Spring Break 2017

At the end of a term, we always look forward to being back in the states for a couple of weeks. Luke only gets seven weeks off a year--three at Christmas, two in April, and two in August. We hadn't seen my side of the family since our wedding in July, so this break we headed to New Hampshire for two weeks to spend time with my family and friends there. While we were there, we were able to go to Lancaster, PA for a few days. We always enjoy vacationing there, and that place is special to Luke and I because it was there that he asked my dad for permission to marry me in December of 2014 and it was there that we last saw each other in April of 2016 before Luke came to New Hampshire for our wedding. Unfortunately, we were not able to see everyone, but we are so grateful for the chance to see as many of our friends and family as we could.

Enjoying the Jonah play at Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA

My cat missed me

My poor eyes were struggling from seasonal allergies, but how cute is my sister's pup!

We were unexpectedly able to see Luke's brother and sister in law!

Our trip was fantastic. We enjoyed amazing food and time with family going golfing, mini golfing, disc golfing, walking, shopping, and playing yard games. Too quickly our trip came to an end, and we had to journey back. I use the word journey because it is quite a journey to get back to our beautiful little island. Although we now have a new beautiful international airport, we still need to book with two different airlines and go through Barbados to get to and from the states. Our journey back began early. We woke up at 2 AM to drive to the Boston airport. We had one checked bag, one carry-on suitcase, and two backpacks. After checking in our big suitcase we promptly headed to the very busy security line. Luke had our carry-on suitcase, one I have taken on many planes, but a man pulled him out of line and told him it was too big. We thought about trying to fit some things in our backpacks, but it was just easier to check that bag. Back to the counter we went to check that bag. I was hoping that would be the last of our troubles. The journey to the states had gone so well that I was hoping the journey back would be almost as smooth. Sadly, it rarely is. We made it through security, but as we gathered our belongings, they had taken so long to let the people through that the bins and backpacks were piling up! I started to take some things out of one bin when suddenly, they buckled and the bin containing my passport, boarding passes, and cell phone went flying into the air and landed scattered on the ground. Thankfully, my phone wasn't broken. Luke handed me my passport, and I realized I didn't have my boarding passes. I began frantically searching around, but I didn't see them anywhere. They had been safely tucked into my passport, but now they were nowhere to be seen! Just then, I noticed the bin on the floor. When I lifted it up, thankfully I saw my boarding passes. Another crisis averted, and it wasn't even 6 AM yet! After a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed to our gate and boarded our plane. The seats were fairly comfortable, and Luke and I were the only passengers on our side of the row, so we were both able to get some sleep. We landed in Miami about 3.5 hours later. We were supposed to only have about an hour layover, but when we landed Luke had a notification that our flight had been delayed an hour. We discovered that our plane coming from JFK had mechanical issues, so it was delayed arriving. We weren't too frustrated at the delay since we had a six or seven-hour layover in Barbados. This extra layover in Miami gave us time to get some food and more Starbucks! Finally, it was time to board our plane. It was exactly like the previous one, but with more leg room. I was hoping we would be able to get some good sleep. We were pushed out to the runway by a truck, but just before we stopped moving, there was a loud sound, a bump, and a jerking motion. The pilot told us that since this was unusual, he wanted to check the nose gear. Maintenance came out and checked it, and sent us on our way. The stewardess started the safety video, but before it had played too long, the screen went black and all of the lights went out on the plane. I was a little concerned since I knew that this plane previously had mechanical issues, so I began to pray that if this plane was not safe that we would not get off of the ground. The lights came back on, and everything seemed fine, but thankfully, the pilot wanted to have it checked. Maintenance workers came onto the plane, and the pilot explained that there was an electrical issue. This same issue had affected starting one of the engines. In order for them to work on it, they had to shut off the air conditioning. There we were sitting on the plane on the hot Miami runway, and it was getting warmer and warmer. Finally, they decided to let us off the plane, and we went inside and waited at a gate. A while later, we were told to use the tram to get to another gate because they were giving us a new plane. While we waited at the new gate, we were told that we needed a new cockpit crew since the old one couldn't legally work any more hours straight. They didn't know when a new cockpit crew could get to the airport. We were starting to get concerned. We have stood in line at customs in Barbados before for a full hour before even getting to our bags or checking in and going through security for our next flight. The longer the layover in Miami, the shorter our layover in Barbados became, and we weren't sure if we would make our next flight. We have slept on the hard metal benches outside of the Barbados airport before, and we really weren't looking forward to doing it again. We had decided if we could leave around 4:30 PM, we should be able to make our next flight to St. Vincent. We boarded the plane in time, so we were relieved! Each seat had a pillow and blanket on it. I originally thought that they were trying to appease us, but later discovered that we were on a plane that was originally going to Lima, Peru before it was switched to be our flight to Barbados. The pilot informed us that we didn't have the right food on the plane, but it should only take about 15-20 minutes to load it. About 45 minutes later, he informed us that the truck with the food was almost there. Finally, all of the food was loaded, and I thought that we were going to be on our way. At this point, we would be cutting it very close to catch our next flight. I had to chuckle as the pilot came over the intercom once more to inform us that there were some bags on the runway that they forgot to load. It was just so crazy that it was becoming comical! Finally, we were on our way. I was glad to be on our way, but sad thinking that we wouldn't see the United States again for seven months. 

Our last view of the United States for 7 months.

Puerto Rico from the air.

After another 3.5 hour flight, we landed safely in Barbados at 8:15 PM, exactly one hour before our next flight was scheduled to take off. We were hoping to catch our flight, but since it seemed pretty unlikely, we took our airline pillow and blankets with us. If the airline was going to cause us to sleep on the benches again, at least we would be slightly comfier this time. The pilot informed the passengers that there were people on our flight who were trying to catch our next flight for St. Vincent and that an agent would be there to help us. The agent let us know that they had pushed our flight back to leave at 9:45 and that they would get our bags out as quickly as possible. We were near the front of the line for customs, but the customs official couldn't have been any slower. One would think that they would not care since we were spending less than an hour in their country. When we informed him that we had to catch the flight to St. Vincent at 9:15, I thought that would speed him along. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. He wanted to see our itinerary. Since we couldn't check in until we had gone through customs, Luke had to pull up the confirmation email on his phone, which took awhile to find the data, since you aren't allowed to have phones out in that part of the airport. Finally, he stamped our passports and let us through. We waited for our bags with another student we knew, then we rushed past people hoping to get through the bag part of customs quickly. Of course, the express lane for people trying to catch flights wasn't open, but I spotted a lady collecting customs forms. We explained our situation and she let us through! The agent was outside asking if there was anyone else for the St. Vincent flight. We told him we were, and he told us to run all the way down to the counter because we had one minute. It was hot and we were sweaty as we ran with heavy backpacks and suitcases all the way to the counter. After we checked in and booked it through exit customs and security, it was only 9:03! Record timing for getting through that airport. (Island time is not just an expression). When we arrived at the gate, the lady tore our tickets but told us to wait. I thought that maybe a vehicle was going to drive across the runway so we couldn't walk out. They had rushed us so much, that it seemed like the only explanation to keep us from rushing onto the plane. However, I was quite wrong. It was lightly raining out, so she made us wait, so we could be given a complimentary rain poncho. Pretty soon everyone was on the flight, and we took off only about 5 minutes after the original departure time. We were so thankful to be arriving that night. The new airport in St. Vincent was impressive, especially thinking back to the small, dark, hot airport they previously used. The new airport is well-lit, air-conditioned, and has a real baggage claim! We made it through customs there without any issues, and our taxi driver was there to get us. Our friends brought over food for us since we wouldn't have time to go to the grocery store for a bit. A nasty cockroach was also there to welcome us. After being awake for 23 hours, we were very happy to collapse into bed. Poor Luke had to get up to catch the 7:30 AM bus to start classes as a second-year medical student! Time is flying! We are so grateful that even though the trip was pretty crazy, we made it safely with all of our luggage. God is so good to us!