Team 2's Adventure

It feels like it has been a long time since we left home but it was only a few days ago. Let’s just say it has been an adventurous weekend of travel that we hope will come to an end today. The Michigan and Pennsylvania members of our team left our homes to go to the airport and all seemed well. The Michigan team even got so far as to board our plane for the flight to Atlanta only to learn that Atlanta was having some bad storms and all flight activity in and out of the airport had been grounded. We were told that we would have to get off the plane and that Atlanta was expecting at least a two hour wait before we could leave. I was able to talk to the Pennsylvania team and found that they were also delayed by the weather.

After what ended up being about a 3 hour delay, the Michigan team was allowed to board the plane again. As soon as the plane was fully boarded, the pilot announced that weather was causing problems in Atlanta again. Because of the high number of delayed flights, he was working hard to find a slot we would be allowed to use to land but he could promise nothing and we could have another 2 hour delay. Our 5 hour layover in Atlanta was quickly shrinking. We could not get in contact with our Pennsylvania team members and assumed they were in the air.

After sitting on the plane for about 30 minutes, the pilot finally announced that we had a window to arrive in Atlanta and the Michigan and Pennsylvania members of Team 2 were finally united. Fortunately, our Atlanta departure to Rio had been rescheduled from 8:30 until 10:00. In the end, we ended leaving Atlanta about 11:30 and arrived in Rio late Friday morning. We thought our travel troubles might be behind us but the best was yet to come. As we watched others retrieve their luggage it became more and more evident that we had a problem. All of the luggage for the Michigan team did not make the connection from Atlanta to Rio. It would have been an easy moment for team members to panic so far from home with so much of what we have packed not being with us. But it has also been a great learning experience. We reflected this morning in our team meeting that there is so much in life that we think we need but are really just luxuries that we can live without. Between buying underwear and socks in a Walmart-like store in Rio, t-shirts, shorts or flip-flops from street vendors and simply sharing our excess with those that have less, we have all managed to survive the ordeal. We were told the luggage would arrive yesterday (Sunday) but it did not come. Delta has assured us it will arrive today. We are hopeful but have a wait and see attitude.

Friday was a wonderful day in Rio. Like Team 1, Cris our tour guide and Lu our driver, took us to visit the Christ statue in Rio. Our day was not as clear as Team 1’s but the clouds came and went. On the top of the mountain we felt like we were walking in the clouds. It rained briefly as we left the statue but stopped raining by the time we got to Impanema and Copacabana Beach and we were able to walk the beach and some of us even ventured out into the Atlantic Ocean…a first for all of us in the Southern Hemisphere. The churrascaria (or Brazilian barbeque) was wonderful and most of us ate way too much food.

Our transition meeting with Team 1 went well and then we were off to the house to meet the students. The students have been wonderful! I was anxious about the transition. Many tears had been shed when Team 1 left and I was worried that the students would be hesitant to bond with us. But it has been exactly the opposite. They have welcomed us into their home and by the end of the day I felt like we were with old friends. Of course, the students were in hurry to teach us how to play Dutch Blitz and Sunday evening about half of the group was up until almost midnight playing games.

Classes started this morning and everything is going smoothly. Hopefully the luggage will come today since our teaching materials were included in the lost luggage. This afternoon during our large group activity we will be a attending a ‘farmer’s fair’ at the University that many in are group are looking forward to. Continue to pray for growth in the relationships that are forming, for the English we will be teaching and for the health of our group.

We're trying to keep the phone line open in case they call regarding the luggage so I will upload pictures later.

Happy to be here,

Dan