What it really means to hit the ground running

Made it! Safe and sound and exhausted but thrilled to finally have arrived.
My first 24 hrs in Haiti...

"Expect nothing and prepare for anything"- my mantra.

Land in PAP at 9AM: emotional landing as we could already see the vast fields of tents and rubble and military tanks. Looks like a war zone with thousands of refugees in the streets and fields. The US military is everywhere and UN tanks regularly driving down the streets. The airport is busy, cargo planes, military helicopters and now commercial flights. Feels unreal to have this setting as a backdrop.
Took almost 2 hours to push and shove our way thru the piles of luggage and masses of passengers running around all over the place. Hallelhuia for us making it thru customs without much trouble. luggage was a blast. Felt right at home in the chaos - pushing and shoving your way, hoping to find your bags intact. Mine were (thank God - all that tape held and
noone broke the locks). I smoozed myself thru customs, busting out the little creole I know and putting my haitian accent to the test. Turns out it worked and I managed to get Molly and Cheryl to go thru without any glitches. Then the wait. Someone was supposed to be picking us up. We end up getting a hold of one of the chauffeurs and after a couple of hours of waiting patiently, he finally arrives to take us to Carrefour. Crossing the arrivals gate to go into the street was quite an ordeal as everyone just grabs at the luggage - offering to take it to the Jeep for us in exchange for a quick tip.

Bumpy and not too long road to Carrefour. It's actually hard to tell the difference between
the temporary shacks that were set up after the quake from those that have always existed. Aside from the massive piles of rumble one sees every few blocks, the streets look the same as
they always have and people are going about their daily life so non chalantly it's strange to think of how much loss they have suffered and are still grieving since the quake. Resilience,

strength and powerful faith. The markets are open, vendors are selling, buses and traffic as usual.