Arrival

It is hard to express my first thoughts of seeing Haiti...the best way I can sum it up is this: (1) it reminded me of being in NYC where there's always someone wanting to make a buck by doing something you're not interested in having them do...but times 10 (2) I was immediately as desensitized to the poverty in Haiti as I am to violence on TV in America.  It was everywhere.

Like any city, people were all over the place.  I loved seeing the people and trying to soak it all in.  I would have loved to walk around talking to random strangers, getting their stories, seeing what their lives were really like...but it was way too unsafe for that (or so I'm told.  The invincible side of me doesn't think so, but I know I'm wrong.  Ha.)

The orphanage we were staying/working at was 12 miles outside of Port au Prince in La Plain.  12 miles takes about 45 to 60 minutes.  Part of the travel included riding on one of two paved national highways.  The other part included bumps, bumps, and more bumps.  We got to the orphanage and were immediately bombarded by children willing and wanting to love us and to be loved on.  It was a bit overwhelming, but in a great way.  Without thinking, you find a kid, pick him up, hug him, and try to make a friend.

Eventually, we went to set up camp.  And when I say camp, I mean camp.  The fellas shacked up in a room downstairs while the ladies occupied some vacant space upstairs.  Courtney and I borrowed a tent from Epsie and accumulated some sleep mats and sleep sacks.  We had two battery powered fans and iPods to help us fall asleep.  We Deeted up and headed down for supper.

I'm going to be honest: I've come to appreciate meat in America in ways I never thought possible.  I take for granted the fact that I can order a piece of chicken and it comes in one piece, typically a breast without any bones.  I'll say this: we continued to joke throughout the week that our food was "bone in."  Seriously, you had to look out or else you'd be chomping down on some unwanted marrow.  Fried  plantains and some various fried meats later, we hung out for a bit and then decided to shower before bed.

The orphanage had guest showers that were pretty nice.  You're not able to drink the water or flush toilet paper.  There's also the motto, "If its yellow, let it mellow; if its brown, flush it down."  The shower had a stream unlike my shower at home, yet nothing to complain about.  Though the water was cold, it felt great and helped un-stickify you.  After showering, Courtney and I headed across the campus to the tent (oh, yes, I forgot to mention the bathrooms are quite a bit detached).  We settled in for a long winter's nap...