June 14: Home - Finally

About 4:30 the airport started to come to life. By 5am there was a steady flow of morning workers and a growing number of passengers. The increasing noise soon woke the team members who had fallen asleep. Not a very comfortable night's rest. As the first flight of the day from the gate we were at moved on the gate attendant printed out boarding passes for our team. One member who really wanted to get back early was lucky enough to get an unexpected seat. It was then off to breakfast returning just before the first flight of three was to board. These folks got a direct flight into Omaha and they even pushed back right on time.

Once the gate was closed up, the rest of us headed down the terminal to see team two off. This group would fly into Dallas and then catch an early afternoon flight into Omaha. Good news, as team two loaded, team one arrived safely in Omaha. With team two now in the air, we waited to hear about team three. They would actually take off and land before team two arrived in Dallas. The only concern team two had was they were unable to get boarding passes for the second leg of their journey before arriving in Dallas. Hopefully everything goes okay. This will be another one of those we'll see moments. So, if the schedule shows that travel time is only 13 hours, how long does it take? If everything goes right, 32 hours to get the last member home. The question everyone asks is porque Dio.

Just heard from group three, everyone made it back to Omaha without any difficulty. One person's baggage did not show up but that will probably sort itself out by the time we arrive. When we tried to get our boarding passes, we learned from the gate attendant that the person who rebooked us incorrectly voided our last leg of the trip. We were a bit concerned. The thought was what else could go wrong. Walked out to the ticket agent and she took care of things without any trouble.

Everyone has a ticket and boarding pass, life is good. There is not a cloud in the sky so unless the airplane has a mechanical problem, we should be golden. Push back was right on time and we enjoyed an uneventful flight back into Omaha. All in all the last 24 hours were pretty rough, but now that we are home our ordeal only becomes a memory of what has transpired, a memory that will stay with us for a very long time.

June 13: Travel day Part 1

What a difference a good night's sleep and a hot shower makes. As the team gathered for breakfast there were a lot of smiling faces. Bob and Ellen Snow showed up again and we had a lovely visit telling them about our experience and showing them some of the pictures we had taken. Some of the team took the little time we had to run out and find that last souvenir before piling on the bus to the aeropuerto. Forty-five minutes later we were unloading the trailer and preparing to check in.

Everyone made it through the security without any problem. Well almost everyone. Ali, Megan, and Cat all had to open their carry on bags for further inspection. They did look shifty and Cat and Ali even had to be patted down. Now we do what all travelers do, we hurry up and wait. Once on the plane, the plan is to have folks download pictures so that we can share our memories. Also, next week each team member will write a short reflection and send it to Fr. Tom so that they be added to this blog and excerpts added to the article we will submit to the Nebraska Episcopalian.

While waiting for the flight, we visited with a team from Colorado that we met for the first time on the day we arrived. It was fun to compare notes and experience. We also visited with a Roman Catholic priest traveling back to the states for a visit. Once on the plane, we could not help but notice that somehow all three priests were in the same row, two on one side and one on the other. We figured it was a God thing. There was discussion of switching seats so that they could all be together, but we were not sure the pilot would be able to manage having that much Holy Spirit on one side of the plane.

Getting out of the Dominican Republic was no problem. We took off about 10 minutes late but that was easily made up and we arrived pretty much on time in Miami. Good thing we landed when we did. Right after we landed a big storm came in and closed the airport. Times and gates began switching quickly. When the rain stopped it took a long time for the planes to start moving. We later learned that Obama flew into Miami right after the rain stopped and they closed the airspace around the airport till he landed and deplaned. In the meantime the plane that was supposed to take us on to Chicago had to divert and get refueled before returning to Miami. It was 10pm before we took off. So how long does a planned 2 and 1/2 hour layover take... Can you say almost 5 hours?

With all this we of course missed our flight out of Chicago into Omaha. The agent said he could not book us tomorrow as a group because there were limited seats available to do so. So the agent told us to work it out when we get to Chicago. That should be interesting as we will land somewhere around midnight Chicago time. Needless to say several of the team members were less than enthusiastic about spending the night in the air terminal. The only good news if we get lucky to get out early tomorrow, we will spend a lot less time on the ground in Chicago.

We arrived in Chicago at midnight. Meeting with an AA rep we learned the earliest she could get us in was Wednesday. She could get some of us in come morning, but not all. So we went and used a direct line to AA reservations. They were able to get us into Omaha, not all on the same flight but we will get home later today. Six will fly direct to Omaha on two flights and the other five will fly to Dallas and then into Omaha. Our only other option was to get a refund and then drive back in a couple of vans.

Once the ticketing was taken care of we all hit McDonald's. It and Dunkin Donuts were the only two places open. Then we headed to the gate to wait for the first flight out of Chicago. The terminal was freezing. Thankfully a couple of maintenance workers took pity on us and found us some blankets. The next thing you knew, most of the team was fast asleep. What the morning still holds for us is yet to be seen. All we know is this has been a most interesting journey.

June 12: Day 6 Jarabacoa and Santo Domingo

Church was great. Many of those we saw at the fiesta were there. Fr. Tom and Fr. John both helped Padre Carlos with the service. During the sermon Keith helped translate so that we could understand the basics of what was being said. At the close of the service, youth from the congregation performed liturgical dance to a couple of songs. Following a few good byes, we headed down to see how far the work on Pablo's house got after we left. They had another wall up. We took some pictures and then Fr. John offered a blessing. We learned that while Pablo works at the camp, he goes to the evangelical church in town.

Back to the camp we all changed back into shorts and waited for lunch and the bus to arrive. Some sat with Padre Carlos to discuss how much more was needed to finish the house. The rest of us just chilled, well not really. There was nothing chilling about sitting in the dining hall with a hot sun and a tin roof. A few ceiling fans would be a great addition, mmmmmm, maybe next trip. When the bus arrived there were a lot of goodbyes. Many were sad to see us go and we too were sad to leave. The friends we made will be with us forever giving us the feeling of having two homes.

On the bus, with it's air-conditioning going full blast it was not too long before most of the team was fast asleep for the three hour bus ride to Santo Domingo. After stopping for a comfort break about half way between the camp and hotel we arrived in just under 3 hours; there was much rejoicing. We quickly dropped our stuff in our rooms and headed out to do some souvenir shopping and exploring. We visited some really old buildings and walked around the remains of the first major fort built on the island by the Spanish.

We also checked out the different restaurants while we walked around. The group insisted on Hard Rock Cafe despite Keith's encouragement to try something more local. The appeal of a T-shirt and burger was to just overwhelming so guess where we ended up eating. After dinner we sat in the plaza to talk about the trip and to reflect on our experience. Of course a group of American tourists attracted a novelty salesman who ended up selling us a few trinkets. By the time we headed back to the hotel, the team was pretty tired. A few members checked email and Facebook before retiring for the night.