Getting there....March 23!

I knew that March 23, 2011 was a big day but I didn't realize the true impact it would have on me and how it would truly change my life and the lives of my family.

We arrived at McGee-Tyson at 4:30 AM.  I was nervous, excited, anxious, and a host of other feelings that I cannot describe in print.  I was getting on an airplane at 6:00 AM and heading to Miami then on to Port au Prince.  I would meet my daughter later that day. 

We loaded up 22 bags and 13 people and boarded a small jet.  It was dark and the sky was clear.  You could see lights all over Knoxville and the surrounding community. On the plane I sat next to Preston and we chatted about baseball and other random things.  The conversation was mostly a distraction for the upcoming trip.  The flight was uneventful and it seemed like we were in the air for hours before the sun came up.  It was one of the most beautiful sunrises that I have ever seen.  The air was clear and the true beauty of God's creation shown in through the windows of the plane.  Then we landed in Miami, only a few short hours until we would take off and touch down in Port au Prince.

We moved through the concourse at Miami International until we got to Gate 22 at around 8:00 AM. We were one of the first groups to arrive. The gate was empty except for a few bored Haitians sitting around waiting for the journey home. We had around 1 hour and 30 minutes until boarding of the plane for Haiti.  You could tell from the tension in the air that everyone on the team was excited about the flight in.  Some went to Nathan's and got hotdogs and chili for breakfast, some went to the gift shop and bought water, some just sat quietly and made small talk.  I went for a short walk to relieve some of the tension and call Christy.  When I returned to Gate 22 it was slowly filling with passengers that would accompany us to Haiti. At approximately 9:15 AM the boarding started. My group was called and I lugged my carry-on and backpack onto the plane and sat down in Seat 25B for the flight over.

On the plane I sat next to Kurt Rudd.  We chatted through out the flight discussing what and how I should tell Berline that I wanted to be her daddy and that I wanted her to come to the Etazzini and live.  How do you tell a five year old Haitian girl that you want her to be part of your family?  What did she really understand about what was going to happen and what was happening?  What did this crazy blanc want?  What did it mean for her future? What did it mean for our future? In about 2 hours we touched down in PAP.  

Getting off the plane in PAP was uneventful.  I loaded up my stuff but it was like any other airport in every third world country; not a lot of frills, little air conditioning, and lots of people. We boarded a crowded bus and headed to immigration.  We waited in line for a bored government worker to stamp our passports and collect our bags.  We proceeded through the final steps of immigration and it hit me when we walked outside.  I was in Haiti. 

My first impression of Haiti was chaos.  It was like being in Nassau except that no one wanted to braid my hair, no one wanted to rent me a scooter, or "Only $3.00 to ride the water taxi".    We were following a guy named Big, who was our ticket to the Harvest Fields/Whitestone Truck.  We made our way to the truck and everyone kept asking, "So what do you think?"  I really didn't think much at that point except that I feels like I have been here before.  I think the combination of the heat, humidity, dust, and slightly salty tang of the ocean air made it feel like the Caribbean.  The difference was what I saw.

Haiti is not like the rest of the Caribbean.  Most of the time the area surrounding the airport is relatively nice. In PAP the first thing I saw was an older gentleman standing outside of the fence begging for money.  The one thing I immediately noticed was that he was missing a leg.  Then I began to see the condition of the country.  There was trash and rubble everywhere.  There was traffic flying by and roadside stands set up to sell food.  The realization that we were here hit me.  I had a mix of feelings the least of which was nervousness, the most of which was excitement.  My sense of adventure had kicked in and I couldn't wait to see what was ahead on that twisting path that had brought me to this tiny, poor nation in the Caribbean.