Friday Morning, February 9, 2018
Morning came early as my alarm buzzed at 3:15 AM. After a quick shower, I checked my bags one final time, making sure I had my passport, medicine, travel documents and Guatemala currency. At 3:45, the Inglesby’s pulled into my driveway. Meeting them at the door so as not to wake the dog, we loaded my trunk containing group supplies along with my carry-on luggage and head to the airport for a 6 AM flight. Several other Faith in Practice team members were already at the airport wearing their green shirts. We greet one another and check in, making our way through security and to our gate. Most of us are walking zombies, in an early morning daze. As the time passes more and more green shirt team members arrive. People hug old friends that they haven’t seen since a previous trip. As a newbie, I’m introduced to many others. There must be a dozen team members on the flight to Atlanta. The flight leaves on time and I’m soon asleep for the forty-five minute flight to Atlanta.
The Atlanta airport is always busy regardless the hour. Knowing we have more sitting ahead and with several hours to kill, a couple of us skip the train and walk from Terminal B to Terminal E, where our flight is to board. We join with others for breakfast. More team members arrive and noting our t-shirts come over to join us as people from Indiana, New York, Chicago, Michigan gather. By the time we are ready to board the flight to Guatemala City, there must be thirty or more of us. By this point my head is swarming with names of new friends. My assigned seat is away from other members of the teams, so I sit by myself and watch a movie and then catch up on some sleep. The three and a half our flight is over quickly and soon I’m awaken by a flight attendant asking me to put my seat back up. Off the starboard wing, I can see several volcanoes, which would become a landmark for my first two days in country.
Team members cluster together as we make our way through immigration. On the other side, we are quickly divided into the sheeps and the goats (I’m not sure which we were, but the surgical team are lead to one set of buses and those of us in the village team are taken to another. We load into two buses and are driven through stop-and-go traffic south and then west, around the volcano to Antigua. Having traveled a bit in Honduras, I’m amazed at the cleanliness of the city. We arrive to the hotel at 4:15 PM. As we enter (Casa de Antigua), we are assigned rooms and told to meet back at 5 PM. We have a short business meeting, where we introduce ourselves and are told a few safety rules. Afterwards have dinner at Los Palmos, a restaurant a few blocks away. When we come back from dinner, a few team members stay up and talk in the courtyard, but most of us quickly head to bed.
Devotions are scheduled for Saturday morning at 7:15 AM, followed by breakfast and an orientation at Casa de Fe.
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