I woke up tired and sad in a room empty except for packed suitcases and a few things on my bedside table.
The kitchen staff made us breakfast at 7 - fruit, bread, banana and blueberry juice, beans (that were actually not bad), scrambled eggs (with tomato in them, pretty tasty), and plantain slices.
Then our group hung out as Miranda and I wrote in our journals. It was a nice time. We had a lot of passport checks and a group photo before we left. As we drove out the compound, Miranda was holding onto both Kyle and I.
Then, the airport. We got through faster and with more organization (as usual, since it's not a US airport). Once through everything, we went and got food and used the bathroom, etc. We had a nice amount of relaxation time before our flight. We basically had the same seats as on the way to Guatemala, except for a couple of people. I almost fell asleep before we even took off! We arrived in Miami at 6:30 on the dot (US time).
The Miami airport is a nightmare. First of all, there were lines up the wazoo for everything. BUT!! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! So many areas where it was all long lines, lines opened up for us, otherwise, well, we very well might've missed our plane. We had a couple mishaps here and there, too, and it was very stressful so I was praying basically the whole time, because I really did not want to miss our flight. I'll skip some of the messy stories that are hard to accurately describe, but after security (which was also a mess, except for the funny, helpful TSA guy), things were still crazy. Ryan had to wait for Brian and Derek, so Miranda led the rest of us - quickly - to E31 - we had no idea how far away it was, and we had maybe 15 minutes until our plane was scheduled to leave. So I was praying, we were practically running through the airport, and suddenly we didn't see the other ladies. So, we had Hannah and Rebecca but not their mother, so we made sure to watch Rebecca, and it was a crazy maze through that airport (we figured Ryan would pick up the ladies on his way). Then, we had to go down an escalator and catch a bus to terminals E30-35. Great. So we had seven of us - all teens - and the guy there told us a bus would be coming shortly and asked which flight and how many for it, so we said 14 and he called ahead for us. Finally the others arrived - Ryan and the other two had picked up the ladies on their way - and it was all good. God is so good!!! Anyway, they held the plane for us, but we were not even the last ones on it - a very large amount of other people would've also missed that plane! Also, it was then delayed for about 40 or so minutes anyway. But really, God was so with us and it was a work of His hand. I was literally almost laughing because I was so happy at how awesome and amazing God is. ALL THE TIME. He does not abandon his children!!
Anyway, our flight left about an hour later than scheduled, so we were sitting there waiting for a long time anyway. But we were on the plane! Later I fed everyone around me with the food in my bag (which Miranda and I were smart to pack the night before!). We landed a little before 12 am Tuesday morning.
Ugh. We were back.
As we were landing I starting to feel even worse sick and just gross than I had earlier on the plane, and we got to the luggage claim and I just sat on my suitcase and let the guys get luggage, because I felt awful. Ryan said he was going to get our group some waters and did we want anything else, and Miranda asked for a ginger ale, which we shared because she was feeling sick, too. It helped enough that I didn't totally want to puke, at least. We got all of our luggage and told the other group that we were heading out to our van. They caught up to us on the bus out to our parking lot, and once we separated to our vans, Colin came up to the van before we left and said goodbye.
Then it was just us driving through the rain back to Lancaster County. Miranda and I felt sick-ish the whole way back, so we sipped our soda and didn't get anything to eat when we stopped at the gas station for a snack. Otherwise, though, it was a great drive back. We had a great conversation about all sorts of things spiritual and whatnot. Once back at the church, we hugged each other goodbye and headed to our houses.
I didn't say home for a reason.
The kitchen staff made us breakfast at 7 - fruit, bread, banana and blueberry juice, beans (that were actually not bad), scrambled eggs (with tomato in them, pretty tasty), and plantain slices.
Then our group hung out as Miranda and I wrote in our journals. It was a nice time. We had a lot of passport checks and a group photo before we left. As we drove out the compound, Miranda was holding onto both Kyle and I.
Then, the airport. We got through faster and with more organization (as usual, since it's not a US airport). Once through everything, we went and got food and used the bathroom, etc. We had a nice amount of relaxation time before our flight. We basically had the same seats as on the way to Guatemala, except for a couple of people. I almost fell asleep before we even took off! We arrived in Miami at 6:30 on the dot (US time).
The Miami airport is a nightmare. First of all, there were lines up the wazoo for everything. BUT!! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good! So many areas where it was all long lines, lines opened up for us, otherwise, well, we very well might've missed our plane. We had a couple mishaps here and there, too, and it was very stressful so I was praying basically the whole time, because I really did not want to miss our flight. I'll skip some of the messy stories that are hard to accurately describe, but after security (which was also a mess, except for the funny, helpful TSA guy), things were still crazy. Ryan had to wait for Brian and Derek, so Miranda led the rest of us - quickly - to E31 - we had no idea how far away it was, and we had maybe 15 minutes until our plane was scheduled to leave. So I was praying, we were practically running through the airport, and suddenly we didn't see the other ladies. So, we had Hannah and Rebecca but not their mother, so we made sure to watch Rebecca, and it was a crazy maze through that airport (we figured Ryan would pick up the ladies on his way). Then, we had to go down an escalator and catch a bus to terminals E30-35. Great. So we had seven of us - all teens - and the guy there told us a bus would be coming shortly and asked which flight and how many for it, so we said 14 and he called ahead for us. Finally the others arrived - Ryan and the other two had picked up the ladies on their way - and it was all good. God is so good!!! Anyway, they held the plane for us, but we were not even the last ones on it - a very large amount of other people would've also missed that plane! Also, it was then delayed for about 40 or so minutes anyway. But really, God was so with us and it was a work of His hand. I was literally almost laughing because I was so happy at how awesome and amazing God is. ALL THE TIME. He does not abandon his children!!
Anyway, our flight left about an hour later than scheduled, so we were sitting there waiting for a long time anyway. But we were on the plane! Later I fed everyone around me with the food in my bag (which Miranda and I were smart to pack the night before!). We landed a little before 12 am Tuesday morning.
Ugh. We were back.
As we were landing I starting to feel even worse sick and just gross than I had earlier on the plane, and we got to the luggage claim and I just sat on my suitcase and let the guys get luggage, because I felt awful. Ryan said he was going to get our group some waters and did we want anything else, and Miranda asked for a ginger ale, which we shared because she was feeling sick, too. It helped enough that I didn't totally want to puke, at least. We got all of our luggage and told the other group that we were heading out to our van. They caught up to us on the bus out to our parking lot, and once we separated to our vans, Colin came up to the van before we left and said goodbye.
Then it was just us driving through the rain back to Lancaster County. Miranda and I felt sick-ish the whole way back, so we sipped our soda and didn't get anything to eat when we stopped at the gas station for a snack. Otherwise, though, it was a great drive back. We had a great conversation about all sorts of things spiritual and whatnot. Once back at the church, we hugged each other goodbye and headed to our houses.
I didn't say home for a reason.
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