WOW! Today was a whirlwind of planes, no trains, and automobiles. I'm looking around at everyone's faces and there is an array of droopy eye lids, slumped shoulders, and lounging bodies. It's funny how the act of sitting seems to wear a person out so quickly. The day started for most of us between 4am and 5am as we traveled to the RDU airport to meet at 5:15. As I walked up to the assembling group, Butch was already assigning bags and getting everything in order. There is always a sense of security and reassurance as you witness Butch easily move through the check in process. He was even shaking the hands of airport workers as if they had seen him a thousand times over.
Our band of brave missionaries gathered one by one with the Pros (Dana, Tom, and Katrin), the how-in-the-world-did-I-get-into-this gals (Anne and Mariam), the youngins (Kathleen and Ty), the West Virginians (Kayla and Jim) and me (I like to consider myself in all above categories, but the last) commiserating on how early it was. We moved through security as effortlessly as one does in RDU and moved towards our gate with a pit stop at Starbucks for one more pick-me-up. Soon we were on our first flight to Miami! There was a playful rivalry between the privileged business class folks and the poor coach passengers as our group was split up between different spots on the plane. While on this flight, many of us saw the most beautiful double rainbow; as if God had painted his blessing on our trip. With a quick up and down we made a speedy transition to our next gate to Port-au-Prince.
When we arrived to Port-au-Prince there was a short exchange with immigrations and then to baggage claim: the thrilling moment where we had to reclaim our 16 bags. With a little effort we were ushered out of the airport and through the Haitian airport parking lot. We met our helper and guide for the day, Carlo, and he had set up a van to drive us to the bus station. We watched as our 16+ bags were hoisted above the van and watched as the tires got smushed into the pavement. As we drove through the Familiar streets of Port-au-Prince all the sites, smells, and sounds came rushing back to me. The chaotic traffic patterns, the street vendors with cloth awnings, the panhandler moving from car window to car window, the smell of delicious cooked meat, the smell of the trash piles, the Haitian salesmen with their merchandise resting on their head, the goats and dogs running through the crowds and streets. In a way, this environment that may seem hostile or strikingly different to some, was filled with wonder for me. It's such an alive atmosphere and there is so much going on that one can only gawk at the sheer metropolis of it. There seems to be a mentality of the daily hustle for these strangers on the street. Whatever their avenue, each individual, even down to the children, had a task and a way of working to assist their own survival.
There was a lot of time for "people watching" because once we were off our van we waited 20 minutes and were ushered into our bus. Folks, we are blessed with unexpected luxury! We were on a charter bus with air conditioning for our 5 hour ride to Les Cayes. This charter bus was the best situation we could have asked for and we zoomed through city, town, coast, village, and country. The most distinctive element of driving on this bus was the 30 second long blast from our bus driver's horn that seemed to yell "I am driving a large multi-ton vehicle and I am going 60+ miles around this turn, if you walk/drive in front of me you are risking your own life". In the latter portion of our trip we enjoyed seeing the real country-side of Haiti with vast mountains beside bays and coast lines.
We finally arrived to Les Cayes at around 8 and were greeted by three lovely individuals! They loaded us onto an open truck bed and drove us to SEED (the compound where we are staying). When we arrived we were tuckered out, but we managed to warf down fish (don't eat the bones), rice, and vegetables. With a Devo by the ever so articulate Dana, we finished the evening off with a huge sigh of relief and a plop on our beds. We are so excited to see what tomorrow brings!
~Abigail
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