Sunday January 18, 2009
Today is the last day of our journey, thank goodness. We were up and out of the resort by 4:30 AM and back on our bus for the final time. After arriving at the airport, we smoothly made it through the check-in procedures and sat in the terminal watching as the sun rose over the airport.
As we took off, I was flooded with a sense of mixed emotions. I was very happy to be on my way home, but I was sad to leave this place as well. The Salvadoran people are a kind, warm and beautiful people, and I am going to miss them. And perhaps, a part of me is sad to leave these beautiful 85 degree temperatures, I can only imagine what the weather is doing back home.
As we traveled across the Gulf, I kept straining to catch my first glimpse of the coast of Texas. When it finally came into view, it was almost overwhelming, I am so happy to be back in the United States. We may have our problems, but there is still no where else in the world that I would rather live.
Customs went very smoothly, although we had to walk for what seemed like miles. One thing that I noticed was how rude and pushy our baggage inspection people were as compared to their counterparts in El Salvador. There was one place where the woman was literally yelling at people for not responding quickly enough to her demands. The people, who weren’t responding, probably didn’t speak English, and I certainly know what it’s like to be in a foreign country and not understand what someone is trying to tell me to do. I should have probably told the woman that yelling her point at these people doesn’t in anyway help them to understand any better. Maybe she was just having a bad day, or maybe she has a bad day everyday!
While we were “enjoying” our 5 hour layover in Houston, I had an opportunity to talk to my family, and this time without it costing $1.50 per minute. I was greeted with the news that Karen and Terri were hatching a plan to pick me up in Ohio tonight, and after a little discussion about whether they should come to the airport or the school, the decision was made for them to pick me up at the school. Imagine my surprise when the whole crew was waiting for me at the airport. I have no idea how they were able to find the airport and find me, but they did and I was very happy to see everyone.
The four hour trip home went both quickly and slowly. We talked quite a bit about the trip, but there were many parts of the journey that I wasn’t really ready to talk about, plus everyone was tired and they started dropping off quickly after midnight, except Ben, since he was driving. Although I stayed awake all the way home, it didn’t take long to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow. It sure is good to be home!
As a postscript, I have to say how exhausted that I was following the trip. All that I did was sleep it seems like for the first week. I was really grateful and fortunate that we were essentially snowed in all week. Bible Study, Choir Practice and our Wednesday Church dinner were all cancelled due to weather. I think that God knew that I needed rest and that’s why it snowed:) Well, maybe not, but it could be! In reality it took about a week and a half before I started feeling back to normal, and now it is time to get back to work.
Today is the last day of our journey, thank goodness. We were up and out of the resort by 4:30 AM and back on our bus for the final time. After arriving at the airport, we smoothly made it through the check-in procedures and sat in the terminal watching as the sun rose over the airport.
As we took off, I was flooded with a sense of mixed emotions. I was very happy to be on my way home, but I was sad to leave this place as well. The Salvadoran people are a kind, warm and beautiful people, and I am going to miss them. And perhaps, a part of me is sad to leave these beautiful 85 degree temperatures, I can only imagine what the weather is doing back home.
As we traveled across the Gulf, I kept straining to catch my first glimpse of the coast of Texas. When it finally came into view, it was almost overwhelming, I am so happy to be back in the United States. We may have our problems, but there is still no where else in the world that I would rather live.
Customs went very smoothly, although we had to walk for what seemed like miles. One thing that I noticed was how rude and pushy our baggage inspection people were as compared to their counterparts in El Salvador. There was one place where the woman was literally yelling at people for not responding quickly enough to her demands. The people, who weren’t responding, probably didn’t speak English, and I certainly know what it’s like to be in a foreign country and not understand what someone is trying to tell me to do. I should have probably told the woman that yelling her point at these people doesn’t in anyway help them to understand any better. Maybe she was just having a bad day, or maybe she has a bad day everyday!
While we were “enjoying” our 5 hour layover in Houston, I had an opportunity to talk to my family, and this time without it costing $1.50 per minute. I was greeted with the news that Karen and Terri were hatching a plan to pick me up in Ohio tonight, and after a little discussion about whether they should come to the airport or the school, the decision was made for them to pick me up at the school. Imagine my surprise when the whole crew was waiting for me at the airport. I have no idea how they were able to find the airport and find me, but they did and I was very happy to see everyone.
The four hour trip home went both quickly and slowly. We talked quite a bit about the trip, but there were many parts of the journey that I wasn’t really ready to talk about, plus everyone was tired and they started dropping off quickly after midnight, except Ben, since he was driving. Although I stayed awake all the way home, it didn’t take long to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow. It sure is good to be home!
As a postscript, I have to say how exhausted that I was following the trip. All that I did was sleep it seems like for the first week. I was really grateful and fortunate that we were essentially snowed in all week. Bible Study, Choir Practice and our Wednesday Church dinner were all cancelled due to weather. I think that God knew that I needed rest and that’s why it snowed:) Well, maybe not, but it could be! In reality it took about a week and a half before I started feeling back to normal, and now it is time to get back to work.
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