Protection, Provision & Wisdom~August 10, 2011

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! The day has finally arrived, we will be in Cienfuegos, Cuba tonight. We can hardly stand the excitement. We are a bit concerned because our luggage exceeds the maximum allowed, but God is in control. I've asked for protection, provision and wisdom and I believe God will grant us all three. We will be arriving in Cuba at night and the highways are not safe due to livestock on the roads. so we had made reservations for the night at a hostal not too far from the airport. We will be staying at "Bella Perla Marina" and the owner, Waldo will be at the airport to pick us up when we arrive. Everything is in order...so we think.

We arrive at Miami International Airport at 3:30PM and as usual it is controlled chaos. People are loaded to the gills with gifts for their family and friends, most everyone is past the maximum allowed, that means $2.00 per pound. Ugh, Leidy and I are hoping we don't have to pay too much. We stand in line for what seems to be an eternity. We finally make it to the attendant, they weigh our duffel bags and tell us we have to remove 6 lbs out of each bag. Leidy and I look at eachother like "where are we going to put the stuff?" The attendant suggests we put it with the food, but Cuba has strict regulations about mixing the contents of the bags. We try to shove the stuff into the small duffel bags carrying the food, but not everything fits. Frustration is beginning to build up in me and I'm feeling desperate. Someone suggests we get a bag from one of the shops at the airport and fill it with the candy we are carrying. Leidy runs and gets a bag which we promptly fill to the top, still, my snickers do not fit, so I do what every classy traveler does, I tie them to my backpack. It is what it is! We end up paying $190.00 for the excess baggage and we are thrilled (we thought it would be much more). We pass security, full body scan (my first), Leidy has our money in a pack around her waist, she asks the homeland security agent if she can keep it on, they said no and instruct her to remove it and hold on to it, but when she gets to the body scanner the agent there tells her she cannot hold on to her pack, she must put it through the carry-on scanner. More frustration. I feel every muscle in my body tensing up. I can't wait to be done with all this.

Once we cleared security we atarted towards the gate. But I needed to eat something so we stopped at a Cuban Cafeteria and ordered a sandwich, croquettes and pastries. I was able to eat half my sandwich and decided to save the rest. A lady saw me putting the sandwich in the food bag and promptly told me that it would be confiscated in Cuba. I decided to chance it.

The flight from Miami to Cuba is only 45 minutes long, but it is a very emotional flight. The passengers were mostly Cubans returning home. The excitement was palpable. Before we knew it we were on approach to Cienfuegos and the next nightmare. We arrive in the midst of a huge thunderstorm. The sky lit up like the 4th of July, except these fireworks were even more spectacular. It was raining buckets and the plane had stairs instead of a ramp. Thank God we were prepared, our umbrellas were on the outside pocket of our backpacks, very accesible and handy. We hurried towards the building where we encountered total chaos. We had been standing in line and were almost to the immigration officer when a man cut in front of us. He claimed to be a professional greeter helping people get through the process quickly, for a price of course and the quickest way is to cut. When I complained, he became belligerent and loud, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves we moved back. To make matters worse, the airconditioning unit had been struck by lightining and was not working. The building felt like a sauna. It is what it is became our motto, so we decided to pose for pictures. I believe this was divinely orchestrated because when I remember that I had to have the food bags checked the checkers were closing up to leave (it was carnival in Cienfuegos), they hardly looked in the bags and gave me the ok to proceed. We must have waited more than 2 hours to get checked out and our bags weighed. I only had to pay $49.00 and Leidy $102.00. Again, we were happy with the outcome. PRAISE THE LORD!

Waldo was supposed to be waiting for us with a sign displaying my name, but there was no Waldo and no sign. Thankfully I had his telephone number, but alas, the public telephones in Cuba do not take change. You must have a calling card to use it. Again the Lord intervened. One of the airport workers offered to dial the number for me using his card. Waldo answered. I was surprised. He said he didn't know why flight we were in so he decided to wait for our call. Really? I later found out ours was the only flight from Miami that day. He told me his nephew would be picking us up shortly. I needed change so I went to the only shop on the premises. I told Leidy that the shop had Malta, her favorite Cuban drink made out of molasses. She ran to get some. She took a long time to return and when she did she shared with me that the cashier could barely see and she took forever to ring up the stuff, Leidy loaned her her reading glasses so she could ring her up. I asked Leidy if she had given them to her and she said no, so she went back to give the lady her reading glasses. Leidy was emotional telling how excited the lady was to receive such a gift.

It had been over thirty minutes and our ride was still not there, we were one of the last passengers still there and there were unsavory characters around trying to offer us rides. We felt a little vulnerable so I found the man who had dialed the number for me and asked him if he could call again. He did and we were told our ride was on its way.

Miami, Florida~ August 8, 2011

Miami may be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but it's not for me. It's rainy and muggy and yuk. I am glad that we will get to spend a couple of days with the family whom I haven't seen in years. Madrina and Padrino picked us up at the airport, they brought Marianita and Marcelito with them. It was so nice to see them. Padrino drove us to their house. Leidy and I didn't think we were going to get there alive. But God is merciful.

We had a nice evening with the family and turned in fairly early. We were tired and jet lagged.

The Blessings Keep On Coming! ~ August 2011

The Lord is good and His mercies endure forever! Anyone who has gone to Cuba knows how difficult everything is. There is no rhyme or reason to how and why the people in charge of these trips do the things they do. Leidy and I were planning on leaving from Tijuana, but we were informed by the travel agency, that the trips from Tijuana were going to be discontinued. Well, the options then become very limited. We had to go through Miami. Oh well, it is what it is. My sister was kind enough to give me some of her air miles on American Airlines, thereby saving me a good chunk of change. Thank you Lord and thank you Leidy! We booked our trip for Sunday, August 7th at 8:00AM. Leidy and I were very concerned because we were over the weight limitation, so we had to break it up into 3 pieces of luggage each. That's $75.00 per person on AA. Oh well, it is what it is. On Tuesday, August 2, Leidy received a call from the airlines. They had overbooked our flight and were wondering if we were willing to depart an hour earlier and they would upgrade us to 1st Class. Are you kidding me??? Of course we'll leave an hour earlier! The night before we left, Dante was reading up on the rules and regulations for 1st class and found out that we would not be charged for the luggage. 1st class passengers do not pay. Thank you Lord! I was also able to make reservations for Leidy, my sister Emi and me to spend a couple of days in Cayo Coco. It was unbelievably reasonable.

August 7, 2011
The day finally arrived. We were so excited we could hardly stand it. We checked in and proceeded to the gate. We still cannot believe we are flying 1st class. The flight to Miami was fabulous. Those seats are twice as big as the ones on Coach, and so comfortable. We had blankets, pillows, free headsets, gourmet food and amazing attendants. Wow! Our flight attendants were Diana, Tony and John, the nicest, warmest people ever. We encountered bad weather upon entering the Miami area and Diana (a Christian woman)comes over and says to Leidy and I... "the weather is really bad in Miami, if for any reason we have to land in Tampa you two are coming over for dinner at my house". What? I know, the Lord was making our paths straight. We know our trip is going to be fabulous. PRAISE THE LORD from whom all blessings flow!

Thy Will Be Done! ~ July 2011

Sometimes the Lord tests us beyond what we think are our limits, but if we believe and stand firm on the rock of our salvation, He gives us the conviction and the strength to pass the test. Do not be fooled my friend, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we will fail. Such was the case for me. You see, I had no vacation time whatsoever. If we were to go to Cuba, I would have to take a leave of absence, which I was willing to do, however, it was up to my boss to decide whether or not I could have the three weeks I needed. My boss is a wonderful Christian man and I believed with all my heart, mind and soul that he would approve my leave. I was shock to find out a few days before the trip that he was not sold on the idea of me leaving for 21 days. Yikes! But... His word says Trust in the lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and HE WILL make your path straight. I was filled with the conviction of the Holy Spirit and was willing to resign my position if necessary in order to accomplish the mission the Lord had given me. Our God is faithful and true. Only a few days before the trip, with our tickets already purchased my boss told me that if I had coverage for my desk I could have the time off. He told me this on a Thursday at 4:10 in the afternoon and by 5 o' clock I had the desk covered. Thanks to Monica and Angel. PRAISE THE LORD! God had made my path straight. Two weeks before departure I was sharing with my co-workers my concerns about finances. They suggested I do a Fundraising Breakfast and sell tickets for $10.00, they even offered to sell tickets for me. The breakfast was a resounding success. We sold 30 tickets, which if you do the math comes out to $300.00, but God was in control. We raised $1,400.00, twice the amount I needed. We were able to bless many people in Cuba with the extra money. Eileen, Frances and Gracie were instrumental in making this event a success. I could not have done it without them. Thank you girls! I also want to thank those of you who donated funds Greg Cashner, Jerry Larsen, Naka Piohia, Janis & Ron Rawding, The Scotts, Pastor Garry, Alan Gomez and all of you who purchased tickets for the breakfast. May God richly bless you. We're Cuba bound!