Thursday, February 18

Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14

What a brutal night! Such a late bedtime and I could not sleep! The pillow was too fluffy, the fan too loud, my lips too dry, my hands too dry, and my mind way too active. I thought it was too late to read before bed, but I think that was a mistake. One chapter would have helped me shut off my brain!

I feel I should describe the luggage scene in more detail... When we arrived at the hotel we brought all the luggage into the lobby. There were duffel bags, physician boxes, extra food, and carry-ons. We basically took up the whole lobby. Then we started to weigh the bags. Anything over 50lbs was opened and random items stuffed into another bag. It must have looked like pure chaos! Our team has over 20 bags and we aren't even a complete team yet.

We are now on our way to Philadelphia from Seattle where we'll meet up with the rest of the team. Besides the excruciatingly early start, it's been very smooth. We had to take 2 shuttles to the airport due to the amount of luggage and we're expecting a hefty bill for all that luggage. However, US Airways waved the luggage fees even though there were so many bags and most of them were overweight. I can just see Mom smiling. She prayed we would find favor with all those we encounter and we did! Praise the Lord!!

The flight to Santo Domingo was very crowded. My bum aches just thinking about it! There was a flight attendant guy who cracked me up! He was a tall black man (Leo) who really thought he was all that! He would think I was calling him cute when I was actually calling a 5 year old cute. Both my flights today were separate from the others form my team. Lindsey says that it's because my flights were booked separately because I am spending a 2nd week in Haiti. It's a little disappointing, but I feel like I am fitting in none the less.

Leaving the airport in the Dominican is like stepping into another world. I was really glad that Lindsey speaks Spanish! The heat and humidity struck me right away, goodbye winter. When we left the airport to the waiting bus the smell of diesel reminded me of Germany Teen Missions 1988. Funny how smells bring you back. We have so much baggage now with the whole team that it is obscene! The bus had to be loaded through the windows. By the time we got all the baggage in we had to cram in like sardines. As Lindsey put it "Welcome to Latin America". My seating position in the bus was that of a virtual cannonball. I was sitting on the manifold with my knees up around my ears. Sometimes I would put my legs on the dash like I was reclining, other times I was nearly hugging Bryan in order to not topple as the crazy driver took a corner.

It was my observation that you honk to change lanes, but lanes themselves are merely a suggestion. I saw a group of people at a gas station sitting in a circle of lawn chairs. That seemed weird to me. The drive from the airport was about 45 minutes.

Now we are at a Dormitory...a conference center of sorts. We had to unload all our luggage as we couldn't trust that our stuff wouldn't just disappear. I wonder how much weight we keep shifting around.