Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The search for my other piece of luggage continues. I flew from London Heathrow this morning and I am now in Brussels waiting to do an early check in for our flight to Kigali tomorrow morning. Early check in is 8:00 PM tonight. After that I will take a taxi to the Hotel Neufchatel Brussels. I plan to sleep as much as possible upon arriving there. In some ways I am looking forward to the flight to Kigali as this will also give me some time to rest. I spoke with my cohort, Mark, this morning. He departed for Brussels today and will join me first thing in the morning. Please pray for Mark’s safety in travel as well as all of our supplies that he is bringing to arrive in one piece.

I have turned over the search for my luggage to our travel insurance company. I am worn out from working on getting it back. I have called the airlines I am sure more than 40 times. The Brits tell me that British Airways loses checked baggage about 50% of the time. A man named Steve drove me the two hours to the airport in London this morning. We had a great chat and I am sure that he needed a sedative after my ramblings during the drive. To keep with the “spirit” of my trip thus far, I ended up leaving not only my cell phone in Steve’s car, but also my camera. Fortunately, once again God was looking out for me and Steve returned to the airport with my items in his hand. He found me in this endless sea of travelers and handed off the items. The chronic fatigue seems to me messing with my memory and my ability to focus at times. Please pray for clear thinking, good organizational skills and that my body, mind, and soul will be strengthened.

It’s 10:00 PM and I arrived at the Hotel Neufchatel Brussels about 30 minutes ago. I have been at the airport all day. Today has been the worst day I have had in a very long time. The staff at Brussels Airlines have been extremely difficult and rude. They insisted that since I was “checking in” in Brussels that I would not be able to check two bags weighing 50 lbs or less as we are able to do with Delta Airlines in the United States. If I had checked my bags all the way through to Kigali from the US, then the Belgians would have been obligated to allow the bags through. Additionally, they insisted that I would only be allowed one carry-on bag, although if I initiated the trip to Rwanda without any overnight stopover in Europe, I would be able to bring two carry-on bags. Currently, they want 140 Euros or about $238 (I think) to check my luggage to Kigali. I finally had a meltdown in the airport; however the Belgians were completely indifferent. On top of this, I learned today from Walden University that I have missed some significant steps in the dissertation process and there is a question as to whether the research that I conduct in Rwanda will be able to be used for my dissertation. After the meltdown, I thought I was going to have a complete breakdown. I momentarily lost my passport and almost all of my currency and credit cards. It would seem I am the first student that my dissertation chair has worked with to complete a dissertation and he was unaware of the additional steps. However, I spoke with a man named Dr. Ford in Minneapolis today. Please pray for favor as I am at his mercy at this point.

Well, my dear family and friends, I am not in control of any of this. I have done my best to handle all of these issues in a timely and professional manner. Unfortunately, as of tonight, none of them are resolved. I do know, however, that I am going to Rwanda in the morning with or without all of my luggage and with or without the “blessing” of the Walden International Review Board. If you are moved to pray for any of this, I would be most grateful.

God himself promises to keep me in perfect peace when I continually focus my mind on Him. God’s Grace and Peace to you during this Holy Week. Maundy Thursday is almost upon us here in Brussels. I am in a small room with a painting of the Madonna and Child on the wall. The room is much nicer than I had expected. There are three rooms on my floor—I am in Room 5. I have a great and free internet connection here; satellite TV with a number of English speaking channels. I head for the airport at 8:00 AM in the morning. The taxi cost 45 Euros to get here—$76.50 and, according to the Innkeeper here, the fee back to the airport in the morning will be $54.40.

I plan to send some of the items in my carry-on back to the US. I will contact Federal Express and see if they can help.

All for now…..