Today we assembled at the engineering building before we loaded the bus to drive to the Detroit Airport. We left around 11:30am, and while on the bus, Janelle and Sarah gave the day’s devotional and the briefing about the Schiphol Airport, dikes, and windmills. Once we got to the airport, we checked in and went to our gate. Some people walked around the airport and explored while we waited to board.
Unfortunately, we waited…and waited some more…
After a 2-hour “maintenance” delay, we finally boarded the plane at 7:30pm. We all settled down in our seats, turned on our movies, and waited for dinner.
Unfortunately, we waited…and waited some more…
The flight crew alerted us that there was a dent in the wing, and there was nothing they could do besides wait for communication and approval from the engineers.
So we waited…and waited some more…
After a negative update just about every 20 minutes, they finally told us that our flight was cancelled. It was 9:00pm at this point, and we were so close to finishing our movies! But alas, we all had to get off the plane.
Then we waited in a customer service line to see if we were going to be able to sleep anywhere other than the airport floor that night.
And we waited…and waited some more…
Professor De Rooy and Professor Brouwer were on top of figuring out what to do next, so we ended up booking hotel rooms that were compliments of Delta and finding a flight to Amsterdam the next day. We were all excited to hear this positive news after a long day.
We went to the baggage carousel to retrieve our checked luggage. We were hopeful that this process would go faster than what we had previously experienced.
Unfortunately, we waited…and waited some more…
We waited for over an hour for our luggage. There we stood, watching bags go round and round until some even got crushed under the weight of the luggage of those who were smart enough to leave for their hotels long before we did. With our bags finally in hand, we left to board the hotel shuttles.
Unfortunately, we waited…and waited some more…
We were cold and tired at this point, especially since we were now standing right inside of the doors to the outdoor pickup area. The shuttle bus came like a shining golden chariot, and we all packed in as fast as we could. This time, going from point A to point B was fast, and we found our hotel accommodations to be very nice. It even had a restaraunt! Now we could eat dinner…at 1:15am. There’s a first time for everything.
Through this whole experience, we learned patience and the value of being flexible. We also had some quality group bonding time since we were with each other for over 15 hours today. All in all, it was a good test run for tomorrow!
