Well, I’m halfway to Haiti anyway. Over the past several weeks people have been asking me two questions… “Are you ready to go to Haiti?” and “Are you excited to go to Haiti?” Both of those questions were always answered with, “I will be.” That “I will be” translates to the fact that I knew I wouldn’t be ready up until the time I was driving to the airport... and about that same time is when I’d start to get excited. This past month has been busy to say the least. Everyone already knows how busy the holidays are. Family gatherings, Christmas shopping and preparation, and all of the festivities in between. My dad’s birthday is two days before Christmas. Mine is three days after. My brother’s is the first week of January. And if that weren’t enough to keep me bustling around, I had to move out of my house by December 31^st. Oh, and not to mention packing and preparing for Haiti. With all that going on, I knew that I would be busy up until the very last minute before my departure. And indeed I was! Of course I have been excited and looking forward to heading down for my third trip to Haiti, but I have a hard time truly experiencing that excitement until I clear everything else off my plate. With my bags finally packed and myself heading out the door, I was ready and my excitement was growing.

There was still, however, one pre-Haiti experience I was not looking forward to. The best deal on a flight I could find put me into Miami around midnight, and I wouldn’t fly from there to Port-au-Prince until 8:30am the next morning. Flights with more reasonable layovers were upwards of $200-400 more. With my small budget, I knew it would be best to find a way to spend the night at the airport. I even researched information from other travelers and one thing they all agreed on was that the Miami airport, like most, stays around 60 degrees and is bright and loud with constant announcements. I still needed to give it a shot, dreading it as I was. Then, at the last-minute, Grant offered to cover my stay at a hotel. So that certainly perked me up! Even for a brief time I could sleep in a warm bed and not have to worry about someone messing with me or my belongings. I landed in Miami and was welcomed by… cold! I thought I would have escaped that by now! It was in the low 40s. I headed outside to find the shuttle. There were many hotel shuttles, but none that were what I needed. I called a friend who finally found me the number of the hotel I needed. They don’t have a shuttle. And a taxi would cost around $35 each way. That was out. The whole point was for me to save money, and I wasn’t prepared to pay $70. I thought I found a solution with a private shuttle service. It was closer to $20 each way. A tad more reasonable, though I hated to even pay that. But I started the process and while waiting for the shuttle, I called them to arrange a pick up in the morning. They wouldn’t be able to pick me up in the morning in time for my flight, so alas, I was back to another $35 taxi ride. A bit disappointed, I ended up cancelling the whole idea and went back to try to find a safe place in the airport. I felt bad since Grant had already made my reservation, but it just wasn’t a good option to spend over half the cash I brought with me.

I tried unsuccessfully to find a warm and comfortable spot. Sleeping was not going to be easy even though I was exhausted. I tried a spot for about 45 minutes, then I needed a change. One tip I remembered from my “sleeping in the Miami airport” google search… there is a chapel in an obscure area of the airport. Supposedly, it’s great for women traveling alone because there is a lock on the door. It was in the farthest terminal, but I figured it was worth a shot. I walked by hundreds of sleepy travelers, sprawled out in every place and fashion imaginable. One lady even brought a huge air mattress. I envied her! I finally found the chapel and it was miraculously unlocked and empty. I praised God, locked the door, and tried to get comfy enough on the floor. It was after 1am. I drifted in and out of sleep for a couple hours. And then around 3:15am someone started pounding on the door. It was a stocky man and from behind the glass, I couldn’t convince him to leave. He kept insisting in Spanish that the door shouldn’t be locked. He had an airport badge. I thought to myself, “Great… I’m going to have to let this man in here with me. I’m in the most abandoned part of the airport. And I’ve watched too many episodes of CSI!” I let him in and just prayed he was an honest guy. I tried asking him if he was coming to pray. I certainly didn’t want to keep anyone from that. He didn’t speak English, but I soon learned that he wasn’t there to meet with God, he was there to text loudly and then fall asleep loudly. He snored. “Must be nice to sleep!” I muttered. Because I sure wasn’t going to fall asleep with some stranger in there with me! About 20 minutes later one of his friends came in. Even better. Two men and silly little me. Thankfully, they were simply using it for their nap time as well. I wanted to ask if they were on the clock, but I didn’t. I stayed (sitting up) for another hour or so and then headed out after two more people came in. “A fiesta,” I thought to myself. No thanks!

The rest of the airport was busy again. Most people were out of their zombie state and waiting in check-in lines. I treated myself to Starbucks (the last for a while), and went to get my boarding pass. You can imagine how happy I was to hear that my flight has been delayed from 8:30am to 1pm. So here I sit. Waiting. Wireless internet is $5 for 30 minutes, so I suppose I’ll sit here, listen to some tunes, and fight sleep… maybe allowing myself to give in just a bit…

Haiti will be a breeze compared to this! And… it will be warm! Hallelujah! :)