Day 1 is in the books. After "a few" narrowly escaped travel mishaps - we have finally arrived! As mentioned in our first post, our project leaders were set to leave a day earlier than the rest of us in an effort to get in some surveying of potential job sites before everyone else arrived.
*Enter mother nature*
Jay, Jason, and Cliff's (henceforth known as "the project managers") flight on Friday was canceled due to weather.
After some quick research it was determined that the best option would be for the project managers to join the rest of us on our direct flight early Saturday morning. Little did they know - the "adventure" had only just begun.
We met at the St. Teresa parking lot and left for the cities by about 2:40AM - not too far off our 2:30 goal! Everything seemed to be going well. We got to our reserved long-term-parking lot and waited for our shuttle. And waited... and waited. After about 45 minutes, matters need to be taken back into our own hands. So we left the lot - and sped off to the airport. Everyone was willing to pay a little extra if it meant ACTUALLY getting to Belize.
Unfortunately there was a bit of a problem getting the last car in our 3 car caravan out of the lot. Security was tight. They decided that the only option was for car #3 to stay and wait for the next shuttle... (it should be easier for 3 people to find a spot on a shuttle, rather than 14).
The rest of the group made it to the Airport, parked, and found their way to the SunCountry Check in area... somewhere behind the sea of people. (see photo on left)
After about 30 minutes of waiting in line, just as the passengers of Car #3 arrived at the airport, the rest of the group was finally getting to the roped off maze of the check-in area when the TSA officer with an Indian accent yelled "Flight 711 - to Belize" and ushered us around the rest of the queued flyers.
As we stood in line (a MUCH shorter line) to check in, the next officer asked "where are you going?". "Belize!" I answered quickly and more enthusiastically than I would have anticipated, given the time of morning, my lack of coffee, and the already piling number of mishaps that had happened in the last 24 hours. After briefly glancing at his watch the officer smirked and said in a sort of off handed whisper "You've got about a 50% chance".
Believe it or not. We made it. All of us. AND we were on time... only to have our flight delayed.
The flight was fairly uneventful, though the contrast between our departure and arrival locales was awe-inspiring.
It's so crazy to think that this is what a matter of 4 hours looks like!
We were greeted by Carol (who DID make it down early!) at the airport, and tamales for lunch surrounded by many of the kids who have gotten to know everyone over the last few years.
A few hours of surveying job locations, a short debriefing session, and pizza at Moe's rounded out our first day. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward in the week with our jobs, and opportunities to minister to, and be ministered to, by so many wonderful souls! We keep all of you at home in our prayers, as well.
In Christ,
The Belize Team
P.S. A few more photos for your enjoyment!
*Enter mother nature*
Jay, Jason, and Cliff's (henceforth known as "the project managers") flight on Friday was canceled due to weather.
After some quick research it was determined that the best option would be for the project managers to join the rest of us on our direct flight early Saturday morning. Little did they know - the "adventure" had only just begun.
We met at the St. Teresa parking lot and left for the cities by about 2:40AM - not too far off our 2:30 goal! Everything seemed to be going well. We got to our reserved long-term-parking lot and waited for our shuttle. And waited... and waited. After about 45 minutes, matters need to be taken back into our own hands. So we left the lot - and sped off to the airport. Everyone was willing to pay a little extra if it meant ACTUALLY getting to Belize.
Unfortunately there was a bit of a problem getting the last car in our 3 car caravan out of the lot. Security was tight. They decided that the only option was for car #3 to stay and wait for the next shuttle... (it should be easier for 3 people to find a spot on a shuttle, rather than 14).
After about 30 minutes of waiting in line, just as the passengers of Car #3 arrived at the airport, the rest of the group was finally getting to the roped off maze of the check-in area when the TSA officer with an Indian accent yelled "Flight 711 - to Belize" and ushered us around the rest of the queued flyers.
As we stood in line (a MUCH shorter line) to check in, the next officer asked "where are you going?". "Belize!" I answered quickly and more enthusiastically than I would have anticipated, given the time of morning, my lack of coffee, and the already piling number of mishaps that had happened in the last 24 hours. After briefly glancing at his watch the officer smirked and said in a sort of off handed whisper "You've got about a 50% chance".
Believe it or not. We made it. All of us. AND we were on time... only to have our flight delayed.
The flight was fairly uneventful, though the contrast between our departure and arrival locales was awe-inspiring.
It's so crazy to think that this is what a matter of 4 hours looks like!
We were greeted by Carol (who DID make it down early!) at the airport, and tamales for lunch surrounded by many of the kids who have gotten to know everyone over the last few years.
A few hours of surveying job locations, a short debriefing session, and pizza at Moe's rounded out our first day. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward in the week with our jobs, and opportunities to minister to, and be ministered to, by so many wonderful souls! We keep all of you at home in our prayers, as well.
In Christ,
The Belize Team
P.S. A few more photos for your enjoyment!
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| A brief debriefing at the airport. |
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| Our |
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| Boys will be boys - love seeing the relationships that have developed here! |
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