The Eagle Has Landed...Day 1!

 

 

It is with excitement and anticipation that I am here to announce, JoJo and Jessica began the next leg in their journey Saturday!

 

They had a send off from, where else, but the Birmingham Airport! 

 

On their way! 

 View from 20,000 feet!

 Seeing some of the sites on their way around town.

 

If I know an Alabama Power man, looking at this mess probably made his eye twitch.

 

 

 We knew the language barrier would be an issue, but poor Jess couldn't even microwave a bag of popcorn in the room because she couldn't understand the words on the buttons!

 Plan B?  McDonalds.  Nothing like a taste of home 1,000 miles away!

I'm told JoJo ordered with the use of his pocket translator!

It wasn't without confusion, and the two of them ended up with the same exact meal, whether they like it or not!!

 

The biggest hurdle for them so far is the language barrier.  All of the appliances are in Spanish, including the thermostat, so they spent a large part of the day literally chilling in their room, in a country that is super close to the Equator (Clearly, God has a sense of humor)!!  People keep trying to talk to them and Jessica just laughs, while Jojo feverishly tries to translate what they are saying.  There is one woman at the hotel that speaks English, and I feel certain that there will be some at the medical center who are English-speaking, so hopefully they can get some tips and tricks for making this all go a little

(a lot) smoother  than day one has! 

 

Also, the sidewalks in the city are not wheelchair accessible, and the actual streets are not that much better. Apparently wheelchairs aren't that common (atleast motorized ones) because she said people were pointing and watching them, and one man even said, "Little Car". They were able to visit the market where they bought fail safe foods like bread and peanut butter.  Jessica said it was quite stinky, though.  That and the combination of the bumpy roads sent them back to their room in a hurry! 

JoJo will be given a weekly itinerary. He will get started bright in the early morning, with some preliminary tests, and the actual harvesting of the stem cells and readministering of them will continue in the days after that!  I'll try to explain the harvesting, treatment and physical therapy in the next few days as those things begin to occur.

Specific prayer requests today:

• Ease of travel in the days/weeks to come
• Good health (we all know how climate change can affect travelers.)  Let's pray that they don't even get so much as the sniffles!
• Caring staff and extra assistance at every turn!
• Reassurance that if God has brought them to it, He will bring them through it!
• Also, remember their families, especially their three beautiful babies who are here at home!  We all believe that God has big plans for this family!  Thanks for following along in their incredible story!