Turkish Delight and Flat Tires

Overall, we had a pretty smooth trip getting here. After saying goodbye to our families, we went through security, and we didn’t have any problems. We made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare, so we were able to sit and talk for a little. 

The real fun started once we got on the plane. The takeoff went fine, and after we were in the sky, the flight attendants came by with some presents for everyone. First, we got Turkish Delight, and Bekah commented on how she now understood why Edmond liked it so much (Chronicles of Narnia reference). Then we received hot washcloths- we had no idea what to do with these. We tried to look around to see what others were doing with them, but everyone else looked just as confused. We decided to follow everyone’s example, so first, we put them on our necks, next we washed our face, and finally we washed our hands. 

Soon after, we got our food. When we had ordered our plane tickets, we were asked what type of meal we wanted. There was no option for the normal meal. We did not want to miss out on a meal though, so Lauren had ordered the vegetarian meal, and Bekah ordered the fruit platter. As the flight attendants brought everyone their food, we realized that we could have just left that option blank, so we had quite a laugh about our unique meals. 

After that, we were able to watch some movies and get some rest on the 9 ½ hour flight. Thank you for all of the prayers for Lauren’s head, as it only hurt as we descended on that flight. When we landed, we only had about 50 minutes until the boarding time for our next flight, so we were a little worried about that. Fortunately, we were able to get to that gate quickly- only needing to ask for directions twice. Once to our gate, Lauren was able to buy very expensive ‘exotic’ orange juice to take some more Sudafed. 

On our next flight from Turkey to Ouaga, we were able to watch some more movies (and Lauren slept some more). This flight was fairly uneventful. We got more of our special meals, some more Turkish Delight, and some exotic Turkish Hazelnuts. We were, however, hopeful that no one would have the seat between us, because we were using that seat for our very large backpacks that didn’t fit in the overhead compartments. We had a scare at one point, when a man seemed to be looking at that seat, but he eventually just moved farther back in the plane without a word. We were grateful for that. 

Once we landed, we went through customs, and got fingerprinted, without any problems. We got our luggage with the help of a porter, and then went out and found Mike and Amy Riddering, who are in charge of Sheltering Wings. Unfortunately, Bekah’s suitcase got a little destroyed on the plane ride, which will make it fun on the way home for her. Mike and Amy then took us to a Missionary Guest House, which was about ten minutes from the airport. Lauren and Bekah were able to get online as well as call home to talk to their families. We slept well that night, and due to Lauren’s alarm not going off, woke up late the next morning.

That day, we went to a couple of different places in Ouaga (the capital of Burkina Faso). We first stopped at a bakery called ‘Cappuccino’ and got pastries for breakfast, as well as mango juice- Yum! We stopped at a couple of places for Mike, as well as the grocery store and the bank. At the grocery store, Bekah got some hair products, and Lauren got cookies and cashews. At the bank, we had some small problems withdrawing money, but that has since then been taken care of. 

Then… the trip to Yako was very interesting. The first hour and a half went smoothly- Bekah talked to Mike and Amy as Lauren tried (and failed) to keep her eyes open. Then, with about a half hour left in the trip, the back right tire went flat. Luckily, we had Mike to put the spare on. Amy, Bekah and Lauren stood and watched/guarded as Mike did the dirty work. We were once again underway, when, low and behold, the spare went flat. Awesome. This time, we had to wait for someone to come from Yako, so Amy, Bekah and Lauren stood in the shade while Mike guarded the car. 

It took about 20 minutes for Immanuel to arrive with the truck to pick up the tires so that they could get repaired. The ladies would be going back with Immanuel to Yako, while Mike, once again, guarded the van. Bekah and Lauren got in the bed of the truck, excited to ride ‘African style’ back to Yako, but then the truck would not start. We had to get out, push the truck back away from the van, and then push it forward so that Immanuel could get it started. After the truck started, we once again got back in the bed of the truck. 

The ride to Yako was bumpy and windy and blurry for Bekah (she had to take her glasses off so that they wouldn’t fly away or get dirty). Once we arrived, we heard our very first ‘Nazara bonbon’, which all of the kids shout when they see white people. The story behind this, is that when missionaries first came, they gave candies (bonbons) to the children, teaching about Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, white people must always carry around pockets full of candy all the time. We have grown to love this saying over the past week.