Traveling is always a challenge, but on The World Race it can be down right ridiculous! To watch about my last travel day drama, read my blog titled Travel Day Adventures.
Since Noe and I had to get a different flight from our group and had a lot of trouble and inconvenience with the rebooking, Kenya Airways gave each of us a voucher for $300 USD for our troubles. We were not able to cash it in Bangkok because the accounting office was in the part of town where they were having riots. We were told we could get it cashed in Nairobi, so yesterday we called the office and were told to come down and they would be able to take care of us.
We got a taxi to the airport and when we got to their office they said they did not have enough US dollars to give us the money and that the accountant was gone and the bank was closed. I was frustrated because we had called ahead and were told something completely different. We realized that customer service is not always the same around the world and there was really nothing we could do about it, so we confirmed with them that we would be able to do it the next day. They even told us to come at 2:00 p.m. and everything would be okay.
On the way back to the hostel we were bummed because we spent $30 on a taxi for nothing! Then a really cool thing happened. We drove by a stadium and it was so busy. People were walking everywhere. We askedour taxi driver what was happening and he said that today was their independence day and the president of Kenya was speaking at the stadium. At that time our taxi was stopped at the front of an intersection. A few minutes later police cars and government cars started driving by right in front of us. Our taxi driver told us that the president’s car would have two flags on it. Sure enough, a few minutes later a huge number of motorcycle police came by guarding a car with two flags. WE GOT TO SEE THE PRESIDENT OF KENYA DIRVE BY! It was a good end to a frustrating experience.
We went back to the airport today at 2:00 p.m. and the accountant was out to lunch. We kindly waited and eventually got the money.
It’s been a crazy experience, but God provided some extra money. God has told me that it was free money that I was not expecting so to bless others who are not expecting it. I can’t wait!! Giving is so much fun and God continues to provide all my needs!
