Save Arrival

     I made it!  This trip went without any glitches.  The biggest problem was finding a parking spot at O'Hare!  After that it was all smooth sailing.

     The airport in Port-au-Prince has changed since my trip in November.  Instead of coming off the walkway and going down onto the tarmac to hop a shuttle to an old airplane hangar that functioned as immigration, the walkway takes passengers to a newly renovated immigration station that looks just like one in the U.S.  And, the luggage carousels are also new and updated.  The airport even has a couple of shops and other ammenities near baggage claim.  This may not sound like much, but these are major improvements not just since the earthquake but even from before that. 

     I have started to settle in at the guesthouse.  I loved pulling into the compound and seeing the kids again.  Baby Alicia that I wrote about on my Thanksgiving trip is still here.  The adopted mother who was going to take her decided not to.  And, it turns out that "Alicia" is not really Alicia.  Her real name is Christine; the adopted mother wanted to name her Alicia, so that is the name she gave to Gertrude.  I may still call her Alicia just because that's how I know her and because there are already three other Christines here, one Chirstina, and one Christella.  Too confusing.  Some more good news about Alicia/Christine--she is now walking!

   Gertrude and I have been talking about the school plans tonight.  We will most likely go to the land on Sunday and dream about what we want to see in the school and the small guest house (feel free to come visit at some point!). 

     I need to keep unpacking and get settled in.  It seems weird that I will be here for months, which means that I have to figure out where I will put my clothes and toiletries and books and everything else.  Usually I just live out of my suitcase for a week and deal with the clutter.  This time, though, I need to put some order to the chaos so that I can find things and not drive myself crazy.  When I can, I'll take some pictures and try to post them so that you can see where I'm living.

Gotta go.