanzania.  She and her three kids, ages 9, 10 and 11, just arrived with her husband because he is very sick with malaria and something else.  They came so he could go to the hospital.  After getting him admitted there, they came here to try to get some sleep.  But the dust in the room sent her son into a full blown asthma attack (I can relate), and they had to find somewhere else to sleep.  She called the one person she knows in Nairobi, and that lady came to get her and her children to take them to her house.  Her son is still very ramped up with his asthma, and I'm betting they won't get much sleep tonight.  Seeing him struggle to breathe reminded me so much of Stephen back when he was young and used to struggled so much and so often with that awful autoimmune menace!

She is exhausted from helping her very-sick husband through airports all day.  It took them 3 hours to get through the visa process (usually takes a half hour at most), and her kids are so worn out, too.  She had all sorts of tales of traveling frustrations and all they've been through, including their children having to stay in complete strangers' homes a lot, in the last couple weeks with her husband so very sick.

I felt like such a whiner after I listened to what she's been going through.  Her name is Susie.  Please say a prayer for Susie, her husband, and their 3 precious kids every night this week.  They need encouragement, help, health and rest - and anything else you can think to pray for!

Signing off - here's hoping that tomorrow will NOT be one of those days.......