Haiti, Day 1

I had to write in my journal since by the time I had time without Christopher, they were having rolling electricity outages.

I'm thankful I read about what to expect when I arrived at the airport. What I didn't expect was that on my flight I was 1 out of maybe 15 that were not Haitian, scattered around on a very full flight. I don't know what I was expecting but when more instructions were in French than English you figure out you're the minority pretty quick. They were such kind people, smiling and nodding their hellos. The woman next to me couldn't have been older than 30 with 2 teenagers told me she was traveling on business and finally heading home.
I had to chuckle at the 2 women (who didn't seem to know each other) as they shouted in French to a man 10 rows ahead as he tried to stuff a too big bag in the overhead bin. I'm pretty sure they were telling him he was stupid if he thought it would fit and he needed to pass the bag to the flight attendant to put under the plane so we could get going. I couldn't imagine that happening on a domestic flight!
When we arriv we all crammed on a bus to take us through to the immigration line. An older American man looked at me nervously and asked, "Do we HAVE to all ride this bus?" I think he was a little overwhelmed by the herd mentality and the band that greeted us.
Baggage was hilarious! The men were pulling off bags as they came in the luggage belt and stacking them in rows. I had to watch the belt and the bags as they piled up since I was 3 people deep and couldn't see much of anything. I rented a $2 cart which allowed me to push my way out without being rude (since everyone was pushing us all forward). One lady was mortified that she bumped me with her cart. I turned around, chuckled and sat down on her bags; she and her friend laughed. I love that body language can communicate beyond words sometimes.
Once I got to the outside door, Patrick's hired man caught me before I was accosted by the men in red. "You look for Patrick? I'm here for you!" No one else approached me. They are very respectful of the pecking order and how not to take people from other men.
Patrick was able to come through the "tunnel" and took me to the car as the man whisked my bags & the cart to the car. He was a pleasant welcome in all the craziness. So much stimulation! Miguelson was our driver who took us four-wheeling to the hotel. I had my key by 10 with the promise that Nicole (the orphanage director) would arrive at the hotel by noon with Christopher. I was so hungry but I wanted to wait until He arrived. 2 hours later, I figured out that I better not get hopes us that she would be here before 2 so I ate. The hotel has all American friendly food. My girls will be thrilled to see chicken strips & French fries on the menu!
While I was waiting, I met the other families staying here. Three of us had boys from Lifeline and another family had a boy the same age from Maison. We are from West Virginia, South Dakota, Kansas and Colorado. Chase (Wenkie) will be living in Denver so we are going to try our best to get them together when the boys come home.

He's shy. He came right to me and clutch me tight but he also wouldn't look me in the eye. He's sweet and cuddly pretty close to all the time. He sits in my lap to eat dinner and play at the table and Skype with the family. There were a few tears at miscommunication of food requests. His buddies look out for each other. His world brightened when they were equal in their food portions. They constantly barter and make sure things are as equal as possible... We'd better bring more snacks to share next time! If there's a bar, they all need the same bar. That goes for goldfish, gum and bread! They are such sweet kids to watch as they interact.

He's tiny. The 2T shorts are too big. I'll have to bring adjustable waists in everything. Big tummies and no behind. They boys run holding on to their pants! I need to measure him before he goes back to the orphanage. I'm curious to see how he measures up to where the girls were. He has scars that I won't ever know how they came to be. His hair is starting to get thicker. It's not from malnutrition; it's not orange, just sparse. He's mine and I'm not sure how I'm going to leave him. He's just so fragile in every way.

He ate too much today and has bad gas, but he finally was able to relieve himself before bed. He went on the toilet so hopefully he's further along in his potty training than the diapers in his bag indicate.

I love the outpouring of support from Facebook. Such sweet sentiment. We are truly blessed with the community God has given us.

I bought some souvenirs today. There are 3 men outside the gate of the hotel selling theirs wares. I bought a bag, a couple of paintings, a sculpture and some metal wall hanging seen everywhere.

Tomorrow is a "free day". Patrick has to take the Maison families to the US Embassy to file paperwork so our 3 families from Lifeline will stay at the hotel all day. We tried to tour PAP today but the truck was a death trap sp we turned around. hopefully, we will get a quick tour on Wednesday after Lifeline's Embassy appts. before the boys return to the orphanage. If I have to wait until April to see Port-au-Prince I can but it would be so great to have more pictures than just is hotel space. I feel safe here so I am not complaining!

Got to Skype with the girls (since today was Mathea's birthday, I sang Happy Birthday!) and Tracy and Corinne briefly. Praying for a smiley day tomorrow and that we bond and stay healthy.