Today we started our day at 3 am. Luckily we have some great
friends that volunteered to drop us off at the airport early in the morning. We
left our house and traveled down to the airport, checked in, and waited for our
first flight to Atlanta. The whole day seems weird from the start because of
the crazy hour you wake up. Plus we have no Bash…. So the day started off in a
bit of a haze.
We landed in Atlanta and got off and traveled our way to the
terminal for our second flight to Haiti. It was a short walk, train ride, and
short walk to get to the international terminal. I wasn’t sure what kind of
crowd we would run into. What kind of plane we would be loading. But there
actually was a large group of people traveling mostly missionary groups. To be
honest I was surprised at some of the ages of kids that were loading up to go.
Anyway, we freshened up, filled our water bottle up with clean water, and ate a
meal bar (breakfast). It’s kind of funny because the terminal was super new
looking. The bathrooms were AMAZINGLY nice. Everything was so clean and fresh
and I kept thinking…. What a shock to our system we are about to step into.
Shortly after we both freshened up it was time to load the plane. We boarded
and got the sweet deal of sitting where the wings are, which means we had extra
room for our feet! I called Bash knowing that the internet/wifi in Haiti would
be sketchy and I honestly was not sure if/when I was going to be able to talk
to him again. After a short exchange and a reminder of our love we hung up with
him, put the phone on airplane mode, and we took off for Haiti. The plane ride
to Haiti is only 2 hours and 40 minutes. We spent a lot of time reading, trying
to cram some Creole in our brains, and I napped because… napping is amazing…
and we were up at 3am! They came around with snacks and drinks…. I got my diet
coke thinking….. well here is my last sweet soda of goodness for a long time! I
sipped it and enjoyed every last drop. J
The little pleasures in life.
We finally landed in Haiti and quickly felt the over 100
degree heat as we entered the airport. We walked through all the different
stages and customs. Each time we walked to a new area workers were there just
pointing in the direction we should go. We finally got our baggage (YES! It all
arrived with us) and then we waited. We knew we had a rep from Chances for
Children coming for us, we just had no idea what they looked like and we were
not sure where exactly they would be. The whole time there are people asking to
help you carry your bags, lift your bags, take you in a taxi…. Anything they
can think of to help you (for a small price of course). We just kept saying no
and waiting. I got a bit nervous thinking about what our plan B would be. Our phones
do not work here, and we are at the mercy of wifi and Chances for Children for
any help. Finally our rep comes and we walk down to the truck. Two men that I thought
were WITH our rep were actually just there trying to make some cash. They
quickly ripped my baggage from me and lifted it into the truck for me. I had no
idea what was going on until they asked for a tip! J
OK! Now we are in the truck and we start driving. I am not a
great writer and I cannot paint pictures with my words. I don’t think I can
possibly sum up the scene we saw, but I will try. Before I do I want to preface
this with the fact that this is not a dig at Haiti, nor is it a negative thing,
these are just the observations and situations we experienced on our way to the
guest house:
1-
We only saw 2 stop lights the whole time we were
driving
2-
People are literally lining the streets selling
items, walking, or carrying items places. There are tons of people out and they
just walk through the streets without much regard to the fact that there is a
crazy amount of traffic driving without much regard for them!
3-
LOTS of honking. Honking if you are annoyed,
honking to say HEY I’m COMING AROUND THIS CORNER PLEASE DON’T HIT ME!, honking
if someone is in your way, just random hoking to honk…
4-
A street will go from paved to ridiculously nonexistent
in seconds.
5-
I have no idea how we got from point a to point
b because there does not seem to be a rhyme or reason to how they are set up. I
would not be able to find my way back even if you had a million dollars if I
could. It was insane
6-
We saw goats and cows just eating stuff on the
side of the road
7-
There is a lot poverty and things are still not
rebuilt from the earthquake many years ago. I cannot even begin to describe
this.
8-
Our truck broke down about 5 times on our way
here. Which was a bit nerve racking as
well.
9-
The mountains here are gorgeous. We are actually
up in the mountains right now. They are large and take your breath away
1-
Everyone is dressed up nicely! Everywhere I
looked, and all the people I saw were wearing nice clothing. I felt
under dressed in my leggings and t-shirt.
1-
As we moved up the mountains we noticed the
weather got cooler. Right now we are sitting quite comfortably here in Haiti
(never thought I would say that). It has cooled down for the night and there is
a nice breeze that makes it quite pleasurable.
When we arrived to the guest house we were welcomed with a
group that was here to work at Chances for Children and one mother of a boy
from Chances for Children. Today is their last day here… they leave tomorrow
morning. It was nice to be welcomed by someone that could speak English as
American as that sounds…. We came in, put our stuff in our room and collapsed
on the bed. We were just laying there and the others just popped their heads in
and introduced themselves. Some of the nicest people in the world! We quickly warmed
up to them (especially when they offered a beer for The Man and a glass of wine
for me… J).
We settled downstairs talking and soon it was dinner.
No wifi to post until tomorrow, but we are pooped at 9:00pm
here. We have had a very interesting day, and look so forward to meeting our
daughter! The butterflies are in our tummies and our anticipation is as high as
ever. But, we will wait until tomorrow! J
