** Unfortunately I did not take any pictures during this part of the trip, however I know who to ask for a few pictures, and i'll post them here asap. Many of you have already hear this ridiculous story of my journey back to Alberta from Guatemala… but I thought I would still write it out for those of you who have yet to hear, and also because it turned out to be a huge life experience for me- one that is certainly worth posting.
A few hours before landing in Calgary I recounted all that had been happening throughout this extended trip home on a barf bag compliments of Continental Airlines. It seemed fitting at the time. These are the words penned that day:
I have been sitting on what I hope to be my final plane seat for this trip, for about half an hour now, pen in hand and ready to recount everything over the past few days. I cannot think of where to begin. Did it start the moment I got out of bed? Or was it while waiting for the bus driver to show up? I cannot remember anymore, but somewhere there was a feeling, a strange feeling. One of excitement but also complete loss of control. I feel like I am 11 years old again, standing on the edge of that 50 foot cliff, waiting for dad to check and make sure the water below is deep enough for me to run and jump. Part of me was desperately wanting to jump, to feel the rush of the water as it engulfed me, but the other part of me was terrified, needing every aspect of what was about to happen next to be planned out perfectly. I have often felt the clash of these two traits within me, and here I was again. I had been packed for at least a week now waiting for this day, this moment. But the bus driver was supposed to be here an hour ago, and with each minute it was becoming more and more likely that we were going to miss our flight. When he finally arrived around 6am, we loaded as fast as possible, eager to be on our way. It wasn’t 10 minutes into the trip that we hit a huge traffic jam going all the way into the city. Nothing was working out according to plan. We finally arrived at the airport check-in with time to make it through customs, but as we began to check in the computer system crashed and but the time it had rebooted itself the plane was ready to take off and leave us stuck in Guatemala City. The airline tried to tell us that the only next available flight out of the country was 15 days away and that we would have to wait. Sometime around here I became completely exhausted and couldn’t handle all this insanity and fell asleep for a few hours amongst the luggage. When I woke up the interns were giving us the news. They had miraculously ‘found’ a flight tomorrow at 7am, so we would be staying at a hostel until then. That day passed slowly… everyone falling in and out of sleep, and being forced to find crazy things to do before falling fatally ill with boredom.
And so, much like the day before we again woke up early to be at the airport for 5am. We made it smoothly through check-in, and customs, and boarding the plane. The plane began taxing to the runway and started takeoff when we came to a violent halt. The pilot came on over the speakers telling us that the left engine didn’t seem to be working, a minor detail, and that we would have to go back and get a mechanic to take a look at it. Around 3 hours later we were preparing to take off once again, but sitting pretty close to that left engine I could hear it didn’t sound so great… we had a bit of a hard time clearing the mountains as the plane took off this time, but other then that, and the horrible noise we made it all the way to Miami, 5 hours late. It was here that our group began to get separated. Some headed to Dallas on a later flight and ended up sleeping the night in the airport, while a group of us made our way to the nearest Burger King, coupons in hand, before spending the night at the Crown Plaza in town. With 20 dollars to spend for each group of two we quickly turned it into a contest of who could spend the most of that money without going over… 2 triple bacon whoppers, biggie sized, and pie later Jang and I came out on top with the win… $19.95. I only made it through about 2 bites before Julie had to come in and save me, but the victory was mine!
At the Crown Plaza, Julie, Hannah and I ended up sharing a room… after a few minutes of jumping on beds, checking out all the bathroom freebies and finding the country station on the radio we decided to go check out the pool. A few hours later we came back to the room and I was able to talk to Kyle, who had made it back to school the day before. It wasn’t long into the conversation that Julie came rushing out of the bathroom with the news that our toilet was overflowing, and apparently it was my fault. This led to a hilarious endeavor of trying to find a plunger and figuring out how we could fix it since the cleaning staff had left for the night. The next morning we were again up early and heading to the airport… leaving a comfy bed, and a wet bathroom floor behind us. Our flight from Dallas to Calgary that was to take place later on today had already been cancelled and so instead of flying to Dallas we were placed on a flight to Houston with a connecting flight with Continental to Calgary. We made it through smoothly and everything seemed to be going according to plan for the first time this trip. All we needed to worry about now was getting from Gate A to Gate E in the 10 minutes there was between when we landed and when the next plane was about to take off. There was no way I was missing this next plane, I had had just about enough adventure for 3 days. As soon as I got off that plane we declared an every man for himself and started running towards the gate… a few of us hopping on a shuttle that moved slower then an old woman walking beside the tracks, walker and all. First stop I could get off I did and ran through the airport, only to find we had to go through customs again. I looked at the clock on the wall. 4 minutes until my plane takes off. Crap. I threw my shoes into a bin, and hurriedly walked through the scanner while a big security man laughed at me and asked me what I was in such a rush for. “Slow down girl!” he actually said to me. I didn’t have time to explain I just grabbed my bag and shoes and began running barefoot through the airport, needing to make it to gate E7. Of course that would happen to be at the furthest possible end of the airport. I made it there, panting, in time to see that the sign said the flight to Calgary had been moved to C23. You’ve got to be kidding me. I looked at the clock again, 1 minute. I was going to have to run faster then I ever had before if I was going to make it, and even then the boarding was probably already closed, but I didn’t have time to think, I just turned back around and took off running. I kept thinking of how badly I wanted to see Kyle and I was so close, I was not going to miss this flight, I had to get on that plane. I saw people from our group running towards me and just pointed at them to follow me, act now, explain later. I collapsed at the desk, saw the closed sign flashing on the monitor over head, looked out the window and saw the plane, and was barely able to make out the words, ‘can I get on that plane?’ She didn’t even look up at me, just said, its closed. I shut my eyes trying to control tears of frustration as I clenched my fists. ‘You don’t understand. I’ve got to be on that flight. I can’t wait another day, I need to be on that flight.’ She told me there was nothing she could do and pointed me to the guest services desk across the hall. I looked at the plane, so close. Maybe if I rushed the door… nope that man standing next to it looked pretty huge, I don’t think I could take him. I started walking over to the counter to see what flight we would be on next. I hear a horn honking down the hall and looked to see a bunch of friends being driven in one of those carts through the airport. That lady driving was a mad woman! She was honking that horn, speeding down the hall making people literally jump out of their way. They came to a halt in front of me and I quickly told them the final verdict. We all headed over to change our tickets. We were in the middle of canceling this flight and getting booked on a later one when the lady from the other desk tapped me on the shoulder and told us that our baggage had somehow made it onto that plane, so we had to be on it. I didn’t even think, just grabbed my stuff, rushed passed that big man at the door- haha showed you- and onto that plane. I’m a little scared to say that we have finally made it back- there is still a few hours left in this flight and as I’ve seen this trip, just about anything can happen… but I feel extremely excited about the possibility of finally seeing Kyle in a few hours after 3 long months… uh oh now I’m nervous haha.
I have learned so much throughout these past few days, and this entire trip in general. Faith when things are not going anywhere according to plan, and they don’t seem to make any logical sense, that for me is the hardest thing to do. To completely trust even when everything I thought was following Gods will is falling apart in every direction. Plan A, B and C have failed and I find myself left, helpless, vulnerable and confused. When in situations like this one though, I have found myself open to a very different way of trusting God, and letting go of all my plans- throwing that agenda out the window and just letting Him take me for this amazing exciting adventure. I am never disappointed when I trust in Him, and although everything on this trip seemed to be not working out the way it should, I was exactly the finale I needed before going home, and the adventure I was supposed to follow. Sorry that post was a long one… I often start writing and have a hard time remembering to stop. But it is a lesson and adventure that needed to be logged. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers throughout that trip home : )
