Getting there is half the fun......

Thursday, February 17:   the first to arrive at the house at 1:30pm was Deacon Chuck, a friend of Jane's from church--he was coming to pray for us and send us with a blessing.   Everyone started arriving soon after, and within a short period of time, the living room was laden with luggage and excitement was building as everyone gathered, hugged, and welcomed the adventure!   We handed out the sweatshirts as soon as everyone had arrived, and everyone loved them!!!     

The reporter from the Observer arrived at 2:30pm and until 3:00, we spent time interviewing and describing the trip we were making.   He was an excellent reporter, and covered everything exactly as we wanted!!    At 3:00pm, my husband and Gloria's husband began to load the van---we rented at 12 passenger van to get to the airport, and there wasn't ONE extra inch of room once we were finished!!!

We pulled out of the driveway, Jeff driving, our vehicle looking like a "Grapes of Wrath" special!    On the way to the bridge I collected all the passports and began preparing for the border crossing, knowing it would take at least an hour, if not longer, with the luggage and hockey bags full of supplies.   God showed Himself as we drove through Customs in less than 5 minutes!!   The officer(s) were cautioned by Jeff that if they opened the back of the van, luggage would fall out, so they didn't!   They verified everyone's identity and sent us on our way, not even ASKING what was in our luggage!!!    And with that, we were bound for Detroit.    After a great dinner at Applebee's near the Detroit airport, Jeff left us, and we all said goodnight and headed to bed.    The time:  8:00pm!    We had to be up at 2:30am, so any sleep would be precious!!   The next morning, a very kind driver picked us up from the Marriott and drove us to the airport at 3:30am.   He was annoyingly chipper and happy for that time of morning!   His ability to load our luggage, unload it at the airport curb, and find help for us, though, was priceless!!!  

Our flights, Detroit to Houston and Houston to San Salvador, were uneventful.    Continental Airlines went out of their way to help us check in at Detroit airport, and for that, I was impressed and thankful!!!    En route to San Salvador, the captain announced our descent; we came out of a cloud covering, and below me lay the most beautiful land I'd ever seen.   In all my life, I thought NOTHING would top my view of the Grand Canyon from air, but again, I was wrong.   El Salvador is lush, green, mountainous, and excuisite to see.    Flying in, we saw volcanoes, mountains, mountaintop houses, fields full of sugar cane being burned off, and then we flew out over the Pacific before landing at the airport.    I was like a child with my nose pressed up against the plane window, occasionally allowing Rose the chance to crawl over me and look, but selfishly wanting the view to never stop.    My heart was full of happiness and joy for Gloria, knowing she was HOME!   When we landed in San Salvador, Gloria took the lead.   We would follow her every instruction (not that we don't anyway), including the shutting of our mouths when she instructed us!     Our first line-up was for Immigration.   Two lines---"Locals" and "Foreigners".    Gloria could have gone in her own line, but she is full of mercy for us and our illiteracy, and took us through the Foreigners line.    Immigration was not easy, as the officer wanted an address for our ocean-side home and we didn't have one.   We gave him the address for the Hospital, but he insisted that we were not STAYING at the hospital.    Finally, he gave up and posted our address as the hospital's.   He had met Gloria Nickles and her power of persuasion!!!  One by one we passed through immigration and then we collected our luggage, paying a man to load it onto two carts.   After immigration, it was time to clear Customs.   You wait in line and they ask about your bags.   If you're free to go, a big stop light illuminates GREEN.   If not, it turns RED.   It looked just like a traffic light on a post!     All of us went through customs with a green light except Gloria, who accompanied the luggage to the inspection area.    Here's where God showed up again (I love it when He does this)!!  The Customs officer said to Gloria, "I cannot just let you go with this much luggage, so I am going to pretend to look through a few bags."   A few minutes later, Gloria gave the order, "Vamos!"   Let's go!!!    Gloria's sister, Lillian and her Grandma were waiting for us along with our rental van, and about 1 hour after we landed, we arrived in the ocean-side village of San Diego.   First, though, Gloria stopped and bought us "Leche".   Each of us were handed our own coconut with a straw in it and it was full of sweet coconut milk to drink!    mmmmmmmmmm     I knew that a fountain diet coke wasn't going to come my way anytime soon, so I enjoyed it!!!    The first view of our home was a metal gate surrounded by a cement wall with electrified barbed wire along the top.   When the gate slid open, however, a beautiful green courtyard and our house waited for us!    We are so blessed to be in this house!   It sleeps 13, has 3 bathrooms with showers, a kitchen, living room, and our yard, overlooking the pacific, has a beautiful pool, 3 hammocks, and a patio!    We have a locked gate and barbed wire along the back, as well.   Every day, Evelyn, a local woman, shows up at 0600 and cooks and cleans for us.    Her pay is minimal in our standards, but she is happy for the work, and so nice to have around!     Our ocean swim time is limited due to severe undertows, the sound of the waves is nature's music.   Rose sleeps in the living room, preferring the warmth to the air-conditioned bedrooms, and she loves the sounds all night.    After a dinner at an ocean side restaurant where we watched boys surf throughout the meal, we returned to the house and called it a night early.   We were exhausted, but happy, and lots of pinching going on to ensure this was real!!!!   Saturday would be our first full day and Gloria already had the day planned!!!!     As we went to sleep, the full moon and the stars, overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean, gave us proof once again, the God, in all His glory, had orchestrated this adventure for us!