Obstacles abound

10/21/11

Spent awhile last evening in my weary state composing a few paragraphs to let you know of the obstacles God had brought me through getting me safely here to Kathmandu only to have the internet duck out on me just as I hit "send!"

Ooopps had forgotten to save in drafts so lost it all and am trying again!

I'm here in Kathmandu in spite of it all, all the obstacles that is.

Tuesday I arrived at SeaTac in good time and checked in only to be told by Alaskan, that the name was spelled wrong on my ticket... ("Down" instead of Dawn) and didn't match my passport so they would not let me on the plane... "I needed to get my tickets all reissued before that could happen and Korean air closes in 10 minutes so you better hurry to the far end of the building and get it straightened out.... and no you cannot leave any or all of this luggage here you must take it all with you!" AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

So I managed to find a cart for my huge pieces of luggage and get down there to discover there is a $100 fee to reissue a ticket. I explained it was a Korean lady with broken English at the travel agency who made the error. They called her... she was not in a good mood, whining about "all this fuss over one little letter" but agreed to rebook the ticket and fax it within 10 minutes. 30 minutes later nothing had come through and time was a tickin' and now she would not answer the phone! The girls in the Korean Air office were now really eager to get out of there, so agreed to waive the fee, and personally walk me to the Alaskan air counter to expedite me onto my flight and they put some note in the computer and gave me a copy of it signed by this office in case I had any future issues with it and let me go. The new Alaskan agent was much kinder... it was no problem for them that there was a typo that was corrected and she was able to book my luggage all the way to K-du so I wouldn't have to hassle with it along the way! Huge blessing for me!

I then had to literally RUN through SeaTac, push through security lines, down the escalator, jump the train to the "N gates", fly up the escalator stairs on the other end and sprint to the gate only to find myself last in line and 3 minutes away from gate closing! WHEW! I hate starting off a trip all hot and sweaty!!!!! It's like waking up to an argument first thing in the morning! NOT COOL! I found my seat and forced myself to do deep breathing exercises! But I had made it! Now to madly text a few folk I had alarmed and asked to pray for me...

A few minutes into the flight I took the opportunity to introduce myself to my seat mate and struck up a lovely conversation... she was a delight, and seemed very interested in my mission. By the end of the trip she had indicated she wants to sponsor one of our orphans and maybe someday even volunteer. She slipped me $200 in cash as we exchanged email addresses and said to use it for the orphans... the shoes I had been talking about? See God is good! All the time! Who knows if I would have sat next to her without the name game challenges just pre-flight (I didn't have a seat assignment did I?) Now I have a new friend to boot!

Arriving in LAX came with more challenges! A frantic text from Susan indicated she had missed her flight from Dallas and would not make my next flight with me! I called and did get through to her. American had double booked her on their flight and WOULD NOT let her on in spite of all the managers she pulled into the equation. They did let 3 of their un-ticketed staff get on standby however!!!~! Go figure. Her luggage went to LAX and she was left standing. The travel agent got in on it (um the same one that whined about mine) and best they could arrange was the next flight out 2 days later (Korean only flies to K-du 3 days a week... getting to Seoul was no problem but getting on from there was!) So she should be over the pacific somewhere as we speak and has a long layover in Seoul, (which they better take care of her in a nice hotel!) and she is due in here at noonish tomorrow (Saturday). Soooo what to do? All lessons in flexibility of plans and expectations!

I am still struggling with a bad cold. Miserable to fly with nasal and sinus congestion!!!! I am grateful I did get one of my other prayers answered as well! I asked God for 3 seats together so I could stretch out! He heard my prayer and gave it to me on the long flight from LAX to Seoul so almost 13 hours of rest and badly needed sleep was my blessing! Yippee!

I also got a good night of sleep here in Nepal last night so hopefully I will not encounter any significant "jet lag!" Pray for the same for Susan to have adequate rest and health so we can hit the ground running shortly after she arrives. So much to do and see... and so little time to accomplish it all!

I am feeling triumphant... I tried to get Plexiglas in the USA for the bakery windows... the dimensions are just too big to have fit in my suitcase and would have cost $150 to buy and cut it there and another $130 to wrap it separately and bring it on the plane with me.  SCORE! I just mentioned it to some of the staff here at the Utse and a little man took me up on the roof and asked "is that what you want?" It is exactly what I want!!!! So they are giving me their source and I can pursue what I thought was totally unavailable here! I can predict it will be under $280 to secure and ship to Dadeldhura! So once again God has proved Himself to be in my corner, and at my back and leading the way before me! Is it any wonder I love Him back!

Well gotts' to go. My "son" (I have several young Nepali's that call me "MOM") is meeting me for lunch at the Ja Zoo in Jhawelekhel so better hoof it!

More to come...

Thanks for praying us here... just pray us together really soon!

Dawn Didi