I've Arrived

After much traveling I arrived in Bandung, Indonesia last Friday night. I left LAX really early on Thursday morning and flew to Taipei, Taiwan. That was the longest flight (about 14 hours) but luckily I was able to sleep on and off for almost 8 hours or maybe even more so it didn't feel that long. They served us dinner at 3:00am and breakfast right before we landed. Then I had a lay over in Taiwan for just an hour. They sent us off the plane, out of the terminal, around the corner to go through security, up some stairs, around the corner to tell someone our name, down some stairs just to end up right back in the same terminal we started in (just one big circle). The next flight was from Taiwan to Malaysia. It took about 4 hours and they served us lunch. The airport in Malaysia was beautiful with lots and lots of windows and glass walls everywhere letting you see out to lush green scenery. After about an hour and a half lay over we boarded a plane for Jakarta. This last plane was smaller but they still served us lunch (again). It only took about 2 hours to fly from Malaysia to Jakarta. Once in Jakarta a friend and I navigated the airport to pick up our bags, exchange money, clear through the passport/visa station, and get through customs. Luckily we got through without any problems and even saw a familiar face on the other side as we left the airport to get picked up. Jennie, a science teacher here at BAIS, is someone I met at my Pre-Field Orientation. She was there and rode the school van with us from the airport in Jakarta to the school in Bandung. This was especially nice because she is almost fluent in the language here and was able to help us along the way. We were able to stop at a Starbucks and A&W. However, this might have been my first culture shock as the only bathrooms there were squat pots which you had to pay to use and had no toilet paper. Along with that right next to the bathrooms was a small mosque that looked like just another enterance to the bathrooms. Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and it took us over 5 hours to get to Bandung. They took us to our apartments and we basically went to bed. That is my recap of the journey. There is lots more to tell but I'm going to try and do it gradually. Keep checking here for more fun stories and tidbits about life here. (Sorry it took me awhile to initially get a chance to update here.) I love you all and thank you for your many prayers of safe travels. Continue to pray for health and rest.

In the Malaysia Airport after many hours of travel