Chicago, not Conakry

It's been an interesting three days.   Our group of 19 left Mercy Ships IOC Wednesday March 5th and had been divided into two groups; half of us leaving via Tyler, TX to Houston, TX to Chicago,IL to Brussels then to Conakry.  The other half were to leave via Dallas,TX to Newark, NJ to Brussels (where we would all meet up again and fly together the last 8+ hours to Conakry.) The snowstorm cancelled Newark's flights so that group was rerouted to Chicago and we were going to fly together to Brussels after all! We should have been in Conakry by now but as we were taxiing toward the runway for take-off, the captain announced they had discovered a mechanical problem during the final check.  As he was speaking a loud alarm sounded.  We turned around and headed back to the gate. After about 45 minutes sitting at the gate, we all got off the plane. We moved to a different gate. As time went on, we realized we would not make it to Brussels in time for our connecting flight to Conakry. The flight from Brussels to Conakry only flies two days a week, by the way, so when we missed that connection we would have to wait until Sunday for the next flight. So. . . we have had a little mini vacation in Chicago. What a cold place for us who sent all our winter clothes home, expecting to be in Africa by now! We rode the subway train, the "L", taking the blue line downtown.  (My very first time on a subway!!) We visited the Art Institute, had a wonderful view of the city from the 96th floor of the Hancock building, walked to the Navy Pier, and walked to Millenium Park. What a fun few days, and our entire group is together.  We head out tonight, our flight leaving at 6pm. Once again, please pray for safe travels.