Digesting Haiti: Part 1

I know it has been a while since I have last posted. I spent the last couple of weeks finishing year end things for both of my jobs and digesting our recent trip to Haiti. I hope everyone had a chance to go and read through all the great stuff at Mission of Hope and Be Like Brit.  If not, you should. 

Well, I am going to be recapping our trip over the next several posts. I'm not sure how many there will be; we'll work on that as we go.

Day 1:

We left Pittsburgh International at 6 am for a connecting flight to Atlanta, then on to Fort Lauderdale, and finally arriving in Port au Prince around 5 pm (or so). The flights down were anticlimactic and I must say that traveling with our group was one of the easiest traveling experiences I have had. The only hitch in traveling was caused by me. While on our way to our terminal in Pittsburgh I got cut of and separated from the group on the escalator. It was a rather embarrassing event. I consider myself to be a well seasoned and swift traveler, but I got cut off by a Grandma while getting on to the down escalator. She swiftly separated me from the other four members of my group and planted herself and her wheeled luggage with no room to pass. My group looked back and laughed at me, as they had no one to impede their downward progress and ran to catch the next tram. I, not wanting to be mocked for the rest of the trip (because I let a Grandma cut me off) and needing to restore my honor; decided to pursue a short cut to the tram. With my fully loaded backpack on and carrying Dave's over stuffed duffel bag I hoped over the side of the escalator and rendezvoused with my group right before the tram doors closed. Honor restored and grandma adverted... in an albeit unconventional but highly effective manner.

In our travels to and from Haiti, I did notice that there was a significant difference between International and  Domestic travelers. On our domestic flights it seemed that everyone boarding the flights forgot how to find their seats, store their luggage, and use the seat belts. It was as if all 200 people on the plane never flew before and were learning how. However, when we boarded our International flight to Haiti, it was smooth sailing. Everyone knew where to go, how to store their luggage, and most importantly how to use their seat belts. I must admit I like flying internationally... it is way smoother (and we didn't all speak the same language; that might have been the key).

When we got in to Port au Prince things went smoother than anticipated (well we weren't really sure of what to anticipate). Our flight out of Fort Lauderdale got delayed a few minutes and by the time we got through customs we were almost an hour later than we should have been. Not a significant problem, except we had no way of getting in touch with our ride to let them know we would be late. So we were left hoping we still had a ride when we got there. And don't you know it, we did!

After customs we met our ride and loaded up into the truck. Danielle, Joy, and Dave climbed inside of the truck, while Chris and I rode in the back with four other Haitian guys and our luggage. It was an awesome trip riding in the back of the truck and something Chris and I looked forward to at every chance. Our destination was Gran Goave which is 60 km (37 miles) west of Port au Prince. This drive took us 4 hours in total (including a 30 minute hike).

A less than busy street in Gran Goave.

I must say that riding through Port au Prince that evening was one of the neatest times of the week. When we left the airport it was still light outside and we got to see bits of the city in the last minutes of daylight. Soon though, evening came and we got to see the city at night. Traveling in Haiti is not like anything in the US. While there are general rules to the road the most important one is "The biggest vehicle gets the right of way". This applies whether you are on the correct side of the road or not. There were a few times we crossed into on coming traffic to pass other slow moving vehicles. It seemed odd to me, but it was just a normal practice for our Hatian driver who executed it perfectly and delivered us safely to Gran Goave.

Danielle in the truck.

The roads in Haiti are a mix of pavement, dirt, and gravel. There were large sections that were still in disrepair from the damage done to then by the earthquake. Couple that with the unreal amount of traffic and the roads are a trip to say the least. Imagine a four lane road packed with vehicles, now insert motor cycles weaving in and out and going between cars, masses of people walking inches from the packed roads, and people selling food and various items in between the vehicles as they pass. The only way to explain it is "logical chaos". It seemed to have no order or rhythm when we first started traveling. But, as we went on, I could begin to see what looked like chaos was actually a series of planned and executed moves by each person. Everyone knew how it worked and flowed in rhythm. It was a very neat thing to see and something I grew fond of quite quickly.

Goats by the road side in Gran Goave.

Arriving and traveling through Port au Prince and Gran Goave was surprisingly comforting. I know it must sound odd. Leaving a country with clean running water, electricity for all, food any time of the day, and all the modern conveniences and trappings you could desire. For a country with burning trash in the streets, more unclean water than clean water, little to no infrastructure, and seemingly chaos everywhere, was comforting. Chris and I had been chatting on the way down and he expressed how excited he was to be going back to a third world country, how every third world country he had been in felt like home. I had never been to a third world country before this, and when we were in the truck and smelling the burning trash for the first time he leaned over to me and said, "I'm home." In that moment I got what he had been feeling and longing for, for a long time. Haiti didn't look like, smell like, or sound like the place I live. But, somehow it felt like home.