3 Days in Miami?! (Day # 1)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be stranded in a city in which you knew no one... and you were traveling alone (by human standards)... Well, that's what happened to me. Its quite an amazing story . . .



Here's the beginning of my 3 day adventure in Miami... my "training grounds" for the Big Trip.

I flew into Miami with no problems. I loved watching the landscape beneath us change from the white snow in Chicago (it looked like powdered sugar) to the old-man brownish wrinkles of the Appalachian hills in Kentucky to the green palm trees, plains, and golf courses of Miami! And did I mention the water? Wow. Talk about beautiful. It was like a postcard - bright sunshine, turquoise blue water, little white "toy" boats on the surface, and miles of sandy beaches.

It was also interesting to see the dense up-cropping of civilization/buildings on a seemingly narrow piece of land nearer to the beach. Further west was the stark contrast of "no-man's land", which may have been the Everglades. In my research, I had printed some Google maps of Miami, and it was fun to try to "read the map" from the sky.


We got off the plane, and I was so glad with the warm weather! It was about 70 degrees F. It was hard to believe we had just been in the cold Mid-West. I stopped by a Duty-Free shop (no taxes) and met my 3rd friend of my trip. She worked at the shop and was very helpful with my questions. I ended up buying some little gifts for my up-coming hosts/hostesses... something symbolic; I hope it will be a blessing.

I didn't have much with me, just a roller bag my dad had loaned me (my backpack and other Pullman suitcase with gifts in it were under the plane and on their way to Bolivia), and the things in my hands. I had about 11 hours to spend in Miami; it was noon, and my connecting flight to Bolivia left at 11:15 that evening.


I was excited about this longer lay-over... it gave me a chance to practice renting a car and going to the beach!! :) I went downstairs and got some lunch (really good Californian pizza, w/ pineapples on it!) and then headed to the car rental place. The week before I had reserved online a rental car, and was told on the website I didn't have to pay until I arrived. The cost was going to be $30. When I got to the desk, the lady could not find my reservation, and said it probably hadn't been reserved if I didn't pay any money. "How much would it be to rent a car for a few hours", I asked. "About $80." What?! The website said $30! "This is SuperBowl Week in Miami, prices are higher." Arghhh. Each of the other rental companies offered similar prices. So I went off in search of a bus.


I 1st got to practice my Spanish when I asked an airport worker, "Donde esta el autobus?" (Where is the bus? I'm sure I sounded like a wonderful gringa! But I am thankful for my 2 years of high school Spanish; thank you, Mrs. Burns!; and for my 1 year of college Spanish!) When he pointed over to another part of the airport, across the walk-way; I knew he must have understood me! :)

When I got to the bus station, it was a little more sketchy (translation: my guard was up, and I was aware of the people and situation around me). I looked at a big map of the city and was trying to figure out the best way to get to the beach. No one was at the desk to help me, so I ended up asking a guy who looked somewhat official. He spoke pretty good English, and told me that I needed the J bus, and that it cost $2. (Much better than a car!) Right then, the J bus pulled up and another person, who must have listened to our conversation, spoke up and pointed it out. I grabbed a J bus route schedule/map, and headed out the door with my pullman and bags. I got the correct change out of my money belt. I felt proud of myself for having planned ahead to have small bills on me for things like this! :)


Settling into my seat, I looked around, and everyone seemed to be pretty friendly but minding their own business. I asked a guy if this was the right bus to the beach and he said yes. Soon after, a thought flitted across my mind... where was my travel journal? (It held my future contacts' info in it and my boarding pass.) A sickening feeling came over my whole body. I started looking in my suitcase, in my bag, in my papers, under my seat. It was no where.


I know I had it when I got off the plane, when I was at the Duty-free shop, when I ate lunch... so it could either be at the Rental Car's desk or at the Bus Terminal... I remember putting things down at both places. I got up to tell the bus driver my situation, and he said that we would be back to the airport in 2 hours (1 hours out to the beach, another hour back). I asked him to pray for me, if he was a praying man. He said he would. Thank you, God!


I went back to my seat and thought about my options. I remembered I had my new phone that had Internet access... so I got that out and quietly worked on finding the airport's website to get a phone number. I found the airport's Lost and Found's email; so I wrote them an email explaining about my missing journal and boarding pass.


We got to the end of the line, and the bus driver stopped and got out to use the restroom at a very clean Hispanic restaurant. I asked him how often other J buses came by here - he said all day, about every 30 min. I found out there was a beach just down the street, so I decided to stay, work on calling the airport, and visit the beach like originally planned.


In the restaurant, one of the workers let me use their phone (I was out of daytime minutes on my phone, and it would have cost a fortune with all the holding I had to do). They were so nice!!! After about an hour, I found out that I could get new boarding passes printed off, no problem! Thank you, God! I decided to head to the beach.


The walk was nice - palm trees and pleasant temperatures; when I got closer to the beach, I started to be more watchful. There were a few questionable characters around. I decided to stay clear of them. There was a family walking out onto the beach, so I stayed close to them; it gave a nice sense of security. I set my suitcase down a few yards from them.


The beach was BEAUTIFUL!! Soft, cool sand (I took off my shoes!); gentle breeze, sunshine and blue sky, and a huge expanse of water!

It was really nice to have the family playing near-by. Soon after they left, I noticed two scruffier-looking guys walking in the direction of where I was seated. I started to pray. They were still down by the water's edge, but closer than what I cared for. I felt like my angels got "on guard" - heightened alert. Not a minute later, another family walked down onto the beach, and actually walked around me, like they were protecting me, fencing me in, on their way to the water's edge. Another lady, sat down about 5 feet away from me... the beach was pretty clear, except for them, so it was interesting that they sat and played near me. The two men left after that. Thank you, God!


When the 2nd family left, I thought to get out my ipod... I chose another artist I wasn't too familiar with; but as the words and music began to come, I was again amazed. It was the perfect message for my present situation. "When you go through the world alone, I will be with you." I started to cry. I was feeling alone, on this great, big beach. But God knew that, and He gave me this message through a song on my ipod. I got up and started to praise Him. I didn't care who was watching. He was my best friend.

As I started to jog down the beach - to rejoice and get some energy out! - I felt my phone buzz. It was my older brother, Craig! I was so glad he called ~ it didn't matter that I had to pay more for my minutes! I got to tell him everything that had happened so far, and he was a great encouragement to me. Then he asked if he could pray for me. What a gift from God!



After I got some pictures of the beach and ocean, I decided to head back to the restaurant. It was getting to be evening. I made it back safely, and got some dinner there, to say thank you for letting me use your phone.


The next J bus came about 7:40 pm, and I walked out to it. I noticed a friendly-looking older gentleman also approaching the bus, who joked with the bus driver. He noticed me as well, and offered to help me with my luggage up onto the bus. I let him. We sat next to each other, and I found out he was a business man from Brazil, and he told me lots of interesting things about South America, Miami, and what he hopes to do to help people. I was intrigued. What made this man love people and want to help them? Did he know the God of Love of the Universe? I asked him about this. He said he wasn't into religion, but had some interesting ideas about "Creation" and the "Universe" and us all evolving to some big end... He ended up helping look for my journal and boarding passes me once we got to the airport. No one had turned either in to the Lost and Found; but I was able to at least print off some new ones. We talked for a bit more, he sharing his views, and I sharing mine; I remember saying that a very important key in understanding life is Jesus' death on the cross. When I was about to leave for my flight, he said that it was nice to meet me and that he didn't think meetings were an accident. I agreed with him, and spoke a blessing to him, thanking him for his help and friendship.


As I walked down to my connecting gate, I was wondering what would happen next. I saw a computer screen with departure gates/times and looked for my flight. Next to it, I read, "Cancelled." ??? I kept walking down to my gate, questions churning in my mind. I'm here alone; I don't know anyone in Miami; Its nighttime; It will cost lots of $ for a hotel...


I arrived at the gate and saw a long line of disgruntled passengers. As I waited for my turn to find out what was going on, I noticed two single-looking girls waiting in line in front of me. I asked one of them what was going on. She said that there was a political strike in Bolivia, and that the airlines were being denied refueling, so that they would not be able to get back to Miami. And so our flight was cancelled.

I thought, maybe I can split a room with these girls... so I started to ask. One girl was from Bolivia and another from Japan. Further back in line there was another single girl from Holland. It was good to have others in a similar predicament - we could band together! And I thank God for providing other single girls traveling on the same flight!


After calling home, and then going back downstairs to get a hotel voucher (for a cheaper rate, not free - b/c it was a political problem not a mechanical one), we met up with two more girls who also were in the same situation. Four of us decided to room together; a girl from New York, a girl from the Yukon, the girl from Holland, and me!! We were quite the international mix!


We had a very nice room, which I was thankful for, b/c it was the week before the SuperBowl, and all together it cost us each $20. We had a fun time chatting that night; sharing pictures of our families and friends from home and talking about what we were going to do in Bolivia. I prayed about whether or not I should be worried about my stuff (everything was in that room - passport, money, phone, etc.), but felt like it would be OK... I drifted off to sleep.

What a day!