Anyway, I started making plans, and as part of Brittney's birthday, in March, I gave her a "ticket" entitling her to 1 free trip to Haiti to meet Mirveneldine. We spent the next 6 months fundraising, planning, packing, and buying gifts for Mirveneldine for and her family.
Finally, November 6th came and Brittney and I set out for the Myrtle Beach airport. (Thanks Dad, for getting up at 3AM to drive us to the airport!!!!!) Brittney and I flew to Ft. Lauderdale, then rented a car and drove to our hotel in Miami. That afternoon and evening we spent at the hotel and were able to meet many of the folks traveling with us. The day was fairly uneventful, minus trying to drive in Miami interstate traffic. CRAZY!!!!!
On the morning of the 7th, we all boarded a plane and had a smooth 2 hour flight to Port Au Prince, Haiti. As we were descending into Haiti, even from thousands of feet in the air, you could see the poverty, tent cities, as well as flood and earthquake destruction. When we landed and debarked the plane the destruction continued. We walked from the plane into the airport through temporary portals because the interior of the airport was still in rubble from the earthquake. From the portal, we climbed on a bus, and took a quick trip to the luggage claim. As we exited the bus we were greeted by musicians playing great Haitian music. When we entered the building portion of the airport, we found nothing more than a large open room with 1 luggage turn-style, 2 wooden booths for the Customs employees and about 4 metal fans mounted in various places along the ceiling for "air conditioning". None the less, the whole airport was buzzing with excitement and anticipation. The group, 25 of us, gathered our belonging and filed out of the airport, one-by-one, like a flock of waddling, luggage lugging ducks! From there were trudged through the 100% humidity, 92 degree November heat, through hundreds of badgering Porters to our bus.
Our bus seated about 23 comfortably, be we had a ton-o-fun fitting a few extra in on flip-down, center aisle streets. Little did we know this bus would be our only "safe haven" for real A/C besides our hotel room! Once on the bus, the fun REALLY began! Driving in Haiti is NOTHING like driving in the US! Haitians drive on the right side of the road, as we do, but that is where the similarities end! I can assure you, driving, or even riding, in a vehicle in Haiti is NOT for the faint of heart! Luckily for us, Jean Baptiste, our driver, was a real pro! The rules of the road are: 1. He who has the bigger vehicle wins, and 2. If you get honked at, you better move over and move FAST! It is common place for one vehicle to pass another while a 3rd vehicle is approaching! If an on-coming vehicle is approaching while your passing a car, your vehicle straddles the center line, and the car your passing drives off onto the shoulder. Stop signs are merely a suggestion and speed limits don't mean squat! Fortunately we only had 2 near misses. One was with a guy pushing a mattress in a wheel barrow and the 2nd was with a goat (3 actually!). If you look at this picture, you will see a truck parked on the right plus 3 "lanes" of traffic heading north. There were just as many heading south. Yea.... this was only supposed to be a 4 lane road!
Our first stop was at a nearby hotel, for lunch. As we traveled to the hotel we traveled down mostly gravel, pot-hole filled roads, past tent cities and road-side markets. If you've ever flown internationally, you know that it really doesn't matter where you go, almost every country has a McDonald's or some other fast food restaurant. Such is not the case in Haiti, at least not in the southern or central portions of the country. I can't speak for the north. As we exited the bus we were escorted to a beautiful room decorated with red table clothes along with 2 napkins; 1 blue one, cascading out of our water glass (yes, it was empty), and 1 white one by our plate. We had a wonderful meal of fish, pork ribs, fried potatoes, corn, and shredded carrots. We were sure to avoid the water and salad bar.
After lunch, we rolled ourselves back onto the bus and headed out on a 2 hour, spellbinding, journey to our resort. This drive was our first real taste of the poverty that abounds in Haiti. No matter where you go, the road-ways are lined with an endless sea of road-side markets. There you can find anything from padlocks, to shoes, clothes, vegetables, and I even saw pigs feet!
The one thing that could not escape me as we drove through Haiti, despite the poverty, despite the trash and filth, Haiti is a remarkable beautiful country! There is no escaping it! As we drove along the road, most times we were enveloped by a shimmering iridescent blue sea to our left and lush, green, towering mountains to our right.
By the time we arrived at our resort it was almost 6 and way past dark. We were greeted by friendly staff at their outdoor reception desk. As we checked in, everyone was entertained by little tan geckos scurrying along the columns and ceiling. One of the unique things about this resort is, with the exception of the bedrooms, EVERYTHING is outdoors. Reception desk, bar, lounge, restaurant and even the snack bar.
After checking in, Brittney and I lugged our bags up 2 flights of stairs to the 3rd floor. Apparently, some of the men had already nabbed all of the bell hops for their luggage! LOL When we entered our room, the first thing we noticed was, it was HOT. I had a moment of panic thinking our rooms wouldn't have A/C. But my fears were quickly put to rest when I spotted the wall mounted A/C. It was a quaint little room. Very simple. A water closet, shower and sink, 2 beds with just a set of plain sheets, thin blanket, and a pillow. My favorite part.... no TV and no phone!
Once dumping our bags, Brittney and I were both racked out within minutes!
Tomorrow, I'll post about the rest of our journey. I was going to put it all here tonight, but I had more to say than what I expected!
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