Adventure One: The Arrival

Well, I have made it to Myanmar, and, by all means, already had my first adventure! It began in the Airport. Here we go:

I got the arrived at the airport in Myanmar at about 4:00 pm on May 26^th here (that would be 4:30 am on the same day in the USA, central time). I proceeded to the arrivals port – and instead of getting my baggage before going through customs like I was supposed to (I didn’t see the baggage claim, I swear!), I just went through customs – so I had to go back. I waited for my luggage for a long time…and I was pretty much freaking out, because it was not showing up…but then it did, praise God! So, I got that, went back through customs, and entered the waiting room: and the problem began. The Mawias were not there(Bishop Mawia and his wife Caroline and daughter Christer are my contacts here. They are the family of my friend Hilary from Southwestern). I had thought about this possibility, and knew the hotel I was supposed to stay at – so after waiting awhile, I went got someone to help me get a taxi to the hotel – which cost 6 dollars. Side note – speaking of money, I thought I was supposed to exchange all of my money at the airport, but didn’t, because I could not find a money changer. So, I was a bit worried about that – and the cab driver I was riding with offered to exchange some money with me, but I didn’t know what a good exchange rate was – so, by no means was I about to do that. Anyway – I got in the cab, and he began to drive. And drive. And continue to drive. By this time, I was very scared, but refused to cry until I got to my room (which I almost did not accomplish, but did! Ya for me!) and held myself together. So, naturally, I was thinking, “God, please! Please let him take me to the place I am supposed to be taken to!” And we continued to drive. Then, finally, we got there. I don’t know how long it actually took, but it felt like hours! (The cab driver was a good man, and very nice to me, and told me about where he thought I should go to see the pagodas in the country after I asked him about the pictures of the Buddha that he had in his cab. Also, he spoke English way better than I was expecting!) Anyway, we got to the hotel, and I didn’t want to check in right away, just in case I was not supposed to be at this hotel – so I asked to use the internet (2 dollars an hour. Not bad, compared to how much it costs to call from here...), but could not get onto gmail. I didn’t remember Caroline’s email address. So, I signed onto my school account and emailed my friend Hilary and asked her – rather pleadingly – to contact her parents for me, since I could not. And then, I decided to check into the hotel for the night. It was 55 dollars – which sounded fine to me! It was just one night, anyway. I knew that the Mawias would get the message sooner or later. So, I checked in and paid, then went to my room and allowed myself to break down for a bit. When I felt a bit better, I went back to the business center to see what could be done about connecting to gmail. (The business center is where you pay for internet services and can use computers for a charge, but I have mine, thank goodness! They also sell beverages and little things you might have forgotten from home – like, perhaps, an adapter for the plug-ins here…no, they are nothing like the ones in the US… Yes! But, I didn’t have to buy one, I just asked for one to be sent to me in my room – only because the lady in the business center said I could do that, and didn’t really need to buy one. Oh, the people of Myanmar! Praise the Lord, they are wonderful!! Anyway…). I knew that I could and it wasn’t blocked by the government, since Caroline uses gmail, so I was not too worried, just needed to get on. I then found out that I needed to use https:// instead of http://, and all was well. I emailed Caroline and my family, and signed off. Then, for the first time in two days on an airplane, I took a shower. I have never in my life been so glad to take a shower. It was awesome!

It was about that time that I realized my luggage was locked and I had forgotten where I put the key. So, I was locked out of that – and I tried everything to get into that stupid thing. Nothing worked. I tried taking a bobby pin to it, but I have no idea how to pick a lock...I wasn't planning on having to use that skill in my lifetime...maybe I should learn! Luckily, I had packed clothing and all that I needed in my carry-on, just in case my real luggage got lost – so I was able to live out of that. After I had been working on the case of the missing key for awhile, I received a phone call from Caroline! I was very happy to hear her voice! I had calmed down and felt fine about being alone, and was actually beginning to enjoy myself – but I was, nevertheless, very glad that she knew I was in Myanmar! She had thought that I was flying in the John – he arrived on the 28^th, but I had arrived two days earlier. So, they had not come to the airport, because they had not known that I was coming when I did. After I had checked into the hotel, I knew I would be fine – but they felt horrible! I assured them that I was okay – but they were extremely surprised that I had made it to the hotel alone. The Lord has been with me all along. So, they came to pick me up about 15 min later, at about 7:30 (I had been getting ready to go to bed, but I made myself stay awake.) and we went to eat (I wasn’t hungry, but I ate anyway. It is going to take awhile for me to get used to eating when it is the middle of the night in my mind, haha!), and talked about what we were going to do the next day. It was wonderful to see them again (Christer goes to school in Virginia, and had come to see Hilary earlier in the school year so I met her then, and the Bishop and Caroline had been traveling to a conference for the United Methodist Church and had stopped in Winfield to see Hilary as well, so I met them then.) After that, they took me back to the hotel, and the Bishop talked with the manager/owner (I’m not sure what he is…) and negotiated a lesser price for my stay here because I'm with the Methodist Church (good thing I joined the church again, huh?!) – instead of 55 dollars a night, it will only be 30, which is wonderful! That is the price I had planned for in my financial planning, so it has worked out! I will be staying in the hotel for three more nights, and then John and I will move somewhere else that is cheaper. So, I went to sleep, and slept wonderfully for 13 hours. It was glorious!!