Trip Begins, But Doesn't... - Wednesday (4/1/09)

The first day in the Philippines was not exactly as expected. We arrived at the airport only to find out that the Philippine Airline (PAL) office in the US told us to go to the wrong terminal. By the time we found out where to go, we were running late and had to catch a transfer bus two levels down. That may sound simple enough, but it turned out to be the start of a comedy. Steve Wallace went down alone on the elevator first because he could not get his luggage carrier moved over before the door closed. As it was about to close, I shouted, "First floor." We waited for him to leave and punched the down button. Noting the elevator showed that it went down to the first level, stopped a few moments and then started up again, we thought we might meet still the tight schedule. However, to our great surprise, what do we see upon the doors opening but Steve still on the elevator. With his carrier blocking any other entrance, I again told him to get off at level one. So, down he goes again. We see the elevator again indicate it stopped on level one and then started to head back up. Looking at our watches, we thought we still could make it. Yet, imagine our puzzled look when the doors again open and there is Steve! He said, "I hit depart!" I told him that was for those departing on the airplane, not departing the airport and assured him I would kill him if he was still on the elevator at its next arrival. When the elevator doors opened again, Ron and I both stuffed our carriers on and squeezed onto the elevator. Despite the alarm sounding for it being over weight, we got down to the first level.

By this time, we were within 30 minutes of departure time, so we ran to the shuttle bus. As we rode to the correct terminal, we found that it was one we had never used, but was much closer to our hotel and that we had passed it on the way. Upon arrival, we got two baggage handlers and told them we were in a real hurry. They took us running through a special entrance and we hurried to the counter. Upon arrival at the counter, I asked if the check-in was still open and was told "yes" because the plane was delayed for two hours. All of that hurrying for nothing!

Excess baggage fees in the Philippines have risen dramatically and we got a real shock with today's bill. It was 12,300 pesos (about $450) for the 3 of us! Having no choice, we paid it and went to the gate. After waiting serval hours, we were informed the flight was canceled due to bad weather at Tuguegarao. So, we had to try for reservations for the next day. Par for the course, PAL had no seats available to guarantee for the next 2 days. We finally got tickets for tomorrow on Cebu Pacific which we paid for (round trip) with the refunded excess baggage fee from PAL.

With nothing to do for the day, we went back to the hotel we had just left and checked back in. We have used the day for preparing our material for the classes and getting some rest. I was able to go to the fitness center and do my 45 minutes on the stationary bike. We are about to go eat supper and turn in early.

The Lord willing, we will make the flight tomorrow and get to Tuguegarao about 2PM and start teaching. Will write more from there. Please keep us in your prayers -- especially Steve :-).