Our day began with a group photo before we headed off to the airport. To make sure everyone had room, a few of us rode with Bert in his truck while the rest rode with Odney in the regular truck. Traffic wasn't too bad and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. As you will soon find out, that wouldn't matter! After going through security check point 1, checking in, going through customs, security checkpoint 2, doing some last minute shopping, and security checkpoint 3 (there are more security checkpoints to leave Haiti then to enter!), we ended up waiting and waiting and waiting. Our flight was to leave at 10:55 and we finally left around 1:22. As a result, we were sure we would miss our connecting flight in Miami. The Houston crew, would miss theirs for sure. So, we took our turn standing in line to get our flights from Miami to Houston/Washington DC re-booked to later ones.
The flight to Miami was uneventful although there was one tired flight attendant who didn't really seem to care where anyone sat as long as they did so quickly! I also had to show the woman next to me how to turn off her cell phone!
Once we landed in Miami, the race was on. We landed at 3:00 and with our original 4:30 flight (instead of the re-booked 7:10 flight) in mind, many of us took off. I felt like we were in an episode of the Amazing Race! Those of us who didn't have checked bags (all but Greer, Liz, Tom, Terri, and Christian) and the Houston Crew, raced through Immigrations and Customs and back through security to the gate of the 4:30 flight. Some good rum was sacrificed for getting on this flight as we didn't have time to get it in the checked luggage. We all were able to rebook (again) our flights back to the original flight with only minutes to spare before boarding. The rest of the group had to go through Immigrations and Customs, pick up their checked bags, recheck their bags, and go through security. Unfortunately, that was too much to do to get on our original flight. Thank you to the VA crew who did have the checked bags as those bags not only held their items but items for the rest of us as well!
Those of us on the 4:30 flight made it back to NoVA with no more delays although those on the later flight were delayed again for about 30 minutes (if I remember correctly).
While I write this, my pictures are uploading to Shutterfly and thoughts of my "normal life" return. Most of us returned to work today although, I for one, was not as "there" as I usually am. Many people want to know about the trip and what we did. For me, it's not always easy to talk about right away. I need a few days to adjust and process everything. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Thank you again for your continued prayers and support of our mission team as well as the Lazarus Project.
No comments:
Post a Comment