Never Ever Dull
With every conversation, I always seem to end with "Never a dull moment"....our lives are rich, complex, and beautiful stories. Join me in laughing about everyday things and appreciating life-bumpy roads and all.
Flight 201 4:30am. The sun had barely cracked over the mountain when I grabbed my bag and headed down the stairs. I gulped some coffee (a daily necessity) quickly and hopped in the truck with a missionary heading into the capital, Port au Prince. Little did I know that my adventure this day would continue until long after that sun had set. After a few errands, I arrived at the airport at 11am, plenty of time for my 2:48pm flight. I strolled casually through security, browsed the single gift shop in the PAP airport, bought a coffee and some Pringles- life was pretty great. Then the delays started. First just an hour, then two, and then the monitor flashed a departing time of 7pm. Planes don’t leave Haiti after dark and no one is allowed to stay in the airport overnight. As I started planning out what I’d do if I happened to get stuck, the airport grew suddenly loud. As people around me rushed to the American Airlines table, I glanced up and saw the new departing time: 6:15am. I called the closest missionary I could think of and asked her to meet me. I hopped in line with the rest of the angry airport to try and get a hotel. The woman at the counter handed me a hotel voucher, food voucher, and a chauffeur ticket. The group heading on my “shuttle” to the hotel was waiting for me and the driver grabbed my bags to load up. I shot one quick text to my friend as I dashed out the door behind the driver- “Meet me at Atlantic Hotel”. As I rounded the corner outside the airport, I saw the shuttle was an old jeep. I had no choice at this point but to pack in with 7 Haitians and our bags. We began to roll away from the airport when my phone dinged, a message from my friend… “Where in the world is Atlantic Hotel? No one I’ve asked knows where that is” Great. I’m in a sketchy jeep, alone, in a third world capital city, at night, heading to a hotel know one has heard of- sounds like a great plot line for Taken 4. I began trying to memorize the turns and the streets we were taking, but after a 15 minute twisted ride- I was completely lost. We pulled up to the hotel and I rushed inside. I began asking anyone I could find for directions. No one could tell me where we were. Multiple people spoke to my friend on the phone- only providing only an unsearchable address and irrelevant landmarks. No one could tell her how to get there. 45 minutes past. I didn’t want to risk staying at the Atlantic that night, but finding a way out seemed impossible. An old Haitian man dropped off a couple at the hotel and began to hop back in his car. I ran out and asked him for directions (obviously he had somehow successfully arrived there so he should know) but that effort once again failed. He began to climb back into his vehicle and I tried my last attempt to get out of the hotel. “Monsieur! Tale sivouple! (please wait)” I said rushing back to his car. I told him to take me to a small market where my friend had been waiting asking for directions. He questioned if I’d pay him and then agreed. I weighed my options. Snagging a ride with this man was probably safer than risking staying the night at the Atlantic. So I loaded my bags, hopped in, and we started the journey back towards the airport and the small market. I made it to the market and back to my friend. We hopped in her truck and headed up the hill towards Petionville to grab a room at the beautiful Karibe hotel. 4:30am. I watched the sun rise again, this time over the city of Petionville. I grabbed my bag and headed down the stairs of the Karibe. That day would end up holding just as much adventure as the day before, but I’ll save that story for later.
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AuthorFun-loving mom to 4 kids and 1 big puppy. Fifth grade teacher of amazing little people who have never ending things to share with me. Love to discuss Jesus, diy projects, and life. Trying to keep it simple: Love Jesus, love people. Archives
December 2021
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