Safe and Sane (Mostly) in Tiwan

An early morning sun rises over the hills of Taipei. Barbed wired tops the walls of the permieter of the entrance gates. Traffic is plentiful even at this early hour, and trucks bearing Asian script weave in amongst the cars and motos.

Sounds exotic, I guess, but the reality is I'm looking at all of this from inside the airport as I ride one of those fancy conveyor belt thingy's. What's really exciting me more, to be honest, is a sign. SHOWERS!!!!...until I realize I didn't pack at towel...and it wouldn't have mattered anyways because it would NEVER have made it into the "shove it all into your knapsac" scene I describe in the last posting, in which I had to surrender my second carry on to checked baggage.

But I'm here. Taipei. The second of the two layovers, the last of the three flights ahead of me. I feel grubby and tired, but not as much as I remember feeling those two things last time we were at this point in the journey. For the record, so far, the three flight 30 hour deal is way better than the four flights 40 hour deal. We will bear that in mind when we're making arrangements for the team(s) to come out next spring.

So back to last night's flight. Barely slept (if anyone is interested in an exchange critiquing the movies Hancock, Get Smart, and Meet Dave, go for it), but the 14 hours went remarkably fast, in a tedious, I-can't-feel-my-butt-anymore kind of way. I feel somewhat limited by how much reading and computer work I can do by the lack of plug in ports and the fact that, unlike me, everyone around IS sleeping and my reading light would be quite a nuisance.

The woman who sat next to me was Vietnamese. I can't help but keep going back to the fact that for a long time as a junior high, I was fixed on going there as a missionary. It was big in my church at the time. The Christian and Missionary Alliance Church had and still has a strong presence in Vietnam. My seat mate and I didn't talk much, (both our preferences, I think) but our casual conversation was very warm, and reminded me to be praying for the people God loves in that country, and all of Asia's Hope's efforts there of late. I am looking forward to asking Dave Atkins more about what's going on there, when I see him.

The kids would be getting up around the time of this writing, knowing that this is the day I arrive and they get to visit the airport for the first time. It's kind of weird. I really have no idea what this would be like for them. I don't even know what to expect myself. Today's the day!!

IF there's any brain juice in me whatsoever before I go to bed tonight, I'll fill you in on how it all goes down at the airport. Can't wait to see Tutu.

Love you all,

Ruth Anne