Travel day diaries: my multiple day journey to Indonesia
Traveling from one continent to another is not for the faint of heart. Here is a description of my multiple day journey of traveling from Panama City to Los Angeles to China to Jakarta, Indonesia to Ambon, Indonesia.
Thursday April 5th
7pm- So happy to be ending my time at my ministry site with worship. What a beautiful way to end my time in Panama. We got prayed over by our hosts before we left.
8:30 pm-We get to the bus station and we are waiting on team BGC to meet us at the bus station. My squad mate Alyssa jumps out of the van and runs up to me and gives me a hug. My heart is full.
10:00 pm-Bus ride to Panama City begins. Should be about a 6.5 hour ride if the driver is driving at a reasonable speed.
10:05 pm-Spent an hour catching up with Emalea, a squad mate who was on my last team. We were pretty inseparable when we were on the warriors team together. When you go to spending almost every waking moment with someone to not seeing them for 3 weeks it turns into a grand reunion. Emalea is a beautiful and amazing human being. I’m so glad she is in my life.
11:00 pm Gosh I wish I could sleep on buses. I’m impressed that people can enter into deep sleep while sitting in a tight space. I need to start praying a World Race prayer that I can learn to fall asleep on buses.
3 am- We made it to Panama City. Took 5 hours. Turns out the bus was going remarkably fast. Oh well. Time to get off the bus.
3:30 am-Arrive at hostel. Try to explain to the front desk we need 2 separate rooms and somehow it got lost in translation. We end one Co Ed room for our freedom fighters team. Normally it would be weird for me to sleep in a Co Ed room, but I am way too exhausted to care.
3:45 am- The freedom fighters men offer us first pick on the bunk beds. Gentlemen points to the freedom fighters.
4:00 am- Bunk beds are very sketchy and it’s hard to say if they are safe enough to be sleeping in. Boys climb up to the top bunks and the bunk beds shake like crazy. Carter tells me he hopes his bed does not collapse on top of me. We are both hoping for the best.
Friday April 6th:
8:00 am- Eating peanut butter and crackers for breakfast; the World Race breakfast of champions
10:00am- My teammate Debora is boss at navigating. I am so thankful she has this gift. Somehow she got us to the correct bus station by asking around with her limited Spanish skills. I am so grateful there are people in my life that are good at directions because I have zero sense of direction.
10:30 am- Oh my goodness I forgot what a mall looks like. After 3 weeks of living in the middle of nowhere I forgot these large things called malls existed. This mall is so huge it reminds me of the Mall of America. I am admiring the skyscrapers and marveling how skyscrapers were a daily part of my life in the twin cities. After 3 months of no skyscrapers I almost feel like I’m back home in Minnesota.
6:00 pm-Spent time hanging out with squad mates at the Trump Towers in Panama City. There are some amazing humans on my squad. They listened to me process my time in Panama and waited patiently for an honest answer of how I was doing. I am feeling so loved by my squad-mates in this moment.
Saturday April 7th:
Saturday morning: Flew from Panama City to Houston
Arrive in Houston airport: I am eagerly awaiting my opportunity to eat Chic Fil A for the first time in 3 months. Carly waits for me at the end of security and we power walk to the Chic Fil A. I am so excited for Chic Fil A that I run up to the sign. I don’t care how ridiculous I look. After months of having no control over what you eat it feels really good to be eating your favorite American food.
Flight from Houston to Los Angeles
9:30 pm: Uber driver picks us up from the airport to take us to the hotel and she speaks ENGLISH. Wow this is exciting news. The past few months my only interaction with taxi drivers was asking them where they were from, telling them I live in the United States and where I live is cold, and asking them if they have a family. I got to have a 10 minute conversation with my Uber driver and I understood everything she said to me. So cool!
9:45 pm: Arrive at a nice hotel near the airport. What a treat to be in a hotel. Every once in awhile I am tempted to throw my toilet paper in the garbage, but I have to remind myself that for the next 24 hours I am allowed to flush toilet paper.
10:30 pm: Lay down in the bed and shout to Carly, “AHHHHHH this bed is so amazing.” Definition of “amazing” bed includes when I can’t feel the springs and it does not make any super loud noises when I roll over.
Saturday April 8th:
8:00 am: Eat an amazing free breakfast in the hotel; oatmeal and an egg sandwich a true breakfast of champions.
8:30 am-Get in an Uber to head to Santa Monica beach
10:00 am-There is a mass text message sent out to the squad that there is an active shooter in the hotel and to stay in our rooms. The hotel goes into lockdown. We are messaging each other in the group message to see who is in their room and who is in town. We are very shocked to hear that this is going on since we left the hotel feeling carefree and excited for sightseeing in Los Angels. Updates continue throughout the day of what is happening at the hotel with the police investigation. Thankfully nobody got hurt, everyone in the hotel was safe, and the shooter was caught.
11:00 am- There are lots of interesting people on this beach smoking all kinds of things. Debora points out that she is getting high just by walking past these people.
11:30 am- I got a Starbucks for the first time in 3 months. I start to sing the song everything is awesome from the LEGO movie.
2:00- Lunch at In and Out Burger with the Freedom Fighters. Last time I went to In and Out burger I was a vegetarian and only ate fries. This time I returned as a meat eater and devoured the tasty burger.
5:00 pm-Arrive at target for some last minute must haves for the last few months of my Race. Target is so cool because they have anything anyone could possibly need at this store. What a beautiful place!
9:00 pm-It has been a blast being an American for 24 hours. Arrive at Los Angeles airport to fly to China and then Indonesia. Indonesia we are coming for you!
Sunday April 8th:
After landing in China my friend Liv realizes she is missing one of her shoes. I have no clue how she manages to get herself in these situations. We are looking underneath our seats for her shoe. I attempt to ask the Chinese people behind us if they have seen my friend’s shoe and I am unable to control my laughter at this time because I am crazy overtired. The Chinese people look at me like I am from the planet Mars. We finally found her shoe two rows ahead of us.
On the plane to Jakarta, Indonesia: My best friend Libby wrote me a letter for all 12 counties I am visiting this year. Libby is an incredible friend with an amazing heart and receiving these letters has been one of the most loving things someone has ever done for me. Words of encouragement is my top love language and each month when I read a new letter from Libby it brings me so much life. Libby wrote some good words of wisdom in my Indonesia letter that said, “One of my biggest takeaways from my Perspectives class was that if you enter a culture as a learner rather than a teacher, you will have a much better witness to for the gospel.” I absolutely agree with this and I’m excited to enter Indonesia as a learner and learn as much as I can about their beautiful culture.
I am currently at the Jakarta, Indonesia airport drinking coffee and posting this blog. We have a 12 hour layover before we get on one last plane to Ambon, Indonesia. Looking forward to seeing what God has in store as we partner with Wycliffe Bible Translators for the month.
