Dear loved ones (and church family),
After a 15 hour trip that took us almost directly over the North Pole and through Russia and Iran (on an Arab Emirates flight), we made it safely across to Dubai, where we have a 13 hour layover. We’re staying a night in an airport hotel before we catch a plane to Seychelles tomorrow morning. There are lots of Arabs running around in traditional garb, but the airport here looks like a giant mall, with the nicest of everything.
It’s definitely not home. We ate some food so spicy that it made my gums bleed profusely in an open wound.
It’s weird to see all this with the Arab language posted everywhere. But most of the people in the shops speak English. One person asked where what our departure city was. Referring to San Francisco, he said, “Home of the Giants? … or is it the 49ers?” You can’t get away from a great team… even in the Arab world!
We have some neat pictures already to send, but our Internet connection here is bad. The Seychelles brethren have an extensive teaching schedule set up for us. However, typical of island mentality, they pulled it all together in the last minute, and then wanted to know yesterday morning an itemized list of our topics to fit their schedule. I’ve been after them to provide some specifics for weeks… and when they finally provide it, I’ve got about 2 hours to respond before we get on a plane! Oh well. They’re good-hearted… but they just operate at a different “pace” than we’re used to in the Silicon Valley. That said, I start Thursday night with a men’s training class and several other weekend appointments… then a full week of gospel meetings in two locations next week. Andrea will have a week of classes with the women, too. ‘Should be fun… and beneficial to them, and to us.
Keep us in your prayers,
Mike (and Andrea)
