The adventures of Jazmynde, Sondra, Wendy, and John...

Our trip from Sarasota was a success. On the ride to Miami airport, the girls talked girls stuff and tried to sleep. I (John) enjoyed the drive, until I got lost trying to find economy parking (I had dropped the girls and our 12 bags at curbside check-in). Luckily, we left Sarasota early, giving us plenty of time to mess up. That crisis averted, I joined the girls, checked in and we headed to security. Things seemed to be going well until the Peanut Butter Blender conspiracy brought us a hurdle in security. As it turned out, Wendy arranged for us to bring 3 boomboxes and 1 blender down for the Villa Esperanza. We divided them amongst ourselves to carry on (along with jars of PB). However, the blender and 3 jars of peanut butter were not allowed as carry ons. At which time, Wendy volunteered to check her carry on with said items inside. She attempted to sweet talk (and then bribe) the curbside luggage guy to chte ck this bag as her 3rd. She was unsuccessful. However, fortune smiled on Wendy, and she was able to connect with TK as he returned from Managua and was awaiting the shuttle to drive their team home. Seeing him certainly improved her spirits (and provided a hand off for the blender and the peanut butter, which we will send in checked luggage with team going in August). With our team leader re-energized, we were ready for travel.

While on board, we met a gentleman from Miami who is a Nicaraguan native. He is moving back "home" with his family. Swapped seats with him so that all 4 of us were together -- and we had the bulkhead, which was very important to me. Sleep came to the girls so I ate all their snacks. We landed safely after seeing Jazmynde's photo collection of past visits. Seeing the pictures reminded me of our mission to love our neighbor and there is a lot of opportunity for love here! While in the customs line, we had a long conversation with the gentleman we met on the plane. His large family is from a town near Leon. We have his contact info and has offered to help out the next time we are in Leon.

Customs moved quickly. Finding the luggage was not so fast. Most are black and look like all others. Wendy asked me to watch for a navy blue case, but my friend Kristen would tell Wendy that color means nothing to me. We both experienced mild vertigo watching the baggage conveyor go around and around while sandwiched in with so many other people.

Found 6 cases, and spent 20 minutes looking for the last 2, only to find them in a pile off the belt 10 feet behind us. We had made it! Familiar faces met us -- TJ, Juan, and Juan Carlos were waiting. Hugs and introductions all around, and TJ brought us up to speed on potential plans for the week. We are all looking forward to being at Villa Esperanza when the first 8 girls move in from the dump. We will also be visiting the orphanage and possibly going to Leon for the day.

We arrived at the pastor's house to more greetings, and we settled in. Sondra downloaded Skype to her pc so we can make calls home, Wendy got to talk to TK, her mom, and her kids. Susie came by to say hi and to see her nephew who is also here. There is one other guest here -- Lucy Martin from Oregon (her brother produces videos, one of which he has done on La Chureca --the dump). We ate a delicious meal, and decided to end the night with a rousing game of scrabble in which TJ played the rule keeper and I came in last, only because my word "elui" was challenged and dictionary.com does not seem to be a complete resource! (editorial note from Wendy: John contends this is an endangered animal that lives above the arctic circle!). TJ won the first round, I went to bed, and Wendy secured the second win with the acronym turned common word LIFO. TJ chicken out on the challenge. And so ended our first day. Tomorrow the work starts.

Our Team Is Currently In Nicaragua

Our team left yesterday morning for Nicaragua. They will return next week. Please keep them in your prayers!

Nicargua Upcoming Trips

Summer 2008- Open To All

• TEAM 1 - June 28 - July 5, 2008
  TEAM 2 - August 2 - 9, 2008 (Last chance to get registered!)
  
  The project will be Villa Esperanza. Our goal is to raise the funds for one building and send two teams to do a large amount of work on that building.
  
  For more information on Villa Experanza project download the PDF Here.


• December 27, 2008 - January 3, 2009
  Medical Trip


• April 4-10, 2009
  Spring Break Trip


• Summer 09 - TBD

CONTACT:
TJ Broom at cell 356-5359 or email: tjsrq@yahoo.com