We made it to the other side of the world! We actually got here yesterday and spent the night in a YWCA. The first thing you notice when you get off the plane are the smells. The cooking that you just can't quite identify, a little bit of incense thown in and exhaust. Lots of people and lots of cars.
You can hear the traffic well before you ever see the street. The cars honk almost incessantly. In fact, if the horn isn't honking, there's probably no one in the car. And let's just say traffic lanes are just a suggestion, not necessarily a rule. It looks like chaos, but our American friend who lives here assures us there is order beneath the chaos. I'm not that convinced yet. Until then, we've been advised to not cross the street, or make sure we do ONLY when locals do. It seems more of a matter of just suggestion. It appears to be a good idea for survival.
Tonight we're staying in a very nice hotel, a Hilton, near a large tourist destanation. For those of you who know where we are, you can probably guess which one I'm referring to. This will likely be the most luxurious stay of our whole trip. Hence the Internet access. We'll head up in the mountains tomorrow sometime and start going to our final destinations. So far the trip has been a whirlwind. Since we got here at night (and for once I managed to sleep on the plane) I didn't really sleep much last night. So I'm not acclimated yet, and neither are most of my traveling companions. Tomorrow we assemble at 5:45 so we can go catch the sunrise over our tourist spot before coming back for breakfast and checking out. Then we'll start with the real work of the trip.
This morning we had a few hours to do a little local shopping. Local attire was suggested wear for the ladies, so we picked up a few things to make sure that we're appropriately dressed when we get to the mountains. The food is delicious here, but already a few people are craving things like pizza, cheeseburgers and Haggen Daz. I'm sure by the end of the trip, we'll all be ready for some local TC fare.
That's all for now! It doesn't seem like we'll have much continued access, so it might be a few days before you hear from me again. We thank the Lord that everything has been going well. Please keep praying for us and I'll keep you posted. - smc
1 comment:
Hi there,
Good to see you made it and thanks for sharing your experiences. Your traffic descriptions reminded me of my travels to Rome: from sunrise to late at night, all a person could hear was the honking of horns.
I look forward to hearing more about your spiritual journey on the other side of the world. Take care and safe travels to you.
Our prayers are with you.
Elaine
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