TRAPPSTR

Haiti day one update

Posted on 20. Feb, 2010 by Brett in God

I’m sitting in a little dining room on the 2^nd floor of the Hotel Paradis in Petionville, Haiti. One of the few hotels unaffected by the earthquake and home to tons of aid workers. It’s a sunny, warm day here. There is a door open to a little courtyard area and a balcony. A breeze is blowing in and a rooster just crowed. An aid worker who helps orphanages is sitting on the balcony, on her laptop, and listening to Tim McGraw’s “Live Like you Were Dying.” In the distance you can hear the sound of hammers and electric saws.

We crossed the Haitian border last night around 6pm after 28 hours of travel from Atlanta. 7 hours earlier we had jumped on a little rental bus with a group of 12 Mormon men from Idaho at the airport in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We wove through downtown Santo Domingo where locals walk through the middle of the streets selling everything from roasted corn to large colorful posters showing multiplication tables. We eventually got out of the city and into the countryside.

DR is a semi-tropical paradise with ridiculous agriculture. We passed massive banana groves and vast red fields dotted with women picking tomatoes. And there were fields of some plant that we all swore was marijuana (but were assured it wasn’t). Street vendors sold their produce—bananas, tomatoes, plantains, onions, oranges, tangerines. We stopped off for food at a little market in a mountain town. Everyone got a kick out of the guy in the bathroom, standing at a urinal, holding a rooster. I saw him later in the market. He was proud of that bird.

The drive into Haiti was long (about 18 hours) and uncomfortable (18 people and way too much luggage for a bus not built to hold such), but it was fascinating. We had several kids come up to our windows waving and rubbing their bellies. We saw a little boy walking down a dusty road holding a line of fish he had caught. We saw lots of goats and pigs, big pigs. Pigs-like-hippos-pigs.

We finally crossed into Haiti. Lots of activity at the border—guys with guns, street vendors. Never realized that the vast majority of Haiti was untouched by the earthquake. After an hour or so we got to the border of Port-au-prince where the damage really started. It was dusk, but the streets were absolutely packed with people. Didn’t seem like anyone was in their homes. I was told that was partially a cultural thing and partially due to the fact people are terrified of another earthquake. Commerce is definitely alive and well on the streets. This is a country full of entrepreneurs. Once the dark had fully set in, I remember seeing an old lady—probably 65—sitting on the sidewalk with a small table of things to sell. There was one lone candle, pencil-thin, sitting in the middle of the table. This was her world.

We finally made it to the LDS church in Petionville where our Mormon friends were staying. We weren’t exactly sure where our hotel was so I summoned the help of the Twitter-verse which, of course, came through with flying colors (thank you @Weddressproject, Kyle, Brad, Anna, Ben, Michael, and Rachel). We found a lady at the church who said she knew that address and that she’d take us. 30 minutes later her friend arrived who she said would take us. He wanted $30 to drive us 15 minutes. I offered $25. He said $30. Deal. (#bargainingfail). Well, that 15 minute drive in a rickety Honda Civic turned into 30 minute fiasco through the darkened streets of Petionville. We stopped and got gas. We stopped and asked for directions. Twice. On the lost scale, I’d say we were an easy 7.5. Our driver didn’t speak English so we couldn’t communicate anything to him. Of course, this would be the same time that my cell phone died. So here we were, 3 white guys and an African American driving through the ghostly streets of Haiti with a total stranger and no contact with the outside world—redefining youthful American naivety, haha. But God knew where we were, and we made it safely to our hotel. Our friend Chris was there to meet us. I was a bit relieved (#hugeunderstatement).

Got some much needed sleep last night. Heading out into Port-au-Prince in a few minutes. Not sure what to expect. Thanks for your prayers so far, guys. Please keep sending them our way. I’ll update as much as possible. Love you all.

Brett