Home for the Holidays

This Christmas break we decided to spend with my husband Luke's family in Minnesota. Our journey began early, 3:20am early, which happens to be 1:20am, Minnesota time. We took a taxi with our neighbors and another student to the airport where we stood in line for awhile before the workers arrived to check us in for the flight.

After checking in, we filled out our immigration forms and headed in to go through security. We got as far as getting our passports checked before we were called back to go into the baggage room. Our suitcase was chosen for a random check, so we had to open it for them to search through. Thankfully, there were no issues, so we were able to continue through security. We had purchased water in the airport, but unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take it through security. Thankfully, after we drank it,  they made sure the bottles were empty and let us keep them!




Eventually we boarded our plane. Luke and I had the front row seats, so we had plenty of leg room. Liat airline planes are small, and the entrance door is actually in the back of the plane. If you sit in the front, you are actually the last ones off of the plane.
Barbados

 Since our layover was about nine hours, we were not concerned about rushing to get off of the plane. We made it through customs in Barbados and settled down at a table for the long layover. Thankfully, our neighbors had a long layover as well, so we had company. We brought snacks and watched movies until we could check in for our flight. The airport will not allow you to check in for your flight until only a few hours before the flight leaves. Thankfully there is a small food court area outside of the airport for people to enjoy while they wait. There were so many people inside of the airport that the Wi-Fi was not really working. Thankfully, a classmate of Luke's was able to check our flight, only to find out that it had been delayed an hour. We only had about an hour layover in Charlotte anyway, so we were worried that we would miss our connecting flight to Minneapolis. Finally, after waiting about ten hours, we were able to board our flight back to the United States.



 Thankfully, the pilot was able to make up time in the air, and we were able to move to seats closer to the front of the plane. We only landed about ten minutes after our original time, but we still had to run and rush through customs, get our luggage, recheck our luggage, go through security, and find our gate. America is amazing! We got through everything in about twenty- five minutes! (Our first experience with customs in Barbados, we waited in line for about an hour.) Before we boarded our plane, we even had time to stop for our first Starbucks in months! 

We were exhausted, but thrilled to have caught our last flight! We arrived safely in Minneapolis where we were greeted by Luke's parents who brought us coats and blankets. When we left St. Vincent, it was about 82 degrees, and that night in Minnesota, it dropped to about -33 degrees. After being awake for about twenty- six hours, we were very happy to go to sleep. We are so thankful that the trip went fairly smoothly, and we are excited to spend time with family.

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