Hello from Haiti! The following two "journal entries" are from the last two days. I hope to be able to update this daily (more like real time), now that I have arrived.
June 19, 2011
After a hectic morning, I made it to the Calgary airport almost two hours before my scheduled flight time. As I was standing in line to check in, filling out a customs card, I came to the question about flight number. It was then that I realized I had left all my important paperwork on my couch!
I woke up long before the alarm this morning. There was still so much to do! I rolled out of bed at 7:20 AM, wishing I could sleep for another 2 or 3 hours. I felt anything but well-rested. In fact, I felt as though I had downed a shot or two of espresso! Must have been adrenaline, because it certainly wasn’t caffeine.
One of the things I did this morning was sort through my “Haiti file” - a manila folder that has been a permanent fixture on my coffee table since sometime in November. I pulled out the documents I needed to take with me (flight itinerary, hotel reservation/confirmation number, info pack about the orphanage and sample customs cards to fill out on the flight from Miami to PAP). In my scatter-brained-stressed-out state, instead of putting the papers in my backpack right then, I thought of something else I needed to do and left the documents sitting on my couch.
So here I was at the Calgary airport, launching into a panicked speech about how I didn’t have the required information. My girlfriends Crystal and Michelle, who had come to the airport to see me off, calmed me down and mapped out a plan. Crystal would stay with me. Michelle would go to my apartment and get the paperwork. I gave her my keys and off she went. I proceeded to check in at the American Airlines kiosk. Check-in went smoothly. I reminded the customer service rep to please only check my bags to Miami International, NOT Port-au-Prince. I have almost a 12-hour layover in Miami and will need my luggage. Then I asked what would be the latest time I could go through customs. The lady said 1:15 (one hour before my departure time). I looked at the time on my cell phone – 12:58. Michelle had just called to say that she was pulling up in front of my place. We all knew it was impossible for her to make it back to the airport in 17 minutes. So Crystal and I did the only thing we knew to do in that moment. We prayed. Literally as we were saying “Amen”, Michelle called again to say that she had the documents in hand. She wondered if she should just email or text me the info I needed instead of trying to get back to the airport. Then I realized that she had my key chain, which held the keys to my luggage locks! Short of getting an official at the Miami airport to cut the locks off my suitcases, I knew there was only one way to open those bags – I had to get the keys from Michelle! I asked her to hold, and I went to the counter and inquired of the airline rep again. This time, she informed me that the aircraft was delayed coming in, so the time to go through had been extended from 1:15 to 1:40! Please, don’t anyone ever tell me that prayer doesn’t work! I won’t believe you.
Michelle showed up with 9 minutes to spare. We took pictures and the girls prayed for me, and off I went through the gates. I made it through customs with no hitches. After putting all my belongings in several bins and watching them go through the x-ray machine, I was asked to step into a booth for a full-body scan. A little unnerving, but whatever. Then the security officer informed me that, technically, my carry-on was over the size limit, but that he would let it go through anyway. Another small miracle. When I reached the gate, my flight was already boarding. I took a chance on stopping at the ladies room and buying an overpriced bottle of water at Starbucks. Then I literally walked right up and boarded the plane. As I write this, we are experiencing some crazy turbulence somewhere over Montana, to the point that I’m actually hoping my lunch stays down. Oh well, if turbulence is the worst thing I encounter on this trip, I’ll be thankful indeed.
Just one more thing – Happy Father’s Day to my amazing dad! Thanks for always being there. I love you!
June 20th
I have arrived in Haiti! It’s been a very long day, and I’m deliriously tired, so some of this might not make sense, and I might have to fill in some of the details later. Let’s see how short I can make this story. Last night (Sunday), I missed my connecting flight from Dallas to Miami, so I had to cancel my hotel reservation in Miami, wait for a hotel shuttle, and check in to a Holiday Inn Express. By that time it was 11 PM. I slept less than four hours, got up at 3:30, and took a cab back to DFW (the shuttles don’t run at that hour) and caught a 5:45 flight to Miami. My luggage had been checked through to Miami, so (after spending the night without it) I went directly to Baggage Claims for what I hoped would be a quick retrieval. I did, after all, have another plane to catch! I was informed that my bags never made it onto my flight in Calgary! That’s what I get for sprinting through customs, security and to the gate. I made it onto the plane, but my bags evidently did not. So now it’s the second day of wearing the same clothes and I’m being told I have to put in a baggage claim when I get to Port-au-Prince. I was really starting to get discouraged by this time. So I went back through security with my carry on. In the line, I met a nice Christian lady. She commented on my hair colour, I learned she was headed to Turks and Caicos. I mentioned that I was going to Haiti on a mission trip, and we launched into a chat about missions.
Once inside the secured area, I went directly to the gate, where I noticed a team of people wearing t-shirts that read: Haitian Baptist Earthquake Relief (or something like that). I walked right up and introduced myself. And wouldn’t you know it – they were from North Carolina (my home church, Southwinds, hosts mission teams and a resident missionary couple from NC!). So they took me under their wing from introduction to orphanage shuttle. There was a Haitian doctor travelling with them, who (of course) speaks Creole! He took me to fill out a baggage claim in the Port-au-Prince airport, and walked me through customs and to right to the Haitian gentleman with the GLA logo and my name on a sign. The miracles just keep coming.
The drive to GLA was about an hour from the airport. I have never in my life seen such deplorable road conditions! I was told later that the trucks they drive here are made specifically for third world countries. I don’t know what the tires are made of, but I was utterly amazed that they survived the trip. Potholes are about the size of moon craters. And there are no rules of the road here. We came to an intersection with about 15 cars in the middle of it. I asked Wadson, my driver, how you decide who turns next at an intersection. He chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as he hit the gas and turned left, clearing several oncoming vehicles by mere millimetres (no joke!).
By the time we reached GLA, it was raining. At the Main House, I met Dixie, the orphanage director. She introduced me to the rest of the office staff. Everyone was very welcoming. Holli gave me a tour of the building and took me up to the balcony to meet the other volunteers. Except for one family who are volunteering together, all the others came by themselves (like me). They are from all over the States, except for Becky, who is from Ontario. It’s nice to not be the only Canadian. Also, Melissa, who is the staff adoption coordinator, is from Manitoba.
On the tour of the nursery, I met all the babies, including my sponsor child, Miss B. (Side note: For reasons for confidentiality, I am not allowed to identify any of the children by name in blog posts or pictures. So I will simply refer to them as Miss or Mr. and their first initial). A four-year-old boy reached for me and would not let go until I lifted him to sit on my hip. He clung to my neck and demanded that we go to the balcony to play. So off we went! I spent an hour or so up there, playing with him and the other kids. Then it was time for supper. The volunteers all eat buffet style in the dining room. Immediately after supper, Molly drove us over to Toddler House, where the volunteers are housed. Wadson will return to the airport tomorrow to claim my bags. In the meantime, the girls came to my rescue by loaning me some pyjamas and clothes for tomorrow. I have never been so thankful for a cold shower and a bed to sleep in. It’s 7:38 PM and I’m ready to call it a day. Stay tuned...
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Here are some pictures of Haiti. I will take some of the children and post them soon.
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