Traveling Home (Something like Gilligan's three-hour tour...)

Sunday evening we packed up our things and checked in for our flights back to Washington Reagan National Airport.  After a short night of sleep we loaded our things onto Rod's Astro van and headed to the airport.  Since Rod's license plate ends with a specific number it is not allowed to be on the road certain days of the month, and Monday after 5AM was one of those days.  We were dropped off and said our goodbyes and the van headed back so it could be left at Rod's home until the next day.

When we checked in to drop off our checked baggage we found out that our flight to Newark, NJ was unable to fly due to mechanical issues.  So the agent began looking for other options.  One option was that eight seats could be booked into Harrisburg International.  She booked Matt and Missy on that flight but when she went to book the rest of us the seats had already been snagged by other ticket agents. The Airline had automatically rebooked each of us back to Reagan via different flights, so we determined that the best option was to take the rebooked flights.  So some of the team flew direct to Newark, and the rest of us went to Houston.  There were four different flights to Houston that we were booked on, so Denny arrived at Reagan in the afternoon; Ken and Diane flew from Houston to Newark and then back to Reagan; Kathy and I flew from Houston directly to Reagan.  The layover in the Houston Airport was about 4-5 hours, so I was able to complete my Global Entry renewal when I arrived in Houston.  I had been provisionally  approved for it several weeks earlier, but because my membership had expired the day after my birthday, the airline would not recognize it, and I had to go through normal Security including half-undressing...  Jackie was last to leave Mexico City and she arrived late in Houston.  We texted back and forth nd I had spoken to our gate agent to see if there were any seats available on our flight to Reagan, so that she could get there one hour earlier than her rebooked flight would have gotten her there.   As it turned out Kathy and I were seated on the plane and Jackie walked in as the last person getting n the plane, so she got to the gate just in time.  So the three of us were the last to arrive at Reagan.  Ken and Diane had arrived there somewhat earlier, but Diane's checked luggage was on a different flight and she had to wait for it.  So they were waiting at Baggage Claim when we got there.  We gathered two of our three checked bags but did not find the final one.  One of the agents suggested looking at the Lost Baggage office of the airline.  Sure enough our third suitcase was there.  Apparently it had gone on an earlier flight and was already there when we arrived.  Once all of us got our luggage we went outside to wait for the shuttle to take us back to where the van was parked for the week.  We had attempted to get someone to shuttle us to the airport and then to return and pick us up a week later.  But with all the activities going on within our church, we decided to park the van at one of the offsite parking spots recommended by the Airport.  This was the Embassy Suites Hotel about 1.7 miles from the airport.  There was also no space in the Long-Term lot at Reagan, so we felt that the cost of renting a parking space at the hotel for the week was about as economical as a second round-trip run from Pennsylvania.  This  proved to be almost exactly true as the gas used to do the one round-trip to and from Reagan ended up almost exactly the same as the week-long rental.  The hotel we used was one that had no restrictions on vehicle height, which made the choice automatic for me.  Every other site had a 6'8" maximum height for vehicles and our church van is higher than 6'8".  The Embassy Suites Hotel also had some outdoor lot spaces, which were unavailable at other sites.  All in all it was a very good option and we pulled into the parking lot last Tuesday and unloaded our luggage and parked in the outside lot.  The shuttle van was already there so we were on our way to the airport in 10 minutes from the time we arrived.  When we came back yesterday we only had to wait about 5 minutes outside until the shuttle arrived and transported us back to the hotel where Denny was already waiting for us.  I had looked at reviews for doing this kind of airport parking and most of them were very good for this hotel.  I would recommend it to anyone needing to use Ronald Reagan National.

So, in all of that, with 8 of us going five different itineraries to gt back to either Pennsylvania or Reagan National, we all arrived at our homes about 4-5 hours later than our original expected arrival time.  Pretty amazing, isn't it?  Of course, Kathy and I had bought a brand new suitcase for this trip, and it had my tools in it.  Guess which suitcase got ransacked going through security inspection.  That's right, the new one.  Most suitcases have expansion zippers to expand the volume of them to accommodate more stuff.  TSA inspectors have broken all of these expansion zipper pulls on my old suitcase and they tried opening this one using the expansion zipper pull.  They did get it open but when it arrived at Reagan the entire bottom of the suitcase had not been zipped shut.  Fortunately they always slam them onto the conveyors face down, so the bottom being open was no problem and nothing seemed to be lost.  I had my tools in a zippered bag inside it and this was opened and it appeared they made absolutely no effort to close it.  Also I had a TSA approved padlock on the suitcase which was on the  correct zipper pull to open it (hint hint).  The padlock is nowhere to be found.  What is the point of locking a suitcase if it is going to receive this kind of treatment?  I once got asked by an agent why I did not have locks on my suitcases and I told him "your inspectors are going to either open the suitcase properly or they are going to break the zipper pulls to tear the locks off anyway."  I asked him what was the point   and he somewhat agreed.  So next time I am not locking again, because the last suitcase as I said had all of the zipper pulls completely broken or missing because they cannot figure out how to open them without damaging them.  Sorry for venting on this, but I have had to file several lost or damaged luggage claims in the past and, fortunately, the only thing I can figure is lost this time is my TSA lock.  I showed many friends over the years the video about a guy whose guitar was destroyed by luggage handlers.  Always got a kick out of that one.  

So, we all made it home safely after a great week of working together in Mexico.  We certainly had enough work to do to make a second week of it, but it wasn't meant to be this time.  Another trip, to clean up that list and do whatever is added, is a very good possibility.  I appreciated working with these men and women.  We all worked hard and it was very rewarding to have the lights all working on Sunday for church services.  I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but all of the women who came to the cooking and baking classes were NOT part of the Jesus Maria Church congregation, but were all of the surrounding community.  That ceremony on Saturday was amazing to see these people there who do not regularly attend this church or possibly any other.  And to understand that a number of them  accepted Christ as their Savior, made it ever more rewarding. Whether we were conducting the cooking and baking classes or working on the electrical infrastructure of the church building so that people can meet together to worship our God, it is all necessary.  And we all were glad to be a part of that.

God bless you for following along.  How about considering coming along with us on a future project?  You will be blessed immensely for it.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact us at I-TEC.  Visit our website and fill out a Volunteer Form.  There is no obligation, but when there is an opportunity to come alongside us on a project, we will notify you about it an if you are interested and available at that time you can join us to "Power Missions Worldwide".

Saturday and Sunday

 Saturday morning there was a Graduation Celebration for the community women who were in the cooking and baking classes this week.  The pictures here are of the celebration as diplomas were handed out and also eyeglasses and hearing aids were handed out.

Amazingly, all of the people seated were not part of the church here and as result of the classes and challenges given, six people came to know the Lord.  This is why we came here to do electrical work to assist the mission here in reaching out with the Gospel message.  We are happy to be a part of this outreach and as we finish our present to-do list we are aware that there will be future trips in this area to assist with further needs.  Eternal friendships have been made.

We took a drive to the city of Puebla and had lunch together at an outdoor cafe.  Then some of us walked downtown to the pyramid here that is reputed to be the largest pyramid in the world, surpassing those in Egypt.  Only a small portion of it has been unearthed and there is a very ornate cathedral on top of it, as well as a radio/tv tower.  I had read about this pyramid on one of my last flights to Africa.

Today, Sunday, we attended church with our Mexican friends and then had a great time of fellowship and food this afternoon.  The food has been wonderful here and no one has been sickened by anything.

Here is one last shot of some downtown wiring in Puebla...

We are busy packing and will be leaving very early in the morning for the airport.  Alarm clocks will be ringing around 2AM...

Last Full Work Day

 Today is Friday.  We completed a lot of the work on the church building for this trip, but there is future work that will be done at some time.  Here are some of the work photos to give you a little perspective.

From the roof of the church you can see the two volcanoes that are nearby.  With the rain we had yesterday the volcanoes became snow-covered.  The one that has the ash emitting from it is about  35 miles away.

The above one is 35 miles away.  It is Popocatepetl and it is 5,426 meters (17,802 feet) high.

The photo below gives a little perspective on how far away these mountains are.  Did you think the mountain just above looks like a sleeping woman?  The mountain's name Iztaccihuatl is indicative of that.  It is 5,230 meters (17,159 feet) high.

Tomorrow there will be a ceremony of graduation for the women who attended the cooking and baking classes.  At that time there will be some reading glasses and hearing aids handed out to some people who have need of them.  We will have to take down the scaffolding in the church and get all tools and equipment cleaned up for Sunday service.  We may go into Mexico City to see some of the sites in the afternoon. 

It has been a good week so far and we have stayed safe and healthy.  I will post some other photos tomorrow that will show some of the other things that have gotten finished.  

Full day of work

 As it always does, we got off to a late start today due to getting familiar with the scope of work ahead of us.  The women started out right away with their first of four cooking classes for the day at 9AM.  There were many women from the community signed up for the classes and it got off to a good start.  Over the course of the day two women expressed faith in Christ.  This makes a trio like this feel very rewarding and we are only on the first day.

The electrical team started out by organizing supplies and figuring out what we still needed.  One of the team went along with the host to buy the supplies.  The rest of us started to run conduit for the new lighting layout, and also installed the new service entrance meter, disconnect and riser.  I will show some photos tomorrow if able to get to it.  The existing main disconnect switch consists of a single pair of #10 wires coming in from the street.  The fuses in the switch were replaced long ago with short pieces of #10 wire.  Before we leave here we will fix a lot of items like this and we will eliminate a lot of open wiring and install it in conduit.  Our list of jobs to do is quite large and we will only get finished what us hymanly possible.

We did all arrive safely and on time.  Our flights yesterday were good with only minor turbulance.  We are staying in three different homes, but generally eat our meals at the church.  IT is amazing to see this facility that was once a bunch of pig pens.  We have met quite a number from the church and are excited to worship with them on Sunday before we head for home early  on Monday.  

Please continue to pray for safety and for good meetings the women are involved in.  This is exciting to see such involvement from our women in ministry while the rest of us are bending conduit and pulling wires.

Mexico Team Getting Ready to Travel

A team of four men and four women are planning on traveling from Central Pennsylvania to Mexico City.  Two of us, along with our wives, are I-TEC regulars and one other man is on his first trip as an I-TEC volunteer, hopefully not his last trip with us.  The other two women and one man have been to this site several times in the past.  We will be doing some electrical work at one of the three church plants in the city.  We will also have a number of outreach projects within the local community, involving handing out some hearing aids and possibly some eyeglasses to some needy people.  Our women will be doing some baking and cooking sessions with the local women, along with some other projects.  We should have opportunity to worship with our Mexican brothers and sisters on our last full day there.  

We leave Tuesday, June 21, from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC, at 11AM.  We will travel to Mexico City via Houston.  We expect to return to Reagan on Monday, June 27. Rod and Mayra Fry are supported Global Outreach Partners with Word Of Life Chapel in Bainbridge, home church for Gary, Matt, and Ken and our wives, actually for all on this team.  The four men expect to upgrade the electrical service on the building as well as install new lights and outlets, and any other projects as time permits.  The Worship Team is presently "under-powered" and they're desperate for enough power to run their equipment.  

We will update this blog as often as time and Internet permit, hopefully with some photos to give a better perspective.  The Blogger of the Day could be most anyone from the team.  Stay tuned and subscribe to the blog to get updates as we travel to this area on this first trip.  We certainly hope you will remember us in your prayers as we go.  For travel mercies and also for health and safety throughout the week, as well as for friendships that will result and last into eternity.