Friday Evening - on the Plane

Greetings again one and all.

So, it’s 9:20 pm and we at 30,000 feet. We’ve been in the air for almost 2 hours now. Yep, that’s right, our plane WAS delayed by the snow. The Pilot just announced we are traveling over the Bahamas’. It looks beautiful at night. I’ve just given Christopher the window seat.

We boarded our plane, A Boeing 767. Not a new plane, but not a bad one either.

Once again we were not all sitting together. Bethany was all by her lonesome, as was Ken and Cindy. Ken still is, but he’s ok with that. : ) It so happens another group of young people are on board and they were mixed around as well, so we all cooperated and we got Bethany sitting with her two other amigo’s, Ashlyn and Holly. Christopher is now beside me, and Kellina and Cindy are together too. Brian and Ruth are at the back of the plane enjoying some romantic time alone. It’s all they’ll get for this week. : )

Marg is nursing her healing foot, and it so happens that in the TO airport, I get a sheepish looking Sam telling me that he’s buggered up his elbow after doing acrobat maneuvers for play practice at high school. These Harris’ seem to be walking accidents waiting to happen. I’ll be keeping a close watch on them now. : )

So, after having our plane deiced, which was way to cool for the group to watch, we sat on the tarmac as the runway was plowed. All in all, it delayed us about 1.5 hours. We should arrive in Lima by 2:30 am now.

I heard from Harold and Bea that Elizabeth, someone who used to be at Calvin and is now a traffic controller (I think that’s what she does) was working as our flight took off, and for 4 minutes she held our lives in her hands as we traveled through her airspace. From the looks of things, she’s doing a GREAT job. Thanks Elizabeth.

Oh, and I’ve asked a couple of people to keep journals for the week, so you all will one day get a broader perspective than just my twisted one.

As we fly over the ocean, and head towards Lima, we seem to be settling into the idea that we will soon be missionaries of sorts. It hasn’t hit them yet, but it will. I’ve heard that the place we are staying at is a rather nice hostel. On the ocean. It will be interesting to see how the group compares that to what they will be seeing as they meet the residents of Patchecutec. I hope there will be some dissonance with this living arrangement. We’ll have to see.

Well, some of the group are trying to get some sleep as we race towards Lima. I’m struck by the smallness of our world as we watch the weather on the movie screen, and as we fly from country to country. I’m struck by the different tempermants of our team. The way we will all handle the stress of being tired, being in a bus each day, dealing with the heat (it will be 28 degrees tomorrow and sunny) and the lack of privacy that will be experienced. For those going for the first time, it will be interesting.

Well, I leave you now, as it’s time to get some sleep. Stay tuned for more Saturday evening. I understand that the hostel does have internet access. Until we meet again in cyberspace.

BTW, how’s the snow in Ontario. It didn’t look that great from where we were sitting.