9:07 am Ausi Time

"Welcome to Qantas Airlines!" Gate 120. Outbound flight to Sydney, Australia. That's where I head, still a little unsure of where I'm going in LA's massive airport. I searched for an ISV staff member in the green shirt. Nothing. Snap, looks like I'm on my own.

But wait! I see one! An introduction, a few questions answered, and a hand at where other ISVers were located, waiting to depart. Then I get a tap on my shoulder.
"Hey, are you Becky?"
"Ummm...yes..."
"It's Erica!"
After receiving our project info a few weeks back and a list of everyone in our group, I put the great Facebook to work and found some of my group members. Erica was one. We hadn't talked much, but it was nice to have a partner starting Mission 2 of the trip. Over to gate 120 we went. The waiting area resembled that of one for a Spring Break trip: college students engulfing the entire area with laughs and enthusiasm. Clearly, it was fun.

Everyone was there for the same reason: to give some time at the beginning of their summer to volunteer overseas. Looking for a seat, I see another familiar face...Zane! Zane was another one of the people I chatted with via the book of faces. Introductions were simple as a whole group of us departing to different areas in New Zealand shared who we were and where we were from.

Finally, it was boarding time. 10:30 pm New York time and Erica and I just happened to have seats right next to each other. Convenient. We boarded the enormous, two-story Qantas beast and 13 hours, 3 movies, a little nap, and two plane meals later, we landed safely in Australia. We had a little over an hour to kill in Sydney's airport but we headed to our gate anyway to see who we were continuing to travel with.

Gate 33, 6:30 am Ausi Time on Saturday was where the gang first met. It was right then that I realized how great these next four weeks were going to be with my volunteer group. Our hometowns ranged from all over North America: Canada, Michigan, Iowa, Texas, Nebraska, and New York. All of us were from different backgrounds, with different interests, but the same purpose for sitting there. We hung at the gate for a mere hour, but it didn't take long for the comfort level to reach a high. We were cracking jokes, laughing, sharing what little info we knew about NZ, and getting impatient for the next flight. I mean, come on, we have just all been flying for hours over the past few days, lost our Friday, and just wanted to be in NZ!

8:05 am. Boarding time. We all got on and somehow all got seats right next to each other in the back of the plane. It kind of reminded me of bus trips in high school when all the "cool" kids congregated in the back of the bus. Ha, clearly we were the cool kids. It's funny, I never saw us getting comfortable with each other so quickly, but we did.

Now, we are on our flight to Christchurch, NZ for 2.5 hours, but it doesn't end there. We get to then take a 5 hour, actual bus ride to our volunteer site, Punakaiki, or "the P-place," as we all call it, [since none of us can pronounce it].