I am writing this at 2:36am Costa Rican time, which would make it 3:36am CST. The journey to Costa Rica was quite an adventure. Everything went smoothly with our check-ins and our flight to Houston. At our gate in Houston, we discovered a group of around 10 ACU students who are also coming down for a mission trip this week in the mountainous area to the south.
Once we got on our way in Houston, we had been on the plane for a long time, and were within just a few minutes of landing when the pilot told us the clouds and rain in San Jose were too think, and we would have to taxi for a while. Eventually, our gas was going to get too low, so we went to another town called Libera, on the northwest coast of Costa Rica. We stayed on the plane for an hour or so as we waited for news. Jake, our traveler from Tennessee, was flying in on another airline. They ended up putting both of our planes down in Liberia, so we were really close, but not together. His airline decided to take all passengers by bus to San Jose, and we are still waiting for him at the hotel right now.
Ours was finally able to make the flight, and we landed uneventfully. We got our luggage without any trouble. The funny thing is that we arrived so late that all the employees really obviously didn't want to be there, so it was by far the easiest time through security and scanning that we've ever had!
Our dear friend Jose Porras was there with the iconic green bus to pick us up. We headed straight for a Denny's to finally get dinner around midnight. We were all tired from the traveling, but we are now at our hotel, which is very comfortable, and our rooms are all close together. We'll have a nice week here.
For now, everyone is in their rooms, and likely resting. (At least, they OUGHT to be!)
We're going to get a little bit of a later start in the morning to compensate for the lack of sleep. Tomorrow will be a day for getting our bearings and seeing what final touches need to be made to our plans for the work this trip.
The first day has reminded me of the benefit of disrupting your personal routines. It's nice to have an excuse for extended time with your Christian family. We have a great team this year with a lot of super-organized individuals. I think it's the best prepared mission trip I've ever been part of, at least whatever parts are under our control. Despite our frustrations with delayed landings, uncertainty about where we might have to spend the night, and great doubt that we'd ever get dinner, I think we'd all say that we had a great time on the plane. Lots of talking, laughing, and sharing stories about ourselves. Everyone seems healthy and happy so far.
The weather down here is cool but not cold. Feels just wonderful. We'll try to keep reporting in here every day. Also, we'll try to put pictures on the church fan page. www.facebook.com/kingscrossingcoc
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