First Two Days

We're sitting here tonight having finally found some time to settle our minds and take a moment to reflect on the last two days. These are those reflections:

After a fitful few hours of sleep, interrupted by thoughts of travelling, potentially overweight luggage, the prospect of losing said luggage, and the occasional moment of overwhelming excitement (the kind that makes you want to giggle uncontrollably), we loaded the remaining boxes and luggage into caars and headed to the airport. Arriving around 5 am, we found my mother and sister waiting there for us. With the help of Alli's mom and dad and a couple of carts, one borrowed and one rented, we approached the counter to check into the next phase of our lives. One, two, three, then all 7 bags and boxes were checked; some were half a pound shy of the limit, others were dead on...50 lbs! Fretting over having to lug around our "carry-ons" that looked larger and were heavier than the bags we’d previously checked, we were delighted to hear the check-in attendant ask if we’d like to also check our carry-on baggage for no additional charge. It was a full flight. We said, “SURE!”

We spent the next hour nervously chatting about this and that. Finally the time came for us to say goodbye and snake our way through the lines toward the security check-points. Hugs, kisses, and a few tears were followed by a few smiles, a wave or two, and then a look back….to wave goodbye again.

So, onward we went, making our way through the lines, doing the dance of no shoes, no belts, no change in our pockets, the nervous pass through the metal detectors, and the ritual of getting dressed again in front of perfect strangers. Down the escalator, along the Tram, and onto the plane we walked.

Interestingly enough, as we flew out of Fort Lauderdale (our layover to our final destination), we looked down out of the plane to find the distinct shape of our old apartment building shining in the South Beach sun! A few reminiscent chuckles and sighs later, we napped our way to Central America.

Watching the baggage claim carousel rotate turn after turn can be a nerve-racking experience waiting on your bags to fall off the conveyor belt and “clunk” down to the bottom of the rotating blades. Luckily, we happened to look over to the “oversized bags” carousel to see the first of our boxes sliding across! Whew! I thought we might be wearing what we had on for a few extra days! We exited the airport to the sight of eager smiles and frantic waves of our fellow missionaries there to pick us up. A swarm of 11 converged on us as we walked through the sliding doors; hello’s, how-was-the-trip’s, and hugs all around.

We spent the rest of the day and night spending time with everyone and making a to-do list of things we needed to get done:

(1) Driver’s Licenses:

a. Have our blood drawn to determine our blood type (and have a doctor sign it)
b. Have a physical done
c. File for license itself (No test, by the way! I guess they figure if you can drive in the States, you can drive here. That remains to be seen!)

• Turns out, I’m “A Positive” and Alli is “O Positive”.

(2) Open up a local bank account. Things needed to do so:

a. 2 letters of recommendation from locals
b. Passport
c. A copy of a bill to prove residency
d. Proof of “income”

(3) Search for a car

(4) Firm up our dates with the Costa Rican host family we’ll be living with for the first 2 months of language school.

(5) Meet the lady who owns the place where we’ll be living for language school after we leave the host family and firm up the availability of that place.

(6) Deliver some heating pads to the director of the language school. (Random story, I can tell you later.)

The list goes on and on. Day 2 was spent accomplishing as many of these tasks as possible. The search for a car continues. We’ll keep you updated on how that pans out.

So far, everything here is good. We are obviously tired by the end of the day, which is good. There’s something fulfilling about a good days work when you lay your head down at night. I think those of us who knew GrandPa Baker know what I’m talking about. A good night’s sleep, free of air conditioning, can actually be very nice. It’ll take some getting used to for me of course; I sweat reading a book sometimes! I close my laptop now, glistening as I type.

Stay tuned for more updates in the next few days!