10 Sandy Sandals: Navigating

Whenever possible we try to walk wherever we are going. Walking is often a lot faster and easier than attempting to give directions in a foreign language in a foreign city. Thankfully God has provided us an apartment within several blocks of both schools that the girls attend. Even though we’re so close sometimes walking those several blocks can still get us completely lost as streets merge this way and that and roundabouts converge with six streets or more and all the signs are in Arabic.

I thought I was well prepared for Izzy and Eden’s first day of class. I had received directions from the school principal, checked google maps twice and even brought along a photocopied map of the area. Even with all those preparations it didn’t take long to get completely turned around. I wondered, was this road 70 or 71? Was this street 9 or 9b? Sweaty and frustrated, standing in the middle of a dusty intersection with two crying kids, I pulled out the map app on my phone only to watch the blue dot jump from one street to another as even Google couldn’t figure out where I was.

After whispering a prayer of sheer desperation, Help God!, I turned to a nearby doorman (every building here has a doorman) and asked as nicely as I could, ‘Do you speak English?’ He immediately jumped up, gave a long stream of Arabic and signaled he was going to run inside for help. I doubted anyone inside would be able to help and began to apologize but he insisted and was gone before I knew it. We stood there for only a moment when a woman poked her head out the door and asked, ‘Are you Dave & Jenn? Are you here to see the school principal?’

We stood dumbfounded for only a moment before whispering, ‘Thanks God!’