what day is it, anyway?

this weekend has been such a blur. i mean, more-so than the rest of the past 2 weeks. Friday, we finally got the travel documents we needed to get 15 of our kids out of haiti and to their families in the states. there are still 7 children that we were not able to get the paperwork for, but we went ahead and left with the 15. it was an interesting ride, that's for sure! we left haiti on a military plane and arrived in Orlando at 11:30 pm. we were taken to a room that consisted of a table, chairs, a television (thankfully), blankets and snacks. and that is where some of us spent the next 16 hours. through-out the night, the children were taken one by one to get finger printed and someone went over their documents. most of the children slept rather well. the kids really did great overall with the whole crazy experience. they were champs on the loud plane. maybe a little unsure of all that was going on (and of course had no idea what was happening or why) but they went with the flow. sleeping on hard floors. eating crackers and snacks. seeing new things and new people. this probably didn't bother the kids as much as it did the adults-- but we could feel the room shaking with each plane that took off and landed. our first thought was - aftershock! then we would quickly realize we were not in haiti and it was not an aftershock. :) the parents started picking up their kids sometime Saturday morning. i'm not really sure what time that started. but we had to stay until the last child was picked up- we stayed in that room until around 3:30. by the time we got to our condo (some of the families stayed in Orlando instead of heading right back out) it was around 5pm. in a way, it felt like it was still Friday. but it also felt like Friday was weeks ago. i just couldn't keep track of what day it was. and i was constantly forgetting that i was in Orlando and not haiti. after settling in, Saturday evening was quite relaxing. i shared a room with three other ladies that had also escorted the children home. the group ordered pizza. we snatched up the pizza and hid out in our room watching meaningless TV and fell asleep early. it was divine. then both of the ladies had flights this afternoon to go back to their homes in the states. i went with them to the airport to try to get a flight to ft. lauderdale, as i had arranged a charter flight out of there for Monday morning. it was kind-of weird going to the airport without a real plan! but i was able to catch a flight and the group i will be flying with had also reserved a few hotel rooms- so i was set for that once i arrived in ft. lauderdale. and here i am. today is sunday. i'm in ft. lauderdale. it's been 12 days since the earthquake. these are things i have to keep reminding myself.