Longest Layover of my life

First and foremost, I am safe! Its been a long 4 days, but I am here in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After everything that has happened so far.. I'm convinced that this trip is going to be interesting to say the least :)
Ash and I started our journey without complications. We got out our seats on the plane and realized we had an empty seat next to us... SCORE! ... but then it was filled... not by a screaming baby though. They were, however, all around us :) 11.5 hours, 4 movies, 2 tv shows, 2 meals and 0 sleep later, we were in London.















23 hours in London... what to do? We decided to get a day pass on the metro, carry all of our crap and see where the rail took us. At first, it took us no where interesting. We finally made our way to Westminster Abby and took a much needed nap on the lawn. The day was basically one big exploration. With our backpacks and my laptop, there was really no where to go that we could enjoy, so we were nomads.




We got back to the airport to discover that we were also homeless. We were told that the airport closes and that we would have to find lodging for the evening. Problem was... it was already getting late and we had no money... After asking everyone and their mum, we finally got a straight answer, and made camp in the lobby of International arrivals. We took shifts sleeping on the bench.


DAY 3: Leaving London for Ukraine.
We made it to our terminal, checked in and sat in the lobby for even more of a wait. 20 minutes before our flight, the screen finally told us where our gate was. We scurried off and boarded our plane with everyone else, only to hear that we were going to be delayed another hour and a half. Apparently they overloaded the cargo bin on the previous flight which buckled the gears on the luggage cart. "A peculiar situation" was the phrase they used... Worried, because neither Ash or I had the means of contacting the people picking us up, we prayed that they would wait around for us.

Arriving in Kiev, we were home free! That is, we were going to be, but customs decided to take years. I swear they were doing background checks on everyone or something... or just trying to ruin our lives. It seemed that it was only my line that was taking days... 4 other planes had unboarded and made it through customs on the other side of the building. We had hope in our line... so we stuck it out... all 3.5 hours worth...

On the outside, we found our company. Ash and I parted ways.. God rest her soul.. and once I escaped Sergey's hug we took a few buses to where he was staying the week. I freshened up after 3 days and we were off to Kiev's train station.

Sergey treated me to my first dinner in Ukraine... PIZZA!!! It was untraditional to what we would have in the states, but still really good. We then ran to our train, boarded just in time and set down. OH YA.. and I was smuggled on board as a Ukrainian university student so that I could get the discount. HAHAHA Sergey pulled me in and told me to "shut up" as he handed her the tickets and two student cards. I slept a total of 3 hours that night. You would think that a dodgy overnight train would be comfortable... and it was.... but also very hot.



I arrived this morning at the metro station to meet up with Yana. We took another bus and NOW we are at Sergey's family's house. His grandma made us lunch... real Ukrainian food... and now I am writing this thing before I take a nap. We will probably go to the city later on for a walk around.

I'm tired. 4 days of traveling 6 hours of sleep maximum. :) Good bye for now. I love you all. I am praying for you constantly. Do the same for me.

Ash gave me this to meditate on:

1 John 3:18 "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in action and truth."