arrival

I’m finally here! After 24 long hours of flying and layovers, I arrived in Cotonou at 7 p.m. last night. The next hour was probably the most stressful of my entire life! Everyone on the plane and in the airport was either French or African therefore spoking only French (or very broken English with a thick French accent which was even more confusing than French itself) and although I have taken French all of my life, I could not communicate at all! I could make out bits and pieces of what they said, but when I tried to speak everyone looked at me like whatever came out of my mouth was just mindless blabber. Finally one man on the plane noticed my US passport and came up to talk to me in English – of course the first thing he asked was “It’s your first time in Africa isn’t it. I can tell”. Great, I actually do look as lost and confused as I feel. We chatted for a bit (turns out he was an American and also used to live in Missouri) and I was able to get my way past security and into the baggage claim. This was just one room probably about the size of a basketball court (think the actual court that is played on, not the whole gym area) with the conveyor belt holding bags snaking around the room and tons of metal carts to help people carry their luggage. Now add in the 250 people on the plane, all of their luggage, the 25 people in uniform “helping” with bags, and the 90 degree humid heat and you make for a very overwhelming experience. After about 20 minutes of pushing my way through people, standing on my tip toes, and jumping, I finally caught one glimpse of the conveyor belt. It took about half an hour, the help of 3 African men, and lots of broken attempts at speaking French, but I finally had my bags. I got ready to push my way back through the crowd of people towards the exit, and soon discovered that one of the wheels on one of my duffel bags had broken. I pushed through the exit doors completely exhausted and disoriented, dripping in sweat, and dragging two 50 pound duffels and could only think of wanting to be at home. Thankfully, I immediately saw the group holding a Mercy Ships sign. Once we recognized each other they were all so nice and excited, and I soon forgot about how much I had hated my first hour in Africa.

The drive from the airport to the ship was another long adventure in itself… in Cotonou, traffic laws are merely vague suggestions. Throughout the entire drive I was tense and terrified, but the most frightening part of the ride was when we drove for two miles down a one way street going the opposite direction. I swore right then that I absolutely will not drive as long as I am here.

Once on the ship, I had to fill out a few papers then got to come to my room. I share a cabin with 5 other girls, all much older than me. It is very close quarters with no natural light, but it is actually fairly comfortable. I was able to unpack all my things and settle in a bit before finally getting some much needed rest.