The day finally arrived! Twelve brave souls from First United Methodist Church in Artesia NM set out on an adventure that would change us forever! Our flight was to leave Midland at 10 a.m. We all got very little sleep the night before, since we had to leave at 4 a.m. for the airport. Excitement was in the air! Rhiny and Donna went to Midland on Friday night to spend the night, but the rest of us eagerly came to the church bright and early to set off on our journey. Cooper, Peyton, Linda, Scott, Seth, Jonathan, Katelyn, Patty, Jeff and I were ready to go! Scott picked me and Patty and Jeff up in the church van on the way to the church. Cooper drove his van, so he could carry some of our luggage. Teri Menefee, Randy and Teresa Harris, Gay Craemer and Josh Heidenreich came to see us off! After a prayer for help and protection we were off! I drove the church van on the first "leg" of the journey. In Andrews, Scott took over. We arrived at the airport at 8:30. Check-in when smoothly and after paying for one extra bag (the 38 deflated footballs!), we headed to Gate 2. Going through security, Rhiny, Peyton and Scott got stopped! Hmmm. . . our 2 "seasoned travelers" and our youth minister! We were gonna have to watch out for them! Rhiny and Peyton had an "excuse" --- metal body parts! But Scott? They wanted to check his bulging pockets - - which were empty of course! I guess he looked a little shady with his "whiskers"!
Since we had some time before our departure, some of the group got something to drink at an airport restaurant. Our flight was on time so we boarded at 9:40 and took off at 10! The stewardess served us drinks and pretzels during the short flight. We arrived in Houston at 11:15. We landed at terminal B and tranfered to the international flight terminal E. Since we had a little bit of time, some of the team wanted to get a bite to eat. I went on to the gate to meet up with Ted and "little" Travis. It was good to see them and introduce them to our team. Boarded the plane at 12:30 for a 1 o'clock take-off. We arrived in Tegucigalpa at 2:45 ---2 hour 45 minute flight. Honduras doesn't switch over to DST, so they are the same as Mountain Time. Everything went smoothly through customs. Some of the airport attendants were wearing masks --- still worried about swine flu, I guess! We had to stand on a big "X" and it registered our temperature and maybe even took our picture. We also had to sign a paper verifying that we didn't have a cough, fever, or aches/chills. Later we learned that Honduras had 100 cases of the H1N1 virus. None of us coughed, so they let us through! haha!
Travis was there to pick us up. After getting our luggage, we went outside to get in the big old yellow BlueBird bus. It was raining very hard, so all of us were soaked by the time we got to the bus. Very hot and humid here! We left the airport around 3:30. Though it is only 150 miles to El Sembrador, it took us about 4 hours to get there. We saw many new sights. The road was paved but very bumpy and there are MANY speed bumps in the Teguc, and other smaller towns. Several armed check points as well. Travis is an expert driver! It seemed that there were no rules on driving. If you see a break in traffic, you go for it. Ted said that in Honduras you drive offensively, not defensively! Horns blaring, cars and trucks passing on curves, hills, and off we go to the farm, arriving around 8 or 8:30. I didn't even look at my watch. Lori assigned us to our rooms and then we met in the dining room and ate a delicious spaghetti supper. Our team was hoping for "typical" food. I think they were surprised at how good (and American) everything seemed! One of my jobs as leader was to assign kitchen and laundry duties, so I did that. Donna, Patty and I took care of daily laundry throughout the week. What a nice surprise to know that we could wash our dirty work clothes daily, and not have a mountain of smelly clothes to take home! After supper, Lori gave us some orientation as to our week's schedule. Some of the "Senior" boys gave their testimony and told us about their trip coming up at the end of the year and the "fundraisers" they have for that. If we buy coke, water or candy bars in our little private kitchen area outside my room, we write it down on the paper on the refrig. The money goes towards the trip. Also, we each bought an El Sembrador soccor shirt (red, yellow, green, or blue) for each of the teams that compete in the Day of the School sporting events. Each team would play "fast soccor" in the coming week and we each chose a team to root for! I chose RED. After a short time of devotion we gladly turned in for the evening! I had a hard time falling asleep----too many things swirling around in my head. Many new sights, sounds and smells! Thanks Lord for bringing us here! Little did we know then of the adventures awaiting us!
Since we had some time before our departure, some of the group got something to drink at an airport restaurant. Our flight was on time so we boarded at 9:40 and took off at 10! The stewardess served us drinks and pretzels during the short flight. We arrived in Houston at 11:15. We landed at terminal B and tranfered to the international flight terminal E. Since we had a little bit of time, some of the team wanted to get a bite to eat. I went on to the gate to meet up with Ted and "little" Travis. It was good to see them and introduce them to our team. Boarded the plane at 12:30 for a 1 o'clock take-off. We arrived in Tegucigalpa at 2:45 ---2 hour 45 minute flight. Honduras doesn't switch over to DST, so they are the same as Mountain Time. Everything went smoothly through customs. Some of the airport attendants were wearing masks --- still worried about swine flu, I guess! We had to stand on a big "X" and it registered our temperature and maybe even took our picture. We also had to sign a paper verifying that we didn't have a cough, fever, or aches/chills. Later we learned that Honduras had 100 cases of the H1N1 virus. None of us coughed, so they let us through! haha!
Travis was there to pick us up. After getting our luggage, we went outside to get in the big old yellow BlueBird bus. It was raining very hard, so all of us were soaked by the time we got to the bus. Very hot and humid here! We left the airport around 3:30. Though it is only 150 miles to El Sembrador, it took us about 4 hours to get there. We saw many new sights. The road was paved but very bumpy and there are MANY speed bumps in the Teguc, and other smaller towns. Several armed check points as well. Travis is an expert driver! It seemed that there were no rules on driving. If you see a break in traffic, you go for it. Ted said that in Honduras you drive offensively, not defensively! Horns blaring, cars and trucks passing on curves, hills, and off we go to the farm, arriving around 8 or 8:30. I didn't even look at my watch. Lori assigned us to our rooms and then we met in the dining room and ate a delicious spaghetti supper. Our team was hoping for "typical" food. I think they were surprised at how good (and American) everything seemed! One of my jobs as leader was to assign kitchen and laundry duties, so I did that. Donna, Patty and I took care of daily laundry throughout the week. What a nice surprise to know that we could wash our dirty work clothes daily, and not have a mountain of smelly clothes to take home! After supper, Lori gave us some orientation as to our week's schedule. Some of the "Senior" boys gave their testimony and told us about their trip coming up at the end of the year and the "fundraisers" they have for that. If we buy coke, water or candy bars in our little private kitchen area outside my room, we write it down on the paper on the refrig. The money goes towards the trip. Also, we each bought an El Sembrador soccor shirt (red, yellow, green, or blue) for each of the teams that compete in the Day of the School sporting events. Each team would play "fast soccor" in the coming week and we each chose a team to root for! I chose RED. After a short time of devotion we gladly turned in for the evening! I had a hard time falling asleep----too many things swirling around in my head. Many new sights, sounds and smells! Thanks Lord for bringing us here! Little did we know then of the adventures awaiting us!
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