Sunday: My bus/shuttle left Sighisoara around 10:15 am, and I arrived at the Tg Mures airport in Romania around noon. There, I had a few hours to kill before my flight left at 2:50. While waiting for our flight, the woman next to me struck up a conversation with me. First, she tried speaking to me in German, next Romanian, haha and then realized English would be the way to go. She was extremely friendly and told me about her fiance in Germany, her sister in New York, and her children in Romania. She insisted that we sit next to each other on the plane, and laughed at me when I was searching for my seat number on my ticket (apparently there are not assigned seats with Wizz Air airlines). She was extremely helpful when we landed in Memmingen, Germany, and even waited for me while my motives for entering the country were questioned, just to make sure that I would know where to ask for information on where to wait for my reserved taxi. She was very thoughtful, and I appreciated her help. =) I had another hour and a half to wait in the airport before my shared-taxi arrived to take me to the train station. This was the part I was most nervous for about traveling alone – the train ride! Even though my friend, Carsten, had talked me through step by step what I needed to do, I was still nervous because I am not the best with directions, and this was my first time traveling by train in Europe! To my dismay, my first train was eleven minutes late, which only gave me one minute to catch my final train to Stuttgart. My anxiety was building with each passing minute — what happens if I miss my next train? it’s dark outside! I don’t speak or understand German! I will have less than one minute to get from platform one to platform four! which direction do I go after getting off of the train? I’m terrible with directions! — ha, these were just a few of the thoughts and questions that were racing through my mind. Yet, somehow, God kept reminding me to pray. Prayer for peace, safety, and direction. And God answered my prayer. =) A college-aged girl was sitting in the booth across the aisle from me on the train, and seemed to notice me frequently checking my watch and staring at my crumpled train ticket. I’m not even sure who spoke first, but somehow we found out that we had the same final destination. She checked an app on her phone and found out that we had missed our train, but that we could catch a slower train without having to pay an extra fee because it was not our fault for missing the fast train. She invited me to stick with her, and she even let me use her cell phone to call Carsten and let him know that I would arrive 40 minutes later than planned because I had missed the faster train.
I have no idea what I would have done without her help. She definitely was an answer to prayer!!! We arrived safely in Stuttagart, and she even walked with me until I found my friend, Carsten and his sister, Doro. With each mode of transportation that day, I met a new person and talked to them for the majority of our shared travel. It was cool to see how God answered my prayers, and gave me peace throughout my day of solo travel by having me meet people along the way to help me out. And now, I feel more confident about traveling alone in countries where I do not speak the language. =)
Stay tuned for more posts about my adventures in Germany!
Marga =)