Day 9

Hola everyone, Lucy here!!!

Welcome to our very last blog post of the trip! This week has flown way too fast!

We woke up this morning to Profe Saúl’s last wake-up call, with a lively Spanish song and an energetic “Buenos días!” right outside our rooms. 

Breakfast went as usual, and we had our last fresh tropical fruit for a long time. Shortly after, we had our last team worship session, and Profe Mike led us in a closing devotional and prayer. We all took our last photos and said our goodbyes to the place that had begun to feel so much like home.

Our amazing bus driver drove us to the airport, as we mentally prepared ourselves for the long day of travel ahead of us. Well, all of us, that is, except for Profe Saúl. He was staying in Nicaragua for an extra week for a vacation, which made most of us jealous. After getting himself a cup of coffee, which he proceeded to spill most of on the airport floor, right next to Haven’s spilled bottle of water, he said goodbye to each of us and then went to pick up his rental car. He sent us a photo a few hours later of him on the beach.

At the Nicaragua airport, we got ourselves some Subway sandwiches to have for lunch and then hung out as we waited to board our plane, which had been delayed by a half hour. As we boarded the plane, we said hasta luego to Nicaragua.

Our first flight to Miami went really quickly, but as soon as we stepped off the plane in the Miami airport, we all got a lot more stressed. We originally only had about two and a half hours in between flights, and with the delay of our first flight, we were down to even less than that to go through customs, security, and make it to our gates on time. 

We flew across the Miami airport, moving as fast as we could on the moving sidewalks and weaving through crowds of people. It seemed as if we would have no problem making our plane, not for a team as locked in as we were. But we soon realized that our team had a couple of weak links…

When we got to customs, two people realized they had forgotten to finish their previously bought Subway sandwiches, which happened to have vegetables on them. So, they, and the four of us with them, had to be escorted to a new part of the airport to go through further inspection because of the veggies brought across the border. We bolted as fast as we could, definitely getting our steps in for the day. Thankfully, airport security could tell we were in a hurry, so after getting our bags through secondary screening and leaving the sandwiches behind, they sent us on a shortcut through the airport, where we met up with the rest of our group to go through security.

We managed to make it through security and speedwalked the rest of the way to our gate, making it with 20 minutes to spare! We were even able to laugh about the sandwich incident. Although, some of us wouldn’t have minded missing our flight and having some extra team-bonding time in Miami.

Our second flight to Seattle, which was significantly longer, seemed to take forever. Most of us watched movies and took naps, while Haven spilled her Coke on Profe Mike. We landed safely and got our bags, praying that all of our pottery was still in one piece. And then Mr. Beugelink picked us up, and we made our way back to Abbotsford, laughing and reflecting on the memories we made this week.

What an amazing, unforgettable trip this has been! We met some incredible people, made meaningful connections, and were deeply impacted by everything we saw and experienced. Thank you to all of you for your support and prayers!

Adios,

Lucy