Greetings, dear reader!
It is with great excitement that I write to let you know we are leaving for Guatemala this morning! We will all (hopefully) stumble into the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport at 4:00am sharp. We have a layover for an hour in Atlanta, Georgia, and then it’s straight to Guatemala City. We will touch down right before lunch!
Once we are in Guatamala City, we will have a tour of the Central Plaza and get a brief history of Guatemala, as well as an update on what the current situation is like. It looks like we have a lot to do before we sleep tonight!
I do not know what our internet situation will be like; I am guessing it will vary from day to day, as we will not be spending more than two nights in any one place. However, I will do my best to write, and I will post as often as I am able in order to keep you informed of our progress and our bumps in the road, our adventures and our heartache.
Thank you for following along with us on our journey! Please leave comments frequently—we love to know who is reading, and what your thoughts are.
-lm
Looking forward to it!
Sounds like an exciting experience! Have a safe trip and make sure to let is know one way or another that you got there okay.
Safe and illuminating travels, y’all! And I hope you can at least find the time that first day to let us know you’ve gotten safely there!
Best wishes for a safe trip to Guatemala and transforming journey there. (Incidentally, catching a 4 a.m. flight must get some kind of prize for dedication.) — Rich
Hello, dear friends, we’re writing this note to your from Marietta, Georgia. Obviously, we’d rather be with you in Guatemala City, but our waylaid journey is allowing us to spend the afternoon and evening with my grandparents who live in Marietta, and that was a nice surprise (for them, too). It’s not very often that we get to see them!
Patrick’s passport was found shortly after we tried to board the original flight, but it was found at the “A” gate, where we got off the plane from Mpls, and to get back to “A” and then again back to “E” was going to take too long and they wouldn’t allow us to board the plane without his passport in hand. We are so sorry to have held anyone up at all! Thank you, Chris, and everyone for your patience and compassion as we were initially very worried whether we’d get to come to Guatemala at all.
After spending the next hour “touring” the Atlanta airport between concourses, gates, and ticket counters, we had Patrick’s passport in hand, as well as tickets for tomorrow morning’s flight to Guatemala City…the same airplane, the same time…just 24 hours later…
The Center for Global Justice was wonderful working with us to make sure that Fidel and the group would know when we were coming in…and the airport staff that helped us out were gracious as well…no change fees, no “hassles”, and lots of encouragement. We are thankful!
We’re looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow and can’t wait to hear all about your first hours in Guatemala…hoping you’ll “catch us up”!
We’re sad to miss ANY of the trip, but it’s been an adventure that we’ll not soon forget, and all is well in the end.
My aunt picked us up at the airport early this afternoon, and we’re spending precious time visiting with my grandparents, who are in their 90′s, and Patrick is getting to put his ankle up and ice it for awhile…maybe that’s just what we needed (along with the lesson Patrick learned about the importance of constantly knowing the whereabouts of his passport!).
Blessings and peace be with you all,
Karen and Patrick
Hello, dear friends! I wrote another response and tried to post earlier, but don’t see it here, so will try again…sorry if it’s a bit of a repeat.
We had a bit of a surprise delay in Atlanta, after Patrick’s passport fell out of his things on the plane from Mpls to Atlanta this morning.
His passport was found, and we are scheduled to arrive in Guatemala tomorrow morning (coming in on the same flight as you all took today, just 24hrs later). All is well…all just part of this great adventure we’re on! We’re just sorry to have caused any worry or delay for you all and are looking forward to catching up with the rest of you when we get there.
We were worried for a few minutes, while we didn’t know if his passport was lost for a short time, or would get in the way of our trip as a whole…but everyone was very kind and gracious to us…thanks to Chris, Ann (at the Center for Global Justice), Phyllis (at the gate), Carmen (at the ticket counter), and Tameka (the gate worker who found Patrick’s passport).
Our delay turned into a surprise visit with my grandparents, who live in Marietta, Georgia! Once we knew we’d be staying the night, we called my aunt and she picked us up from the airport and drove us to spend the night at my grandparents’ home (since my aunt already had other company staying with her this week). We’ve been able to put Patrick’s ankle up this afternoon, and get some rest, along with have a wonderful visit. Maybe just what the doctor ordered…
We’re sorry to miss everything with you in Guatemala City tonight and tomorrow morning, and can’t wait to see you when we get there!
Blessings and peace to you all,
Karen and Patrick
Karen and Patrick, we are so thrilled at the news you will be joining us in the morning! Our guide Fidel was waiting for us with a one-sentence version of this news when we landed. While you will have missed some things, we will fill you in, and soon you will feel like you were with us all along!
A note about the posting delay: The WordPress website holds all comments for approval before posting, in order to limit spam. Your first post didn’t show up because I wasn’t online to approve it right away. But maybe we were the lucky ones—we got to hear twice as much from you!
Much love, and safe travels,
Leslie
I hope you all landed safely! Long distance hugs to everyone, especially my mom, Cyndi!
[...] would like to invite you to read my current Guatemala posts on the UTS Global Trips blog. While I considered simply copying and pasting the entries here, the voice and purpose are [...]