Why didn't I learn more French...

Adventure # 2 was not quite as fun as my first part of the trip. It all started in the Paris airport when they called for my flight for Bamako. There was no calling for rows or classes, instead everyone just rushed to the door to get on the plane. I got to my seat and settled in when my the man in the seat next to me arrived and began talking to me in French. I politely said I don't speak much French and we began to talk in his broken English. Its so funny how God puts certain people in our lives and we wouldn't think twice about it, but this man and I spent a lot of time together as you will here more about later. As we began to leave the gate I fell asleep and woke up still on the runway. I was really confused thinking I must have slept through the whole 5 hour flight to Bamako(I wish) and asked the man next to me if we had landed in Bamako yet. He laughed and said we had been sitting on the Paris runway for 3 hours because of ice. Finally we took off and we made it to Bamako safely. This is where the real adventure begins. I followed the crowd into the baggage claim area and everyone was pushing and rushing to get through the line. They handed me a customs card to fill out (which I thought I was prepared for) but I was flustered with that while everyone was pushing me forward. I just kept looking at people saying "Parle vous anglais", and people just kept looking at me weird. Finally some man who spoke a little bit of English came and helped me fill out my card and we went on to get my baggage. After about 45 minutes of being pushed around waiting for my bags the man finally yelled "Fini" which means finished in French. This is where a tad bit of panic set in as I still did not have any of my bags. So I tried to speak French to those around me to try and figure out what to do but it wasn't really working and I was getting frustrated so I said a little pray and headed outside to find my ride. I finally found one of the missionaries and told him what happened so we went back inside to try and claim my bags. We arrive at the desk behind about 40 people in front of us. Well after 4 hours of waiting we finally were able to make a claim.It's all part of the adventure right? Oh and remember how I told you about my seat buddy and how God works, well he lost his bags too so we stood in line and talked for a while longer about Mali and life and even Religion(he is a Muslim). It was really neat to learn more about this culture in person and not from a book. So after that experience we finally made in home around 4:40am and I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to talk to my parents and I just prayed that they found a way to figure out I was OK, which they did( Of Course, we serve a mighty God).

So today began my actually adventure in Africa and It's been great. I locked myself in my house this morning and the missionaries had to come get me out, but what a great way to meet them right? They are so great and I feel right at home. We already went to the pool and just relaxed for a little while before heading out to dinner later tonight. I will be heading out on the 5 hour drive to Koutiala Monday morning to begin my time at the hospital. God is so good and I can already tell this trip is going to be life changing! : )

Au Revoir