Traveling Home

 We all managed to stay up all night to get to the airport while it was still dark out. Going through the airport in Albania was interesting. Apparently, they don't like skateboards on the plane as a carry-on, even if the wheels are not on it. So they had to be checked, but somewhere along the way, they got lost. 

We got to Austria and over to the spot where we would board the plane, and most of the crew crashed on the seats. After their nap, we found out that we needed to go to a help desk to get new boarding passes printed out. We finally get on the plan and leave on time. Some of us take the opportunity to get a little more sleep.

We land in Chicago, and it takes FOREVER to get through customs. We should have had enough time to go through customs before our flight was boarding, but that did not happen. A big shout out and thank you to the staff at security who helped us get into the special line for those who were afraid we may miss our flights. We got through security and raced over to the gate, where we learned that we made it on time. But we had to check our carry-on bags because they had run out of overhead room. We got on the plane to then sit there for about an hour as they tried to fill the plane with as many bags underneath as they could as there had been a lot of lost baggage that hadn't made it to Denver yet. 

We finally get in the air and find that, due to the weather, we have to do a few circles before we can get to Denver to land. But the weather has not left yet. It takes a little bit before we are able to get to the gate. Off the plane, we then had to go to baggage claim to get our bags, but the weather came back and had us waiting even longer for our baggage. 

Needless to say, it took a lot longer to get home than we had planned, but we did. It was probably the worst travel experience I have ever had, but I was glad I was not alone this time, like I was in India when they had to get the flight on a new plane. Thank you to everyone who supported our team by giving and praying. Thank you to the parents who allowed their teenagers to go on this trip and have an experience that not many get to have at their age. Thank you for reading the blog! Thank you to the team in Albaina that we got to partner with.

I will be going on more mission trips in the future, and I will be sure to let you know what is next once I have the information! Till then, may God bless you in a way that is beyond all understanding.