That pretty much sums up about our travel. It was a long one, but you could feel the electricity running through the air because everyone couldn’t believe that the race was actually happening. To give you guys an idea of what our travel day looked like, here was our itinerary.
Sunday, August 6th
9:00 PM- Get out of session
9:15 PM- Say goodbyes to our Mentor and Coaches
10:00 PM- Think about going to sleep
10:30 PM- Start playing card games
Monday, August 7th
12:15 AM- Finish playing card games
12:30 AM- Take final shower in the United States for a while
12:45 AM- Finish final packing
1:00 AM- Sit around waiting, getting anxious
2:09 AM- Get told that the airport shuttle times have changed so we have to leave in 6 minutes (We were supposed to leave at 2:40 AM)
2:10 AM- FINALLY HAVE THE TEAM MEET TO HEAD TO THE AIRPORT
2:15 AM- The first group sits outside waiting for the shuttle, which I was a part of
2:30 AM- The first shuttle finally leaves
3:00 AM- The first group gets to the airport
3:30 AM- The whole squad gets to the airport
3:45 AM- Check in bags to Miami
4:25 AM- Go through security
5:25 AM- Finally get to gate
7:15 AM- Finally board the plane to Miami
7:40 AM- TAKEOFF
9:40 AM- Land in Miami
10:25 AM- Pick up bags to recheck to a different airline
10:45 AM- Finally find a place to rest/hangout for the entire squad
11:00 AM- Walk across the Miami airport parking garage in the blistering heat and humidity
11:15 AM- Arrive at hangout spot
12:15 PM- Try to talk to the ticketing counter to find out the best process to check in 26 people
12:30 PM- Find out that there is no special process. Everyone has to go through individually anyways
1:30 PM- Finally get to the security
1:45 PM- Step on a piece of gum barefoot in the security line
2:10 PM- Get to gate to go to Lisbon
3:10 PM- Fall asleep on the floor of the Miami Airport
3:40 PM- Wake up from nap
3:45 PM- Board plane to Lisbon
4:15 PM- Takeoff
Tuesday, August 8th
5:05 AM- Land in Lisbon
5:40 AM- Go through customs and security to get a different international gate
7:00 AM- Finally find a place to rest for a couple hours
7:22 AM- Facetime Mom
8:15 AM- Explore Lisbon’s airport and kill time with squad mates
8:45 AM- Explore the airport again because I needed to kill more time
9:00 AM- Go to our gate
9:15 AM- Do Sudoku puzzles with squad members to kill more time
10:00 AM- Board plane to Budapest
10:35 AM- Takeoff
3:00 PM- Land in Budapest
3:30 PM- Collect bags and get excited about being in Eastern Europe
3:45 PM- Find a place to hangout while we wait for our bus to come at 7
4:00 PM- Try to figure out currency exchange rates and withdraw money to pay our bus
4:15 PM- Get a phone call saying that our bus is at the airport
4:30 PM- Take a look at the bus and talk to the driver
4:45 PM- Tell everyone that the bus arrived earlier and we have to be there at 5:30
5:15 PM- Head to the bus after a lot of ATM withdrawals and stress
5:40 PM- The bus arrives and we load up
7:55 PM- Reach the Hungary/Serbia border
8:05 PM- Officially cross the border and get back on the bus
8:10 PM- Start playing a card game
9:00 PM- Stop at a sketchy gas station for snacks and drinks
9:10 PM- Admire the purple sky at the sketchy gas station
9:15 PM- Get back on the bus for the final leg of the travel days
9:18 PM- Play a different card game with different people
10:15 PM- Arrive at our ministry sit in Novi Sad, Serbia
10:20 PM- Get acquainted with the church we are staying at
11:30 PM- FINALLY HIT THE HAY
So, as you can see travel day was long. A lot of waiting, a lot of laughing, a lot of stress, but most of all a lot seeing the Lord provide. He got us here, and now we are about to approach day 3 of ministry. LETS GOOOOOO!
Update: I HAVE LESS THE $2,000 LEFT TO RAISE! Let’s get me fully funded before my first month of ministry ends!
