Mexico Trip (Part 8)

We arrived at the airport bright and early at 5:00 in the morning, with an hour to spare before our flight left. The bag check line took a good 20 minutes, which still left us with plenty of time. The security check took longer than it should have due to not being able to bring some of the food that we had. My teen sisters and I got through quickly, and proceeded to the make our way to the gate. While on our way, we heard over the intercom the one minute warning until the Springfield flight would stop allowing passengers to board. We hurried and made our way on to the plane, while looking back for our parents and other two sisters. When several flight attendants went through the doors, which were then closed behind them, we knew the rest of our family had missed the flight. My dad, being from another country, has flown countless times during his life, and it was the first time he'd missed a flight. The doors closed just a few minutes before the flight departure, which was the time the rest of my family made it to the doors. There was a sound machine my mom had brought with her, as she has a difficult time sleeping without it. This was what caused them to get hung up at the security checkpoint, and subsequently miss the flight.
They ended up spending the night there in Phoenix, flying to Wichita the next day, and driving a rental here to Springfield.

By the time I got back from the trip that Sunday, there were numerous homework assignments that I was behind on. But I made those up over the course of the next week or two, and was soon caught up completely.
The trip was a great experience for all of us. It was the first time any of us had been on a short term mission's trip, as well as in a third world country. We learned a lot about the way of life of the people we visited, and gave us a whole new appreciation for the little things we have here, such as grass, clean drinking water, toilets that take toilet paper, and many other things. Although it's perhaps an overused saying, but it's true that we left parts of our hearts with those people in Calamu, Mexico.