Haiti-Day 1

Monday, March 11, 2013

For the first time I can remember, I had no problems whatsoever waking up before 5:00 am...without even the need for an alarm clock. For me, this can only mean one thing....Haiti. We were all up early. None of us slept great last night. Just very anxious and excited. I am so thankful to be on this trip with my family. I love that my family share in a love for Haiti, missions, and people. If only Josh were here...missing him badly! 

We flew out of Dallas and arrived in Ft Lauderdale around noon...just in time to eat a piece of pizza and board our next flight to Port au Prince. At 3:00 pm (2:00 pm your time), we finally arrived in the very sunny, very hot Haiti...shedding jackets quickly. It was just as I last remembered. Lots of noise. Lots of people. Lots of yelling. Lots of Creole. And lots of horns honking. I love it. My energy level was on an immediate high. Our friend Ronald met us at the airport to show us to our car. We loaded up and were on the road to Leogane. 

Let me just tell you about my brother in law, Drew. The boy has Haitian running through his blood, I just know it. Traffic, roads, and driving are a little different here in Haiti. You just go and do as you please. You don't use brakes, you use horns instead. If the left side of the road is open, by all means...drive down it. Just watch out for pedestrians darting out in the road and people hanging out of the back of Tap Taps. Drew was our fearless driver. I love that he drives like a Haitian man, knows where he's going, and didn't hit one pedestrian with our side mirrors. :)

On our way to Leogane, which is about 20 miles and takes a couple of hours to drive (see previous paragraph), we made a quick stop by the market. There, we grabbed some bread, peanut butter and jelly, Pringles, and a few other things to eat on while we're here. I love going to the market. The store is full of food with labels I couldn't begin to read or understand, yet know exactly what it is. I did grab a Dr Pepper. I definitely understood that label. :)

Before finally going to see our kids, we dropped our luggage off at the compound, which is where we sleep, eat, and shower. The people here are so sweet, hospitable, and take very good care of us. Thankful for them! After dropping our stuff off and visiting with our friends here, we headed to the orphanage. It's about a mile down a bumpy, dirty road from where we stay at the compound. I'll be honest, when we pulled up to the gate, I had butterflies. After almost two years, I was about to see my nephew and all the kids I had missed so badly for so long.

As we drove in, all of the kids were lined up against the concrete wall...smiling from ear to ear. I immediately walked over and began hugging them and saying, "Bon swa! Bon swa!" meaning "Good afternoon." I can't even explain the emotion that I felt. I just began crying and cupping their little faces in my hands. I saw some new faces, and recognized the other ones. Same sweet faces, just on taller bodies.  I looked over and finally saw Teacon.  I literally ran and skipped towards him. He was being held by his momma. I kissed all over his face and just cried and giggled with giddy excitement. Then I saw Egloose.  Egloose was a little 5 year old boy who absolutely stole my heart the last time I was here. Leaving him devastated me, and I never really got over it.  I hugged him so big...still crying...and all I could say was, "I love you, I love you, I love you!" He just smiled so big and grabbed my hand. He was by my side the rest of the night. We joined the kids on the wall. I had about 4 kids on my lap and 3 or so on each side of me. I also had a few sets of hands playing with and braiding my hair, about 5 hands in mine at the same time, and I was happier than could be. 

After spending a couple of hours with them tonight, our friend Roody met us at the orphanage to take us out to eat. Roody is a God send of a friend to us. He loves his country, and he desires so much for the people here to know Jesus. We loaded up, with our main man Teacon, and went to a nice restaurant. We had fried chicken, plantain, and rice, and it was quite delicious. Emily put some food on a plate for Teacon, and he ate it up. He loved everything except for the carrots and green peas, which he picked out and put on Emily's plate. He is already so much fun. It's a good thing he doesn't seem to mind us staring at him...because we just watch him all the time. He's the sweetest most precious, most perfect, most beautiful boy. I love him so much. 

We took Teacon back to the orphanage and then went to the compound to shower and crash. However, the showers and toilets are out of service, so we're just going to crash. "Roughin  it Haiti" is what we like to call it. I am so happy to be here. My heart is overflowing with joy, and I am going to soak in every moment with them these next few days. But first...sleep.