This morning began at 4:30 a.m. Miguel had purchased one of those cow horns in Valley of the Angels on our shopping day, and he thought he should test it before returning to the U.S. Thus, at 4:30 A.M. all of the guys gathered just outside the girls' dorm window for the blasting of the horn. I have to admit that it was hilarious to hear all those girls jumping quickly out of bed at that hour. It was definitely the fastest they ever climbed out of bed any of the mornings in Honduras.
Though Tacha was told she didn't need to make breakfast for us, she wanted to be there. She, Sylvia, and Noriela made us a final breakfast of pancakes. We all removed the sheets from our beds, did last minute cleaning up, and Fr. Cosgrove did our final prayer before boarding the bus.
There was a cheer when we drove off that gravel/dirt road for the last time. Except for the speed bumps, the ride into Teguc was fairly smooth. We did have one check-point to contend with, but Carlos finally got us through.
At the airport everyone had a chance to look at the shops and purchase something to eat. Many of them headed for McDonald's.
Our plane from Tegucigalpa into Houston was right on time. We had a couple minor glitches getting through immigration and customs, but we made it to our gate in plenty of time. Everyone had time to grab a snack and restroom break before boarding our flight for Omaha. We had already discussed how we would disembark in Omaha as a team. Wearing our mission shirts, we exited the plane last and went up the ramp together to meet our welcoming committee. It was wonderful to see all those faces waiting to meet us. There were lots of hugs and both tearful greetings for their families and friends and tearful good-byes to their mission teammates, especially those from schools other than Gehlen.
It was an amazing trip - a life-changing event for all. Thanks for everyone for reading this blog. I hope you will check out the website in the coming weeks so you can see all the photos and the story that Seivert will write for us.
Finally, thanks to the students and my fellow chaperones. It was wonderful working with all of you. Special thanks to Francis Seivert for having everything ready for us upon our arrival and getting us around safely in Honduras.
Most of all, thank you to Richard Seivert, without whom NONE of this would have been possible for any of us. He puts in countless hours of work preparing for these trips and continues to work on the trip even while it is happening. And then he even does the work required to wrap it up. On top of that, he never gets to actually join us in Honduras and participate with the missioners. So Seivert, though we might forget to tell you in person, I hope you know we all appreciate the opportunity you gave to us!
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