Sunday, June 1, 2008

Still en route


Hi Everyone,

We arrived in New York around, 5:30 pm and planned on flying to Belgium at 5:55pm (our plane out of O'Hare was delayed but we would still make it to our next flight). The plane headed to Belgium had mechanical problems so it was delayed. They had a trouble diagnosing the problem and as time went on, it became apparent that we were at risk of missing our connecting flight in Belgium.
At 8:45pm, they started boarding and found out that we would not make our next flight and that we would end up getting stranded in Belgium until June 4th if we boarded. They looked at all options and the fastest way to get us to Uganda will be to stay in New York until Monday, then fly to London and on to Entebbe. Yes, this was a huge disappointment but I am sure God has a plan that included this change of plan.

So, the airline gave us voutures for the Holiday in and meals. They told us to go get food first because it would be a while for us to get our bags. We got to baggage claim and they lost a bag so we waited quite some time and finally headed to the hotel.

We got to the hotel around 11:15pm and found quite a line to get a room. Around 12am, we found out they were going to be sold out . They were going to cut off the line and we were on the wrong side of the line. We also found out that that all the hotels in the area were sold out.

The Holiday Inn let us know that a bus was coming to take us to another Holiday Inn about an hour away. About 20 min into the trip, a few folks on the bus who didn't realize the hotel was an hour away, asked about travel time to the hotel. They had had early flights and began to really freak out. There were a couple people getting in the bus driver's face, yelling at him as he drove to turn the bus around and take all of us back to the airport. Others were pleading to leave him alone and that we were told about the travel time.

So things escalated, with a few passengers continuing to scream at him and folks telling the folks yelling to leave the driver alone. It was little freaky for a while. Then one of the foks who was not to pleased called 911 and yelled at the police for a while. The bus got pulled over and the police said no crime was being committed. Finally, back in route to the hotel . . .

Or not. More yelling and when we were probably 20 min from the hotel, pulled over again. Then the bus turns around and heads for the airport.

We got to the airport around 3am and were told the bus could not go to the hotel anymore.

Some of us slept at airport until around 5am. Then finally got rooms at the Ramada.

Kind of a crazy start but we're all ok. I knew there would be some adventure. I just thought it would start in Africa.

Should be out of New York late tomorrow; then off to London.

'I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me' Phillipians 4:13

2 comments:

Renata said...

HI WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU COME QUICKLY!!!

Anonymous said...

hey bro, That doesn't sound like fun :( I hope all goes well. I will see you soon!