Still Holding Haiti

Last time I wrote about my upcoming trip to Haiti, where I was looking forward to returning and hoping to see my friends and students and seeing what has happened since I left. Because it would be probably one of the longest blog entries ever to write about my whole trip all at once I’m going to spend the next few days writing about different parts of the trip. So here’s the first one...

Getting There…

As you might know I was more than excited to go back to Haiti, so imagine my disappointment when I found myself sitting on the plane at O’Hare airport 2 hours after my flight was supposed to takeoff. There were electrical problems with the plane and eventually we had to switch to a different one. We landed in Miami 3 hours after my flight was supposed to land and I missed my connecting flight to Haiti, which also happened to be the last flight out for that day.

I spent the night in Miami at the Holiday Inn and ate at the hotel’s Cuban Restaurant (the Airline Paid). I was more than angry and disappointed so while eating alone, instead of completely sulking, I tried to distract myself by watching planes take off, thinking how thankful I was I had packed extra clothes and toiletries in my carry on, and trying to figure out the similarities between the Cuban food I was eating and Haitian food I should have been eating.

Bright and early the next morning (before sunrise) I was on the shuttle bus back to the airport. There was a small scare that I wouldn’t make it to the airport because the driver didn’t seem to know how to get there and kept driving on streets that were dead ends but eventually we got there and after some small delays on the airplane I was finally on my way to Port au Prince!

As the plane began to land I was able to look at the window and was filled with excitement. As I stepped off the plane, greeted by a small band, and making my way through customs I felt so happy to be back. I eagerly pulled out my Haitian phone and sent texts to some friends letting them know I was there. One friend even called me and as we were talking the mentioned how much happier I sounded.

Even as I waited and waited for my luggage, I continued to be happy. Listening to the familiar sound of Creole. The pushing and shoving as people edged closer to get their bags. The workers helping the older women first. The rich men who tried to do what they could to be first to get their bags. The heat. The organized chaos. The hurry up and wait. Seeing and feeling all of it let me know I was back in Haiti and it felt great.

A lot of my first day was spent making return trips to the airport…seems like the Airline decided not to put my luggage on the plane (or about half of the other people on the flight)…I did eventually get everything but I couldn’t help but be in a good mood about it all because I was back.