Just the beginning

Hi all

Ed here.

We made it back, not without some drama.  We left Teguc on Saturday. At the ticket counter the agent was muttering something about our tickets had been changed. This led to some concern but she was able to get things straight.

We of course had a layover in Miami Saturday night. There was not enough time to do much of anything, so we stayed close to the hotel.  You really have a whole new way of seeing things after witnessing what we did in Teguc. And you also have an appreciation for things we take for granted - like lettuce!!!!  Many of us craved salad and milk since we had neither for an entire week.    Oh was it good - ummmmm

On top of that the hotel had these amazing machines - you put money in them and out pop candy bars, chips, cookies.  Wow. Needless to say we had to try it several times.

Sunday morning we made our way to the airport. Two hours in line ups to get to our gate. We originally were to leave Miami at 2:20pm but our flight was delayed until 3:15pm (At first)  That left us only 45 minutes to get to our New York departure gate for Halifax.  3:15 rolled around and they announced we were not leaving Miami until 3:45, therefore shrinking our connection yet again - at this point we were beginning to wonder if American Airlines was trying to get Rob’s luggage  on our flight, or even better if their luggage was going to get to Halifax before us.

We actually did not board the Miami flight until closer to 4pm and that meant our connection was going to be difficult if not impossible to make.  But we were not the only ones who needed to catch that connection.

We landed in  NewYork, 2 minutes before our connection - With Rob leading the charge we managed to trample a couple of passengers getting off the plane (ok, ok we really did not trample anyone, that was simply a statement for effect) But we did run through the building to get, of course, to the other end of the terminal (always the way). Upon getting to the gate (now more than 15 minutes late) we were told the flight we were to connect with still had not gotten in - phewwwww.

We were all very relieved to be able to get on our flight - although Lindsey was hoping to see the Statue of Liberty.

We arrived in Halifax, tired - no exhausted is perhaps a better word, around 11:45pm. It took another 40 minutes to get out of the airport.

We made it home before Rob’s luggage !!!! Which now only goes to show we did not need to pack as much as we did.  But in all seriousness we are also very disappointed the luggage never caught up to us as there were gifts of encouragement in it for some of the children we were visiting.

In my last blog I thanked a couple of folks for their hard work in planning this trip. I want to close this one off by thanking the team who was able to go. It was an honor to be a part of this effort and I look forward to the next opportunity. I was also so glad to be able to get to know Rob, Julie, Brett, Lindsey and Auntie Bev so much better. I cannot remember the words to an Arabic saying, but it tells how true friendships are determined in the journeys you take. I have enjoyed this journey - a lot. It was all the more better to enjoy it with such friends.

Folks reading this Blog - please remember one very very very important thing about this trip - it is not the end, it is JUST THE BEGINNING.