Chapter 1: Dayton Dash to Santiago

Flights to South America generally take the traveler overnight--where you soon discover how many different ways one can arrange himself in an airplane seat for nine hours. We also discovered yesterday that a flight can arrive in an airport and sit for an hour before finding a "parking space" in front of a gate--such was Ginger and Bev's experience after their first flight from Asheville was cancelled and their second finally took off with no time to spare.

I, too, coming from Dayton, had expected a three hour lay-over and ended up dashing for the gate once arriving in Atlanta. The reason for all this chaos: lightning all day in Atlanta.

After being parked on the tarmac for an hour after landing in Atlanta, Ginger and Bev finally had their opportunity to race through the concourses and arrive safe and sound just before take-off to South America.

Oh, interesting note--on my ride from DAY to ATL, I sat next to a man who held a six-week-old baby in a front-carrier pack the whole trip. His wife and four year old daughter sat a few rows in front of him. Just when I was mentally appreciating the sacrificial role he was playing as a father, I realized that the mother, too, had a six-week-old baby in a front-carrier pack--TWINS. Not only that, they were from Dubai, and their next flight would be 16 hours long!

Arriving in Santiago had beautiful views--IF you were sitting on the other side of the plane where Bev and Ginger were; they tell me that they will share their photos, but I don't have them yet.  Lots of great mountain shots. Going through customs and all went smooth as silk--some lines, but nothing terribly long.

The weather on arrival was gloomy--foggy and gray. In Chile, we are entering the rainy, winter season, and thus the fog and mist. But as we drove the half hour or so to the school--Santiago Christian Academy--slowly the sun began to filter through the fog.

As we neared the school campus and entered neighborhoods, I began to sense the feel of South America--I don't know how to describe it, but there is a difference in the atmosphere between Central and South America, and I could feel it.  Strange....

Pictures here show the little bit of campus I have seen so far... and the ride.

I saw several friends right away -- people I had not seen since 1996 (from RBGI language school), the early 2000s (from working in Paraguay), the late 2000s (from Sojourn), and even a month ago (from Grace Baptist). Much fun and some good solid hugs. The Pattens, the Salsmans, the Admundsens, Jean Armstrong, and others. And what a surprise when the Swierengas rounded the corner of a bookshelf in the library. My mouth fell open--I didn't even know they were here. Abby (who was in sixth grade when I last saw her in mid 2006 at Sojourn) had seen me and when she saw her parents, she told them, "I think I saw Mrs. Reilly in the library."

Bev, Ginger, and Tia

And many of these good "old" friends and new ones took us out for a good Chilean supper--ah, South American parillada (asado). ¡Que rico!

Tomorrow I'll get to my notes on the first day of work--which we did start today (Friday) in full gear. I alphabetized probably 300 books between S and Y (no Z authors in that batch).