Our last travel day began later than the day of the first flight down to Jamaica, but today was the earliest morning after that. We all were up and moving at about 5:30 am and loaded into a van to take us to the airport by 5:45 am. We actually ended up having to do two trips down to the airport because of how much space our luggage took up in the car, but luckily the airport was less than five minutes away from our hotel. We made it through customs and security with no problems, just slower than anticipated.We are still working on following Jamaican time schedules (where everything takes an hour longer than expected).

Right outside of our gate we were greeted by the sweet smell of a Cinnabon store that the team was unable to resist. A large, gooey, cinnamon roll was the perfect way to start the morning. Our flight to Miami was pretty short and uneventful. After landing, we managed to find a storage locker to leave our bags in so we wouldn’t have to haul extra stuff around while we explored Miami. We figured out the bus schedule and left for Sunny Isle Beach. Once we arrived at the beach, we wandered a stretch of sand in front of a few of the many resorts along Miami’s coastline in search of a place to change into our swimsuits but when we couldn’t find anywhere we decided to head out for lunch instead.

We stopped in a café and hung out in the shade for a while before heading back to the beach. We all got at least one toe in the water (just to be able to say we touched two different bodies of water on this trip: the Caribbean and the Atlantic) before realizing we had to head back to the bus stop if we wanted to catch our bus. On the ride back to the airport, the man sitting next to us started chatting with some of the group members. Part way into the conversation we found out he was from Centerville, MN and had gone to Centennial!

Once we were back at the airport we made it through security a second time reentering the Miami airport and the team managed to find both a Starbucks and ice cream shop before boarding the plane. So far, everything is going smoothly…and we can’t wait to get home!

Rachel S.

Well we are on the flight back to Minneapolis. It is 7:40 pm Central Time, which means for us it feels like 8:40 pm. Rachel was very gracious about our trip to the beach in Miami, our hope was to spend a few hours swimming; but going through customs, a long bus ride and no changing rooms on the public beach we all had to disappointingly walk away from the waves and sand in search of something to eat. In the end we were able to put our feet in the water for 10 minutes rather than swim for the 3 or 4 hours we were all hoping for. I am sure you have noticed that we do not have a significant post for Saturday through Monday; we will update the blog with info about the missing days as soon as possible. For now let it be said we have all reached that point of happy, brain numbing tiredness of having a wonderful time together and knowing that our service in Jamaica has help give birth  to a new avocado orchard that will sustain the Jamaican Methodist Church and the people of the Brown’s Town area well into the future. Thank you for following our adventures and showing your support as we have stepped from the places that were safe and comfortable for us to meet the many challenges that have strengthened our faith during our service trip.

Gary