Well, I am over 40 hours into my trek around the world to get to Belize and I still have a fair sized chunk of time to go.
This last week leading up to the trip has brought a few setbacks, headaches, and changes. We found out the 500 books, provided by another organization, are stuck in customs and will not arrive until after we depart. But, in finding this news out, Susan and I rallied and pushed an online fundraiser, purchased new books, and pulled some books from donations which were all then distributed into the luggage of the volunteer’s going from Meredith Collage. A special thank you to those of you who made last minute donations – you guys are truly amazing! Unfortunately, those 500 won’t get processed into the library while we are there, but we will still have a good 200 – 300 books to get everything started. I also prepared some SOP’s to leave behind in the library to help in cataloging the remaining books when they do finally arrive. In the end I think this will work out quite well. The school is rather large and this way they will be receiving more books in the long run!
I personally have books scattered through out my luggage, carry on, and purse. They thought I was quite amusing at the baggage check. I had to weigh my suitcase and tell them to let me know how many books I needed to move around to be under weight. We made it work with all 15 books I am bringing along plus supplies, camera equipment, and the rest of my personal stuff.
I haven’t even made it to my final destination and I am already itching for OLAAT to plan another library that I can go and help with. This is my favorite way to see the world. By going in and helping the locations we go too, you see a whole new part of the country that you would probably never even know about as a regular tourist. You also get to know and interact with the local communities and learn about their cultures. I am currently living in Germany for a few years and so I get to do a decent bit of traveling and the trips I have done from OLAAT are still some of my all-time favorites!
So as I lay here on the floor in Miami International to go to sleep for the night, instead of complaining about the abnormal length it is taking to reach Belize (and more than one night spent sleeping in an airport terminal), I am just excited to fall asleep so I can wake up and take the last flight of my journey to Santa Elena. I cant wait to see what this adventure holds and how the library unfolds!
This post is also found on www.onlibraryatatime.org please visit the website to see more about what we do and follow along with our Belize and Panama trips! We would also love if you could share and/or donate through the website.
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