Transportation Issues in the Wake of the Quake

I have three friends coming to visit at the end of the week, or at least that's what the hope is. My good friends Amy and Carrie from my WorldTeach program are scheduled to arrive in Buenos Aires from Quito on Friday morning, along with a new volunteer. Amy and Carrie stayed on for another year in Ecuador, and this will be the first time I'll see them since leaving over 6 months ago.

However, their flight plans, which were scheduled to pass through Santiago, have now been changed because of the earthquake. Oddly enough, flights are up and running again yet only the flight from Quito to Santiago was canceled. The flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires is still on, as well as the flights on the way back. But LAN Airlines is working with them for options.

Instead of all arriving on Friday morning, it looks like they'll be getting in staggered now, as they can't all make the same flights. One options was to spend 26 hours waiting around in airports, and another was to lose 2 days out of a 7 day trip. So either way, it doesn't look good. It seems like Amy will be arriving first, a day earlier than planned. Then Matt would show up on Saturday, and Carrie on Sunday.

You have to make due with what you can, especially under the circumstances when you realize what caused the problems and what really matters...

Ahh, as writing this post I talked to Amy on Skype and we came to the realization that this trip might not work out. That flight she wanted to get on to come in early already filled up, and now her options are limited. She's thinking of postponing until May, which would give her more time in the end, but delay the visit. As for Carrie and Matt, I'm still not sure what they're doing. So I need to wait to find out if they're actually coming this week or not.