Home at Last! 

After arriving at Miami Airport on Tuesday morning and being told all flights to Haiti were cancelled that day, to finally getting our last bag yesterday, it has been a long few days. I like to travel, but this week sure tested my patience.

 We were told in Miami that the next available flight was on Sunday, but that we should keep checking because they might add a flight to help get everyone out who was stranded by Hurricane Hanna. When we called Wednesday morning she told us there were only 4 seats available for that day, only four available for Thursday, but on Friday they had enough room if we split up on two different planes. Tim hung up to talk about it and we decided we could go on two planes as long as we arrived the same day. When we called her back, she said we would be able to split up on two 2 planes that day, Wednesday, if we could come right away. So we hurried up and got our bags together and took the shuttle to the Miami airport. When we got there, Tim and three of the kids got confirmed seats on the morning flight and Sarah, Faith, and I got standby seats for Tim’s plane along with confirmed seats for the afternoon flight. At the gate we were all able to get on and it ended up the plane was not full at all so we all made it on the first flight.

 When we arrived in Port, we found out that all of the flights out to Cayes were cancelled and they hadn’t flown there in two days. We took a taxi to a Guest House there in Port, and spent the night. Before going to bed, we got confirmed seats on the 4:00 P.M. flight for the next day. The next morning while eating breakfast at a little after 7A.M., the taxi driver from the airport, (Nadar), shows up and says, “Let’s go. You have to go right now. Quickly, didn’t they tell you? They’re flying an extra plane right now.” So we threw everything together and hauled it out to his vehicle. When we arrived at the airport, we found that no, they hadn’t added a flight and we would be flying out at noon. We were worried because the weather report was that it would get worse as the day went by, but they told us it would be Noon. She did say not to leave the airport because they might fly before noon. 

 At about 10:00 A.M., they called us up to the desk and said that now they weren’t going to fly to Cayes until 4:00 P.M. We begged and pleaded and explained that the weather was supposed to get worse and if they waited until 4, the plane would not be able to go, but it was all to no avail and she told us they would fly at 4. So we settled back in to wait until 4. At about noon, Tim said he would walk down to the gas station/restaurant to get us some food. Maybe 10 minutes after he left, they called and said the plane to Cayes was boarding right now and we needed to load up right away. I couldn’t believe it! After waiting for this plane all day, now we were not ready. I told them to wait because my husband was not there, but she said no we have to board right now. I sent the kids on ahead and told them to board, but because I had Tim’s passport, I told her I couldn’t leave without him. She offered to keep it for him, but I said no way and told her I guess the kids would have to go without us. At that point she agreed to wait for Tim and since I had already sent someone running to go get him, it wasn’t too long before he came and boarded.

 We settled in on that plane and they started it up and made one lap around the area there, returned to the airport, and turned the plane off. They said the radio wasn’t working and they would either get it fixed or get another plane. So we all unloaded and went back in to wait some more. Finally we loaded up onto a smaller plane, (about a 12 seater), and headed for Cayes. We arrived there finally with 4 of our bags and the rest came in stages over the next two days.

 It was good to be “home” and start to get settled in. Other than a plugged kitchen sink, the oven not working, and our inverter batteries having problems, everything else was in good order at our home, but for the surrounding neighborhood, things are very bad. So many people lost loved ones or had water running through their homes, lost animals or had crop damage, that I’m not sure how they will survive this year. School is supposed to start tomorrow, and people are desperate. If I thought last year was rough, I can’t imagine what this year will hold. How much poorer can some people be? Please pray for the people of Haiti. Many places have sustained incredible damage to the roads and fields and it has rained most of the day today from Hurricane Ike. I know God is God, God is Good, and He knows all things, but some things are hard for me to understand. I’m sure with the economy turned upside down here, we will have more trouble with theft and crimes of desperation, but please pray that people can call on God in their times of need. We’ll just have to take one day at a time.

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