Sorry I haven’t updated you. Things have continued in the same insane “Bryan” fashion that I have come to be used to. More notes will be coming because school starts next week and one of Megh’s home school assignments is blog about her trip.
Here are a few notes:
The trip was flawless until they hit Atlanta. Apparently Atlanta has joined Chicago’ O’Hare airport and any part of St. Louis as being a “black hole” of un-travel-ness. Like a black hole where light and other matter can get in but can’t get out, Atlanta sucks in travelers into its pleasantly named Hartsfield International Airport only to leave them there wandering about hoping to find a loop-hole or time-space ripple of something that allows them to escape. I watched the growing drama from the comfort of my kitchen table… the Delta plane was supposed to arrive from New Orleans and pick them up… but it never left…and yet, strangely, after three hours of delays, the Delta flight that hadn’t left Louisiana…suddenly was loading in Atlanta bound for Louisville. Kevin said that he felt a tinge of sadness as he boarded… some people had been there all day and looked longingly at those “chosen ones” slipping past the apparent weakened gravitational pull of the airport at 11 pm (our team was supposed to have left at 8). Here’s why I know that Atlanta has now become a black hole of un-travel-ness. I watched as flight after flight was either delayed or canceled even though the skies were clear!
They arrived to many cheers at 1:10 am. We arrived home after 2. Libby was beside herself with their arrival. Peanut the Cat didn’t appear to notice. Megh came home with only the clothes on her back (as instructed) and had jettisoned everything she took including a huge navy blue duffel bag with “Meghan Bryan” painted in white on the bottom.
Kevin said that the entrance into the country was the easiest he had ever experienced. One of the concerns was that, upon entering Cuba, each person would be required to go into a room and be interrogated. And groups going into the country could get way-laid badly by one simple misspoken phrase. So the team had practiced their “etiquette” and hoped they were prepared. This caused Meghan a lot of anxiety and actually a panic attack…she said the strangely tinted bulbs, all of the police with mean faces and guns, and masks, like the newcomers were infected with some Zombie virus or something…made her stomach hurt and head swim. Most members of our team had their own bag and were bringing in an extra bag of baseball gear…and Meghan hadn’t looked into her bag to make sure she knew what was in it, which added to her distress. Just as they were getting close to the front of the line, an official-looking lady got their attention and told them to follow her. Eventually they did and within minutes found themselves past the interrogation rooms and past customs! Several of the adults had been to the country before and none could remember anything like that happening. It was nothing short of a sweet miracle.
One thing that impressed Kevin was how quickly our young people “evaporated” in among the Cuban kids. The first day they stuck together and seemed a bit unsure but immediately on the second day it seemed like they each had received an understanding on what they were to do…get involved…and they jumped in and did it. He thought it was utterly amazing how well the kids communicated without the aid of a translator. (The lady who went to help just couldn’t be in so many places at once!) Meghan said that sometimes they used hand signals, sometimes they pointed or drew pictures. They played a lot of “what is” type word games that helped share their languages to each other.
He also was amazed at how safe he felt. He didn’t fear for his equipment or himself (or the kids) as they traveled. In some countries, especially “controlled” ones, he would know that he was being followed or watched. He had no such suspicions in Cuba, which means they are that good, or they just weren’t doing it, or…that my husband is getting old and losing some of his “detective-like” senses.
Only one odd thing: One day the transformer blew up at the church because of the heat (it was the hottest July in memory there). The pastor called to report it but said he didn’t think it would be repaired soon, if ever. Within 90 minutes a crew arrived to look at the problem and within an hour had it fixed. Everyone there considered it a miracle. When Kev told me…cynic that I am…I said, “They knew you had a professional camera…they wanted to look good.
Example of a transformer
Who knows?
More coming soon…maybe with actual pictures!
~m
