Peru Trip - Day 1

Actually, today began last night around 9:00 as the team came to “the Summit” to spend the evening together. We gathered all of the bags into the bus to be ready to leave at 3:00 in the morning. Around 10:30, Tony said he was going to sleep, and encouraged anyone else who would like to go to sleep to find a place to sleep and bed down for a couple of hours. As I had anticipated, the teens were a little wound up and played hide and seek in the hallways. I was amazed at the amount of noise they were making and that Tony had not settled them down – then I went into the room he was sleeping in and realized he couldn't hear them carrying on. Eventually around 12, the girls began to settle down and stated trying to sleep. Occasionally the boys would play with the ball, and Gina would come in to yell at them for making too much noise. They really were not making a large amount of noise, but when you are trying to sleep, it doesn't take much. Needless to say, I stayed up with the boys all night, and they talked about movies, girls, sports, etc. It was a good time of preparation for the trip.

At 2:30, Tony came into our room and started rousing the troops. They had some Panera bagels, juice and milk, and by 3:15 we were on our way to Atlanta. This is where the story gets interesting. We arrive in Atlanta around 5, and as we head into the Spirit Airlines counter, I listen to a conversation of a woman with the man in front of me. “If you do not have the permission to travel form filled out for your minor child, I cannot allow you to board the plane.” Instantly I pulled out my paperwork to make sure that I had all of the necessary papers, and I did. Anyway, he was not very happy, and had to leave the counter. She called me up to the desk and asked where I was going. I told her that I had a group of 13 heading for Lima, and she asked about baggage. I informed her that we all had 2 bags a piece, and she told me that there had been an embargo from Lima that only allowed 1 bag per person. Somehow we had to consolidate 26 bags (most of which weighed 40 lbs or more) into 13 bags that weighed less than 50 lbs each. I started asking other people that worked for Spirit. I pulled out my printed paperwork from the internet that assured me I could bring 2 bags. Eventually, w e started working toward consolidating the bags, and called the guy who took us to the airport to come back to pick up the extra bags. As we started, another woman approached us and told us she worked it out to carry all of our bags. Praise the Lord!! I was worried about leaving all of the crafts, candy, games, etc. and God took care of it all.

Our first flight landed in Fort Lauderdale, where we had an 8 hour layover. The group decided to take a few hours and go to the local beach, so we took the shuttle to a local hotel and hung out at the beach for a couple hours. Finally we returned back to the airport, and presently we are en route to Lima Peru. It is supposed to be a 5 ½ hour flight – we will arrive around 11:00 our time (10:00 local time). We will head back to the hotel and get a good nights rest – Lord willing – because tomorrow we take the shuttle to Huaraz.

One day at a time – that is what God is teaching me – one issue at a time. We will see how the whole plan plays out as the week progresses.