Where in the world is Alanna...

I just downloaded a $3 app for my (sorry Garrett's) iPhone that will (hopefully) allow me to post to my blog. I think I have to give a quick shout out to the amazing-ness of technology! I just flew from Los Angeles CA to Denver Colorado in less than 2 hours and I'll be in Miami by the end of the evening. Yes, this trip is taking longer than it should but that's because I'm cheap and bought the least expensive flight, which, not surprisingly, has 2 layovers...each for 2 hours. (side note, layovers are lame). BUT it gives me the chance to tell ya'll what I'm up to. Curretly I'm sitting in a really uncomfortable chair in he Denver airport. I'm eating sour apples (I put a little too much lemon juice on them this morning), trail mix, and drinking very concentrated crystal light. Yum. Outside the window in front of me is a HUGE airport. If any of you have been to the Denver airport, you know how easy it is to get lost, but at least you'll get some good exercise trying to find your next gate. I thought when I was sittin here that I WAS IN the airport... But accross the Tarmac it appears there is another airport entirely.

Well, now that you're thouroughly engaged in this post with my description of where I am in the world, I'll tell you a little bit about my trip to Haiti. After the earthquake struck, I knew I had to get out to Haiti somehow. However, I basically drew the short straw and didn't get the chance. Luckily for me, another opportunity came up! I meet my group tomorrow morning at Miami airport. The flight to Haiti is approximately 2 hours. I don't really know the details yet about what it'll be like there. I do know the hospital is situated in a military base on an airfield. The hospital is made up of 4 large tents and multiple small tents. One of the big tents houses the operating room, the neonatal ICU, the pediatric ICU, and the pediatric floor. All of these are "separated" by curtains. The floor of the hospital is dirt, strewn with rocks and old tree stumps... All of which I'm sure are waiting to grab me by the ankle and show me what Haitian dirt tastes like (and no, mom, I don't fall off the floor anymore...). Another large tent contains my sleeping quarters. I haven't seen it yet, but I picture it something like this: an old musty cot covered by a torn mosquito net, with approximately 4 inches between me and the sweaty man sleeping in the cot next to me. Nothing is gender seperated, including the showers..., and the toilets are porta potties, minus the toilet paper that "modern" American porta potties have. Anyone want to join me?

Despite my poking fun of the miserable living conditions I'll have for a week, I feel truly blessed to help people who live every day with much less than I'll have during this week. Remember that brief description of the ill-equipped hospital I'm heading to? Well, it's the best one the people of Haiti have, and they are coming many miles to be seen here... To WAIT IN LINE for hours to be seen here. Next time you wait for an hour in our nice air conditioned ER, only to receive top of the line healthcare that will mostly be covered by insurance, remember how blessed you are. I may be sweaty, dirty, and exhausted over the next week, but if I can help one child bandage a wound, who otherwise wouldn't have had a bandaid, then my trip will be worth it. Keep coming back. I'll try to post if I can. (I'm told there is a computer). I love you all and hope this week you can find someone to serve as well :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Denver,United States