Called Out

Well friends, I have safely and successfully arrived in Minsk, Belarus with very few incidents.

I'm staying at a nice hotel, the Hotel Yubileiny, that seems to be situated in a neat spot in the city. I have yet to go exploring, but it appears that there are a few things to see nearby.

I am already struck by the living history here. It is estimated that anywhere from 25-35% of the people in Belarus were killed during WWII, as most of this territory fell under Nazi terroristic control. In fact, a great deal of the buildings here in Minsk were built in the 1950's or later due to the absolute destruction and devastation that took place.

I am obviously a tourist to all who see me, yet I've had nothing but pleasant interactions with people. They have been very patient with me!

You know, I'm tempted to write about how comfortable I feel here in the middle of this culmination of a nearly 2-year process. But, I would be less than honest if I wrote that.

As I boarded the plane in KC on Monday, I was experiencing a mixture of fear, doubt, worry, sadness, eager anticipation, excitement, courage, and intrigue. A feeling not like any I've ever had before. I think perhaps those first few steps onto the plane were the most difficult of this whole process. Maybe I'm just wierd, but that's the way it was. I nestled into my plane seat next to young business man, and we started a simple conversation. After a few moments of silence, I heard an ominous phrase . . . "I've never been nauseous on a plane before." Though my brain raced with a thousand different things that could possibly go wrong over the next 2 hours, my thoughtful preparation was fortunately in vain. The pronouncement was all the more exciting it got. Some quality time spent with an iPod and my favorite music served me well in calming my nerves and refocusing my purpose.

I found the Atlanta and Paris airports to be relatively easy to navigate, even though I needed to change terminals and had to re-check my bags in Paris. The flight into Minsk was uneventful, particularly for me, as I slept roughly 90% of the time. And I found proceeding through customs to be a breeze. I think the customs agent was amused with me. I really didn't know what needed to be declared, and there really wasn't anyone there who could help me . . . so, I declared almost everything, right down to my Sports Illustrated. Perhaps that was a bit much, but better to be thorough than lacking. We had a nice little laugh.

Once arriving, I enjoyed my first authentic Belarussian meal. I think they call it a "Big Mac". It seems they have a local chain of restaurants here named "McDonalds". I know, I know, big adventure. I then settled in for a brief night of reading, playing a couple of games on my laptop, and trying to watch the olympics on local TV. Needless to say, the latter of the pursuits produced the least fruit.

Today is a travel recovery day. Reading. Preparing to teach. Sleeping to adjust my body to the proper time clock. I will spend some time today with the academy director and the national director. That should be fun.

I hope to be able to post here often. It seems like I will have the chance. This has probably been too much detail, but it's your fault for reading this far. 8^)

Be praying for the things I will teach. Pray that I might be a blessing.

Much love,

Ben