Day 1 - We Made it to Haiti!

It has certainly taken a while to get the first message posted to update everyone on what's going on here in Haiti. Let's start with the process of getting here. The nine members of the UBC team arrived at UBC at 4:30 am yesterday. After realizing we needed an additional bag to get everything down here, and stopped by Arnie and Susan's to grab a big bag, we made it to the airport with 12 large suitcases, 9 carry-ons, and 2 guitars. Not sure how all of that worked out so well - but we had no problems with luggage, other than the fact that we were not able to bring the large black trunks since there is an embargo against trunks/boxes coming into Haiti since it is summer time (and mission trip season) - go figure. Our flight left at 7:15 am and we were off to Miami! When we arrived in Miami we had a very pleasant surprise! Ryan and Heather Forman, who had been in Haiti for several days and were coming home, were delayed in Miami and were at out gate when we got off the plane!!! Very cool! We chatted with them for a few minutes and then headed on to our departure gate. After boarding was delayed due to "unknown cause of engine malfunction" we boarded and were off for Haiti! It was ironic that the gate we flew out of in Miami was the same gate where, in December, Ryan and I slept on the floor during our overnight layout goings into Haiti. We met up with Eileen and Nancy at the gate in Miami. I met them through Joe last year after I returned from Haiti. They live in Indiana. We arrived in Port au Prince on time, just after 2 pm. After going through immigration we had to spend quite a while finding and retrieving our 12 checked bags! It was very crowded and hard to get around everyone to look at the luggage coming in from the flight. We finally made it and headed outside to the next round of madness. Samuel (one our translators and friends) we just outside of immigration. Traveling down the walk way we quickly saw Pastor Odvin, who was at the airport to pick up another group that was coming in on a 3 pm flight. We told Samuel who we were meeting and he led us through the parking lot and when we came to the back we saw the big white school bus we have been on before, but not the truck that was supposed to pick us up. After a few conversations and a couple of phone calls we discovered there was a mix-up/miscommunication on our ride. The good thing is that Joe Mobley had already said that we could ride with his group if we needed (which is what the big white bus was for). The only issue was that the bus was waiting for the other group, which didn't arrive at the airport until an hour after us. So our little group of Americans sat in the middle of the parking lot, under the Haitian sun for nearly 2 1/2 hours waiting on the other group to come through immigration, etc. and come out to where we were. Samuel sat with us and Arnie pull out a guitar and we had music and fellowship while hanging out. So eventually we were on our way to the guest house! Once we arrived and located our rooms for the week, and everyone claimed their bunk bed, we had dinner. I absolutely love Haitian food! The smell of the spices is so unique. After dinner we had a group meeting with the other team that is here, led by Joe Mobley (who is the one who arranged our trip last year). All together, there are 19 of us here for the week. In the meeting we went over the "rules", intended for safety, and discussed the arrangements that were know. One thing you have to be comfortable with when working in Haiti is that it is almost impossible to plan anything! They do not go by time the same way we do in America. I had made arrangements for our team to go to Sherrie's the next day to work on projects and play and love on the children. Everyone got ready for bed, and started taking showers, until the water went off. Some had to wait until the next morning for water to shower with. But off to bed we went, and everyone was pretty tired from the travel day and the heat. We were thankful for safe travels and opportunity to come to Haiti. This country has such beauty, especially in it's people.