I left on January 2nd with Jimmy for the Dominican Republic. We left early… like 4:45 AM early and I hadn’t slept at all because I’m the World Race packing coach and thought I didn’t need that long to pack. Pride comes before a fall right.
We arrived safely in Santo Domingo that afternoon and took a taxi to the bus station in town. 40 Minute Taxi ride approx. $40. 4 Hour bus ride (charter bus with reclining seats, tv, and air conditioning) approx. $7. Tell me they aren’t ripping the tourists off! Late that evening we arrived in San Juan La Manguana, near the mountains in the inner part of the DR. That’s right, we are a few hours away from the beach. Jimmy and I got off the bus to meet Miguel, another AIM Staff member whose long term ministry is here in San Juan. After a few tacos and details, we went to bed. I was exhausted.
On Saturday I took to the streets with Sylvia, one of the translators to get some details sorted for the teams arrival the next day. Jimmy, Miguel, and Ronnie stayed behind to get the house and apartment we would be staying in ready for the team.
The fun really started on Sunday… I got up expecting to leave around
10:15 to catch one of the 3 buses we had rented to pick up the team at the airport. During our breakfast meeting, Ronnie my partner in Operation: Retrieve Squad, got a phone call. After he spoke his hurried Spanish and got off the phone, he looked at me and said, “Are you ready to go? That was the bus driver. He said that there are many people in line and if we don’t get there soon, there may not be room on the buses to get to Santo Domingo.”
I was a little confused. Then I remembered that I wasn’t in the US. I wasn’t renting a bus, riding it all alone for 4 hours to pick up my team, and come comfortably back home. This was the DR. They were hauling passengers all the way there… and anybody and everybody was welcome.
After going to the wrong bus station first, and then running through the streets to the right bus station, we hopped on the last bus… the empty one. As the bus in front of us pulled out of the station, we took our place at the front of the line. A guy got on to check things out. I recognized this role… He’s a porter. On buses all around the world, a porter’s job is to get as many people cra
mmed into the vehicle as possible. I quickly re-organized my thoughts, and thought through the journey. I didn’t want to sit in the seat I was currently in. I noticed the fold-down jump seat beside me. “Nope… Don’t want to be that close to somebody I don’t know…. Window seats are nice. Can I feel the air conditioning if I sit there? What is the leg room like?” These are the moments when it’s good to have World Race experience. I switched to a window seat right beside the door with plenty of leg room.
Just as I sat down and got situated, the doors opened, the porter stepped in the door and shouted for everyone to pile on. After the initial shoving match, with ‘bows flying left and right, there were still plenty of seats available. So we sat for a long time while more passengers were called on. The little cushioned boards that connect the left and right rows and create extra seating were brought out. Luggage and sacks were pushed up under seats and legs. Children moved to laps…. And still more people got on. Before the doors were closed there were 7 people in my row… 4 adults and 3 kids. It was intense. I knew I wasn’t going to move an inch for the next 4 hours. I just put in my iPod and praised the Lord all the way to the airport.
When Ronnie and I arrived, we had only been inside the airport for 5 minutes when the first group came out the doors. They looked elated to see us. The group had to split up in Miami because we couldn’t get all 53 people on the same flight. The next group arrived about an hour later. When it was all said and done I was only missing one backpack and one racer. Ashley Harris’ bag hadn’t even made it to Miami from her original destination yet, and Rachel Hartman had been caught behind snow and ice and her flight was delayed. It’s a good thing I know people in the office! Casey was already working on getting Rachel in the next day with the Coaches, and we were tracking down Ashley’s bag.
After another 4 hour bus ride back to San Juan, we piled into our big house for a dinner of chicken, boiled plantains, and yucca. Most people went straight to sleep. I laid down on my bed and thought… It has begun. *Gulp*
