Haiti, Day 1

Well, I’m in Haiti.  Crazy, right?  Well, we flew out of Salt Lake last night at about midnight and landed in New York around 6am (NY & Haiti time).  The first flight was okay.  I sat in the aisle, Ang in the window, and Greg in the middle.  Ang slept pretty well but Greg & I did not sleep at all.  I read Game of Thrones on my Kindle, played a few fill-in puzzles, listened to music.  All good stuff.  I didn’t really even attempt to sleep because I knew I would not be able to and I would just end up frustrated.  So we arrived at JFK and had about a two hour layover.  We ate breakfast, sat around, and then boarded our next flight to Port-au-Prince.  This flight was about the same except, I did sleep a little.   I thought it would maybe make the flight go faster, but if anything it went slower.  The flight attendants passed out customs forms that we all filled out and then we (finally) landed in Haiti.

We got off the plane and immediately were hit with the heat and humidity.  We boarded a bus that took us to the terminal (if you can call it that) where we got our passports stamped (hooray!) and grabbed our bags.  We went out the main doors and were immediately swarmed with men in red hats.  They all want to help you with your bag in exchange for a tip.  We were told not to tip a guy until we arrived at the van but figured we’d get a few dollars out and be ready.  The guy helping us saw, took the money, and left.  Whoops.  Mind you, someone else took his place immediately but it was still funny.  So a lady from Helping Hands for Haiti (the place we are staying) met us outside and led us to our bus.  It was air-conditioned which felt absolutely amazing.

Anyways, the parking lot was a mess and it took us a while to get out of there.  Once we did, we hit the streets.  It was insane.  There are basically no lanes, and in lots of places, not enough space for two cars to pass each other.  And people drive like maniacs.  I thought we were going to die multiple times.  Plus, people will just randomly walk across the street so our driver kept hitting the brakes pretty hard.  The streets are lined with people under umbrellas, all selling things.  Fruit, movies, clothes, etc.  And the buildings and homes are in horrible condition.  Most just have random pieces of metal, wood, and tarps for a roof.  It is unlike anything I have ever seen before.

We arrived at HHH’s compound and started getting settled in.  All the girls are in one room and it is pretty squishy.  There really isn’t enough room to get organized which is making me crazy.  There isn’t even room to put my suitcase away; it’s just kind of shoved next to my bed.  So after we got semi-settled, we took a quick tour of the compound.  There are multiple armed guards walking around and a lot of rubble from the earthquake.  We are completely surrounded by massive trees, some of which carry fruit.  The fruit (mostly mangos) randomly falls from the tree and it scares me every time.  Hopefully I don’t get hit in the head!

Anyways, after the tour Ang, Greg, & I played some games.  We played Banana Grams and Pass the Pig until dinnertime.  We ate dinner (which was… interesting) and now everyone is pretty much just hanging out.  Some people have been sleeping but I have been holding off, hoping that it will help me sleep tonight.  It seems too hot to sleep but I basically haven’t slept in over 24 hours so hopefully it’ll work!  Anyways, I am off to bed.  Wish me luck!