Never A Dull Moment

Well it's that time again. Time for another mandatory trip out of Honduras to renew my visa. I can't believe how fast the past almost 4 months have gone by. It feels like I just returned to Honduras from my last trip. Although I am loving the chance to go back to the States every three to four months, the trips are quite a hassle but always are an adventure even though something always seems to go wrong. I only left Hospital Loma de Luz this morning but I can already tell you that this adventure is no different. I already have a story that I can add to my growing collection such as when my flight into Honduras was diverted to El Salvador (a completely different country than I was supposed to be in), a nearly missed runway collision in Dallas, and getting stranded in the Atlanta airport for two days. It the mist of it all God has always had his hand of protection on me. Through all the mishaps I have met some amazing people who I never would have met otherwise, got El Salvador stamped on my passport, and seen God's hand at work.
There are two different airports that are "close" to Hospital Loma de Luz. The closest one is on the Island of Roatan which is an hour and a half drive and either an hour ferry ride or short skip over on a plane. It might be closer but it is super expensive fly into. I have always chosen the second option which is to make the hour and a half ride into La Ceiba with other missionaries and take either the four hour bus ride or take a 30 minute flight on a rather sketchy puddle jumper of a plane to the airport in San Pedro Sula.
This weekend went by in a blur as I said goodbye to my favorite missions team who came to help out at the hospital for a week, caught up on sleep from working a really busy 12 hour night shift, did my laundry, packed, moved back to my apartment from where Lizzie and I have been house-sitting, and worked a 12 hour day shift at the hospital yesterday. 
Yesterday I could not find my ticket confirmation for this flight anywhere. I spent about an hour looking through emails and trying to get into my Expedia account to no avail. "No problem," I thought, "my card has been charged so I do have tickets and I know which flights I'm on tomorrow. I'll just figure it out at the airport." I quickly packed a few things in my suitcase last night knowing that I have all of my winter clothes at home (bring on the snow!) and made plans with a missionary to get to La Ceiba.
I woke up well before dawn this morning, even the monkeys were still sleeping, in order to have plenty of time to make it to the little airport in La Ceiba. Watch out for those huge potholes in the road because one wrong move and there goes a tire or two which turns a 1.5 hour trip into a much longer one. We arrived at the airport with time to spare and just a little while later, about 6 other people and I were walking down the tarmac and up the narrow steps of the small, old plane. I clutched my seat so tightly that my knuckles turned white as the rickety little plane shook and bounced down the runway and into the air. The view of the ocean, the mountains, and the jungle from that little rickety plane is one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. There is so much poverty and heartbreak in such a magnificent country. 
I soon found myself checking in for my afternoon Delta flight at a computerized kiosk at the San Pedro Sula airport. The kiosk kept giving me an error message saying that it was too early to check. The agent confirmed that I needed to wait for another half hour before I could successfully check in. Not a big deal. Sitting down at the food court to wait, I pulled out my phone to try to find my flight confirmation. This time I was successful and discovered to my horror that my flight is not until tomorrow! No wonder why I could not check in! Good grief! But at least I am a day early, not a day late. Right? I have to say I have loved having a relaxing rest of my day at the house of some fellow missionaries so it could always be worse. Here's to round two tomorrow ...