Miami

We're in Miami.  The transition is a seemingly good one seeing as how Miami is pretty much a hodge podge of the U.S. and Latin America.  The shuttle driver was telling us that the hotel we're staying at is actually the Venezuelan part of the city.  Hilarious.  We went to Burger King for lunch and hear Spanish all around us.  It feels like home, yet not.

Our family with Debora, one of our student leaders,
one last time for breakfast before we left

Yesterday was a really long day.  Saying goodbye was sadly easy because of all of the details, transitions, planning, and tears that were already shed.  We were scrambling to make sure everyone was there and had the suitcases, etc.  We were emotionally tired, but were running on adrenaline because it was go time.  So we gave lots of hugs, shed a few tears and headed to the airport.

The stairwell that led to a wall.
Yes, literally led to a wall (top right of pic).

The airport was harder.  That meant saying goodbye to the Venezuelan staff and only a few students.  But still, it was time to go through security.  We had to go, we had to focus.  We couldn't linger.  We were able to get empanadas for the last time for lunch.  We bought the kids a flag.  This isn't ideal, but it's what we had to work with.  Bart had a time of pure frustration when he was called back while they went through 3 of our suitcases.  They picked through our bags, cut into things, and mocked him for being a Christian.  Not exactly what he needed, but this is one of the sad realities of what we faced leaving the country.

The end of the 2nd flight did them in....

The flights were long and draining, but we flew with a nice airline, so that made it a little easier.  Getting to Miami was pretty hilarious.  We had a luggage cart.  6 bags on that with Bart pushing it, Leah on his shoulders and him pulling another bag.  Noah is taking care of one big suitcase, zig zagging all over the place.  And I have all of the carry-ons, 5 in total.  We can make this work.  We go through the customs line and the guy asks if we're with a group and how Bart ended up doing all the work.  We said yes, we are with a group but unfortunately this is all of our stuff!  Ha ha!

The beauty of being in the States....a bath tub!!!
It was the first thing Noah noticed in our hotel room
and the first thing he asked to do this morning!

The hotel thus far has been restful.  We have just been relaxing today.  Swimming a little, watching airplanes, resting.  The team has had to arrive in 3 different groups and the last group arrives this afternoon.  Tomorrow we start having meetings.  Would you pray for our team and the processing we all have ahead of us?  Would you pray for us all as we transition back into a new normal?  Would you pray for our family as we transition into something new and different from the team?  It's not ideal for us to do our own thing, but at this point it is necessary and what's healthy for our family to transition in our own way and not have the pressure of needing to be in ministry mode.