Flying In

December 17, 2011

We left my house for the airport around 3:15am. My friend, Journey, spent the night at my house the night before since we were flying together...except we didn't get much sleep. We left for the airport after sleeping about 10-15 minutes, but we were awake and ready to go! Our flight to Chicago left at 5:30, and we got to the ticket counter around 4. Well, the airline check-in people told us the wrong line three different times. So even though we got there an hour and a half before our flight, we still barely made it on.

We got to Chicago on time, and had about an hour layover. We left Chicago in the snow, and made it to Fort Lauderdale on time, thankfully. Ft. Lauderdale airport was packed... but we made our final goodbye calls to our family and close friends. Then we boarded the plane to Port-au-Prince!

The flight to Port-au-Prince wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be, which was definitely nice. It made me nervous flying over the ocean, but I just tried not to think about it. We flew over Nassau, Bahamas, and other Caribbean islands. We saw mountains as we flew over the Dominican Republican and Haiti. I had no idea there were mountains there! It was definitely a welcoming surprise. While we were waiting for the rest of our team outside, the president of Haiti drove by. People there went crazy! It was fun to watch.

When we finally got our passports stamped, got our bags in the chaos of the airport, found our driver and met some of our other team members, we got in a van and headed to Titanyen. They said the drive to Mission of Hope takes 30 min to an hour. The driving in Haiti is absolutely insane! A two-way street was easily turned into a five-way. The lines were ignored on the roads, and cars were weaving in and out of each other. Motorcycles were trying to pass busses and trucks, and people were trying to cross the road in the huge mess. And there was no slow driving...all speeding and for the most part, no stopping. I held my breath pretty much the whole time. My trip leader compared it to Frogger. But it was an interesting experience for sure!

As soon as we left the airport property, I saw tent after tent, people out in the street, and in a nutshell, poverty everywhere. It was also dark outside, so I didn't get the full affect. It really wasn't that smelly like people told me it would be. Every so often there would be a sewage smell, but other than that it wasn't bad.

We finally arrive at Mission of Hope, and meet our whole team. Me and Journey are the only two from Indiana. Everyone else is from the South. At first it was kind of awkward because no one knew each other, but by the end of the week, we all became close. God really blessed us with a great team of people.

After we all met each other and went over ground rules for the week, Journey and I watched the Smurfs movie with the Hope house kids, who are the orphans at Mission of Hope. It was a great first impression; the kids laughed and laughed and some were talkative.

That night, we went to bed around 9:30. It felt so much later than that though haha. We only had electricity from 6p - 6a. That's because the sun rose around 5:45 every morning, so there really was no need for it. When I went to bed that night, I started getting a little homesick. But I knew God had big plans for me that week.

John 14:1-3
"Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; If it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."