Returned - July 19, 2007

I have returned from Brazil. It has been an interesting couple of days. Some of you may have heard about the plane crash in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We flew out of Sao Paulo the same day, but we were at another airport. However, there was a minor plane crash at our airport (no fatalities) due to flooding of the runway. We had no idea what was going on for a few hours, except that our flight was delayed. So, instead of leaving at 8pm, we ended up taking off around 1am. I have to admit, I was a little nervous at takeoff, given the crashes that had happened that day (I was praying a lot).

That day, I had started to come down with a cold. By the time we left Sao Paulo, I was feeling pretty crummy. Our plane stopped in Lima, Peru and when we took off this time I decided to take some Nyquill to help me sleep. At that point, I didn't have a lot of food or liquids in my system. An hour or so into this flight I started to feel nauscious. I got out of my seat to use the restroom. As I was waiting for the stall to open up my knees buckled and I passed out for a couple of seconds. The flight attendants layed me down immediately and began asking my questions. The called for any doctors and the plane began to descend. I was amazed at how God provided for me - not only was there a doctor on the plane, but there was also a medical student and 2 nursing students. The doctor spoke a little English (he was from Brazil) and the medical student was from LA. They thought it was a reaction to the Nyquill brought on my empty stomach and altitude. The plane didn't end up landing early, I think because they saw I was alright. One of our team members was walking to the back of the plane and saw that it was me lying on the floor. He told the group and a couple of the women on our team came back to me. They gave me lots of water, took my pulse a bunch of times and fed me. I'm not sure how long I was back there, but eventually I made it back to my seat. It was a weird experience, but a good story to tell.

So, now I am at my parents house, resting up and recovering from this nasty cold and reflecting on my time in Brazil. Once I'm feeling better, I'll try to blog a bit more about my trip.Thanks for all your prayers and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

Jenny