Three days and today was Christmas!!

Yours and our prayers were answered today at 5:00, our luggage came. Shamir, our driver, tracked down the paperwork that Rick had given to our first day driver. It was no small task to find him on his day off, get the forms from him and drive us to the airport. Our bags looked so funny all smashed to one side of the baggage claim office, all of our purple bandana ribbons in place.( a lot of good that did us when we never got the opportunity to spot them on the baggage carousel!) Anyway, tonight has been better than Christmas in some ways since all of our pictures of family and friends, and of course, Dylan's new photo that was taken right before we left! Now, our one room looks a little like "home" and we are so thankful. I am blogging tonight on our Apple computer with its huge screen, very nice for my old eyesight.

Sadly, we did not get to experience church here today, Fridays are the Libyan day of worship, mosque for everyone from 1-2 pm. Today is their day of rest, and the calm and quiet of the day was noticeable immediately this morning. No honking car horns or screeching of tires, our friend the "junk yard" dog was not howling either, just very peaceful. Rick and I stayed around the guest house waiting for the call on our luggage, which took all day. We could have gone to the Protestant church at 10:00 but will next week.

"Oddity" for today, our Libyan host drivers and some men who help in the kitchen here at Arknohe, offered Rick and I some Libyan tea, served in a very small "shot" glass. It was like drinking a piece of candy, so thick and sweet. I loved it. The men got a kick out of the fact that I liked it, and were obviously delighted to share this Libyan tradition with me. So, we left for the airport and were gone an hour or so. Amazingly, when I returned, one of the men had yet another small glass of tea ready for me. How kind and generous, and only "odd" because they had just met me.

No pictures to share today, but hold on until tomorrow. Rick and I have an outing to Leptis Magna, Roman ruins, which are approximately 2 hours from Tripoli. Everyone says they are amazing and to take two cameras. Hopefully, we will have some great shots to post tomorrow.

Again, love to each of you, our room is now full of your photos, birds, cards, and other gifts. We feel much more at home tonight. Lynn