All in a day....

Wednesday May 4 was a day we have been anticipating.. The return of Preston and Apphia and their family. We have grown to love them a lot, and working with them as a team has been a privilege. They had been gone on a two week furlough, and even tho everything went well while they were gone, we anxious  to have them back.

We decided to take Jorden and Kayte and the four of us go in to Port to pick them up. Just the time out with Jess was a treat. The school children were looking forward to spending time with Janella after school. All was set.

Soon after we left we got word that Prestons might miss their flight. Then, we heard they were on track. So we continued on.

Jess made special effort to stop along the rode where lots of vendors were selling bicycles. To Jorden and Kaytes delight, he found them each a bike. Now they have a piece of their "life in the US" back!

Lunch at the VOL French Restaurant was special. Located at the end of the runway, and seated on the second story, we have full view of planes taking off and landing right over our heads. For the children, the "just like McDonalds" type playground is a highlight. We meandered through lunch, enjoying the special food and the time together. We were in great time for picking prestons up, so Jess stopped at a hardware store just to acquaint himself with what they carry. Then the phone call.

Prestons missed their flight due to weather and had to reschedule for the following day. Stuck in Ft. Myers with luggage and a tired family, my heart went out to them.

We started for home. With no idea if their flight would be early or late,  not having all our family together, and really not prepared to spend the night in Port, it seemed like the best option.

But, it wasn't to be a fast trip home.

First, a police stop. Our windows are tinted. No go.
We show the paperwork for them being tinted.

Oh, so now its because Jess didn't have his seat belt on.
A phone call to Richa ( our Haitian contact) and we were soon on our way. He seems to have a way with people like that, even the police.:)

A hour  or so later we come up to stopped traffic.
Ugh oh.
Roadblock. Demonstrations. 
These things  are frustrating. Sometimes it because of political reasons. This time  we heard it was because the people are wanting electric in their town. They will stop tap-taps or semi's, (usually larger vehicles) make them park across the road to block it, then either slice or burn the tires. It holds up traffic for hours and hours. I haven't heard if it got them electric or not:P
We waited for what felt like much longer than what it was, i'm sure, and FINALLY got moving past the unfortunate vehicles. Arriving home around 9:30, we were so thankful to be safe.

Jess got up around 5:30 and retraced the route to try for Prestons again. This time they had an early flight and around 10, it looked like he would soon be on his way back. Everything went well until they came back through the same town we had seen the demonstration in the night before. By this time Prestons poor family had been traveling for over 24 hours, and wouldn't you know, the wait for the demonstration to clear for traffic to pass was FOUR HOURS.

When they finally arrived last night, weary and worn, we were thankful that they were here, and safe.

It was just another couple of days in Haiti..........