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Monday, January 31, 2011

Into The Snow

I was glad that my flight wasn't until 1 pm, but wasn't happy that I hadn't found anyone to give me an airport ride. Once again I had to order a shuttle.

Normally I pack the night before, but since I had more time than usual I left it for the morning. And then Christian told me that Paul had to talk to me - before I was even done packing. And so I did, and the news he gave me was shattering. I was sobbing and trembling as I tried to concentrate on finishing packing, and getting it done before I had to leave. The conversation had taken up time I didn't have. Still, I needed to email out a prayer alert.

I was hoping it wasn't too obvious that I had cried. I paid, and waited for my shuttle. It came rather late. There was no radio on, and I sat in the silence reflecting on the news and holding back the tears.

Arriving at the airport, I had the challenge of having 4 bags to transport to the check-in counter - no easy feat. I moved two bags, then ran back and got the other two, etc. I was glad when they were checked in.

I went through security, and still had quite a bit of time until boarding. I could not get online, and so I talked to a trusted friend and adviser on the phone.

We arrived in Salt Lake City on time, but that's where I had to sit at my gate waiting. Our crew was late coming in, and so we ended up leaving half an hour late. The first flight was 2 hours, the second to Denver 1.5 hours. Before we even took off, the pilot told us that we would land in Grand Junction if we were unable to land in Denver because of the weather. So I looked into the Delta magazine to see where that was; still a long way from Colorado Springs. I was just hoping we'd made it to Denver.

I was tired and rested during the flight. It was dark when we arrived in Denver, but it didn't snow. It was sure cold though! Minus 25 Celsius, i.e. minus 13 F. I picked up my bags, and had the same problem of transporting them again. I had never rented a car in Denver before, and was not happy that I had to take a shuttle bus. I put one bag on top of another on each side, but it wasn't working very well. And then I was outside in the freezing cold weather. Two airport employees saw me struggling and came over to help. I was so thankful! And then my shuttle stop ended up being even on the very other end of the curb. I couldn't have done it without them.

Getting off the shuttle, I was glad I was at the right place. Thanks to my Gold status with the rental agency, I could go straight to the car. It was so cold! I had to move two bags at the time again. Arriving at the car, I was very positively surprised to see the car already running and all warm inside. Praise God! All I had to do was to put my stuff in and my GPS up.

As I pulled away I noticed that both side rear mirrors were covered in ice, and it could not be moved. Not a good feeling to drive without them. It was 8 pm, and I supposedly had a 1 h 15 m drive ahead of me, from the north of Denver to Colorado Springs.

It was not snowing at first, though the roads were partly covered in snow. I couldn't tell whether there was ice, but billboards warned drivers to go slowly. And so I stayed under the speed limit, though I was faster than most cars. I had worship music going and prayed the whole time. I just wanted to arrive, and the drive seemed to go on forever. As I approached Colorado Springs, it started snowing. It was an amazing sight as I drove slowly on the streets of the city; the wind was moving the snow across the street, and you couldn't see any lines on the ground. I stopped at a gas station to get some basic stuff, and then went to find my hotel; thankfully it wasn't too hard. I parked my car (not realizing it was handicapped parking as the ground was covered in snow), and went to the reception desk. A nice man worked there who told me he worked also for a Christian ministry where he oversaw 200 missionaries.

I got my room card, and realized that the rooms were really little apartments, all with access from the outside. So I had to move my 4 bags once again - 2 by 2 - from the car all the way to my room. I was so glad when I was done. I was really impressed with my room/apartment, though the first thing I had to do was turn the heat up. It was 9:30 pm, and I was sure glad to finally have arrived. I had some time left of enjoying my room before I went to bed at a reasonable time.

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Sunday, January 30, 2011

Pasadena Conference

These past four days I've been attending the conference at H-Rock Church in Pasadena every day, and it's been a tiring few days. In fact, I have not been able to keep my eyes open even one meeting. And for that reason I've missed some of what the speakers have said, and twice I left early to get home.

What I did get was that these next few months we'll be finishing our transition, and June is the month for it to end. The importance of relationships was also reiterated. Many more great things were said that are now in my subconscious mind ;-).

I met some friends again that I usually see here, plus unexpected ones. Also, I'm always reminded of my spiritual mom Jill Austin when I'm in Pasadena as I'd always see her here. She died two years ago.

Today I had lunch with the friends in these pictures. I enjoyed our time of fellowship at the Cheesecake Factory.

Now it's late once again and I have to leave for snowy Colorado in the morning. Maybe I'll be more inspired to add more next time I'm online.

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

From East To West Coast

My time in my beloved Harrisburg has come to an end, once again. And once again it's time to say good-bye, until next time. For a short 4 months our ministry office made its home there too (Bethel is nearby), and I loved that. But now we're entering a new season, and our office is in Colorado Springs now; hopefully for longer this time.

Yesterday I had the whole day at home, doing office work for the moving of our office, plus some other needed paperwork - and packing for my departure. I had the box with all our records to put into my suitcase as well.

After another short night, I finished packing this morning and said my good-byes to the great hosts I'd had. My good friend Carol showed up at 9:15 am, together with another friend, so we could go have breakfast before going to the airport.

We went to my favorite breakfast place (Bob Evans) and had a wonderful time there. Then we went on to the nearby airport. After check-in we still had time to sit down at the McDonald's there and talk. Their love and concern for me touched my heart. They made great suggestions that blessed my heart, and made me wish and dream those could be put into reality. Then it was time for good-byes.

My plane left just after 1 pm for Atlanta, 2 hours away. And I had the most unique person sitting next to me than I've ever had. It was a transsexual - I assume - who had not finished his transformation yet. It was really weird to see this man in women's clothing, jewelry and make-up, and he even talked to me as any normal person would. I have never met anyone like that before, but it made me sad.

I kind of napped on this plane as I was very tired. When it was time to land in Atlanta, it was pretty scary. The air was pretty turbulent, and visibility was zero. I heard the wheels come out, but you could still not see anything. I was praying! Just before we touched the ground, the fog lifted. Relief!

Unfortunately we were late, and then our gate needed some time to be ready. My hopes to make my connection started dwindling. Plus, I had to wait for my carry-on plane-side.

As soon as I had it, I started walking fast/running. Of course, we had docked at the end of the D concourse, and my gate was at the A concourse. Unbelievable. My hopes dwindled even more. I kept on running, then took the train to the other terminal, then was stuck on the escalator, and continued running. Out of breath I arrived at the empy gate - but it was still open. I'd made it!

Relieved I sat down in my seat - I had an empty one right next to me. Since I was late, I had to put my carry-on in the overhead bin a little further back.

Thankfully they had individual TV screens on board, and so I enjoyed this opportunity for "cultural immersion" though I was tired. And again, I had interesting people around me. The guy in front of me had a big cage next to him; he had actually purchased a ticket for his special cat that was on the way to a TV show in LA. The one flight attendant knew him. I heard him share on how many shows the cat has already been. Interesting.

When we arrived in LA - finally nice weather - I went to get my carry-on and wanted to return to my seat. However, this business-man looking guy would not let me pass by. He was the only one blocking me. His words were pretty mean. I then grabbed my shawl off my seat from behind so I could put it away, and he punched me with his ellbow on purpose because he had already told me I should wait to get to my seat. I could not believe my eyes and ears! Incredible. I was stunned.

Inside the terminal I picked up my favorite McDonald's salad and filled my water bottle and made my way to the luggage carrousel. I had so much luggage I didn't have a choice but pay $5 (!) to get a cart. Thankfully it was the first to come out, thanks to my frequent flyer status.

I made my way to the location of the supershuttle pick-up and got my stuff off the cart. Then I had to wait for my shuttle.

I was the only one on the shuttle, and so the driver did another whole tour of all the terminals before heading towards Pasadena. We left at 7:15 pm. I was amazed at how slow the lady drove. Everyone passed by her, including other shuttles from the same company. It was frustrating. Since I was tired, I decided to close my eyes rather than be frustrated by her driving. It took us longer than she had said to arrive at the hotel in Pasadena - about 50 minutes.

By then I was really tired, but glad to be at the hotel. I checked in, and had to pay another $5 for the guy to bring my luggage to my room - which I was thankful for. I was so relieved to be in my room! And so looking forward to taking my first bath on this trip! I miss having a bathtub in Mali.

I enjoyed the warm room, the peace, and the internet connection and went to bed later than I thought I would. It was 1 am - which is 4 am Pennsylvanian time.

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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Friends

I love my friends Carol and Terri!

More to come.

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Friday, January 21, 2011

Encounter

Warning. I'm going to be transparent. If you can't take it, don't read on. If you want to criticize me, don't bother. If I can encourage anyone, it will have been worth it.

The months of November and December were two "months from hell". Attack after attack, crises after crisis, problem after problem. By the time Christmas came around, I was barely holding on to sanity. I was very disillusioned by people, and was done communicating. I stopped blogging, facebooking and communicating. It didn't seem worth it. I was done with people. And I was done with ministry. I wanted to cancel my trip to the US in January. I didn't feel like I could face people, including people that had hurt me. I didn't want to see anyone, just wanted to hide in the mountains of Austria somewhere.

However, I'm not the kind of person who acts upon her wants or feelings. I act according to what is right, and I knew I had to come to the US. I did not cancel my trip. But I traveled to America with not only no hope, but no desire to find hope. I was tired of the many prophecies that things would get better etc., people prophesying what they want for you rather than what God is saying. I didn't want any more of those "words from God".

On Wednesday night I went to the service at Life Center. I was looking forward to it, but when it started, I realized how bankrupt I was spiritually. I still loved God with my whole being, but that was all I had left. During worship I just stood there, unable to sing aloud, though silently I told God how much I loved him. Still, I was sick and tired of "church" and all that surrounds it.

Still a little jetlagged maybe, plus a few busy days behind me, I was very tired and listened to most of the sermon with my eyes closed. When the altar call came, I did not want to go forward at first. However, after a potty break, I went straight forward joining the others waiting for prayer.

I had no expectations. However, surprisingly I could feel the presence of God and my heart's longing for Him. The pastor's wife came over and prayed for me, then the pastor, then the speaker, and two ministry team members. The undesired prophetic words came. Tears flowed freely. At one point I felt the power of God come strongly upon me and I managed to keep standing.

When I sat back down, I knew I had been touched by God, but I felt as discouraged and ready to quit the ministry as before.

However, something had happened within me. By the time I got back home, I realized something changed. I discovered a seed of hope that had not been there before, and that I had not even asked for (though I had definitely asked God to intervene, save me and restore me).

Tonight I was looking forward to going back to Life Center for the first meeting of a Youth conference. I chose a seat towards the back. When worship started, I worshiped God with my everything, raising my arms to heaven and singing out loud. I couldn't help but smile at how wonderful He is. And His sweet presence started filling me and flowing over me. It was so wonderful.

And then the Lord showed me His heart for all the many people who've hurt me over the past two months. He showed me that they are hurting, broken people, and that it was not true that I was 100% responsible for every bad thing that has occurred.

I had compassion for them, and then the Lord showed me that it was BECAUSE of His people hurting so much that I needed to continue ministering - pouring out His heart and His healing and bring restoration to His beloved church in the nations of this world. And then I said YES to Him all over again, that I would do it. With more attacks coming, more criticism coming, more people who will hurt me, I said yes.

I felt His pleasure sweeping over me. While I was wondering before how I would minister in Europe in March and April, I suddenly was excited again at the opportunities to pour out His heart and see His people meet Him and be restored. There's nothing more exciting! Where the vision for my book had died, I was suddenly excited about its release again and the way it's going to bring hope to people.

My heart was filled with joy, and I just wanted to stay in His presence forever. After an hour of worship, they transitioned to the next thing of the agenda, but I felt I was done for tonight, and so I went home, still worshiping God and loving on Him. He's so awesome! I love Him so much. And I love the church here in Harrisburg. Thank you, Life Center, for being such a blessing to me.

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Amish Country

After returning from New York last night, I was able to sleep in this morning. At 11:30 I had to leave the house to meet up with my good friends Carol & Terri in Londonderry. We went to an Italian place for lunch, and then drove to Amish country together... to Intercourse, PA, to be specific.

It was a picturesque little town with Amish buggies on the street. We stopped in an area with several shops and went into quite a few of them. Unfortunately the Amish don't like pictures, and so I could not take a few I would have loved to take.

The three of us went into a little self-service restaurant to have the famous SHOOFLY PIE that Carold had been telling me about for a while. My curiosity had grown quite a bit, though she had also made me skeptical whether I would like it at all. Terri didn't.

And they had it in the restaurant, and this is what it looks like. And if you can make the picture of the explanation bigger, you can actually read it.

I was nervous as I took my first bite, but then I liked it. I can't say it's special in any way, but it's not bad. I should definitely not have eaten the whole thing as it was surely many hundreds of calories.

After the pie, we drove on to see whether I could see an Amish house from the inside. But it's winter, and the middle of the week, and everything was closed. However, it was time to return to Harrisburg anyway as it was getting dark, and we had a meeting at church to go to at night. And so they dropped me off at my parked car and went on to church where I saw them again little time later. If you want to know what happened at church, you'll have to read the January 21 blog.

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Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New York City

There are too many pictures to put on this blog. Please click on this link to see all the 63 pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=282070&id=550303404&l=fc5193efd9

I had two days for my first visit to New York City - Monday and Tuesday - and my choice of January as the month to visit did not seem very smart. On Monday the temperatures were in the 20s, and so we were extremely cold. On Tuesday it was just above freezing, but then it was raining all day and the snow everywhere turned to water, and my feet were totally wet and cold; not a good feeling. It's a miracle I didn't get sick as a result.

This is my 4th time in Pennsylvania over the past two years, and every time the topic of New York came up, as it's only a few hours away. This time, it finally worked out. And my new friends Mim & Ray were so kind to make it possible.

On Monday morning we drove the 3 hours from PA to NY, leaving at 7 am. On the way, we dropped off my stuff in Harrisburg, at my hosts' house where I'd stay after our return. We drove straight to the Bronx where we'd stay over night and park the car. We unloaded and then took the bus to go to the subway station, and then the subway to go downtown.

It was exciting to finally be in New York. We went to Manhattan and met up with their friend who'd be our tour guide. We started walking towards the Rockefeller Center. While many Christmas decorations were still up everywhere, the Christmas tree there was gone; but the skating rink was still there.

We then made our way up to the top of Rockefeller Center to enjoy the great view of the city. Then we visited Radio Music Hall, and a little church, and went on to see the unimpressive UN building. We made our way up 42nd street to go eat at Dallas BBQ. I was amazed at the many lights and signs everywhere. It was exciting. I wished I could have gone to a Broadway show. We had great food, and then continued on to Times Square which was very impressive. I loved it - including Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood and an amazing Toys R Us. It was time to make our way home - after picking up cheesecake from a recommended place at Grand Central Station. Back home, I was thankful for a hot cup of tea and piece of cheesecake.

When we woke up in the morning, there was snow everywhere. After breakfast we left relatively early to go see the Statue of Liberty. However, Mim and I were separated from Ray, and it took us a while to be reunited. No cell coverage in the NY subway!!!

That time delay, plus more delays due to weather, meant that we arrived at the port pretty late - thank God! Because instead of the first ferry leaving at 8:30 am, it now was 11 am. It was very foggy, and raining and cold. Unfortunately we had to stand in the rain and wait in line - probably my lowest point that day as my shoes were not watertight and I was wet and cold.

But finally we got our tickets and went through security - worse than the airport! We took the ferry over to Bedloe's island where the Statue of Liberty is. There we had to go through security AGAIN to be able to go inside the pedestal of the statue. If you want to go up into the crown, you have to order tickets online three months in advance.

Unfortunately security there was even worse - no backpacks, no food, no water. There were lockers, but there was a malfunction and so we tried to get in with our stuff; unsuccessfully. Mim sacrificed herself and stayed behind at the restaurant.

The remaining three of us went inside the pedestal where there is a museum, telling the story of the statue. It was quite interesting. We could also go up a little bit, though there was nothing to see.

We went back out into the freezing weather and manged to take a picture of the statue. Then we joined Mim in the restaurant to have a cup of hot chocolate and warm up.

We returned to the mainland and walked by Wall Street - it was way too cold. I bought some socks and plastic bags - both to put on and keep my feet dry in my wet shoes. We continued on our way to Ground Zero. It's one huge construction site now since they're building a new tower and who knows what else.

By the time we were done there, we were pretty hungry and went into a NY deli for lunch. It was an enjoyable experience.

Before heading home we tried unsuccessfully to find some postcards; should have bought them on Monday when we saw them everywhere. In any case, it was way later than planned, and our host was eager to have us leave as she had an errand to run. I was disappointed not to be able to have that hot cup of tea and slice of cheesecake before starting our 3-hour journey home. Instead we stopped at a fast food place and got the hot tea there - and had the cheesecake upon arrival in Harrisburg.

While Mim missed our conversation by sleeping half our travel time, Ray learned a lot about Mali as we were talking for 3 hours. I kept him awake so he could drive ;-). It was 9 pm when we arrived at Mim's sister's place. Poor Mim & Ray had another 45 minutes or so to drive home. I was glad to be in my new home and settle into my room.

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Sunday, January 16, 2011

Shippensburg, PA

I arrived in Shippensburg late Friday night after a long 20 hour journey from Austria, including quite a few hassles at immigration and customs. I was tired enough to go straight to bed - at a decent US time, meaning it was morning in Austria. As it is with jetlag, you wake up a couple of times during the night, but I still had a good night's rest.

I was thankful for a slow-going day on Saturday - except that I had to go to someone's birthday party with my hosts at 1 pm. The tiredness caught up with me there. I then spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up on computer stuff - which was nice - as well as talking with my hosts.

On Sunday morning I was thankful to sleep in and catch a ride to church later. Arriving at church, I found out that I could show a few pictures and give an update on the work in Mali for a couple of minutes, which I did. I also showed them the toy car my kids had made out of sardine cans and bottle caps to see whether people would be interested to buy those, and that was very much the case. So I later told my kids who were excited and started making more.

After the service my hosts and I were invited to the family's house that is coming to Mali later this year. We had a good time of food and fellowship.

These are our new friends joining us in Mali: Ray & Mim and youngest daugther Julie. They'll be a great asset and blessing.

I then returned home for a much needed nap, and later returned to their house. They had their home group meeting, but due to different circumstances only one person was there. So we had a nice evening of just talking - and finding tickets to Mali for a great price.

I returned home for a rather short night, looking forward to the adventure of going to New York City tomorrow.

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Saturday, January 15, 2011

My Kids

I put this together for a new video presentation that I never finished:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuurj6IITlw

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Thursday, January 13, 2011

Vienna

Yesterday I finally went to the hair dresser's for my hair to be cut to the right length again. They were already way too long. I feel so much better with my new old haircut.

It was nice to be walking around town for a while. I kept thinking what I needed to buy to take to Mali, but there wasn't really anything.

Then I went to my Mom's house, where I had dinner with her and her husband. She later took me home to my grandmother's house.

Today was set aside for a day of rest, enjoying German television, and packing. I've enjoyed the day, and wished I had a few more days like this. However, I'm leaving early in the morning to fly to the US.

Construction In Mali

Our construction manager is FINALLY working again after half a year of no work. He's been working on putting up the roof between the two houses, and then the tiles are next.

They have also started putting in the pipes for the new bathroom up on the dining hall building.

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Birthday

Another morning getting up late; it helps getting ready for the time difference in the US, I guess.

I had breakfast with my friend Beate whose birthday it was. It was a rare treat to be there for her birthday; maybe the first time ever. Her husband had made her a cake, but had to go to the office and couldn't be there when another friend and I lit the candles and sang for her.

My gift for Beate was festive clothes from Mali that she put on right away; she definitely wasn't used to wearing clothes like that!

Other friends came by, and time went by. I had planned to leave by noon, but that wasn't the case. Then I remembered I had to go to my brother's at night. So I said good-bye at 4 pm. But it won't be long before I'm back to visit since my few weeks of ministry in Austria are coming up in March & April.

Back To Vienna

It was very foggy as I drove the one hour back to Vienna, but it's a nice change to the constant sunshine in Mali so I actually enjoy it. I went to a supermarket and bought some Austrian goodies, and then to my brother's house. I enjoyed another evening with my two nephews. At 8 pm I said my good-byes.

I was glad to be home again, and to be able to settle down in front of the TV set with my computer for an evening of watching German TV and being online. The only downside was the freezing cold in the room. I put on my one pullover, and constantly drank tea to stay reasonably warm; the computer on my lap helped too. I went to bed at my typical time of 2 am; by then it was 18.5 C (65 F) in my bedroom since my grandmother turns the heating off over night. Definitely time to go to bed!

Back Home

This morning our 11-year-old Daouda ran away because some of our other boys had threatened him that they would beat him up once they get to school. They're mean to him because of his stuttering problem, and their behavior shocks me. It's really sad. In any case, Daouda went to his family's house, and they called us. Paul went there and Daouda came back home with him. Paul and Christian had a very serious talk with all the boys, and I can only hope it brings fruit.

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Sankt Pölten

I had gone to bed late, and was glad I could get up late. My friend did not have to work, and so we were able to have breakfast together and enjoy each other's company.

At noon her husband came over with some lunch; Beate had a doctor's appointment and couldn't stay. At 1 pm Sepp and I left to drive to the school where he teaches an ethics class, and where he had invited me to do a presentation. There were close to 30 students in the class, all adults. I showed the video, and then we had a Q & A time that went pretty well, though some didn't like the Christian angle of the work. Most of them took a brochure, though.

We returned home where we had about an hour before having to leave again. We were both tired and lay down for a little bit.

Christian's Family

At 4 pm Beate and I left to drive the half hour to Christian's home just outside of St. Pölten. I've known some of his family members for yeards, though I had never spent more time with them. This picture shows Christian's Mom and sister. They had baked beautiful Austrian "Apfelkuchen", and we had a great time talking. Christian's Dad also showed up, though he had to leave again, and then came back later.

And so we just kept talking and talking and having a great time. We also talked with Christian via skype, which was funny - him in Mali, me in his house.

We had a wonderful Austrian dinner, and some champagne to celebrate Beate's birthday tomorrow. At 11 pm we finally decided it was time to leave.

I was amazed how foggy it was outside. It was a beautiful winter (or fall) night. I had my GPS with me, but no power cable. After a short time, it turned off, but we already knew the way home - where we arrived pretty late. We had had a wonderful night.

We all slowly made our way to bed; for me it was after 2 am when I turned the lights off.

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Sunday, January 9, 2011

Family Day

After 8 hours I woke up at 9:30 am in a very cold room. I was glad I had the morning off. I was able to take a shower, unpack and get settled, and write yesterday's blog. Time was going by too fast. At noon I left the house to drive to my parents'. My Mom was cooking one of my favorite dishes for me. I had a nice afternoon with her and her husband. Just after 3 pm I left there to drive the 5 minutes to my brother's house, and finally see my new nephew for the first time.

And here he is - 20 days old Christopher Erik. A cute little bundle!

And his big brother Maximilian who is now 2.5 years old. I had a lovely time with my nephews and their parents.

Sankt Pölten

At 6:15 pm I left to pick up Eva, and drive with her to Sankt Pölten, which took about 40 minutes. It was pretty foggy, but we still had a good time in the car. Before we knew it, we had arrived.

I enjoyed introducing Eva to my friends Sepp & Beate and vice verse. They are Amadou's sponsors, and so we talked quite a bit about Mali, while we were having dinner together. At 9:30 pm we had to leave to take Eva to the train station. We saw her off, and then returned home where they showed me where I could park the car for free for the next 36 hours.

Back home, we kept talking and talking until they went to bed and I got on the computer to read and write. It's 2 am, so it's going to be another late night, but thankfully I can sleep in in the morning.

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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Arrival in Austria

At 4:30 am Malian time they woke us up again and gave us a cup of tea/coffee with a tiny pastry for breakfast. At 6:15 am local time we touched down in Paris. My plane to Austria was leaving at 7:15 am, which is extremely little time for the Paris airport. Thankfully, we walked straight into the terminal - which is only the case like 50% of the time coming from Mali.

And then the mad dash across the airport started. In Paris you always feel like you're going in circles. Going from terminal E to D seems so straight forward, but it wasn't at all. I walked and walked and ran to make it. I had to go through security, and then they wanted to check my carry-on by hand as well. Thankfully they were quick. I made it to my gate while they were still boarding. I was happy.

I sat down in my seat, and we were about to leave, when the captain told us that there was so much fog in Vienna, that we would not be able to land, and therefore we were staying in Paris for another hour. Great.

And so I landed in Vienna just before 10 am. I always love coming back to my home country, and it had been quite a while since my last time. However, I was just passing through really, on my way to the US.

My Mom was waiting for me, and together we drove to her apartment. There, a young man who visited us in Mali was already waiting for me, since he had forgotten his cellphone at our place, and so I delivered it to him.

My Mom, her husband and I then went to my favorite pizza place, and had a good time there. Then we returned to their place where I showed them some Mali pictures. I was getting pretty tired from my nearly sleepless night, and I still had plans for the evening. So my Mom dropped me off at my grandmother's house at 4 pm.

I spent some time talking with my grandmother - and the tiredness really hit me full force. I had to pick up Eva at the sbway station just before 6 pm, and so I excused myself and lay down for half an hour, leaving the lights on, since I knew I'd sleep till the morning if I'd really slept.

I last looked at my watch 15 minutes later. Another 15 minutes later a text message from Eva - my phone right by my head - woke me up. She was nearly there, and I had to get her. I had slept very deeply those 15 minutes, and felt a lot better.

I drove my grandmother's car to pick her up and take her back to the house. Earlier I had bought some lovely Austrian cake for both of us. My grandmother was with us for another hour, before she left to go to the theater. Then we sat down and talked and talked, even solving some issues we have in Mali. At 10 pm I took her back to the subway station.

And then I still stayed up till 1:30 am. I had not been online for a while, and wanted to get as much done as possible. I was writing my blog, when my eyes kept closing, and I forced myself to finish it. It was very cold in my room, since my grandmother turns the heating off over night, and I snuggled under my comforter and quickly fell asleep.

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Friday, January 7, 2011

A New Year

It's the seventh day of the new year, and I have not blogged yet this year. So HAPPY NEW YEAR!

These images were in my latest email newsletter from yesterday. For those of you who don't know, I write it in English, and then translate it to German and French. So we actually have three email lists respectively. I'm actually looking for someone who could do the French translation, as it's too much work for me.

The "7 weeks of hell" in Nov and Dec ended at Christmas with an awful bang that left me in quite a bad place. I did not want to open another email or communicate with another person, as there was so much negative stuff. So that's why I chose to be silent for a while - on Facebook as well as blogging.

A new year has started, and even with everything going on, I'm amazed that I still find hope on the inside of me. Looking back over my life, I realized that it is those sparks of hope that always kept me going even when life was the most horrible imaginable. It's a powerful force.

Off To Europe

These past few days I've been struggling with being sick and trying to get rid of it before it really breaks out. So far, I've been able to hold it at bay with Airborne, and have only had fever and headaches. I pray I'll win without the rest of this cold breaking out.

Tuesday was a very tough day because of an incident, and then yesterday we discovered a serious situation. Thankfully, we were able to sort it out with wisdom and grace and have made good choices, I believe.

Tonight at 11:30 pm my plane leaves Bamako to take me to Paris where I arrive in the early morning hours. I have VERY little time to catch my connection to Vienna, and the chance are pretty low I'll make it. My Mom & her husband pick me up and take me to my favorite pizza restaurant. Later I meet with Eva - the one who was with us for half a year. On Sunday I finally get to meet my new nephew Christoper.

Please pray for a safe, smooth trip, and especially for my health.

LATER - Just before 9 pm I was finally done with my preparations; I had needed every minute of it. One last time all the kids gathered. First they prayed for me, and then I prayed for them. Then it was time for good-byes and to leave for the airport. Paul and Christian came with me, though I was driving. At the airport I hoped out, and Christian drove themselves back home.

But first Paul went to get me a cart, and I loaded my luggage onto it. I pushed it towards the terminal entrance, noticing it was a little hard to push. I then saw that one wheel was missing; so I transfered my bags to another cart. Paul hadn't noticed!

Once inside the terminal, I was amazed at the long lines, and thankful for my elite Air France status that allowed me cut straight to the front of the line. I didn't have to wait too long.

After immigration, they had their new security machine, and then the new gate area. I went straight to the lounge, where the lady claimed I had another hour until boarding, but I had reason not to believe her. This is the only airport I know of where elite customers get to board last, rather than first. And so I left the lounge just in time. Only minutes after getting to the gate area they started boarding, and I ended up far up front in the line.

I was amazed when an escalator transported me down to the tarmac. This is the first one I've ever seen in Mali! Another security checkpoint awaited me at the bottom, and the bus right behind it. So I waited for the bus to fill up and take us to the plane.

A family of four entered the bus, and I realized they were Austrian. So I addressed them and found out that they had done a round trip in Mali. They didn't ask me what I was doing. Oh well. I gave them some free tips about the Paris airport anyway.

I was glad when I settled into my seat - 21A. After a while a couple came, and they asked me to move up to 20A so they could sit together. Of course! So I moved up. I stayed alone for a while until another man came. He had 21B, as well as the other man who already sat in21B. So the flight attendant went away with both tickets, and came back telling the guy to sit in 20B, next to me.

In the meantime I had noticed that the volume of my entertainment system wasn't working. So I asked the new man whether he would mind sitting in 21B, so I could also retake my old seat 21A, and let the couple sit together in 20. Thankfully they all agreed after I showed the couple the broken volume. I thought all the moving around was funny.

I had been waiting so long for the plane to fill up, that I was actually done reading TIME magazine by the time we took off. Plus, they had some issues with the conveyer belt for the luggage, and so we left over 30 minutes late. It was after midnight. My hope for catching my early connection in Paris dwindled.

I was excited to find a movie in the list that I had wanted to see - THE SOCIAL NETWORK. I really liked it! I was done watching at 2:30 pm, that is 3:30 am in Paris. I had two hours to catch a little sleep.

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