Mary and went to the cafeteria at 6 am for a cup of tea then returned to the lounge area to do our morning language lessons and finalize packing. To save money, we decided that we would check Mary’s bag but I would carry my bag onto the flight. Breakfast was two egg gringas with sausage and cheese in wheat tortillas. The usual black beans were on the side.
We boarded the bus at 9 am and Edgar put our bags on top of the bus. We teased him that we looked like one of Guatemala’s chicken buses. Of course, traffic was bad on the drive to the La Aurora International Airport taking an hour to go the short distance. We all thanked Edgar for his assistance during our stay and he wished us well in our travels.
At La Aurora International Airport we found all of the staff to be very friendly and helpful. Delta employees from Guatemala thanked us all for coming and volunteering in the country. We went through check-in and immigration lines very quickly. At security we had to take our shoes off and put everything from our pockets on the scanner. I got through with no issues, but Mary’s knitting was confiscated including her wooden knitting needles, crochet hook and even her yarn. It seemed like security overkill, but we were guests in a foreign country and unfamiliar with their laws or language. Because we had to pay $35 per checked bag when we boarded the flight in Lexington, I chose to carry my small but heavy duffle bag on. However, we learned that Delta Skymiles members get their checked bags free in Guatemala.
We walked around the small airport and went in a few of the shops. We had a little more Guatemalan currency than we expected since the fees at the volcano were less, and we got a partial refund. We picked up a few things for the boys at the shops and left us will a small amount of currency for the grandkids.
Our flight departed on time a little after 1 pm and appeared to be mostly full. We gathered that many of the passengers were mission groups like us. We hadn’t had lunch at the Guatemala airport so we opened the Southern Grove trail mix from Aldi that we packed. It made a good snack for the trip. Mary and I mostly read on the three-hour flight but most of the group watched an inflight movie.
Arrival in Atlanta was chaotic. There had been a moderate rain causing aircraft to be lined up for a spot at gates. Our flight sat on the tarmac for over 45 minutes before getting to a gate. As usual, deplaning was a protracted event. We were not concerned about time since we had a lengthy layover in Atlanta. We walked to the immigration area and got in the line for Global Entry. While we normally breeze through immigration and customs with the TSA Trusted Traveler program, our line took more time than the passengers who were not prescreened. We believe that Atlanta does “expedited” immigration of Global Entry and airline crew together. It took quite a while for everyone’s bags to come through the conveyor at the baggage carousel. After getting our bags we turned to the line for customs. The line snaked forever through the baggage area. After we got in the lengthy wait, the line suddenly started moving quickly. We knew that the staff at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport was not processing passengers quickly but saw they had set up a zigzagging line in another larger room. After navigating that ordeal, we rechecked our bag then had to go through security again. Once the bag was checked and we had cleared security, we quickly walked through the large airport to our posted departure gate on B-23. Once arrived at the gates, we had a notice that the gate had been changed to D-26. We had to backtrack to concourse D and get to our gate with little time to spare.
It seemed to us that the Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta is inefficient, ineffective and disorganized. The La Aurora International Airport in what many would consider a third world county was infinitely better managed than Hartsfield-Jackson. In Guatemala, airport staff was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We found the opposite to be true in Atlanta.
Our uneventful flight from Atlanta to Lexington was only about 45 minutes. I read a couple of chapters in Craig Johnson’s “Hell and Back” during the flight. Once in Lexington, our bags were available soon after landing. Kent, Becky and Brian were riding from the airport with us, We dropped Brian off at the home of one of his relatives on Harrodsburg Road then we took the Snodgrass’s to their home in Georgetown’s Stonehedge neighborhood.
Once at home, we brought our bags in then headed straight to be since we were both very tired. We were in bed asleep a little after 1 am.
Thursday – July 25
We woke before 6 am and readied ourselves to drive to Huntington for a few errands. Mary has a checkup with her rheumatologist, Dr. Webb at 3 pm and we wanted to visit with Gran and take her to do her banking at Huntington Federal. We stopped at the garden on the way to pick a few tomatoes, peppers and squash for her. As we were driving to Huntington our chat notifications informed us that many in our group were testing positive for COVID. Since Mary hadn’t been feeling well, we suspected that she may be infected. After a dinner of refried black bean wraps and a shower, we took COVID tests and found Mary to be positive, but I tested negative. We notified family that we would avoid them for a few days then watched some television and went to bed.
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