Domingo

After completing our two Sunday morning services, Mark and I were taken to the airport by Mark’s dad, Steve – thanks again! We moved through security and jumped on a plane headed first for Houston, then San Jose. We weren’t sure what our arrival would hold for us, so we ate in San Antonio . . . and Houston . . . and on the plane!

Flying South I was going over my notes for the week and making lists on airline napkins. I’m sure it was confidence inspiring to the people at the school who asked for some details on my sermons and I whipped out a doodled on Continental Airlines cocktail napkin.

When we had come for our scouting trip in May, Mark and I were totally lost. We exited into the San Jose night not knowing who was picking us up or even where we were staying. Ultimately our driver found us, but it was a tense few minutes. This time, we came through immigration without incident. We are now seasoned pros. We connected with our driver from our last trip, Luis and headed to the seminary to meet our team.

We arrived at the Methodist University/Seminary after dark. The team was inside waiting. We stayed in a great little place. It had a kitchen, living room, 4 bedrooms with bunks, and 2 bathrooms. As Mark and I looked around, the team started giving us instruction on staying in our home for the next week. 1) Don’t try to sleep in bedroom number 4 – the skylight in there lets in light starting around 4:30 a.m. 2) The electric water heater for the shower is on the showerhead itself. Be sure not to touch the exposed wires. The heat works better if the overhead light is off. 3) You can not flush toilet paper in San Jose. There is a trash can next to each toilet.

It was really quite charming, until they got to number 3 – or perhaps I should have numbered these differently . . .

After settling in and catching up, our team began to sing and pray a bit together. It was a good centering time for all of us as we sought to settle our nerves and prepare for the early morning that faced us.