Monday started out with moving the last of my stuff to Tamara’s house and saying goodbye to the VOH team house. It was a huge sigh of relief to be done packing and moving STUFF! I just kept taking deep breaths and sighing all day long. After the tears of saying goodbye to the workers at the team house, I smiled most of the day. I was happy and those around me were somewhat sad as they were saying goodbye to visitors.
I hung out the rest of the day with Tamara and her family. Kelly and Hope Adams were visiting Tamara’s family for the week doing missions work. They were leaving on the same flight as me on Tuesday, so we all rode to Managua together and stayed at the hotel across from the airport.
We had a quick lunch at Tamara’s house and waited for Fransicso to get the van road-ready. We loaded into the van and headed to the big city. It was the first time that I have ridden to Managua and enjoyed it. I usually fight car sickness. But I took my ginger pills and was in good shape. I think my happy state of mind made the trip better than usual, too. I felt a little guilty to be so happy when the others were sad saying goodbye to each other. But I think I was a good distraction sometimes, too.
We roamed around PriceSmart (like Sam’s Club) and Tamara stocked up on some things. I checked out the shelves to remember what I might want to buy when I get back to Nica in January. I did buy some of the huge muffins from the bakery. This gave me and Kelly and Hope something to munch on for the evening and also the next morning for breakfast. (Although, I think Hope only ate one and I ate 2 and we left the other 3 for the maid at the hotel.)
We got to the hotel (across from the airport) about 5:30. There were lots of tears as goodbyes were said. I went in to the lobby to get my room key and found out the I had messed up my reservation on line and had actually paid for a reserved room in León instead of Managua. It was too late to cancel, so I ended up paying for the unused room. (I couldn’t find anyone in León who was available to use the room just for fun, either.) Anyway, the other bad news was that there were NO rooms available at the hotel. Argh! Kelly and Hope were very gracious and let me stay in their room. What angels to me! I think it gave a little distraction for Hope, too, as her teenage heart was sad to say goodbye to her boyfriend.
We rested in the room a bit and all got on the internet. We surfed the tv channels and laughed at the Duck Dynasty episode in Spanish. Not much on tv and we were all lost in our own thoughts.
Some other friends were at the hotel waiting to meet other friends traveling on our flight. The Speigels, who are missionaries moving to the US for awhile, were there to have dinner with the Brakens, who were former missionaries to Nica and were visiting for the week. Tamara was the common thread between everyone. I was actually carrying a suitcase of books back to the US for the Speigels and the Brackens were taking suitcases and guitars back for them. They looked like the Von Trapp family!
Kelly and Hope joined the others for dinner at the food court across the highway at the airport. I opted for a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant. I had been ready for my favorite meal there – chicken breast stuffed with spinach and mozzarella cheese, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. Yum! I had a little bit of time in the room by myself and then the girls got back and we all turned in early. It was a nice and quick evening.
Tuesday morning, we arose at 5am and got showered and dressed. We made it to the airport via shuttle (the traffic on the highway is dangerous most of the time). With so many people flying out (many of which had spent the night at the hotel) we wanted to get checked in and through immigration and security as soon as possible. A lot of people had already went through, so we had a few minutes for Kelly to do some last minute shopping. We got to our gate and took turns walking around and checking things out. It was pretty peaceful and relaxing.
Our flight was good. The people I was to sit next to asked if I would trade seats with a friend of theirs, and I didn’t mind at all. I ended up sitting on the aisle next to an empty seat. The guy in the window seat struck up a conversation and we talked about missions and living in Nica and his family and lots of things. I think it was a God-appointment.
Once in Atlanta, we got through Customs pretty quickly and retrieved our luggage. At this point, I had to say goodbye to Kelly and Hope and we went to our different terminals. It was nice to meet them and be blessed by their hospitality at the hotel.
I had my usual travel meal at TGIFridays in the international terminal. This time I had the steak and ribs, mashed potatoes and veggies. It was so yummy! I was having a wonderful travel day! My total layover was only 3 hours, so really I only had about 1 hour to kill. I sat in a gate with few people so that I could charge up my phone and Kindle. Then it was time to board my plane.
I arrived back in XNA a little bit late and Cathy Krupka was waiting for me. We went to Carraba’s for dinner (my first time) and it was lovely to visit together. She is a good friend and wonderful sister-in-Christ.
I made it home to Deanna’s and visited with her for a while before heading to bed. It was good to be back in her welcoming home. Jet looks a little more distinguished with more white fur around his mouth and eyes. The cat loved getting to run into my room as soon as the door was opened. All is normal here!
I’m so thankful for the travel mercies and the people I got to interact with during the day. God is faithful and sovereign and I love getting to be His daughter!
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