To Haiti and Back: Part One

This has all been rolling around in my mind since we returned from Haiti on July 28.  So much to process.  So much to be grateful for.  It's so hard to answer people when they ask how the trip was.  It was so many things.

The week before we left was a little crazy.  For whatever reasons, we were running on little sleep each night, trying to prepare for our trip and doing various other things.  I have never been one to feel anxious about , leaving my kids (in fact, I've usually very much looked forward to the break!), but this time I was filled with worry and concern.  I think the unknown of it all crept out in my emotions about everything.

Many people expressed their happiness that we were able to go and asked if we were excited.  If I was feeling like being truthful, and thought they could handle this answer, I would tell them that we really weren't excited.  We wanted to meet the kids, of course.  But I knew that leaving them there and returning home with still no idea on when they would be coming home.... it would all be harder.  We would not be able to let the kids know that we were their parents (a policy I fully endorse and appreciate), which we knew would be very difficult for us. 

We set out early on a Saturday morning, taking our oldest son with us as a very last minute decision.  Stopping over at my brother's place in Tampa, our oldest stayed there while we went on to Haiti.  Neither of us slept much that night before our flight to Miami and then Port-Au-Prince.  We both were a bundle of nerves thinking of all the logistics of the trip, anticipating high-running emotions, and hoping that we'd wake up early enough to catch the taxi to the airport!

We made the flight to Miami and then spent 7 hours waiting for our PAP flight.  I honestly don't know what we did with that time.  Both of us had books, and thank you cards to write, and I suppose we could have even had conversations with each other.  But somehow those hours are all a blur as we waited to board the plane.  At the gate there were many different teams of people in matching tshirts.  Short term mission trips to Haiti appeared to be popular.  We both have been on similar trips and it was really interesting to now have a quite different perspective on that.

Horror stories about the PAP airport had been told, so we were unsure what to expect.  On the plane, we ended up sitting next to a guy from the States who has been to Haiti over 100 times.  He gave us the inside scoop on how to navigate the airport and it was all rather smooth.  Going through immigration was kind of funny.  The guy taking our passports did not even look at me, nor the pic in my passport.  Stamped it and sent me on my way!  After handing our paper to the customs guy, we were off to brave Haiti :).

We easily made our way out of the gates, and no one even harassed us about our bags-- maybe because we had only backpacks.  Or maybe because my husband is a very tall man and I told him to "own" his height :)  We were to look for someone holding a sign with our last names on it.  That would be our attorney/and/or driver.  After about 10 minutes of circling the little waiting area by the taxis, we figured something was not right.  Luckily, we had phone numbers and had figured out our cell situation while in Haiti!  One problem---we didn't know how to effectively dial the numbers to actually complete a phone call...

I was so proud of us that we did not panic or go into "eyeore" mode, as we like to call it.  Mitch quickly spotted a Haitian man with the same logo on his shirt that our airplane friend had!  Hooray!  We approached him and told him we just met Frank.  It was as though we had known eachother for years after that.  Mitch told him our problem and asked him to dial the number for us, which he did.  It worked!  We got through!  However.... after the call Mitch was totally unsure if it had been communicated clearly that we were actually at the airport and waiting to be picked up.  Our new buddy must have sensed this because he said, "Do you want me to call him back and make sure he understands?"  Yes, please.  And within ten minutes we had met Ivinge, the adoption attorney/adoption tour guide extraordinaire!  A smile for miles and the nicest man you'll ever meet.  His driver, on the other hand.... let's just say he had a very stern demeanor.....