I have now survived the Haiti airport FIVE times!

My official fifth trip began at 7pm on Wednesday, when Kelly and I hit the road for Ft. Lauderdale. I wouldn’t dare say that it was the longest 9 hours of my life, but it definitely felt like a very long trip! There were a few trials, the first was going through the FL turnpike, where we had to pay a toll. This was a problem, because I had zero change, and at midnight the lady wasn’t too happy about it. After we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, we set out to find a Walgreens to buy toothbrushes. The problem arose when we realized that not all Walgreens were open 24hrs. After 3 tries, and at almost 3am, we finally found one! Whew. On the way back to the airport the GPS (or maybe I) got us really lost while trying to find the economy parking. When I say really, I mean like a good half hour of literally just riding in circles. We finally found it, waited for the tram, and then headed to the actual airport. Check in was simple, but then we discovered that our flight had been delayed 2 hours. This wasn’t a huge disappointment to me, but this is when I realized that I would not be getting in a nap before the “Haiti day” began.
We arrived in PAP around 11:30. Everything went smoothly with immigration and claiming our baggage, but then came the dreaded “cat walk.” I told Kelly to hang on to the top of the luggage cart, and I just pushed through the sea of Haitians. Thankfully, my faithful Serge was waiting for us at the end! When we found him, he asked if I wanted to sit in the truck or if I wanted to stand and wait for Sarah. I, of course, thought waiting was the better idea. Serge placed us in a shaded location, and then left us with the luggage while he went to look for Sarah. In the meantime, Mr. Donald and his crew arrived. Sarah arrived maybe an hour after that. I had to laugh because God chose for me to spend my first two hours in the place in Haiti that I dislike the most! It actually wasn’t bad at all though.
When we arrived at My Father’s House, we took a few moments to settle in and then headed to see the girls. Seeing them for the “first” time each trip is always such a treat. They were doing homework, but we were able to interact with them a little bit. We headed back in time for dinner, which was amazing, as usual!

Blessings,
Hannah