Monday, February 15, 2010

Arrival




Ok, so we have arrived. 14 hours after leaving Columbus,... bleary eyed from lack of sleep on the plane, and hungry. (Airline food just doesn't quite fill you up)

After church at Grace Fellowship, Andy drove us (Paula, Jared and I) to Easton Town Centre in Columbus. Jared's girlfriend Rachel met us there and soon Miranda showed up with her boyfriend Ben and best friend Alaina. The eight of us ate at the Mongolian BBQ there and had a wonderful time. Between Paula and I embarrassing the kids to Alaina making friends with a piece of calamari prior to eating it, we all spent a lot of time laughing.




From there we all went to the airport to say our last "so-longs" as Paula and I checked through security. Our gate was at the extreme far end of the terminal (isn't it ALWAYS!), and we had an hour or so wait until our flight to Dulles (Washington DC). We were on an Embraer RJ145 Amazon which seats 3 across... good thing it was only for an hour. At Dulles we had just about 2 hours to change terminals (A to D). We got there and I plugged in the laptop and found a free WiFi signal to pass the time.

At 10pm, we boarded a Boeing 777 (wide body) for the 9 hour flight to Sao Paulo. It was dark when we left and we watched "Where the Wild Things Are" (not highly impressed). We tried to sleep after that, and Paula was a bit more successful at it than I was. Eventually I tuned in another movie (Cars) while Paula fidgeted around trying to find a comfortable position. 5 hours after we took off, the sky started to brighten up in the east. It was weird, cause my body still thought it was only 3am. It was 10:30a on Monday (Sao Paulo time) when we pulled up to the terminal. We got our luggage very quickly and walked right through customs. We had an hour at that point to make our connection to Belo Horizonte on the national airline, TAM. But when we got to the check-in counter the line was a mile long... and it wasn't moving. After about 20 min I heard a attendant mention something that sounded like "Belo" so I raised my hand and repeated "Belo, Belo" ... he waved us forward and got us right to the counter. 5 min later our luggage was checked and we were frantically looking for our gate. We made it in time, but it was a closer than I cared.

An hour later we landed in Belo Horizonte. We met Tom and Kathy as we picked up our luggage once again. They took us to a nice "churrascoria" called "Baby Beef." It was a delicious treat. The servers would come to our table with a selection of cooked meat that they would slice off on demand. I had prime rib, sirloin, lamb, and even ... (shock) chicken heart!

Finally we got to their home in Nova Lima, and what a sight! The panorama at the top of this post is the view from their home... and the picture does NOT do it justice.

We both thank the Lord for safely delivering us to this place. Please pray that He will begin to reveal our purpose here over the upcoming weeks.

Also, please remember Miranda in your prayers as she left today (Monday) for a 2 week deployment to the Caribbean, followed by 6 weeks in Turkey.

8 comments:

DigitalGuru said...

It is great to see that you two got there without a lot of fuss with customs and timing. Holly and I are glad that you made it there safely and hope that you are getting some well deserved sleep. Hopefully, Tom and Kathy can put up with your antics for the 7 weeks. I envision a few games of Scrabble, Munchkin and Settlers in their future. We're praying for all of you and hope that you find what God is leading you to there in B.H. Have fun and keep us posted.

Holly and DG

Unknown said...

Congratulations! You are in Brazil! Will enjoy reading your blog. Thinking and praying for you.
Beth Feia

Just us said...

Thanking God you both landed safely. You know Miranda is in our prayers as well as the both of you and of course Jared. Good luck and see you when you get back. Hoping you take some amazing pics. Love you both lots!!!

April & Keith
Dinner on us when you return.

Just us said...

Thanking God that you both arrived safe and sound into the arms of friends. You know we will be praying for Miranda, the both og you and of course Jared. Looking forward to hearing about all this and seeing some amazing pics. Including what Paula sees thru her talents. Dinner on us when you return. Be safe and see you soon.
Love you both,
April & Keith

I.S. said...

Congratulations, guys!

Gyyrad said...

I feel bad for you two. the weather is a chilling 89 degrees F.
I am SOOOO sorry

#1Sis said...

Thanks for messaging me. You've been on my mind and in my heart since we last talked. May
GOD guide you in what you seek and protect you in doing what you love, in his name. You're my BEST bro and family. You are all in our prayers. Talk with you soon!
Luv ya,
#1 Sis & Hub

Kathy Russell said...

We're so glad to hear you made it safely! We will look forward to reading your blogs. Ours prayers continue for you as well as Miranda and Jared.

God bless you,
Tom and Kathy Russell