April 11, 2014 - Friday - our last day
BOTTOM LINE:
Punta del este, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Lima, Los Angeles.
NOTEWORTHY:
20 hours of traveling, great service on LAN airlines, Very happy to be land in L.A. and so grateful for the opportunity to spend time getting immersed in new cultures and adventurous journeys.
BACKSTORY:
Headed back to the USA. The day was long starting with our drive back to Montevideo to return our rental car. Then we caught a short flight to Buenos Aires where we stayed for three hours. Our next flight to Santiago was about two hours. In Santiago we had another lengthy layover before leaving for Lima. Much to our surprise that flight took three hours. Our layover in Lima was one hour where we had to stay on the aircraft while they cleaned and loaded new passengers. Our flight onto Los Angeles took about nine hours, arriving at 8am on Saturday.
We are so very grateful to God for this two month adventure. We experienced incredible diversity in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay...visiting small, lazy coastal communities in Chile, seeing breath taking views of volcanoes, crossing the Andes Mountains six times, seeing towns influenced by Bavaria, Spain and Italy, witnessing the grandeur of glacial flows, mountain spires, thundering water falls, expansive wetlands, and ocean beaches. Seeing animals, insects and birds in their natural habitat being threatened by mans destructive deforestation and poaching strengthened our resolve to help in some way.
The people of South America that we met were gentle, polite, welcoming and as curious of us as we were of them. Anyone that spoke of the US did so with respect for our countries efforts in worldwide peace and freedom.
We grew to understand that we are truly all connected through God. We could have easily been born into the slums of Santiago or to an indigenous family in Uruguay, but instead we were gifted a free life in the US with opportunities and choices.
Our memories of those less fortunate living with joy in the midst of poverty have made an impact on our hearts...we could have been them. With that knowledge we have an even deeper compassion for all of Gods creation. We don't know what we don't know...but when we learn about lives in need beyond our comfortable homes, we have been given knowledge for a purpose. We are not certain where our knowledge will take us or what we are to do with it. We are certain however that the knowledge will be life changing and will undoubtedly have a ripple affect in our community.
We traveled in countries where few spoke English. At times it was isolating, but also a gift of quiet observation and deep reflection. We are excited to get home, reconnect and see how God will use our experiences/knowledge for his ultimate purpose...for his glory. We have been blessed beyond measure and are humbled to our core.
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