I'm Here!!!

(THIS WAS WRITTEN 1/18/08 but posted 1/19/08 due to lack of internet)

“I’m here” as in “I’m here in Miami.” We came to Miami this morning on a flight that left Minneapolis/Saint Paul at 7:05 without any difficulty. Everything was going so well!

Then we boarded our plane in Miami to take us to Port-au-Prince and that is when the problems started. We began by sitting on the (very hot) plane for well over an hour, as the flight attendants told us that there were some passengers that did not show up for the flight and therefore the airline needed to sift through ALL of the luggage underneath the plane to remove their bags before we could leave. Then they told us that they had taken care of that issue but in the process discovered a burned out lightbulb somewhere.

A lightbulb? Seriously? Apparently they were serious.

So after waiting approximately another hour for them to get the replacement lightbulb from the control tower, everyone suddenly started getting up and grabbing their carry-on luggage to leave the plane. Apparently, we were getting off the plane and going back into the airport to wait some more.

When I stepped off the plane, I felt like I had just stepped off in Haiti – but we hadn’t even moved an inch the entire time of being on the plane! 2/3 of the team had a cold beer in their hands within 5 minutes of exiting the plane to wait at the gate. We were hoping the flight crew might start handing out free Prestige (Haitian beer, which you’ll be hearing more about throughout my time in Haiti, I’m sure) or Rum Punch, but they didn’t.

We waited at the gate for about an additional 30 minutes when they finally made an announcement letting us know that the flight was cancelled and would be rescheduled for 7:00AM tomorrow. They instructed us to get into line to get our meal and hotel vouchers, which took another 2+ hours. FINALLY, we made it to the front of the line.

I think the airline people at the desk were about to cry. I felt so bad for them. You couldn’t pay me enough to do that job today!

Finally, after making it to the front of the massive, never-ending line of upset people, we were told by the airline people that our team would have to stay at a number of different hotels scattered all over Miami. We were also told that all but one of our team members would be on the 7:00 flight. The other person would be on the 10:30 flight. We objected to both of those things and are now supposedly all on the 7:00 flight and all staying at a hotel 30 minutes away from the airport.

Here’s the real kicker: we were informed that our “complementary” pickup will be at 3:30 in the morning. 3:30AM, as in 2:30AM in Minnesota. Ouch! It hurts me just to think about doing that again for the second day in a row. Thank you American Airlines!

So here I am… sitting in the “complementary” Super Shuttle that is taking us from the airport to our hotel for a few hours.

We are staying positive, but we are all very tired. Thankfully this team has a good sense of humor, and we are doing our best to be laid back about the interruption in our plan. It won’t do anyone any good to be all stressed out so we’re just trying to take it in stride. That’s about all we CAN do at this point. We have to be ultra flexible once we get to Haiti anyway if we want to maintain our sanity!

It’s easy to feel disappointed or frustrated at this point, but I also realize it could definitely be much worse. We’re lucky the trip didn’t get cancelled altogether due to something like violence or political instability in Haiti. That’s always a possibility, so we are fortunate it is only a disappointing delay.

I hope to be writing in my blog from Haiti (NOT Miami!!!) tomorrow!! I’ve got my fingers crossed!! We depart @ 7:00AM and will arrive at 9:00AM. I can’t wait to get there and get settled, but first I hope to get a little sleep tonight. I didn’t exactly accomplish that last night – my mind was on overdrive. I hope all is well at home with all of you! Thanks for checking in and for thinking about me. I appreciate it.

Bon Soir (Good Night), Everyone!

P.S. I am trying to download pictures but the internet is not cooperating. I will try again tomorrow.