We have arrived!

10:49 AM - Wednesday 8/11

We arrived at the Philadelphia airport without incident. Traffic was light all the way and our generous drivers, Ken, Diana and Kim successfully delivered us. The ladies were going to make a day of it in Philly with some young’uns, hitting Ikea and other important historical landmarks, while the rest of us make the flight to Houston.

Jim got an enthusiastic pat-down in security and Shawn lost a 10 dollar bill in the security conveyor, but it eventually showed up again after a surprisingly concerned crew wouldn’t let him leave until every leaf was turned over.

A two-hour wait ensued in which all who tried failed to acquire wireless service and many small conversations rose and fell as people scurried around the gate seating area. Food and drink was hunted, subdued, and consumed as we watched news of the plane crash in Alaska in which Sen. Stevens and four others were killed. Lots of speculation about what caused that crash, though there is absolutely no data backing up any of the hypotheses. Do we have to see this before we board a plane?

5:35 PM - Wednesday 8/11

We made it to Houston. We had lots of time here due to a slight delay on the outgoing plane, so we wandered around, found some tasty restaurants (World Famous BBQ, Panda Express, Pappadeaux), and the education team took some time to go through their first day’s lessons. Jerry took some video footage. Shawn and Brent shot some photos (coming soon). Among our conversations, Tod explained that telling people that he teaches chemistry is not a good conversation starter. Donna passed out some Spanish explanations about what we are doing here to hopefully ease our way through customs. We’ll see how that works soon enough. Donna bought a deck of cards and now Jerry and Tod are playing cribbage on the back of a suitcase. No money is changing hands, so we don't have to alert the gambling police.

Our trip through customs upon arrival was nearly painless, though Jim again got special treatment, with the agents opening his bag and asking questions. Thanks to the help of a friendly English-speaking agent, they were convinced that they didn't need to do any body cavity searches, and we quickly moved on to find out if the car rental agency was still open. Many prayers were sent in an effort to increase the possibility of that being the case.

12:30 AM Thursday 8/12

After a lengthy conversation with Roger at the car rental company concerning how many cars we rented, we were able to secure three, and...We have arrived at the Technotel!

Everyone is tired but grateful for a successful and smooth journey. We have to get up early to meet our interpreters, Freddie and Delaney, and head to Oxkutzcab and Pencuyut tomorrow.

Time for bed!