in between bites & sips ...

thanks for stopping by! here's where i put various thought, quotes or stories. most will be brief, some may be extended - but all will be somehow connected to my world. enjoy your stay!



Friday, January 18, 2008

Travel Day 2 - Bolivia Mission Trip

Well, I´m in Bolivia! We arrived in La Paz this morning at about 8AM EST and are waiting for our flight to Cochabomba which departs at 2PM EST.

4 flights down - 1 TO GO!!!!

Our flight from Miami was delayed about 1 1/2 - and then sat on the tar mat for what seemed like an eternity! My mind began playing tricks on me as it looked and sounded like we were moving ... but we weren´t! I thought we were just going round and round the tower! Clearly, I´m overtired.

I got an aisle seat - next to a lady who started to fall asleep on my shoulder. At first I wanted to wake her, but figured she would be my neighbor for the next 6 hours and didn´t want to get our relationship off on the wrong foot. Instead, I decided that since I couldn´t beat her, I´d join her. I determined to allow myself to let my head flop where it may, and if it ends up attached to her head ... so be it.

Fortunately, I didn´t need to carry out my plan since apparently she had a son sitting 5 rows back who asked to trade seats with me. I GOT A WINDOW!!!! Instead of cuddling with an older woman, I cuddled with the window of beautiful scenery. At night it was the Miami skyline, and in the morning it was the XXXXXXXX Mountain range (I´ll look that up later .... I got pics!)

By coincidence, I ended up sitting to some young adults who are on a teaching/missions trip to Bolivia from Calgary, Alberta. Cool, eh! I asked if they knew Christina (my sister) who lives in Calgary. They did not.

Last story for now: I got to jump the line on all of my fellow travelers on the Missions trip. Because I´m traveling on a Canadian passport - I don´t need a tourist visa! I got to line up with the locals. Best part about it is that I didn´t have to pay the $100 visa fee everyone else had to pay for ... LET´S GO SHOPPING! Knick-knacks ... HERE I COME!!!

Pics should be prevalent in my next post - probably later tonight.

3 comments:

MJLM said...

How much older was the woman?! Glad you made it safe! Looking forward to pictures!

Anonymous said...

She was around 70 years old ... no need to worry. But I didn't take any pictures of her - that would have been weird.

Anonymous said...

Rob,

Glad to hear you made it to Bolivia in one piece. After Jon read your blog to me last night (BTW - he was very excited that you got to meet Bob the Tomato) I visited your church website and from there I linked to the Bolivian Hope Center website. I think it's absolutely fantastic that you are doing this. I have a real soft spot for children and I've always thought that someday I'd like to go on a trip such as this one. Mind you I'm not sure I would be emotionally strong enough to handle it...just reading the website for the Bolivian Hope Center had me blubbering like a baby. Anyways, all this just to say that you are in my thoughts and prayers, and I will be checking your blog regularly.

Take Care,
Gina