Ok ok ok. Before I go any farther....for all of you die hard Jack and Sarah fans I know you're dying to see a picture. So here are two for you. This is Jason and I when we were on a quick trip to Florida in May, and Jack and Sarah just this morning. Family resemblance ? Nah. (Can NOT explain to you what a blessed wife and mamma I am.)
I decided to go to Haiti a year ago, when the first team our church sent came back from their trip. I was so touched during the Haiti service at our church last year, hearing the stories of how the lives of my friends were changed once they came back. I signed up that day, encouraged by Jason who has been on an international mission trip before and loved every minute of it. I didn't have second thoughts about the decision once. I was certain that me going was in God's will for me. He absolutely had a purpose for me there, and had things He wanted me to show people as well as things He wanted me to see through it all. I was at ease about the whole experience, never having any sort of anxiousness about the trip. I was excited to go on my first mission trip, to feel the presence of God driving me in a tangible way that I hadn't ever experienced before. So here we go. Haiti Journal, Day 1.
Haiti Journal, Day 1: 7-13-13
This is SO so not me. But I slept in today!!! Can you imagine? About to embark on this international trip and Ms. Prepared SLEPT in. In my defense: I went to bed at midnight and needed to wake up at 2. So apparently my body objected and wanted to keep sleeping, for which I can't blame the poor girl. But come ON! So...here's how it went: My friend Katelyn, who's more of a sister than a friend, her mom, and her sister were all going on the trip too. Since we all had to be at the church by 4:30 am to catch the bus to the airport, Katelyn offered to pick me up so Jason and the kids didn't have to be up that early to take me. So we had decided that she'd be at my house to get me at 3:30. Wellllll....I woke up at 3:35. 3:35?? Gah Kelsey I mean seriously?! I FREAKED out, and grabbed my phone, which had a missed call and several texts from Katelyn slightly panicked. I jumped out of bed and began to frantically get ready and told her to leave her place and come get me. We got to her house and grabbed her mamma (her sister was coming on a later flight) and got ourselves to the church. In my (meager) defense, we weren't the last ones. Two families got there after us. :) Once on the bus I let out an enormous sigh of relief that I hadn't tanked out whole trip in one fail swoop. Now I must confess I felt so guilty and sad that I had slept in. The reason I had planned to get up at 2 was to write my sweet husband a series of letters for each day I was gone....and since I slept in I left the country and he had 0 letters. Awesome job wife. ;)
We got to the airport in plenty of time, which was a good thing bc for 5:30 on a Saturday morning it was so incredibly busy. It took our team about an hour and a half to get checked in and through security. And once through security Katelyn and I made b-line for the Starbucks line, knowing it would be our last stop at the place for a week. Both of our flights were pretty uneventful, which is always nice. There was some turbulence and a couple bouncy landings, but other than that they were good. I was really tired the first flight, and really antsy the second. I was thinking about home a lot, leaving Jason and the kids behind, worried about them. So I was anxious on and off both flights because I was letting myself worry too much. Jason is such a good dad and is so incredibly capable of handling everything alone, but 8 days is a long long time, longer than I've ever been away from any of them. And going to Haiti isn't exactly like ministering in downtown Houston...so I know Jason was worried about me. And on top of the danger of the country, we were only going to be able to talk/text a handful of times. So I was worried about him worrying about me. Good gracious.
In the Miami airport, several of us ate our last American meal for a week at a cafe in the terminal. Then we walked around and did some people watching and shopping for odds and ends that people had forgotten at home, like sunglasses and airplane snacks. The flight from Miami to Port Au Prince is only about an hour and a half, but our sit time in Miami was twice that. Once we were on our way to Port Au Prince I could hardly sit still. I read a few chapters in my Bible and then was up to walk around a bit (as long as the fasten seatbelt sign was off--right dad??). I first went to the bathroom and then talked with the flight attendants in the back for a while. Then I talked with our youth pastor who was on the trip, and was also up walking around. Then several girls wanted ice to put in their water bottles (since we wouldn't have access to any more clean, sanitary water until we reached the guest house we were staying at in Haiti). So since I had already made friends with several flight attendants I went back and charmed them for a few cups of ice for my girls. When it was finally time to land I was ready ready ready! Like I mentioned, the flight from Miami to Port Au Prince was only about 90 minutes, which is about Houston to Oklahoma City. But my goodness, the worlds apart these two cities are compared to two American cities.
The Port Au Prince airport was so hot and busy. Customs was pretty painless to get through, but baggage claim was a notch below chaos. American Airlines had pulled most of our bags already so we were able to get them pretty quickly. But we had so many bags, it was quite an ordeal getting enough carts to get all of them to our busses. In Haiti, customs and shipping are difficult and often corrupt, so it's almost impossible to ship items to Haiti. So rather than ship supplies and donations, our team of 36 checked about 60 50 pound suitcases full of supplies. Baby formula, diapers, wipes, paintbrushes, screws, medicines, 300 children's Bibles, etc. We each carried all of our personal items (clothes and toiletries) in our personal carry-on bags. So here we were, 36 Americans (and by this I mean white people haha) with a total of 100+ suitcases, backpacks, pillows, blankets, etc, making our way with little carts across cracked and broken parking lots to our busses. At one point the cart I was pushing hit a hole in the road and the bags all went flying (6 of them) I had team members and Haitian porters alike scrambling to help me with my bags. Once we got to the bus, we loaded an entire 40 person bus with all of our bags and a few of our team. The rest of us piled onto the other bus. And my-dear-everything was it HOT! I can not even describe to you the amount of sweat that left my body on that bus ride up the mountain. So gross I know, but oh so true. And part of this is that you have the experience I had. So no holding back..right??
Our team was staying at the Bethyl Orphanage Guest House. This is a large dormitory-style house that has tons of rooms, for both missionaries and families who are in the middle of the adoption process to visit their new kiddos. The drive from the airport to the house took about an hour and a half and was one of the most emotional drives I have ever been on. I didn't take a single picture because I was completely lost in all I saw. Exactly like you see on the news. Dozens of tent cities made from tarps...hundreds and hundreds of tarps. Piles upon piles of trash and excrement with dogs and pigs and kids climbing on them. Creeks that were muddy with animal and human waste. Goats and pigs and dogs wandering anywhere and everywhere. And the driving. Good gracious the driving. Fast, swerving in and out of traffic. Motorcycles all over the place, zipping in and around busses and trucks. Sometimes with 4 and 5 people on them. It took only about 5 minutes of driving in Port Au Prince for me to feel intense anxiety in the bus. But after about 20 minutes, when I saw how well the driver knew the roads and what a capable driver he was in this particular setting, my mind began to ease about it. As we drove out of Port Au Prince, the tent cities went away and the air began to get cooler. We drove up and up the mountain until we were at the gates of the Bethel Guest House. How glad we were to be there, to get out and unload everything in the driveway. We took a few minutes before dinner to look around. Katelyn was on the trip last year, so she showed me where the orphanage and the rooms were. Then we all met for dinner downstairs. The food was pretty iffy. I stayed away from meat all week due to warnings from friends who had been on the team last year, so it was a week of carbo-loading and protein bars for yours truly.
Each night we met for what was called "debriefing," a time when we can recap what had happened during our day. Our new worship pastor was supposed to be on the trip, but had trouble getting his Passport in time. So we had no worship leader. At the meeting that night our team leader Chris asked if anyone played the guitar. Crickets. So he said he did, and he'd lead with the guitar for worship each night. Then he asked if any of us sang. Crickets. Until our lead pastor said....well, there are three girls over there who sing on the stage. Referring to me, Katelyn, and our friend Boog. Seriously. Thrown under the bus. We looked around like when someone's singled out in the movies. Over our shoulders...all around...he couldn't be talking about us could he?? Gah but of course he was. So there we were, nominated to lead worship nightly for the rest of the trip. God was surely laughing at us that night. Telling us this is part of why you're here girls, to stretch yourself like you wouldn't at home. So we did.
So I know you're wondering, how in the world do you pack for an international trip in just a carry-on?? Especially those of you who know me as a Miss Priss who primps every 15 minutes and takes 6 pairs of shoes and three pounds of costume jewelry for a two day trip. Well, first you get over alllll that. Then you roll roll roll!! And resign yourself to the fact you're gonna be wrinkled all week.
Katelyn and I after that infamous last Starbucks at the airport in Houston.
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