I don’t know.
Something about my Europe layovers are very difficult. I’m feeling similarly to the way I felt the
first time I came over. It’s like this
feeling of being lost; the realization that I’m in a foreign place and so far
from home. My layover in San Fran
(though 6 ½ hours) went by quite quickly.
I actually enjoyed the time to myself (maybe it was because I was
texting and talking to family for much of the time…so I wasn’t really
alone). But here…I feel SO alone. I’m not to Terry yet and I’m far from the
rest of my family, a lost wanderer.
On the bright side, the flight to Frankfurt was
awesome! I was dreading it because, when
I did it backwards coming home from Ghana, it was never-ending. But this time I slept really well and
comfortably, had the cutest pregnant couple as seatmates, and the time went by
quickly. Which is kinda surprising
because the seats were TINY and the service was not-so-good (surprising for
international flights!…but not-so-surprising considering it was United - no
offense to anyone!). But yeah…besides
having a great flight, I experienced a miracle.
Lufthansa is on strike right now.
The couple by me was actually supposed to fly Lufthansa home to
Frankfurt, but were put on my flight when theirs was cancelled. The husband, who works for World Vision, so
travels in Africa a lot, said that the connection from Frankfurt to Accra is
Lufthansa Airline (even though it’s listed as United on my itinerary…it’s code
share, whatever that means). So he told
me I’d most likely be stuck in Frankfurt for a couple days. We were 9 hours from Frankfurt, so I had the
time to work myself to a heart attack, but I just felt really calm. I said a prayer, and felt the strength of the
Priesthood blessing I’d received from Bishop.
While we were taxiing, he got on his iPad and checked Lufthansa’s
website. He started scrolling through
the list of at least a hundred flights that were cancelled, but when we got to
14:10 (the time of my flight), 4 flights at that exact time were cancelled, but
none of those was mine! I was so
overjoyed and grateful (and am feeling pretty guilty right now for complaining
so much in the first paragraph)!
But, unfortunately, some lessons are hard to learn and I’m
still going to complain (sorta) once more = /
I had to go through security again here in Frankfurt. I wasn’t prepared, so my water bottle was
still full! But they were so nice and
let me drink in there (although, by the end of the bottle, I felt like I was
going to vomit water…haha…and now have had to pee quite a few times - oh…but on
the long flight, I only had to go twice!…which was a relief since I was in the
window seat = ). But then they had to
take everything out of my rolling duffel because they said it was too tightly
packed for the machine to read (go Dad!!!!).
As I watched him take things out I wanted to stop him and be like, “My
dad packed that and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get it all back in.” But since I couldn’t do that, I just watched
intently so that I could study what was coming from where. Between the concentrated stare and my
nervousness over repacking it, I probably looked really suspicious! But I’m glad to report that I was passed
safely through and got everything back in (though it now leans funny when it’s
standing and my tote that I rest on it keeps falling off while I’m
walking).
So all in all, a great travel experience! = ) Just ready for it to be over! = )
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