I will let you in on our exciting adventure so far. Our first flight was Saturday, June 26th at 8:30pm to LA. Then LA to Hong Kong where a day was skipped and we went right into June 28th. There was miscommunication between the airlines so it took us a long time at the LA airport to get our next boarding passes. The plane ride to Hong Kong from LA was about 15 hours. Thankfully we all got some sleep so it did not seem super long. I have never been in a plane that big before. Two isles, 9 seats on each row, the front half had beds and a nice tv. Then from Hong Kong we took another plane to Ho Chi Minh City, then our final short plane trip to Phenom Phenh Cambodia. We are staying the night in a beautiful hotel and had a great dinner in it's restaurant.
For all of you reading this who went with me on the mission trips to Mexico, Cambodia feels and looks like Mexico to me. When I walked outside of the airport I saw tons of motor bikes, crazy traffic, stores lined up and down the streets, people walking everywhere, etc. It looks exactly like Arcelia. I think that is cool.
Some funny things to share: James and Debbie got separated from Dr. Hazelip and me in one of the airports. We were trying to get to the second floor with our four carts of luggage. Only two at a time could fit in the elevator, so James and Debbie went first. They went to what they thought was the second floor, but was only the first. Dr. Hazelip and I were having a hard time getting the escalator to stop on the "second" floor, it kept going from "first floor" back up to "third floor," when really we were right all along when needing to go up. We finally get to the floor the other two are on and there is an escalator. James managed to get his buggy of luggage up the escalator and attempted to get Debbie's cart up when half way the wheel gets stuck and stops the escalator. Dr. Hazelip and I finally get out of the elevator and witness the hilarious sight and also clearly notice the "do not put carts up the escalator sign." Everyone around, along with us, died laughing.
Another funny story. One our second to last plane ride, Debbie and I fill out the custom form with blue ink. We are finally finished and look at the directions at the bottom, "please fill out in black or green ink." GREEN???? Of all colors, green ink? I just thought that was very random, we had a good laugh. We were preparing to tell the workers at customs that we were color blind and thought the blue ink looked green. Haha not really but that would have been funny.
Third funny memory, I was feeling a little motion sick on the third plane ride. We were given lunch on this flight. Our two options were chicken and noodles or an omelette. I thought, oh great, chicken noodle soup! That will be perfect for my upset tummy. I open my bowl and see what Debbie called "oriental chicken noodle soup." Not quite Campbell's but it was good nonetheless.
We are having breakfast in the lobby at 6am and then driving five hours to the ship. We will begin our first day of seeing patients. This will be my last time to post a blog until the weekend when we become tourists and stay at a hotel.
A cool fact, our nurse Debbie has my mom's exact maiden name!!!
Everyone is well, we are already having a great time, trying to take some pictures, and are looking forward to helping people feel better. TTFN!!! Continue praying for us that everyone around can see that we are here to be a light and a hope.
Blessings,
Megan
