Haiti - The Journey There

     My day started very early because I needed to wake at 3:30am to drive myself to the airport. I was worried about the forecasted freezing rain and the potential for delays. I realized after parking in the economy lot just how slippery it was. Fortunately, I didn’t have far to go to the shuttle and timing was just about perfect. That left me time to find some breakfast after checking in my two bags – which by the way I somehow got the larger of the two at exactly 50.0 pounds. Security took a little while but the Indianapolis airport isn’t too big. There was a woman, not much older than me, in front of me and an older couple from the TSA precheck merged into our line at that point. I let them go in front of me but they must have thought we were together and once I quickly explained that we weren't the gentlemen said "oh... that's too bad" implying that she was attractive. I think the woman appreciated the compliment. Nothing more came of the conversation, but it made me laugh inside.

     I arrived at my gate with plenty of time. I think I had one of the best seats on the plane because it was right behind first-class seating and I had a little more leg room. I also got to sit next to Lisa, who I talked with throughout the flight. Lisa was a kind, middle-aged woman who was on her way to meet her mom in Florida to go on a sail boat cruise. She was cold and I offered my extra jacket which helped her sleep more comfortably. Most of our conversation was toward the end of the trip and I found out she had been working in restaurant management, but the restaurant had closed some time ago. She had been applying for jobs and was really hoping to receive an offer from St Francis. Somehow, we got on the topic of pets and we both liked dogs and had also had pet rats in the past. Currently she had a pet ferret but said they were rather feisty and picky eaters. Rats will eat just about anything. We walked through some of the Miami airport together trying to find our gates. It sounded like she would have the same return flight to Indy, but I never did see her again. I hope and pray that she hears back from St Francis about the job.

     Due to the delay from the freezing rain we arrived in Miami behind schedule and some passengers were worried they might not make their connections so we let them go first. I had about an hour before I needed to be at my gate, but that is a BIG airport. I think there were 60 gates in the D terminal alone and even though I only had to walk halfway it was still about a mile. During the long walk I noticed a lot of different people including many Spanish speaking people and announcements over the speakers in Spanish. I stopped to get sunglasses which I had forgotten and then had stromboli for an early lunch. In hind sight, communicating with people who's first language is not English was good preparation for my trip. I only know a little Spanish and even less French which is spoken in Haiti.

     I still needed to locate my coworker, David, so I sent an email not knowing if he had his personal cell phone with him. The Trimedx Foundation had graciously sent me with a cell phone that would work internationally and recommended I not bring my regular phone. Fortunately, he made himself conspicuous enough that I didn’t introduce myself to someone else by accident. That wouldn’t have been all bad, but I’m sure I would have been embarrassed. Toward the end of the two hour flight, I caught a glimpse of a few mountain ranges and towns as we descended and I thought to myself “is this really happening?” and “how did I get to this point in my life?” It was a sense of wonder rather than anxiety because this seemed like a whole new world when really it’s another - very different - part of our world.