Archive - April 7, 2008

OK … I’m now on a full sized computer and can say a little more.

I’ve also just had 8 hours sleep and so the world is looking a little better.

I had a fabulous start to my trip. We turned up at Perth Airport in plenty of time to catch the 10:45 a.m. flight to Sydney on Saturday morning. That’s when I was told that the flight would now leave at 3:25 p.m. Brilliant.

We headed back out of the airport and spent some family time at McDonalds. I normally wouldn’t want to spend an entire day at Maccas but I needed to stay at least ‘near’ the airport.

Finally my plane left the ground shortly after 4:30 p.m. I arrived in Sydney after 11:00 p.m. and managed to find my way to the hotel where the rest of the team had had a lovely dinner and a briefing on our upcoming trip. Oh well … I was there at least.

The next morning we got Sydney International Airport and got on board for a thirteen and a half hour flight to Los Angeles. I now know how battery hens feel. Crammed in for that length of time isn’t such a good idea.

I love the way that they help you adjust to the time zone you’re going to. We were on the plane and left Australia around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday so a while after take off we were given lunch. Sometime after that came a snack. A few hours later we were eating breakfast. Hang on … where did dinner and a good night’s sleep go?

It was an early arrival in LA but not quite early enough. Our connection with flights for the Miami plane was already going to be tight but an extra delay on our flight leaving Sydney meant that upon arrival we had to dash through customs and then just keep running to head for the Miami plane. It was a real accomplishment to finally sit down on the plane, even if it was the last row of the aircraft which came complete with stale lavatory smell.

Last night there was an amazing electrical storm. It was great to be able to watch it out of our hotel window but not so great to think that our two hour tour of Miami today will be under rainiy conditions.

This afternoon the real part of our trip begins. We’ll be flying into Haiti and we start visiting Compassion projects tomorrow morning. There’s an amazing itinerary planned for us, visiting several projects and interacting with the local staff and children. I’m really looking forward to being able to share more about the trip with you soon and to be able to show you some photos.

Despite a few hiccups here and there I’m having a wonderful time and am looking forward to all that the next fesw days hold.

Catch you soon.