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After sitting on the plane in the Port au Prince airport for 2 hours while the officials checked a storage area for contraband, only to find out it was some loose insulation, we finally arrived in New York at about 5 pm on Friday evening.  Shad and I both felt some relief being back in the US.  I was so taken aback when the customs guy spoke English to me that I flinched.  I almost said “mesi” to him.  After getting through customs, our first line of business was dinner, good ‘ol American food dinner.  So we found the Italian place and enjoyed some pasta!  As we headed to Dunkin Donuts for dessert, we discovered that our flight home was delayed 2 hours.  Major bummer!  But we made the best of it.  We found a spot at the crowded gate, played on our electronic devices and people watched.  By the time we were getting ready to board at 10 pm, we were pretty giggly.  We watched this video over and over.  As we boarded the plane, we were laughing so hard we were crying. 

The flight home was uneventful (no birds were hit, I guess we had a good pilot), but long.  We were so tired, but it was so hard to sleep on the plane.  We watched movies, played Angry Birds, listened to music and dozed.  The last hour was la-ong!  We landed at home by about 2 am.  I was pretty cranky and so anxious to get home to my bed.  My parents were so good to us.  My dad had texted me in New York saying that our bed was made and ready for us when we got home, and I couldn’t wait!  Getting to our car was a bit of a pain because we parked a little differently than we usually do, but I think it was mostly a pain because we were so tired and just wanted to get home. 

We pulled into the driveway at about 2:45 am.  I could not get out of the MV fast enough!  I dragged two suitcases up the stairs so fast that I didn’t even notice this:

Even Bob missed us.

I checked on the kids, who didn’t even flinch when I kissed them goodnight, brushed my teeth and then my head finally hit my pillow.  Heaven.

I thought we would sleep the morning away, but by 6 am we were awake.  The stupid 3 hour time difference had our bodies all confused.  That 3 hours made a huge impact on us.  I was anxious to get up and see my kids, so an hour later I finally got out of bed.  I had told Shad the night before that every time I thought about seeing the kids I got tears in my eyes and I didn’t know why.  He said, “maybe you just really missed them.”  He was so right.  There was nothing better than hugging those little boogers on Saturday morning.  Bethany sat on my lap with her arms around my neck for 20 straight minutes.  The weekend was a bit rough as we were all so tired.  Church was a HUGE relief yesterday and I was in tears through most of the worship, but the time difference was still with me as I almost fell asleep during the sermon.  By about 6 pm last night I was so cranky and ready for bed, but I knew I needed to push myself to stay up so I could get back on time with the kids and life, so I made it until 9 pm.  Poor Bethany has not fallen asleep on her own since we got home.  She wants to be with Mommy and Daddy.  She came to bed with us the first night and Shad laid in her bed with her last night until she fell asleep.  I can see that she is afraid that when she gets up in the morning Mom and Dad won’t be there, so I say over and over that we will see her in the morning.

It felt good to get up this morning to our regular routine: getting the big kids ready for school, doing my workout, etc.  I was ready to just be normal.  But when I went to put on my shoes, I realized that I am not “normal” anymore.  I was reminded of our trip to Haiti and of the beautiful Haitian people as I looked at my shoes still covered with the primer that we painted on the walls at the Women’s Educations Center and as I noticed the dirt from Haiti still in the treads of my shoes.  As I did my work out, my mind was racing with thoughts.  They were not thoughts about what I would do today.  I was trying to think about how to tell all the stories I have in my mind and heart about our trip.  People want to know, they want to hear, but I don’t know how to tell.  Haiti is not just a charity case.  It is a beautiful country full of people that are simply living their lives the same way we do, the best that they can with what they have.  I don’t know how to tell the stories respectfully and gracefully, so I’m still trying to figure this all out.  I promise to share pictures and stories soon.  I want to get them all down so I don’t forget, but I’m not quite ready to do it yet.  I thank God that Shad and I had the honor of traveling to Haiti, meeting the people and learning so much about their culture and lives.  And, today, as they recognize the 5 year anniversary of the earthquake, I pray that God would continue to be present in their lives, showing them His grace, mercy and love.  The stories will come and when they do, I will share.  In the mean time, I’m going to enjoy my kids and try to figure out how to do life as a slightly different person.