I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

I wrote this in the airport on the way back to Haiti:

Current status: in Houston airport, trying to pass the time as I wait for my delayed flight. I'm anticipating my arrival into Miami at 12:30am, and I'll try to figure out a productive way to spend my time while waiting in Miami. Sleeping sounds like a splendid idea.

I believe that in every post, I apologize for not writing more frequently, and I think I will stop the apologies and the feeling guilty. For the past five weeks, I have been visiting people in Oregon. At this moment, I am traveling back to Haiti, to work in another clinic.

Being in the airport or any vehicle associated with the airport, it's difficult not to keep a stone-faced, angry-looking expression on your face, when in fact you're simply trying to take in all there is to see and experience. Being overwhelmed with the movement of people is one thing. Then there are the languages. Then there's the anxiety of getting to your assigned gate that seems always to be assigned to the other end of the airport, as a twisted sort of test, with 20 minutes alotted for running time.

Nowhere else can boast the international diversity of an airport, except maybe the vicinity of Port-au-Prince. This is mainly due to the response after the earthquake, with the UN troops and charity organizations infesting the area surrounding Port-au-Prince (smartly, they are not inhabiting Port-au-Prince proper...it is not yet safe enough to be home to strangers who don't know the country very well). I personally know a handful of UN troops, from Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Nepal, but there are also troops from Canada, France, Bolivia, Honduras, Hong Kong, Japan, India, the United States, and more whom I have forgotten but am not any less grateful for.

Continental just called for Miami passengers to prepare for boarding, and this makes only an hour delay! I am only 13 hours from arriving in Haiti! It's so close, I can practically taste it. Feeling the blazing sun (that always seems to be closer and hotter and crueler than the hottest summer days in Oregon) as soon as I step off the plane. The insatiable desire to find a pool or any for of cooling off. Becoming reaccustomed to the stares and strange but distinguishable language. I am looking forward to it.

Addendum, 29 July: I am at this moment in Haiti, at the house of the America Solidaria volunteers, getting ready to make pancakes for dinner. Breakfast for dinner is my favorite, and we also have some homemade strawberry jam that I made and some manjar (like caramel or dulce de leche) from Chile that we will use in place of syrup. I have been in search of other NGOs, applying for positions with hospitals in the area, and asking anyone I can think of in order to secure a long-term nursing position in Haiti. I spent all morning out riding around to give out resumes and talk with directors and such, and I have quite a sunburn to show for it.

When I do make a final and definite decision about what will happen in the upcoming few weeks, I will post another entry. For now, be sure that all is well, besides the heat, and it just started raining. Thank God for that.