Wednesday, October 31:
6:00a – Wake up and shower for the last time until who knows when!
6:15a – Begin the dreadful act of packing
6:45a – Breakfast
7:15a – Finish packing
7:45a – Begin loading 65 packs, day packs, and racers into one 5-passanger truck and one school bus! Let the shenanigans begin!
8:30a – Drive to the bus station in Port-au-Prince
9:15a – Arrive at the bus station, unload our belongings and hang out until our bus arrives at 10 am
10:00a – Continue waiting for the bus – TIH (This is Haiti) – meaning nothing happens when they say it will
10:30a – Find snacks
10:45a – Make friends with the employees at the bus station and receive gifts from those new friends, such as a Capital Coach Line shirt and hat!
11:00a – Continue waiting for the bus, play cards to pass the time
12:00p – Continue waiting for the bus, listen to music to pass the time
12:30p – Eat lunch
1:00p – Continue waiting for the bus, take laps around the parking lot to stretch your muscles before traveling
1:30p – Use the restroom (if someone is in the ladies room, it's acceptable to use the mens!)
2:00p – Continue to wait for the bus, begin wondering if we will EVER leave Haiti!
2:15p – THE BUS FINALLY ARRIVES! Cheers of exuberance and screams of excitement are heard!
2:30p – Hit the road to the DR!
3:00p – Drive through roads still flooded from hurricane Sandy
3:30p – DRIVE OVER THE BRIDGE! This is the bridge we heard had collapsed in the storm and were told we'd have to walk across with all of our belongings!
11:00p – Arrive at SDQ – Santo Domingo Airport
11:45p – find a spot to chill for the night
Thursday, November 1:
12:30a – find something to eat for dinner / breakfast. Not entirely sure what meal to consider this!
1:00a – Contemplate sleeping for a few hours or pulling an all-nighter with the hope of sleeping on the flight
1:15a – Take laps around the airport to stretch my legs and talk
4:00a – Check in and check our bags
4:30a – Go through security – set the scanner off and get patted down!
6:00a – Board the plane
6:30a – Wonder why we haven't taken off yet
6:35a – Listen to the pilot's announcement – a switch is broken and if it can't be fixed the flight will be cancelled!
6:36a – Begin praying for provision and God's intervention!
6:45a – The pilot announces that the switch is fixed and we will take off shortly
7:00a – Finally leave the DR!
9:30a – Arrive at MIA – back on American soil!
9:45a – Stand in the immigration line
10:15a – make it through immigration – wondering why that was so stressful! Immediately head to baggage to claim my bag
10:20a – Walk briskly with all my luggage to recheck my pack; the walk soon turns into a sprint in order to make my connection!
10:25a – An American Airlines associate begins yelling at us to drop our bags and follow the man in the gray shirt who then leads us to a priority security line
10:35a – Make it through security and run to the gate – barely making the connection!
10:45a – Take off
1:05p – Arrive at LAX
1:30p – Stand at baggage claim for over 30 minutes before our bags come out
2:00p – Many racers reunite with family and friends after 2 months abroad
2:30p – Leave the airport with Liz's mom for a few hours – hit up In&Out Burgers then shop at Target for some "necessities"
4:30p – Stop at Liz's mom's hotel to shower in a REAL shower with HOT water and repack our bags
8:00p – Meet the squad at LAX, check into Cathay Pacific for flight to Bangkok by way of Hong Kong
9:00p – eat dinner
10:00p – Get in security line
11:15p – Make it through security
Friday, November 2:
12:30a – Board our flight to Hong Kong
1:05a – Take off on a 14.5 hour flight!!!
Saturday, November 3:
6:45a – Arrive in Hong Kong – completely skipping over a whole day!
7:15a – Enjoy a taste of home – a caramel frap from Starbucks!
8:45a – board my next flight to Bangkok, Thailand!
9:10a – Take off!
11:15a – Land in Bangkok
11:30a – Enter the immigration line
12:00p – Receive another stamp in my passport
12:30p – Gather our bags; walk half way across the airport to meet our contacts
2:00p – Load 7 teams into 6 song-tells them drive to the bus station
3:00p – arrive at the bus station
4:30- scout our dinner options then eat
6:00p – Do WHATEVER possible to stay away so I can sleep on the bus
7:30p – Squad head count – then load into 3 different buses
8:00p – Bus departs
Sunday, November 4:
12:15a – Bus stops, use the squatty potty for the first time!
12:35a – Bus departs from rest stop
6:00a – Bus arrives in ministry city
6:30a – meet our contacts, Margie and Mike
6:45a – Load our bags
7:00a – depart bus station heading toward ministry location
7:30a – Arrive at ministry location
8:00a – Eat breakfast
9:00a – Set up TENTS!
9:30a – Shower
10:00a – Leave for church
TOTAL HOURS TRAVELING: 84+
