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Our wake-up call woke us at 2:57 a.m., and we joked that the desk clerk wanted to beat our 3 a.m. alarm clock. We showered (showering with soap and shampoo twice within 24 hours - what luxury!) and were downstairs by 3:50. Our bag lunches were set out on the table with coffee cups. So sweet!
We picked them up and noticed that Daniel had just arrived. He drove us to the airport and we waited in the American Airlines check-in line for an hour.
We were in line until 5 o'clock, eating our apples from our bag lunches. After we checked in, we had to wait in another line to pay our airport fee ($41 each!) We went through security and immigration with no problems. We drank our juice boxes from our bag lunches and then headed to the gate. Our carry-ons were hand-searched at the gate and they confiscated our goldenberry jelly from Morochos. We hadn't even thought of it as a liquid. If we had, we would have put it into one of our two checked bags. It was over 3 ounces, so it was confiscated. The cruel irony was that the only reason we were so thoroughly searched was because we were so early. As more passengers arrived at boarding time, they let them straight through and didn't even check them. But they think our jelly is a security risk!? This put us in a rather cranky mood, and we weren’t even at the Miami airport yet. Craig sat at the gate with our luggage. I went to the bookstore across the hall, purchasing a map for Craig and a Quechua (Kichwa) dictionary for myself. We were next to those same birders yet again on the plane to Miami. The plane departed on time at 6:35 a.m.. They gave us breakfast - a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, fruit, and a croissant. We landed in Miami at 11:50 a.m. The immigration and customs process went a bit smoother this time than usual, even though we needed to pick up and re-check our checked bags. We had to walk outside in the heat (the terminal was under construction and the sky train wasn't open yet) to get to terminal D. We ate turkey sandwiches and Doritos as we waited at the gate. Our 4 p.m. flight home was delayed because the pilot was arriving on another international flight. When they finally let us board the plane, there was an additional "baggage delay". Then, just as we were ready to take off, a thunderstorm rolled through. The pilot shut down the plane and we were stranded on the tarmac waiting for the storm to blow through, when there was nothing but black sky in every direction. Would we ever get home? Miami airport always does this. Just once, we’d like to fly through there without incident. Eventually we took off, and ended up being about an hour and a half late (arriving at around 8:45 p.m.). Steve graciously brought us Dunkin Donuts decaf coffees when he picked us up at Logan. We wound down at home by telling him about our wonderful trip, and then got to bed so that we could go to work the next morning. This turned out to be a wonderful trip. Felipe had worked very hard to create an itinerary just for us, and it had been a perfect fit. Before we came to Ecuador, we hadn't really known what to expect. We trusted in Adventure Life and Felipe, and they did not disappoint. And we had been asked to become compadres with an Otavalan family! We were incredibly humbled and looked forward to returning to Morochos for Sisa's baptism next year. |
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