Update # 1 from our GO trip in Europe

UPDATE # 1 Friday morning real early  

It is real early in the morning….Friday the 3o of March. It is pitch black out there and sleep has eluded me. I guess one  can blame it on jet lag. At this point both body and mind are working hard at trying to figure out…what day is it? And what time is it where are … or where we have come from?

Well , we are in M, a little town some miles north of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. We are in the home of Steve and Tanja Brown , Global Outreach Staff from Good Shepherd. And it is 2 in the morning.

We arrived here yesterday (Thursday) after what seemed like a very, very long trip. Departure from Portland on Wednesday afternoon was delayed due to some technical things that needed to be sorted out before  takeoff…….But sitting waiting at the gate had already given us a glimpse of the world….. Fun to hear so many languages and see so many nationalities.  Anyway, after 10 hours in the air we landed in Amsterdam, and there was just enough time for us to quickly walk from one end of the airport to the other and find our gate for the next leg of our journey.

We made it and before long we found ourselves once again at the back of an air craft . This time Pat got a seat that another gentleman also came to claim. No worries, the stewardesses just shuffled some folks around and everyone was happy.  Lots of friendly people and although we think we know a lot of languages, what was said around us ….well,  it was all Greek to us…oh in this case Serbian.  We were no longer in America.

Arriving a little late it was a great relief to once again meet up with all those bags we had checked in at PDX.  We were taken a lot of stuff out for Steve and Tanja….and it all made it. And after customs it was also a great joy to be met by Steve. So fun to meet our folks right in their setting. 

After all the bags got stuffed into the back of Steve’s car, off we went. Another stop at a local gas station to get some water bottles and we headed north. It was a warm day …..and it was noticeable that spring had already arrived with many trees already in blossom. It all seemed so unreal….  

After about 25 minutes we arrived in M and soon realized that although there are about 70,000 living in this little town, it is no metropolis. We stopped at the bakery and then we arrived at home of the Browns. Right now they are renting a house right in the middle of town, but they hope to be in their own home before too long. 

Tanja had prepared a beautiful Serbian dinner and it was  joy to just sit there and eat and enjoy fellowship with our dear friends. After a while Bogdan, their 17 month old son woke up and what a joy to get to know this delightful little guy. 

Well, jetlag got the better of us and after unpacking suitcases and delivering gifts and all….and talking and talking and talking….we told our exhausted bodies that it was time to go to bed….and out we went….only to wake up two hours later ….early. No fooling an Oregon adjusted body here. Not yet anyway.