A Timeline of Time Travel

While I'm no Doctor Who (you're welcome for the reference, enthusiasts), the past few days have given me quite the experience with time travel of sorts. Mostly just time zones, circadian rhythms, and the beautiful human need of sleep. 

I fully intended to write my days down in a journal. Why not hit a double whammy and write it all here while my recovering fried brain will still let me use words? 

Let me read you in on what's been happening since......Thursday morning. In truth, this is when I had to start to fully appreciate the........fun. We'll call it jet lag preparation (Interesting because I've never experienced jet lag in my life, let alone learned how to prepare for it).

CST- Central Standard Time

Thursday, 10:00am CST- I fully intended on sleeping later this day, considering I stayed up later the night before with the intention of acclimating for my Thursday night shift. But no. My brain decides I'm being too lazy and it's time to seize the day. Errands and minor packing ensue throughout the day. 

5:40pm CST- I leave on my hour drive to work. 

7:00pm CST- Work begins. My 12 hour night shift trudges on. 

Friday, 8:30am CST- Shift has ended up and I've driven back to Grand Rapids. I'm looking for a bagel.

1:30pm CST- I've been awake for over 27 hours without sleep. I ran errands, packed some more, made a list, checked it twice, printed itineraries, and ran more errands. 

2:00pm CST- Sleep. Glorious sleep. Beautiful sleep. 

6:30pm CST- I wake up. Because silly brain. 

8:30pm CST- 3/4 of the apartment roomies look at a potential couch. Cousin time ensues. Popcorn has been eaten. 

Saturday, 2:30am CST- Packing is finished. I'm at the point where I stare at my stuff for 5 minutes, wondering what it does. Some of my biggest ponderings: Socks. Chargers. Camera. (In case I reach that point again: Socks go on your feet. Chargers give your phone power. Cameras take pictures. Go to sleep.)

6:30am CST- Time to awaken and leave in 20 minutes (I take little time to be ready). Erica (dear roommate that decided she was okay driving 7 hours to drop me off at the airport and drive home) and I wanted bagels and coffee but mostly coffee. Favorite bagel place opens at 8 on Saturdays. Boo. McDonalds it is. 

10:40am CST- Drop-off and check-in. I'm  87% sure the airline kiosk agent/assistant  thought I had no clue what I was doing or maybe even that I had never flown before. Sleep deprivation does things to you. And McDonalds coffee. They both make you shake. Little did he know this would be my 9th flight within a month and a half--this being the 5th time of those flying solo. I'm still thankful for his help. 

11:30am CST- Eat real food. Meet 2 Guatemalans on my flight. Those two events aren't correlated. 

12:50pm CST- Fly to Chicago. 

3:00pm CST- Gawk at the alarmingly large airplane that's going to take me to London. Change into pajamas because I am a winner. Maybe. But at least I'm comfy for the 8 hour blood clot-inducing, sleep depriving, transporting piece of metal tube. 

4:40pm CST- Load up and fly out. I am seat 42C, aisle. Almost on the tail of the plane. Almost. I sit next to a guy named Scott, from Oklahoma. Scott talks about the Arsenals soccer team. That's about it. He was a pleasant fellow though. It could have been worse. He could have been a mini gold fanatic or something. (Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a game of mini golf. However, you can only talk about a sport for so long before Lizzie starts to twitch and spazz.)

BST- British Summer Time (6 hours ahead of CST)

Sunday, 6:15am BST- Arrival in London. My scrambled brain's thoughts: Ohmywordanewcontinent. Securityisazoo. Londonissofoggy. Everyonesoundsawesome. Godsavethequeen. Whereismygate

London. Foggy and still lovely.

CEST- Central European Summer Time (7 hours ahead of CST)

 12:35pm CEST- I hug my parents. In the Madrid airport. Madrid looks beautiful. At first, you fly in to the airport and there's flatness and plains. Then once your parents and the Pewett Family take you to downtown Madrid; think: little cars, green trees, and tall buildings everywhere with flowers and plants on apartment windowsills.

7:00pm CEST- We got to attend a Gospel Choir concert, one of the missionaries' ministries in Madrid. They set up workshops over the weekend teaching a group of Spaniards gospel songs in English. The weekend ends with a concert performing what they've learned. City Hall is reserved for Sunday night. The workshop members invite their friends and family. It's a community event. Get this: some of the Gospel Choir members aren't even believers. Throughout this whole weekend of workshops, they're learning these songs, being taught their meaning in Spanish, and continuously explained what each of the songs mean. They're essentially being taught the gospel as they prepare for this concert. When everyone shows up for the concert, it's sold out. Chairs are filled. People pile in the back. Heat fills the room, yet it deters no one. Everyone is clapping, stomping their feet, waving their hands, and repeating words when told. They love it. For a nation who has ostracized and labeled evangelical Christianity as basically a cult, more than a hundred people leave that night with smiles on their faces and at the very least, a positive impression or question of who Christ truly is.

Walking the streets of Madrid at sunset

Gospel Choir of Madrid

11:00pm CEST- We have returned to our wonderful host's home and they feed us delicious food. Dinner is served later in the evening--anywhere between 8-10pm. Lizzie is tired. This is a good thing because in Minnesota time (CST) it's 4:00pm. It's almost Ultimate Frisbee time or something. After 2 days of travel, 3 different planes, and 11 and a half hours of flight time, a good night's sleep sounds ridiculously good. 

Monday, Madrid Day- We walk 7.25 miles this day. We take a lot of pictures and see as much as we can. Flight leaves tomorrow! Apologies for the low-quality iPhone pictures. This day deserved better.

Metro, please.

A street alley

Tuesday, 3:00pm CEST- Flight out of Madrid. It's a little sad. We're huge fans of the Pewetts, their love for Jesus and the people of Spain. The last morning was spent with some quality Tim and Ginnie time at their favorite neighborhood coffee/breakfast nook. Quality couple, I tell you. They will be missed. 

A selfie with family.... a famfie?
Anyway, Nelsons and Pewetts. Together in a picture. Yay.

WAT- Western Africa Time (6 hours ahead of CST)

Wednesday, 1:00pm WAT- We're tired. We're also thankful we're safe. We flew to London. 2 and a half hours. We flew to Johannesburg, South Africa and saw the sunrise. 11 hours. We flew to Windhoek, Namibia. 2 hours. 15 and a half hours of total flight time. We've been screened for Ebola twice so far using thermal video screening. They keep letting us in so we're assuming we're okay. We spend the night at a guest house, awaiting our flight to Lubango tomorrow. Flights into Lubango are limited--if you don't catch it at the right time and day, you wait. So we wait. We eat supper. We walk around the neighborhood. We almost fall asleep. We laugh because it's only 6:00pm. We shower. It's wonderful. Lizzie freaks about the sunset. because look.

After a gazillion tries, I had to stop.
It's not like any camera was going to give God's handiwork tonight justice.

Mom and Dad go to sleep, but coincidentally the internet speed I've been using to blog and upload pictures for the past 4+ hours is now improved. So blogging and picture uploading will continue. Itwillbefinished. 

I should still sleep. After all, Angola is tomorrow.
After such a long time waiting and a whole lot of time travel, it's tomorrow.