Made it to Haiti

I arrived in Haiti yesterday around noon after 4 hours in the air and a short layover in the Bahamas to refuel.  About two thirds of the cargo I brought for Cowman’s kindergarten arrived with me – hopefully the rest will be on next Tuesday’s flight. 

Unfortunately, between adjusting to the heat and fighting a sinus infection, I am hoping at most to post some pictures with some captions before I head off to bed (and/or the power goes off).

I flew this time with Missionary Flights International out of Fort Pierce, FL.  A top-notch organization - and very helpful.  I got to sit next to Kate Z., who teaches 1st and 2nd grade at Cowman.  She tells me this is a DC-3.  She knows more about airplanes than I do.
 

Here's the inside - 18 passengers and two pilots and a bunch of cargo.  Met a Haitian pastor returning home with his family after spending 4 years in Pensacola earning his Master of Divinity and also met a family of six from Orange City, Iowa moving down to live and work at a Haitian orphanage.

This is where Melissa will eventually be teaching Kindergarten.  This was before all the furniture was set up - I will try to take better pics of the space next week.

The Bundys are being kind enough to let me share in their family meals while I am here.  They are a sweet family.  Here, their youngest, Christina, opens a letter sent to her by my Princess in Indiana.  The envelope was full of drawings of butterflies.

Jake Bundy showed me how he climbs a coconut tree...

Then I showed him how I climb a coconut tree...

Today I was included in the morning teacher meeting as everyone prepares for school to start on Monday.  Then I got to work on what will ultimately be my classroom, God willing.

Here's how it looked at the end of the day.

One last couple of pics before heading to bed.  This is one of my students, Jacob and he is a soccer fanatic.  Two goals have been constructed at the end of the school yard, but there are no nets.  I post this picture because I want my oldest son, Dats, to see this - he's my soccer player.  I thought maybe Dats would be willing to work with me to figure out a way to get some nets down to Cowman at Christmas time. It's kinda important for the sake of the game because on one end, right behind the goal, is this:

These cacti have already claimed the lives of more than one soccer ball.