Long trip home

My time in Germany was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I decided to visit it twice. In one day.

How does that work, you might ask.

Here's the story:
I left the conference center around 7:00 am on Friday morning. A very kind and compassionate carful of people gave me a ride to the airport, seeing as how I needed to get there before the shuttle was going to be going. I arrived at the airport at 8:40ish and got all checked in for my flight to Budapest, where I would have a 45 minute layover before continuing to Kiev. I was supposed to arrive in Kiev at 3:25 pm and catch a bus to Poltava at 5:30. If you'll notice, this travel description includes a lot of planned travel stops.

"Planned" being the key word.

The weather in Frankfurt was awful. Remember the plague of darkness? Yes, well substitute "fog" for "darkness" and you have a pretty accurate description of the weather. So, my flight was delayed by almost 2 hours. Obviously, by the time I arrived in Budapest, my flight to Kiev had left. I was given a voucher for lunch and was told I was being rerouted. To Munich.

Back to Germany. Good thing I like it.

I had a 4 hour layover in Budapest before heading to Munich. In Munich, my flight to Kiev was delayed by an hour and a half. By the time I arrived in Kiev, I was BEYOND ready to be done traveling. Oh...wait...one more surprise: no luggage.

I had the distinct privilege of filling out 4 different forms to register that my luggage was MIA. Through God's providence, 3 of my colleagues came to retrieve me, and we finally left the airport around 1 am. I stayed with my friend, Elizabeth, and was able to retrieve my luggage Saturday morning. I then caught a bus to Poltava at 3:45 and FINALLY got home at 9:15 pm Saturday night.

Now- before I dwell too long on the frustrations of all the traveling, please allow me to include a list of blessings. It's long:
1. My Friday morning ride to the airport was full of encouraging, exhorting conversation with a godly colleague from Western Europe, who also very kindly gave me one of her leisure-reading books because she heard me mention that my English reading supply is limited.
2. I sat by a man from Kosovo on the flight to Budapest who I was able to share with. At first, he didn't want to hear what I was saying, so I stopped for a while and just prayed silently for him. Lo and behold, he began asking me questions after a little while.
3. I was able to eat lunch in Budapest (a good one, too). With my original itinerary, I wasn't going to get a lunch.
4. Through a breakdown in communication, I ended up with a friend in Kiev to stay with, rather than chilling in the Kiev airport all night.
5. I was able to get my luggage the very next morning, rather than having to wait for a long time- or not receive it at all.
6. I got to sit next to a Ukrainian girl on the bus home. She was my age and spoke fluent English. We chatted the whole way to Poltava, I shared with her, she gave me her contact info, and I was invited to visit her in her city.

God is so faithful. I had such an adventure, but it wasn't a dreadful experience. It was such an encouragement to see Him at work in my life!