When it rains...it pours, or cancels flights

My eyes popped open and searched for the clock, 6:03, you've got to be kidding. This was a morning I could actually sleep in a little, but it seems my weeks of early alarms has eliminated my ability to wake up much past 6. I rolled over, hoping to get a few more minutes of shut eye when my phone started going off. I groped at my desk...remote, no, mouse, no, phone, wrong one. Finally my fingers found the source of the vibration, my US phone. Brenton, my boyfriend, should be leaving about now for the airport, starting his long day of traveling to Trinidad. I quickly realized that this was not good news as I focused on the word "cancelled." His 7am flight from Moline to Chicago had been cancelled, and he had prepared to hop in the car to drive the 3 hours to Chicago when he found out that all the flights from O'Hare would be cancelled or delayed due to a huge storm cell going through the city. Much of a delay in Chicago would cause him to miss his connection in Miami to Trinidad...so his entire flight schedule was postponed until the next day. (Luckily he had the trip insurance and they rescheduled everything for the next day as well as postponing his return flights a day for no charge).

Needless to say, I felt pretty much like I had been punched right in the stomach. I had begun the countdown for him to be here about a week ago, and now I had to reset it, add back that 24 hours. At least I had planned a distraction for the day, working on a Habitat for Humanity house, originally it was to keep myself busy since the day would be spent in anxious anticipation of his 10:05pm arrival. Now it would serve as a distraction for my disappointment and a means for working out the frustration. So I packed my lunch, grabbed my sunscreen, pocketed some taxi money and headed out the door. As my taxi pulled up to the Habitat House, I was a dollar short in my pocket money so I searched my bag for my wallet, and searched....and searched, and... Nope. No wallet. No money. This taxi driver was very nice and accepted my $3 instead of $4, but I was pretty sure the other 3 taxis I would need to take to get home wouldn't be so cool with a rain check on the fare. I had made friends with the builders and would be back next week, I could borrow and pay them back. It would be fine, it would be fine, I'll be ok, I'll be ok, this internal dialog was barely containing the welling panic.

Full blown panic came about 20 minutes later. I was sitting with the the father of the family the house was for and received a call that said the builders weren't coming today. The break down was imminent. Brenton wasn't coming, my distraction was pulled out from under me and I don't have a cent to my name to get home. I almost expected a rabies infected dog to come bite me, the sky to open up and let rain pour down and the chickens fluttering around the build site to come peck my left eye out. Luckily, just about the opposite happened. The father sat and talked to me for awhile, telling me about his story (which made me feel like a big overreacter, knowing what he had gone through in his life!)and he had a friend that would be able to take me home. He also gave me a bunch of mangos and some real-deal eggs...he pulled them straight out of a near by chicken's nest. This guy was a personal ray of sunshine.

The rest of the day actually went really well. They took me home, there were 5 of us in the back seat...me, the father, a the driver's 6 year old daughter, wife and the wife was HOLDING their 7 week old baby. Dave, another fulbrighter, also had a bad morning, so we met for ice cream and a movie to lift our spirits. I also received a call from my mentor saying that the Ministry of Health had officially approved my project and forwarded their approval to the facilities I would be working with. This was actually a huge break through for my project, so I guess the day ended pretty well! And on a side note, I think the rainy season officially started today because it is POURING, if this rain delays Brenton's flight...


One of the stray dogs that hangs out at the build site...looks pretty vicious huh, ready to attack at any moment!


A rooster strutting around, we got the eggs in that hiding place to the right of the picture.


The build site the first day I arrived. They haven't poured the foundation yet, but it is looking a bit more ready for it now. I can't wait to see it finished, the family is so wonderful!