How did my squad and I get from Managua to Manila? If you said in a plane you’d be correct but there is so much more that happened in between to make this a memorable journey…..
October 31st….
It all started with a Halloween party at the airport. That’s right, we spent Halloween night at the airport in Managua. My squad and I claimed a section of the airport for storing our stuff, hosting a Halloween show, including crazy costumes, skits and prizes, and also sleeping.
November 1st
Most of us awoke this morning having slept 1 to 4 hours. We then boarded our plane which was bound for the states….that’s right, we had to stop in the good ‘ol US of A before heading to Asia.
-Atlanta was our first destination in the USA and boy was it weird to be back….things I appreciated being back were flushing toilet paper down the toilet, drinking water from the fountain, and Christmas music! Ha that’s right the airport was playing it when we arrived 🙂
-The next leg of our trip was across the country to Los Angeles. When we arrived in LAX we picked up our packs at baggage claim because we had a 12 hour layover! Instead of sleeping in the airport again, some teammates and I made plans to rent a van and stay with a family in the area. So we picked up our van and headed off to REI, Trader Joes, and Target to restock on supplies and comforts from the states (for me this included clif bars, carrots, apples, toothpaste, a new journal and trail mix).
-At this point we made our way to John Michael’s sister’s house just outside of the airport. Her family welcomed us with a homemade meal of ribs, mashed potatoes, a salad, bread and dessert. I got to sleep on a comfy bed in an air conditioned room and take a warm shower! Wow.
November 2nd
-At 4:30am we woke up to head to the airport for our morning flight. As we were en route, I got a call that our flight had been delayed until the afternoon…..meaning we had more time to hang out in LA before going to the airport! Sweet.
With this extra time we found ourselves at Starbucks, then taking a stroll along the beach, and then to Whole foods to get some last minute items.
Once we arrived back from the airport loaded with extra goods from our layover, we realized the airlines had given us a food voucher for the delay. Flight delay = free food! So we enjoyed our last few hours in the states with fine free foods from the international terminal. Thanks Philippines airlines!
-4pm we boarded our jumbo plane bound for Manila. I was fortunate to get an aisle seat (praise The Lord) which would allow my long legs to stretch out for the 15 hour flight ahead. I was given a blanket and pillow both of which I came to see the importance of later in the flight. My teammate Jenna was next to me in our 2 seat row and was not feeling so well…as we took off she tried to get some sleep but couldn’t with the little girl kicking her seat and making noise behind her. She ended up moving up a couple rows with another teammate, Kendra, who had a free seat next to her. Wow! Thanks, Kendra, for sharing your row and freeing up mine! This allowed me to spread out and, I believe, not have swollen ankles!
For the next 15 hours I…
-journaled,
-read the Bible,
-slept,
-ate,
-started a new book on my Aunt Connie’s kindle called ‘Lost in Shangri-La’. As it turns out, the book is a true story about a military plane in WWII crashing in New Guinea, which is in Southeast Asia! I was praying that that would not be our fate that day…
-visited to HAWAII!! That’s right our plane made a technical stop in Hawaii for more fuel. Even though I technically never left the plane I am still crossing it off of states visited in the USA (only 7 more states to go!)
November 3rd oh wait TIME CHANGE….we skipped this day.
November 4th
We made our final descent into the Manila airport with cheers from the passengers (ok really it was just the World racers who were actually awake at 1:30am).
By the time we got out luggage, exchanged money, and shoved our stuff into vans to take us to our hostel, it was 4:30am.
5:30am till 8am – sleep. But in order to get on this time zone, I forced myself to get up to start the day.
A Manila sunrise
I praise God for His provision and our safety. I am reminded as I recall this journey that God is a God of details. He is concerned not just about the end point but also the process of getting there!
Onward to Tacloban to begin ministry with
KIM – Kids International Ministry (www.kidsim.org) – more info to come!!!
Lauren
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1 Peter 5:7
