Back to our story.

We arrived in Frankfort, Germany, with only an hour and a half until our next flight. We had a long walk to the departure terminal, and had to go through security, and even a tram ride. It was fine except for the Frankfort x ray machines were programmed to look for liquids, and even very small amounts of them. In Chicago that hadn’t been a concern at all. Most people had to wait while their bags were examined manually, so the line was long and slow. We got to our departure gate, and Jeremiah went to get our tickets at the desk. Micaiah, Bethany, and Corina already had theirs issued in Chicago, so they could get in line for the gate. The man at the desk seemed not able to even find our tickets, and he worked on it for a while as the clock ticked down to boarding. The lady there told us that our luggage was on the plane so they would not leave without us. I wasn’t real concerned, and thought they’d figure it out! A Kenyan man was causing a ruckus on the plane and a group of policemen came to remove him, so the stress was high behind the desk. Our family just waited. The man assisting Jeremiah was on the phone talking in German, and finally he just gave up. “I have done everything I can, and Lufthansa needs to figure out this mess. You will miss this flight,” he said. Jeremiah asked when the next flight was scheduled. “There is one in 2 hours. It stops in Egypt for a layover, but you have to go to the Lufthansa desk to have them work on this issue.” Jeremiah asked if someone would inform our son about the change, and he came back to us. This didn’t seem like much fun.

Jeremiah went to the Lufthansa desk which wasn’t far away to get help, and we sat on the floor with our stuff. Several of the children went to sleep with their heads on their backpacks. I sat there trying not to fall asleep as I watched people pass. The chaplain of the airport (didn’t realize that airports have chaplains!) came and chatted with me for the longest time. She was sweet, but I was so tired I thought I might fall asleep as we talked. She brought a bag of supplies and goodies: fleece blankets, water bottles, peanuts and Mars bars. Wow! After a long while Jeremiah came back to the first desk, and then told us we needed to head back to the terminal where we had come in (and through security again). And, there was no way we’d get the flight through Egypt, because it was boarding right now. We had to wait for tomorrow morning’s flight to Nairobi! That sounded very exhausting with children, but my first thought was about our covid tests. Would they still be good in Nairobi when we arrived? It would technically be more than 96 hours since we were tested by then. We finally got our boarding passes at the official United desk to leave the next morning, and settled down in a sitting area where we hoped time would pass quickly. The lady behind the desk was so kind, and pretty annoyed that we’d been left behind. She gave us a big bag full of supplies and a few goodies. There were water bottles, pillows, blankets, candy bars and a few snacks. She also gave us food coupons to use inside the airport. It was in euros, but amounted to $19 for each of us. Wow again! We laughed once more about how we “spoiled the Egyptians”.

Our "gifts"

Melita meeting a little friend at the bakery.

Eating our late lunch.

  

By now it was 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon, and we could not (as American citizens because of covid) leave the airport. We were supposed to fly around 11am on Saturday. Everyone was quite hungry, as our breakfast on the last flight had been only yogurt, and a hard roll. So we checked out the nearest (and only) food option in our terminal. It was a bakery (European style) with an array of bread and dessert options. They had pizza sticks, and sub like sandwiches, and soft pretzels covered with bacon and cheese. It was tasty, but everything was very bread heavy. We didn’t use a lot of our food coupons, and felt pretty content until 7pm. But when we went back to the bakery, it had closed at 6pm! Okay…. I have to admit that I fed my children peanuts, water, and candy bars for supper that night.

The play area was very plain, but it was a diversion anyway!

  We kinda hoped that the airport would at least quiet down for the night. No way! That was when the construction crew arrived, and they happened to be working right outside our sitting area – replacing the slatted ceiling. Thankfully they ran the table saw down the hallway a bit, but it was noisy the entire night. Each person found their most comfortable option for sleep, and quite a few of us spent large portions of the night awake. Melita was quite fussy and thought she could not sleep here. She begged to go back home. I told her, “We can’t. It is far away.”

“No”, she said, “we get into our van, and drive, drive, drive to our house.” She wanted her bed so badly. To help her settle, I dressed her in her pajamas, gave her the special pink teddy, and sang to her. I even slept beside her, though it wasn’t comfortable at all for me. She really is excited about going to Kenya, but she wanted her bed so badly that night. She finally asked me with a beseeching, almost desperate look in her eye, “In Kenya, will I have a bed where I can sleep by myself?” I assured her that she would, and she slept for a few hours at least.

Besides the construction noise, there was a loud speaker announcement every 20 minutes (the children told me it was that long. I thought it seemed like every 10 minutes!). First in German, then in English. “We would like to ask you for health and safety of all passengers, to please wear a mask at all times inside the airport.” We all wore them, except for the 2 youngest (for them it was only part of the time). Funny thing, I kept seeing large groups of policemen in the airport, and wondered why they were there. I thought they seemed quite friendly, so they didn’t bother us. In the evening, Jeremiah was talking to Andrew Musumba on the phone to let him know what happened, and they were having a hard time hearing or understanding each other. Jeremiah pulled his mask down to be heard better, and one of the passing policemen motioned to him to cover his mouth. So, that is what they were doing?! I also heard a confrontation between a policeman and an older traveler during the night, and it was pretty rough. Our time there was not bad, but VERY LONG. The clock just moved so slowly. 

    

  

 

 

  

It was a very LONG night.  
Here are all the ways to sleep in an airport!  That's Jeremiah under that blanket - protecting the luggage as he sleeps. Actually, it was no worry, because some of us were awake all night!

 The next morning, we had a very hearty breakfast from the bakery, you know, we had to use those food coupons! (BTW the bakery started their morning baking at 2:30 am. We could smell the pizza sticks in the oven as we passed to take Melita to the “playground”.) Thankfully it wasn’t all bread either. We each had a big yogurt parfait! The cream cheese danish was the BEST! We finished out our breakfast with some coffees and cappuccinos. Everyone felt quite satisfied and happy, and we only had 3 hours to wait until our flight.

Everyone was thankful to eat, and our time was coming to an end here!

 

Ready to board the plane finally!

 

 

Several of the ladies behind the desk had looked at our covid tests and assured us that they’d still be valid, but it didn’t really make sense to me. I didn’t rest over the issue until we were boarding our flight to Nairobi. I figured that Kenya wouldn’t turn us away then. They told us that they figure that all arrivals on the 23^rd must be tested no sooner than the 19^th, which is when we were tested. We were so thankful! We’d heard that tests inside the airport would cost over $300 each. Really, our delay didn’t cost us anything but time, patience and trust! Our flight to Nairobi was peaceful and joyful. We were so glad to be on our way.

  

So thrilled to be on the plane to Nairobi!

 

When we landed in Nairobi we got to walk out of the plane, down a stairs and across the parking lot to a tram. Jeremiah thinks it’s inefficient and barbaric for the Joma Kenyatta Airport to unload like that as it feels like you’re being taken in a back alley, and that airport was only remodeled a few years ago. He thinks they could have done better. But to me, this is Africa, and I love it. The only bad thing was that my face was covered in a mask and my hands were full, so I couldn’t SMELL Africa when we arrived. Matthias and Cherith pulled down their masks as we got to the line and started taking deep breaths, then we all did it, so happy that we had actually made it here. 

 Paperwork for arrival was a breeze after all we’d been through.  We'd heard a lot about how Kenya was different because of covid, and everyone was afraid.  We had time in the line to watch people, especially the airport personnel.  Yea, they wore masks on their faces, or chins, but they certainly weren't careful about it. Half the time they didn't cover their noses, and they shook hands all around as they always do.  It felt like Kenya!  What a relief.  And we had no check in luggage except for the 1 piece that had been lost somehow. Micaiah, Bethany and Corina had to deal with the other 21 pieces of luggage the day before! Andrew finally found us, and took us to the hotel where we would sleep.  We were thrilled to visit with Andrew, and be reunited with Micaiah, Bethany, and Corina.  It was WONDERFUL to finally lie down on a bed. Melita was especially happy to have a bed to herself, and she took a bit to arrange it before she could sleep. We all slept well, and even got some showers, though towels were sparse.  Each of our rooms had only 1 towel, either a bath towel or a hand towel.  It felt great to be clean anyway.   TIA(This is Africa!)

     

We have arrived!  What joy!!

Melita enjoying her own bed!