So much to say!!!

What an adventure this has been. I wanted to take some time and really tell you more about my trip. It was hectic but God was in the works the whole time. That was obvious. Here’s how it all started…

Sam dropped me off Wednesday, 6 days ago, at 8:30am at the PAP airport for my 1:30 flight. I said good-bye to both him and Joslin and started inside. I had a guitar, my backpack and two 70-pound bags. It wasn’t more than 100 feet from the car to the check-in line but I let 2 guys help me with my luggage. They hadn’t helped me more than 2 minutes so I gave them each a dollar. (Keep in mind that in our area for a 10-hour workday they make $2.50 US equivalent. They looked at me like I was cheap and shook their heads. I didn’t want to, but I gave them a $5. I didn’t have any other ones. As soon as they left I got so mad at myself for doing that. It just really, really made me mad. I was struggling to feel better. I was praying and kept telling myself that it was okay I needed to move on and forget about it. I wrote about it in my journal to try to calm down. I realized that there was probably more going on in my head than just being upset about $5. I also realized the Lord gives me all the money I have and I felt that there was some lesson He wanted to teach me in this. I just wasn’t sure what it would be. By the time the line opened for me to start checking in I was feeling a little better.

But the first thing the worker said was that my flight was cancelled. The airport was really noisy but she told me (I thought) that there was one to Miami at 11:15 and one at 5pm. I immediately said the 11 o’clock flight, really glad that I was there plenty early. So that was fine. I told the agent that I knew my bags were 20 pounds overweight and I was prepared to pay the $50 fine. So she weighed my bags and sent them through. Then she said, “Okay, here is your ticket, you are finished.” I was surprised and laughed. Not only did God give me my $5 back but also He multiplied it by 10! That’s just how God works.

So I get through the last of the security and sit down and look at my ticket. It is to Fort Lauderdale! I was planning on having some friends meet me in Miami and had no way of getting in touch with them. I asked a man next to me if I could use his cell to try to get in touch with someone in Haiti to try to email my friends in Miami. But his phone never connected with any of the numbers. Then this nice lady started talking to me and offered to let me use her US phone as soon as we got to Florida. After that I ran into a friend who also sympathized with me and also offered her phone when we landed. Then yet another person offered before we landed. I have never met so many nice people on one flight. (It may be interesting to you to know that I had to fill out the Visas for both people in my row. They were Haitians, settled in the states, who had never learned to write. They had both grown up in Haiti and the education system just isn’t up to par there.)

So anyway, we land, but they wouldn’t let us use the phone until after we got through customs-, which took forever, and I was one of the last to get through. It was almost the time I should have landed in Miami and I was so worried that my friends were fighting the traffic on their way there for nothing. All my friends and their promised phones had already gone through a while before so I hadn’t yet contacted anyone. As soon as I walked out the door I looked for a payphone and spotted one. I headed that way as fast as I could. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name! My friends had gotten on the internet, saw that my flight was cancelled and had gotten on the phone until someone told them where I was landing! Not only were they able to pick me up an hour earlier than if I had landed in Miami but they actually live closer to the Fort Lauderdale airport anyway! It saved us a few hours. But again, that is just the way God works. He does more than I could imagine.

At this point I got the royal treatment. We went to Wal-Mart. I was so excited! Then we went to Applebee’s and Cold Stone. I had the best hamburger ever. Then I had some great ice cream. I had a nice comfy bed, a computer and iPod (previously ordered online) waiting and I even got to pick our breakfast. That sure beat sleeping in the airport!

The next morning we left for the Miami airport as planned. I was to fly on a Venezuelan airline where the agents spoke Spanish. My bag was way overweight and I wasn’t suppose to be allowed a guitar plus carryon. But since my friends were fluent in Spanish I was able to get everything resolved. I never could have done that alone! That would have been a mess!

I ended up having a layover in Caracas for 7 hours. I have a funny story from there as well but since this is going to be long I’ll have to save it for another day. After leaving a few hours later than planned I arrived in Port of Spain, Trinidad at 10:30pm or so. For the first time ever I was in the front of the plane and one of the first in line for immigration. But guess what… I couldn’t get through. I forgot- with all the stress and hussle-and-bussle of packing, to get my address of where I was staying. And that is a must in Trinidad. I sat in a chair while the majority of my flight went through. I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t get through though. They held several others with me. They told me to wait for a security guard to escort me out, find my waiting friends and get my address and phone. But they never came. We waited and waited. At this point I was so exhausted I was about to tears. Remember, I had been traveling for 3 long days. I finally said, “Look, if you don’t let me go then my friends will think I wasn’t on the flight and they will leave. Then what do I do?” Everyone who wasn’t held was long gone. They finally decided to page Gary. It worked. They got the information they needed and let me go.

I was met at the gate by Gary Hunter and Ken, Kathy and Adam Moore. Gary’s wife Brenda was in the states with her mother. I was suppose to stay at the Hunters’ but since Brenda was gone I stayed with the Moores for 2 nights. The first few days were good but I was so tired that they were partly a blur! I got to experience driving on the left, a real-honest-to-goodness grocery store, help to lead a girls’ youth group session on dating, went to my first church service, ate real Indian food and more.

Let’s start with driving. Here they drive on the left. The steering wheels are on the right side of the car rather than the left. Driving has never been really stressful for me. I handle it well. So when Gary offered me the chance to drive to the airport on Sunday to pick up Brenda I took it. It really wasn’t bad. I should be able to adjust to that just fine I think. The grocery store was similar to what we had in the states. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to buy out the store or go home empty-handed. All the choices were almost overwhelming, as Sam and Delores promised they would be. The local market in Hinche has a much smaller selection! And let me tell you about Indian food. The biggest population group here is East Indian so Indian food is very prevalent. The Moores took me out for my first Indian meal. It was at a mall. I ate dahlpuri, curried chicken, channa, some type of greens and curried mangoes. It was sooo good. Let me tell you what it was. Dahlpui is a specific type of roti made with split peas. The closest thing I can tell you about a roti is that it is like a big fat tortilla. Instead of silverwear, you pick up your food with the roti. I tell you, I cleaned my plate and decided I could eat that anytime. The curry wasn’t spicy hot at all. In fact I decided to try some of the pepper sauce they had to offer. But after my first bite with pepper sauce my not-so-spicy chicken tasted much much better. That sauce would about knock your socks off. It was awful in my humble opinion.

Sunday the Moores, Gary and I went to my first church service in English in a long time. It was the same place I had went Friday, played guitar and talked to them about dating. I felt comfortable there. Many of the believers there were from Hindu backgrounds. I enjoyed the service, and just like in Haiti they asked me to get up a share a little so I did. It was good. I’d missed English. Which leads me to another subject. If you didn’t know, they speak English here. But it is a little, well, a lot, different than what we speak in the states. The words aren’t so different but the accents are. It’s not exactly British sounding, but it’s not Jamaican sounding either. It’s hard to explain really. And a little hard to understand depending on who you are speaking to.

Sunday afternoon we picked up some KFC, yes, I have seen more KFCs in Trinidad than I believe we have in the entire state of KENTUCKY. Then I packed up and made one last move to the Hunters. (My accommodations here are nice. I have a room (with AC- imagine that!), an office and my own bath. The rest of the house I share with the Hunters who I met back in October 2004.) Sunday night we met Brenda at the airport where I got to exchange some US dollars for my fist “tt”. If you are curious there are 6tts in a dollar. For example, today at Subway (yep, we have those too) I spent 19tt for a steak and cheese sub.

Monday (yesterday) Brenda (with me watching) spent the morning setting up wireless internet. We had some trouble but now everything is running well. I have DSL wireless internet whenever I need it. Then we drove into Port of Spain for lunch and shopping. I needed some new clothes. The mall was very nice, very high class and boutiqish. It took me a long time to find anything because it was tough handing over the credit card after spending so little on things like clothes over the last couple years. But I finally found 3 cute, and very girly outfits plus a pair of sparkly sandals that all the girls wear here. This mall had Pizza Hut, Burger King and other American places but I chose Chinese. On the way home I got to drive again. It was rush hour and traffic was very slow but I did just fine. That night we celebrated Ken’s birthday with cake and ice cream, yummy!

So… that about updates you! Oh yeah, plus, since the Hunters live in a bit nicer neighborhood, I have started running again! It has been fun learning the neighborhood and getting out to see the people. They are very friendly for the most part. In the morning you can say “Good day” and at night, as a greeting, you say “Good night.”

We are starting to piece things together for the WCC matches. Please continue your prayers for this event! Is God calling you to come and join us?

Now that you are up-to-date on the happenings I can start to give you my impressions of the country. But I think this was plenty long enough for you. I haven’t taken any pictures yet but hope to start soon! Blessings to each of you!!!