Our first travel day started late Friday night. We had to be packed and ready to go at 11PM. We arrived at our meeting spot with excitement but also exhausted from the day of sitting in secessions. We knew we would be sleeping in the airport that night, and nights in airports usually mean no sleep.
My teams van arrived a little after midnight. We grabbed our gear and lugged it through the hotel lobby and finally placed it in our means of transportations to the airport. This was it! We are doing it! We are going on The World Race. We are about to be life changers across the world.
We arrived at the airport and our squad mate Zach was waiting in the cold to help us unload the van. I was dreading having to drag my pack through the airport so I was VERY relieved when Zach grabbed it for me. We ended up sleeping on the second floor of the airport where it looked like a hikers expo with all packs laying around. I am sure the on-lookers were wondering what exactly we were doing.
Four in the morning rolled around super fast for the check-in for our flight. We all looked like zombies standing in the check-in line. I was pumped and ready to go! People were giving us strange looks as a group of 50 us were wondering around the airport with our massive packs.
Stacie and I beat everyone to our first gate only to find it empty. T-17 was desolate. Ten minutes later a few other racers showed up. Before we knew it the gate changed and we were on the move yet again. Gate T-11 is where we finally ended up. Shortly after I wondered off to get breakfast and found myself at the same space where I ate before heading to New York City in early December.
Our first stop was in Miami where our flight was delayed. Yet again, we took over the gate with our daypacks and jackets laid out everywhere. We finally boarded the plane to Ecuador! We were on our way. I am pretty sure most of us were sleeping on the flight. Exhaustion always takes on a new meaning on travel days. I turned my phone on one last time when one last text message came through from a close friend back in Georgia. I feel asleep quickly and before I knew it the pilot announced we would be landing in twenty minutes. That four hour flight will be the shortest one in the next eleven months.
The countryside was beautiful as we were flying in. Fields of green everywhere. Rolling hills and then the Andes Mountain Range in the background. It was all breath taking. I had my face glued to the window in awe.
As soon as we landed Mason turned around and said “this is so awesome, we are actually in Ecuador!” I think we all felt that way at that point. Next stop was getting through immigration and customs, and then we would be on our way. Our contact, Gustavo, was waiting for us as soon as we made it through. We all loaded up on the bus to take us to our new home.
Thirty minutes later we arrived at Casa Blanca and it immediately felt like home. It was even better when we realized we got to share the house with all but two teams. A house full of twenty plus people brings a whole new meaning to community living with a packed house.
This house has such a feeling of peace to it. The people are all so loving and we all automatically felt like family. Our ministry started Monday but we are still not really sure the exact details of it all. Our main goal right now is working on planting a garden for Casa Elizabeth which we dug in and started today. I can’t wait to dig in further and see what God has in store.
P.s. We went to the equator Sunday with about 15 people from the squad. We were at latitude 00.00.00, also the highest point on the equator because it is on the Andes Mountain range (we will get to hit the equator in Malaysia too). Our next adventure is climbing to the top of a volcano here…SQUAD BONDING!
P.s.s. We also went to church Sunday with Patrick, a missionary who works here at Incalink. The worship and service was all in Spanish. It was really awesome to experience it.
P.s.s.s. The food here, AMAZING. Some many new foods!
Love you all!
