Day 10: February 22, 2010

This morning while having one of the best night's of sleep since I arrived in Haiti, we were all suddenly awakened by an earthquake that shook our home and shook us up. Some of us had experienced some minor aftershocks during the week, which could best be described as minor vibrations. I am not sure how long the earthquake lasted, probably only seconds, but it was enough to get most of us out of bed and moving. I remember thinking as I lay in bed feeling the quake, trying to rouse myself from sleep that if it didn't stop soon we were going to be in trouble. But then I realized that this building had survived the intial quake and we were going to be okay. It was still scary to be honest. Imagine getting safely through a week in Haiti to be in an earthquake on the day you are scheduled to leave! Although we had the luxury of leaving Haiti, the poor Haitians did not. You could hear their screams of terror outside, further reinforcing to them that being indoors is not safe.



A few of us were too shook up to stay indoors and went outside until dawn. The rest of us tried to catch a few more hours of sleep, though it was not as sound as before. Most of us were dressed and ready in case something else happened, but fortunately nothing did. Around 7am we began cleaning our home and packing our final things. We gathered on the rooftop to wait for our vans, all eager to leave Haiti. Most of the people living in the compound were awake. Nikah, my first friend in Haiti, was there to greet me with sad brown eyes. She knew we were leaving. She tried to give me the last remains of the candy we had given out the night before, but I couldn't let her give up that treasure. When the vans arrived some tears were shed as we said our last goodbyes. I held Nikah close, prayed God would give her a happy and full life, and gave her my pink watch to remember me by. A small gift, but it put a smile on her face.



We arrived at the Haitian airport without complication and waited for our flight. We were all relieved to know that everything was going as planned. The plane we boarded thankfully was huge and "normal sized" and each of us had a row to ourselves for the flight to Miami with a surprise lunch included. Some of us caught a quick nap on the way home.

As we touched down in Miami I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed. Compared to the devastation in Haiti it was a beautiful sight. In Miami we said goodbye to Dr. Lee, Chad and Vanessa Carpenter as they headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Charlotte, and Roanoke. The rest of us loaded into another passenger van and caught our flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta. By this time most of us were fantasizing about the wonderful meal we would eat in Atlanta. But in our terminal our options were Wendy's, a Samuel Adams restaurant, or a Popeyes. Most of us ended up with a burger, fries, and a Frosty..heaven on earth! I am sure the people around us thought were were a little crazy swooning over some french fries.

Once we boarded the plane to Greensboro at 8:55pm we had another complication....the Delta flight had too much weight on board. We waited over an hour for a truck to come siphon off over 700 lbs of fuel so we could fly safely. By this time we were all exhausted and ready to just get to our loved ones waiting for us in Greensboro. I don't even remember the plane taking off because I was asleep by the time we left the airport.

When we finally arrived in Greensboro Janet, Rachel, and I couldn't wait for the others....we hurried down the hall where Jon and Scott were waiting for us. I ran to Jon and flung my arms around him....finally!! Tears were shed as couples were reunited. It was a bittersweet moment as we said goodbye to our friends. We finally arrived home shortly after 2am....and the first place I headed was my shower! It was a wonderful end to a long day.