7.31.2010

Last night we did meals on feet. It was cool to go around to the different huts and bring them their meals for the day. They were very appreciative.

We also had testimony night last night. I actually got up and spoke. I told everyone about the most memorable experience that I have had - when we visited the voodoo priest. It wasn't because of what he was or what he did, but something he said. He felt that they were forgotten and that no one prayed for them. I hope after sitting with him and his family that he knows that we care about him, love him, and are praying for him and his.

So our group got split into 2 for the flights. We all thought we would be leaving together at 4am this morning. Plans changed slightly. The Haitian that was making the flight arrangements just went down the list to make the flights and it split us into 2. Andrew, Brenda and Bonney left with the other groups this morning at 4am. They are going to catch the 6am flight to Port au Prince. Silver, Adam, Kristina, and I are leaving at 1am to catch the 11am flight. We will all meet up in the Port au Prince airport to catch our 3pm flight to Miami (if all goes according to these new plans) At least the Port au Prince airport is air conditioned. I will be even happier when we are in the Miami airport eating :). I thought that last night would be my last 'bar' meal, but alas it was this morning. I have another one (and some trail mix) to last me till Miami.

We watched a sweet lightning storm last night on the roof. Actually I think it was three separate ones. They kept lighting up the dark clouds in the night sky - it was so cool. I think it was God's way of showing us His rave party :)

Adam said something really cool yesterday when we were talking about what we might share last night. He said that he wanted his relationship with God to be more like the street kids relationship with us. Yes, some of them want a dollar or to have your shoes, but most of them just wanted to be with you, in your presence. They were content just walking for miles holding your hand. Even if we can't communicate with one another, they are excited just to be with us. If only we had that joy and fervor to spend time with out God.

I forgot everyone said that I did a really great job sharing last night. Not saying it to toot my own horn, but because I normally don't like public speaking so I was very surprised. They said it seemed like it flowed very well (even though I felt very shaky and like I was going to cry, but at least others found it powerful :) ).

Holy crapoly - that was close. We left the mission this morning at 9am (we were very surprised that we left on time). We got to the Port au Paix airport by about 9:45 or 10. We were told we would be taking the 11am flight to Port au Prince. 11 o'clock came and went, then so did 12 and 12:30pm. The airlines finally told us that we would be taking the flight back that was landing around 12:45pm back to Port au Prince. The plane finally got there. We took off by 1pm . We landed in Port au Prince at about 1:45pm. Then we had to wait for our carry-ons to get off the flight (because it only fits 19 people, the carry-ons go under the plane in little compartments). We had our stuff and were on the truck to shuttle us over to the actual airport by 2pm. Then we show up and the lines are HUGE. We started asking the employees if any of them spoke English. We finally found some employees and told them that we had to catch our 3pm flight. They rushed us through the first set of security. Then we had to go to the ticket counter to get our tickets through LAX. Then they rushed us through customs / immigration. Then they rushed us through the next set of security (the first set was for "Haiti" and the second set was more for the "USA" or TSA officers). If we would have waited in all of the lines (without being rushed and cutting a LOT of people off) it probably would have added about 2 hours and we would have WAY missed out flight. Praise God that we hound people willing to help us and get us through the lines. We ended up at the gate to meet up with everyone else after we already started boarding. CRAZY. I hate rushing, but man, I think Kristina hates it even more. She was very freaked out along the way. I had more of an 'Oh well, what can we do about it' attitude - because honestly there was nothing we could do. The one thing that I was most worried/ sad about was having to wait another day to see Ryan.

As we were waiting for our flight Josh told us a 'funny' story. He said that one of the groups that left this morning never told the mission that 4 of their group members never even came to Haiti. With that being said we could have taken the earlier flight with the rest of our group - Oh those silly blancs! Also,he told us that last week he was taking a group to the airport. When they got there, they had 23 people for a 19 passenger flight. They started freaking out, trying to buy tickets for another flight, etc. Just as they were getting ready to buy 4 extra tickets, 4 of the people said that they were just there to say goodbye - how frustrating! Communication is key and it seems like it is often lacking in Haiti.

I am so thankful that we made the flight. Thankfully we will be in Miami in about an hour and a half - and then we can eat (and change out of these dirty, dusty clothes). The Office is on the plane right now. It is the episode where they go out to happy hour after work and Michael starts dating the bar lady. The part that Kevin was fake crying was just on - he said that when new mothers hear crying it makes then lactate - hehe. Oh - and 'Date Mike' with the Kangol hat.

Sweet! It looks like we are getting food soon! Whoo hoo. Any food that isn't ride or Cliff bars is well welcomes :)

**Reminder - email Josh the picture of his friend and daughter (maybe he can get him a copy when he goes in the spring ) - and then maybe he'll remember people love him, care about them, and are praying for the community.

Apple juice is good! This is the first thing other than water that I have had in the last 2 weeks. I think I will give up soda totally. I mean I haven't had it in 2 weeks, might as well keep it going. I mean it's cheaper to have free water - and healthier too, huh? I guess I will probably have it every once in a while, like when we go out to eat, but I don't want to stock it in the house anymore.

I want to remember to look up Osprey bags. Maybe I could get one for my birthday. Kristina and Adam had them and they seem much easier than my carry-on. They hold so much stuff and can be a book bag too!

I forgot to write that some of the Haitian workers did worship last night. It was awesome. The first song they sang was in Creole. The second song that the sang was 'Light the Fire'. They had some sweet rapping in the middle of it too. We all really liked it. They did much better a cappella than we did, hehe. One of them made a comment that I really liked - "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live a life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." I thought it was really great!

We made the flight to LAX - yay! We did have to get all of our bag, go through immigration, then through customs, then recheck the bags, and then through security again. I am glad we had a 2.5 hour lay over. After all of that and grabbing sandwiches to go, we were really only at the gate for about 20 minutes before boarding. At least we didn't have to run through the airport this leg of the trip.

I was so excited for some sort of yummy sit-down meal and all I got was a bagel and cream cheese. Like I said, I would rather be safe than sorry, so we decided to grab something quick on the way to the gate. I guess I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get an actual meal.

We were supposed to be doing some debriefing activities while we were in the airports, but since our plans didn't work out 100% it seems like we weren't able to do that. We will have a wrap up meeting in a few weeks (once the Carrigans are back from their Canada family trip). Hopefully we will be able to trade photos then too. We thought we could do a meal too, seeing the lack of food we had on this trip :). Hopefully it won't land on our anniversary weekend (although I'm not sure id we have anything planned yet anyway).

My throat is starting to hurt. I am not sure if it is because of the acid in the apple juice I had on the last flight or if it is because I am getting a big from the planes and such. I am just happy that it is at the end of the trip and not at the beginning.

Oh yeah, Silver told us something cool while we were waiting for our first flight. He said that one of the guys that had arrive with one of the new groups (I think he'd been on campus a few days by today when he talked to Silver). Anyway, he told Silver that he just wanted to let us know that when he thought of our Outside the Bowl group he always thought of the scripture that says that you will be able to tell who is a follower of Jesus by their love for others. How amazing that when people look at us, even among 100 some other missionaries, they see us emitting love, embodying it. I was so stoked to hear that.

It is so nice to be cool. Normally on plane rides I am so cold and it's no fun. After being sweaty and HOT for 2 weeks, it is nice to not sweat. I mean we are still pretty nasty, but at least we aren't sweating just sitting still :). We were joking that we'd be cold going back to our 70 degree weather (I don't think it got below 85 or so, even at night and that was with the tropical depression and storms).

Things I am excited for at home:

- hugging Ryan
- taking a shower without having to turn the water off after 10 seconds
- flushing toilets with toilet paper
- doing laundry (and getting my nasty clothes clean)
- sleeping
- laying by the pool
- going to the movies with Ryan (Despicable Me, The Other Guys, Dinner for Schmucks, etc)
- seeing all the projects that Ryan finished while his dad was visiting
- happy hour with the ladies and catching up on what has been going on in their lives
- eating
- drying and straightening my hair
- sleeping with a fan (and not sweating)
- not having to coat myself with bug spray or sun screen 24-7
- nightly walks