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| Friends from the Bible School saying goodbye. |
Well the last three days have been traveling
days. Saturday after saying round two of goodbyes to the staff at the Bible
school, students that came to see us off, as well as some very close friends,
we boarded a bus with the Vancouver team to start our four hour drive to
Vienna. It was very hard for me to say goodbye because the last few days of us
being in Martin came with connections with others being made stronger. The bus
to Vienna was pretty quiet, at the beginning of the ride, as everyone was
reflecting on everything that happened during the last two weeks. After many
tears, and reflecting, there were a few of us who tried to catch up on sleep.
Some were more successful than others, but hey, that's part of traveling.
We
stopped near the airport in Vienna to drop off the Vancouver team, and it was
time for round three of goodbyes. Although we didn't spend much time with the
Vancouver team, some of the California team made connections with them. Then it
was off to our hotel. After about a half hour drive from the airport we made
it. As we settled into the rooms, most of us decided to relax for a while
before going to explore.
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| A partially eaten scoop of gelato from Zanoni and Zanoni. |
Later in the afternoon, a group of us decided to go
into downtown Vienna to explore. We saw a beautiful church, stopped a few times
to get gelato at the most famous place in Vienna, Zanoni and Zanoni, found a
place to eat, and continued to explore. Since we were exhausted, we headed back
much earlier than we did when we were in Paris and Martin, and decided to call
it an evening. The evening consisted of more reflecting, communicating with
family, repacking, and even watching a movie.
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| The border patrol. |
In the
morning, we woke up at the regular time to eat breakfast and load into vans to
get to the airport. After some crazy driving, and trouble printing boarding
passes, we were through security and at the gate doing devotions. We boarded
the plane, flew for about two hours and then landed in Paris. This time instead
of sightseeing, we had to navigate the airport. This meant visiting the border
patrol, trying to understand some French, and riding a bus that was packed full
of people to the right terminal. It was a little confusing to say the least. We
got to the gate with about half an hour to spare and loaded up the plane. On
the way back, we didn’t seem to be as squished as before, which was very nice
considering the flight was about eleven and a half hours. After waiting for our
luggage to come off the plane, and making it through customs in less than ten
minutes, the Fresno team (Jennifer, Charlotte, Pam, and Sara) headed to their
hotel for the night, and after waiting for a while, the coast team (Arianna,
Erica, Sarah, Priscilla, Breck, Joyce, and Pastor Randy) got in their van and
headed home.
As of
now, everyone is home and probably close to going to bed. I know I am
recovering and am excited to get to bed. Slovakia 2013 was an amazing trip and
I hope to go again sometime very soon. I can’t wait to share my experience with
eeveryone who supported me on this trip, whether it was through prayer, advice,
or monetary support among many other things. The trip could not have been
possible without them. The trip also couldn’t have been possible without you.
Thank you for reading the blog, for praying for the team, and for listening to
all our stories. I would encourage you to ask someone you know about their trip
and how what they learned impacted their life. We all have quite the story to
tell.
Sara
Martin
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