Heading Out

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Saying goodbye to our kids at the Eugene Airport

 Our Nigerian Visas arrived just before noon on Monday and we boarded the airplane the next morning.  Right off the bat at the Eugene Airport Clint lost his cell phone.  I had used it to make one last call and put it on his bag and he didn’t get it put away before we got up to board the plane.  We first took a small commuter to Portland.  It was really windy so the turbulence was like getting sea sick in a boat on the ocean.  Several passengers were making comments and one even compared it to flying between Denver and Colorado Springs.  I have done that before and knew exactly what he was talking about.  We both agreed this was worse. 

In Portland we barely sat down in the terminal and it was time to board again for our flight to Houston, TX.  With such short notice to book our flights we did not get seats together.  It was a quick trip however once we got off the ground.  There was an announcement that there was a problem in the cargo hold with balancing the weight of the luggage.  I couldn’t help myself, I said, “I bet it was my luggage because I packed for ten months.”  Of course this started a long conversation with the people I was sitting with and the time flew right by.  Several of us on the flight had short connections.  Without the delay we had only 30 min and with it we were going to have to run to the International gates in another part of the airport.  God really took care of us because there was a last minute gate change because of our late arrival and so we docked right across from the gate we had to get to next.  It was amazing.  We were so worried our luggage would arrive in Nigeria without us right there to pick it up.

"Clint, I think we are the minority now."

The international jet was a United 777.  It was so big.  There were two aisles with a set of five seats down the middle.  Each seat was equipped with something like an Ipad for watching movies, TV shows, listening to music or playing games.  Looking around the plane as it filled to capacity I knew I wasn’t headed to Kansas.  We were officially in the minority.   Clint had the window seat and I was next to him and then we had an elementary aged student next to me.  She was really shy and just played games or slept leaning on me for most of the flight.  It was a long 12 hour flight from Houston to Lagos, Nigeria.  The sun was setting as we took off so we couldn’t see anything out the window.  We flew right over the top of the approaching hurricane that was making landfall in Louisiana.  The plane was bouncing and tossing and turning so much that I was sick again but this time I was also scared.  I asked the stewardess why we were flying into the hurricane force winds.  She told me flight plans are made months in advance and the plane did not have enough fuel to go around the storm.  I was not in my best behavior and told her what I thought about it.  By her quick answer to my question I gathered she had been hearing similar remarks from others.

 I really anticipated the turbulence would get better after the first couple hours but it lasted for half the flight.  Interestingly, on the monitor you could check on a map where the planes path and progression was and it showed a slight hiccup north just before leaving the coastline like the pilots had considered diverting us to land in DC instead of continuing on at that point.  I had packed Dramamine but in all the rush I hadn’t thought to make sure it was in my carryon bags.  I don’t think I will ever take a long flight like that again without it and some sedative or anti-anxiety medication as well.  I could barely eat anything and sitting in the dark with crying babies and the sounds from the engines accelerating every time we would get tousled about plus of course knowing I was 38,000 miles above the Earth just didn’t sit well with my composure.  I would get this overwhelming feeling come over me like I wanted off the plane immediately as if it could happen because I wanted it to.  It was like I was just on a movie set and the lights could come on and I could walk off in peace.

It wasn’t until we were in the middle of the Atlantic that the plane settled down to a smooth sailing vessel.  As we approached the African coastline and the sun came up we could see thunderhead cloud formations and the rough turbulence started up again.  I suppose it was the birth of more hurricanes headed West across the Atlantic.  It was a little settling to be able to at least see out the window this time.  I had been watching the map so I would know when to look for the coastline.  I asked Clint to take some pictures for me.  The land was a beautiful green color but there were so many clouds that we did not get to see very much of it.  I felt like a school girl, I was so giddy about flying over the African landscape.  I was imagining what I knew only as zoo animals running free below me.  I wish I had the window seat so I could keep watch.  An hour before we landed we were served breakfast even though we were landing in the afternoon.  I felt like cheering as we touched down on land.  I was officially in Africa.