An Eventful Trip Home

The plan was to arrive home Saturday, but we received confirmation that our chartered flight was coming in this morning. Into the LandCruiser we piled, cramed in seats facing each other with luggage on our laps. Our driver, Rebecca, was from MAG, a demining organization. My family calls my mother "Mario Momma" for her aggressive driving, and I'd give this woman the title "Ragin' Rebecca"; she was a wild woman on that dirt road which was more like a riverbed. I thought we would tip several times and had to lean in to avoid hitting my head on the sides or top. Little did I know that the worst had yet to come.

We arrived at the airstrip no problem. Our captain from Samaritan's Purse arrived and took us to Pye (Pi-ee) for refueling before heading onto Loki in Kenya. By then it was 2:30 PM and I hadn't eaten since early that morning. I got a little Chevda (a chip-based trail mix), some potato chips and Sprite. No sooner had we touched-off when I realized what a bad decision I had made. I drank a little water as the black spots got bigger and bigger before I finally passed out.

I don't even remember spewing chunks, but the evidence left no doubt in my mind. I awoke some time later to a huge mess all down my shirt, my pants and my seat. I cleaned up a little bit around my mouth and drank a little water, feeling immensely better even if a bit soggy. Happily I slept for most of the remaining 2 hours, like a baby too tired to care about the little mess he made.

After we landed I changed in the plane and cleaned up the mess with the help of a mechanic. Needless-to-say, he received a nice tip that day. A shower never felt so good to my sweaty, soggy, sticky body.