This process so far has been quite surreal. I have had to continually tell myself what I am doing- “I am going to Germany, not for a vacation.
The first flight went by pretty quickly. Sat next to a man and his little boy, on their way to Disneyworld. I watched a dumb movie for most of the flight.
The flight to Germany was the most eventful flight I have ever been a part of. Talk about the things you’d like to have someone with you for. The first few hours I was sitting in the back row next to a young German couple who felt it necessary to kiss every 30 seconds. Gross…I tried to focus on other things…Then one of the flight attendants came on over the intercom to tell us that because of a medical emergency with one of the passengers, we would have to turn around and go back to Miami. A few minutes later several attendants and one of the other passengers carried a man who looked very purple down the aisle to the back of the plane. A bit later we were told that we were going to have to land in the Bahamas instead. Apparently the other passenger helping to carry the man was a doctor and he didn’t think that the man would survive the extra thirty minutes it would take to get to Miami as opposed to landing in the Bahamas.
The dying man’s wife came and sat down behind me. I just kept hearing her apologize to the flight attendant, “I am so sorry. I feel so bad for all of these people.” The flight attendant kept assuring her that it was fine, that everyone would understand. The woman didn’t seem distraught at all over her husband. She remarked, “he’s probably going to be fine, as soon as we land.” As though the guy was just being dramatic. I felt so sad for this couple, for the man fighting for his life, for his seemingly unaffected wife, and for the strange relationship they must have. After about an hour and a half, the plane began circling down down and down. I could see the altitude numbers on the PA screen dropping….soon we were on the ground and the flight attendants opened the back emergency exit door. The wife said, “Oh good, we’re going out back here? Now we don’t have to walk by all those people.” Surely, I thought, this woman is somewhat in shock.
The man was taken from the plane and put on an ambulance. Then the waiting began. “we have to fill out paperwork” we were told. We waited an hour. “We have to get more fuel” added to the wait. Then, “We must contact our headquarters in Berlin to see where we should go, we cannot go back to America.” One hour turned to two, then three. Then we heard “we are still waiting on word from Berlin. We will serve a cold meal and turn on a movie.” I ate my cold sandwich and watched the second dumb movie in two days, this time “Arthur.” I drifted in and out of sleep. By the end of the movie we had gotten word that we would have to go to Punta Cana, in the Dominican Republic. Air Berlin had a station there. The crew would get their mandatory 10 hour break and we would all be put up in a hotel. The hour and a half flight commenced.
We landed in the D.R. in the middle of the night. Most everything was dark and I couldn’t make out what the place looked like, except for the building.
We went into the open air airport and got our baggage. I was disappointed to find out our luggage wouldn’t stay on the plane because I didn’t want to have to deal with my two mammoth suitcases..but oh well. Up to this point I had made very little communication with anyone. About 90 percent of the people on the flight were German and the combination of the language barrier and my fatigue led me to stay quiet most of the day. Now in the airport I took my cues from my fellow passengers. There’s a luggage cart around that corner. I waited in the back of the crowd for it to thin out so I would have space to maneuver the insanely heavy bags I had packed. I loaded them up and followed the line through customs. I got another coveted stamp in my passport and followed the trail of people back out to the front of the airport. An airport service man took my bags from the cart and put them onto a dolley and took them out to buses that everyone was loading onto. Of course I had no money for tip, hopefully this man understood our situation? I got on the bus and picked a spot to settle in. We were told we were going to a hotel 30 min away.
On arriving and again unloading everyone’s bags, we now migrated to a meeting room where we would be registered with the hotel. I started realizing that I was definitely with Europeans- no one is polite about lines or space. The rule is there are no rules, it’s every man for himself and I would have to decide whether or not I was going to do things their way or be last in everything. I continued to deal with this dilemma all night as I could not bring myself to cut in front of people, to throw my body or bags in front of someone next to me. I continually felt frustrated by the people who would see a line of people and yet walk right to the front and jump in.
My dilemma led me to being the very last passenger in my hotel room- I later found out that another passenger had already been sleeping in his room for two hours by the time I got to my room around 5:30 in the morning. Upon entering my room I was able to forget my exhaustion for a second as my eyes beheld the large suite with a king sized bed, couch and sitting area and balcony leading out to one of the pools. I searched the mini fridge and found that the contents were included with the stay and I helped myself to the only food item inside- a bag of lays potato chips. The first food I had eaten since the cold sandwich, those chips had never tasted so good.
I tried to get the internet up on my computer so I could check in with family and friends, but no dice. Apparently the one thing not included in this all included resort was free wi-fi. I shut the laptop down, set two alarms, got ready for bed and crawled into that large slice of heaven for the next four hours.
I woke up around 10 on Sunday morning. I walked out to my balcony to spend a few minutes looking at:
I packed up my things and set out to find the front desk again. I stepped out the door to amazing humidity. The walk to the front desk had me sweating and I realized the jeans and t-shirt were a huge mistake. I went back to my room and changed. I tried calling the front desk to see if they could send someone to help me with my bags but no one answered. I set out with my two huge bags, backpack and purse. I was sweating bullets as I pulled those 100+ pounds down the sidewalk. I spotted one of the hotel bell boys with a bag cart about halfway through my trek and waited for him to come help me. Sure enough he offered to take my bags and I gladly let him. He said he had to go to one more room to pick up bags and he’d meet me at the front desk. I obliged, praying that I really would see him and my bags again…Back at the “lobby” (a huge open air room with bar area, restaurant and lounge) I searched for something to eat and drink. I found pineapple juice and a table with pastries. I downed two of the pastries and a few cups of juice and waited for my bags which yes, did show up. Again I had no money to pay the man and just hoped he wouldn’t hate me too much.
Next it was getting onto the bus. I joined the crowd of people from my flight, making some small talk with a few of the girls I remembered from the night before. After about an hour’s wait all of us were loaded again onto buses. A guy named Vijay began talking with me on the bus from across the aisle. We chatted on the ride to the airport. Upon arriving our bags were unloaded and the airport workers were waiting to help us with bags. I knew they were all hungry for tips and I tried to just grab my own bags to avoid once again disappointing some worker, but of course I wasn’t fast enough. I followed some dude with my bags to the line and I tried to explain to him that I didn’t have any money as he just stood next to me in line. Vijay came up behind me and handed me a $5. I thanked him and handed it to the man who then nodded at me and left…I thanked Vijay again and offered him some Euro but he told me not to worry about it. We were now at the back of yet another line, which was obviously going to be an hour at least of a wait. We continued chatting and making small talk. He is from India but works in Paris. He was giving me tips about living in Europe- keep an open mind, don’t be offended by harsh comments because Europeans speak their minds and don’t sugar coat things, try to learn the language, etcetc etc. He helped me roll one of my bags through the line and “soon” enough we were at the front of the line.
Next it was back through security and to our gate. Of course our gate didn’t say Berlin on it, but Miami. We spent a few minutes trying to figure out if we were at the right gate, and ended up just hoping for the best, taking the word of some of our fellow passengers that we were in the right place. I realized how much on this trip I just hoped for the best and followed along. I hope that this method continues to give me the success it has so far . Sure enough we got on the correct flight another hour or so later. Once in the air it was crazy to think of all we had been through so far.
Vijay and I talked some more on the plane. Eventually we were able to talk about God. Funny enough, it came up when he asked me what music I liked and I said in my list that I listen to Christian music. He began to tell me why he doesn’t like Christian music though he is a Catholic. I then got to explain why I do like it, how it reminds me about the truths about God, how it directs my heart to praise and admire Him, how God has used it in my life during hard times to encourage me…This led into talking about all sorts of things in regards to Christ and the Bible. Vijay asked me at some point if I had a lot of friends who believe like I do and I was able to tell him more about that. I am hoping that I could show him someone with a genuine relationship with God.
With about four hours to go in our trip we both decided to try to sleep. Of course that didn’t go so well, but I slept on and off for the next few hours. Finally they served us “breakfast” which I was very excited for and of course disappointed to find we were already starting the German breakfast of bread, lunch meat, and cheese. At least I got some coffee!
On arriving to Berlin we began to clap. Our journey was finally ended. Vijay helped me to collect my bags (he didn’t have to get his as he was still going on to Paris). As soon as I walked out of the baggage claim Cosi was there and we hugged. It was so great to see her! Her Opa had brought her and would drive us home. He didn’t speak any English but he was very sweet. I wished I could have spoken to him. I just kept saying thank you.
When we got home Cosi had to go back to school and everyone else was gone. I took a few minutes to get online and check facebook then I went to my room and crashed. I took comfort in the fact that I had some sleeping pills so I could take one at night . The four hour nap felt amazing.
When I woke up everyone was home and were gathering to eat so I joined them. Delicious! Rice and chicken. We watched a little bit of the German basketball team playing Latvia, Nowitski was a pleasure to see again though it was Chris Kaman who was doing most of the scoring in the part of the game we saw. Soon it was off to Guido’s practice (Guido is Cosi’s dad and he coaches a club team of 16 year old boys). Cosi and I went along because some of the boys I know from Crossover were on the team- including Kjell who is the boy in the family that hosted Carrie and I this year. I was so excited to see him, and Adrienne, both who have been at Crossover every year that I have been. Then I saw Florian, a boy from last year and then Denis! I was so surprised to see Denis, he was walking up to me and I did not recognize him at all. I was thinking “does this guy know me? He is walking up to me like he does”…then I realized it was him! Denis came to Crossover in 2008. He was there again in 2009 but I wasn’t, and in 2010 and this summer he was on vacation during camp, so this was my first time to see him in three years. He is all grown up! He was very excited to see me and told me that he has great memories from 2008, especially from me answering his questions about God. What a wonderful way to be greeted!!
All this to say, the start of this journey has already been very eventful. I am excited to be here but still nervous for how things will work out. I just keep turning that back over to God. So far it looks like the team I will coach and the team I will play for basically practice at the same times. The team I coach is to practice two evenings a week, and the team I am to play for has it 4 evenings a week. I may only get to practice myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I really hope somehow it can work out differently…
Tonight is the first practice with the team I will coach. We have no idea how many kids will show up, and I have been told it could be kids from age 7 all the way to 14. I have also found out that this may be more like training sessions than an actual team. As usual, everything is up in the air ….
To be continued…
My wonderful, thoughtful, brilliant family hid these in my suitcase before I left so that when I got to Germany and unpacked my bag I found a letter from each of them- including Alexis and Charlotte...Also, I had some cards from Grace- one from before going on the Crossover trip, and one from when we said goodbye in CA...
