Arrival Day ~ Exhausting

Arriving to Haiti was interesting to say the least! We waited in line to go through immigration. The woman at the desk was less than pleasant. Apparently I didn’t write the address to the hotel very well because she didn’t “understand the address”. Not understanding her Shawn pulled out his driver’s license so she could see our address, which we assumed she didn’t understand. Wrong address!! <Insert idiot tone here!> J  

We got it squared away and were able to pass through to the line for customs. In the line for customs Shawn thought for sure we would get pull aside to go through our luggage. Fortunately the guy just asked us a few questions and we were allowed to proceed without having our bags checked, so we headed to the baggage claim.

Oh, the baggage claim. This was another fun time after having a long day of travel. We got a couple carts and Shawn located our first two checked bags. Then we waited…and we waited…and waited some more. I knew I had seen one of our missing bags get put on the conveyor belt to board the plane, so I knew it made it to Haiti with us. We checked the other baggage claim carousel – nothing! We were the last ones waiting for luggage and there were no other bags left. I suggested Shawn check the other side where we couldn’t see and sure enough they had been taken off the bet and put on the floor.  We are so thankful they were there and not taken!

I didn’t even mention the baggage handlers that are very persistent in helping you whether you want them to or not. I said lots of “Non, merci.” “Non, merci”. While I stopped to purchase a phone and minutes to use while we are in Haiti, Shawn waited for me and almost witnessed a brawl between two baggage handlers that apparently were trying to help the same person. It is serious business. We were very well taken care of by our hotel staff, who had a sign with our name to let us know where to wait for the shuttle. They ushered our luggage in a room and had us wait in the room while they called the shuttle. It was nice to sit in a secure place out of the hustle and bustle.

When the shuttle arrived our hotel staff and a person that we believe was a persistent baggage handler escorted us to the shuttle. The baggage handler didn’t understand why I kept telling him we were all set. He ended up saying he was with the hotel...we don’t believe that was the case. He insisted we tip more than we had already given to the hotel staff. This girl right here is NOT a city girl…THAT is for sure!! I was very happy to get to the hotel with all of our luggage. An experience I certainly will not forget. J