I have done a lot of travel in my time. I have traveled more than 36 hours without sleep and managed alright but what I experienced a few days ago was unique indeed. It all started with an e-mail and a phone call.
I was planning on traveling to Ukraine January 15th with some team mates for a routine visa trip. Around January 7th I read an e-mail that said “I hope you’re all ready to be out of the country by January 12th.” In shock I called Blythe and everyone began to change there plans. Our new plan was to leave on January 10th. The trip was going to be a quick one so I didn’t bother to give it much thought. I planned on preparing on the 9th. Then on the 8th I got the dreaded phone call. We’re leaving tomorrow morning. So I made a late night trip to the grocery store and began to pack.
Bright and early I was at the school to drop off my Russian registration and from there I headed to the bus station. The eight of us got on our nice new bus at 10:20 only to find out we were not arriving at 6pm but at 10pm. With looks of shock and horror on our faces the bus pulled out. The ride went smoothly and we arrived at the ferry terminal/boarder crossing at 5pm were we received the lovely news that the next ferry wasn’t until 8pm. It was freezing and dark outside so our options were limited to the bus, a small waiting room, or a tent that sold food. We all managed well, even the 2 toddlers and a preschooler. With great expectation 7:15 we got back on the bus hoping to begin passport control soon. Our hope didn’t last long. At 10pm we finally got on the ferry. It decided not to leave for another 45 minutes. Don’t ask me why. So, after 5 hours and 45 minutes we left the boarder crossing. 15 minutes later we arrived in Ukraine to begin passport control all over again and stand in the freezing cold for another hour or so. By 1am we finally arrived at our hotel.
We began our return journey 12 hours later at 1pm and uneventfully arrived in Krasnodar at 8:30 last night.
Praise the Lord it is all done. I now have a visa that is good until July. What did it take?
ONLY….
24 hours of travel in a 36 hour period
5 passport checks
Caring my luggage through boarder control 4 times
Waiting in lines in the freezing cold for probably a grand total of 3 hours
A heck of a lot of patience
MOSTLY, a great God who got us through it all.
1 comment:
Wishing you are in good health and well rested. Just wanted to let you know that you have a little more prayer cover. Read your blog site address in church this morning and been catching up on your work for the Lord. God Richly bless you! It's minus 7 here in Alaska.
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