Hello from Cyvadier

Hello from Haiti
We arrived safely tonight about 8:30 PM. Our trip started at the Peoria airport. We boarded a Peoria Charter Coach at 11:45 PM on Monday. The temperature outside was -3 degrees F and we were cold as we put in 50 50lb bags and totes on the cargo bay of the bus. No one was late and we took off a little after midnight. The team played a DVD on the way up to O’Hare so n sleeping on the bus. We arrived at O’Hare about 2:45 AM and unloaded the bus. At 4 AM some American Airlines people arrived and we were all checked in by 4:30 AM. TSA opened about 4:50 AM and we passed through and headed for the coffee bar. Yours truly failed to follow the TSA 3-1-1 rule and almost lost his shave cream, shampoo, toothpaste etc. Luckily we had an extra zip lock bag to put them in and I got a good lecture from the TSA lady. Yes, I deserved it! We departed Chicago only after waiting 450 minutes for the mechanics to put the proper tire pressure in the airplanes tires. A favorable tail wind got us to Miami just a little late. We had to walk from terminal A top Terminal e. It is listed as a 16 minutes walk but it was good exercise. We met up with Leigh Behrens from San Francisco and Garron and Sharon Lukas from South Carolina at the gate area. We ate a nice lunch at the Mexican restaurant in the E Concourse. We arrived in Haiti at 4:20 and it too till 5 PM to get our bags, get through customs and get on the buses. We loaded the bags on a third vehicle and off we went. It took almost 1 ½ hours to get out of Port-Au-Prince proper. The roads were filled with crazy driver, people trying to sell drinks and food. The sidewalks were packed with people and more vendors. Each major intersection was a 5 minute challenge or more to get through. At the south edge of Port-Au-Prince the road has deteriorated into a rocky, pothole filled, dusty, then muddy road. We could not proceed with any speed and that allowed more people to try to sell us water in small vinyl bags, soft drinks, fried plantains, bread, and who knows what else. The sights and smells of Port-Au-Prince have improved but only slightly. Next came the challenge of the mountains. We were told that there are 365 turns as we went up and sown the mountain roads and I believe them. It would be easy to get motion sick from the diesel fumes, dust, and burning garbage smells, let alone the twisting ride. As I said, we made it safely to the clinic, unloaded the bags, ate supper, had a quick team meeting, and unpacked a little. Donna and I have had our showers and it is 11:17 PM and I am off to sleep as the last time I had sleep was early on Monday morning. I hope to finish this in the morning and get it published. I do want to than you for your prayers for our safety.