After only about a month of waiting and preparing the time came to go to the airport and thankfully I was too excited to be nervous, that is until they made me check my second bag. It was very traumatizing because I was so sure they would lose my bags and I would have NOTHING in Haiti. The first flight was horrible, I was sure I was going to be sick and/or pass out but I made it to Miami and I was so excited to see Jolie I thought I was going to cry.
I got Dramamine before the next flight which changed traveling forever! Thank you Amy.
Haiti
The airport had been greatly improved since Jolie saw it last, there were no men hassling us to help with the bags which was something I had been nervous about. There were some very entertaining alcohol adds in the airport that I really wanted to take a picture of but I wasn't comfortable enough to take out my camera at that point. There was a real baggage claim and my bags were on it, can you believe it?! We found our MOH guide and waited in the parking lot for about a half hour for everyone to gather. There were a lot of men hanging out in the parking lot and I was surprised by the expensive jeans they were wearing but Jolie reminded me they were donations or second hand.
We boarded a school bus to head out when the sun was starting to go down. I was shocked by the people overflowing from vehicles and the heavy traffic, there was a man riding on top of a school bus! The city scene didn't even look real to me it looked like one of those plaster villages you ride through on a tour at Cedar Point or Disney World. As we drove out of the city night fell so there wasn't much to look at but this is when I first realized that the speed limit is not enforced in Haiti, even in a school bus, and they pass pretty much whenever they want and they are not afraid to use the horn. I wasn't too scared because I knew the driver was used to it but the drive was interesting to say the least.
When we arrived at the MOH campus it was time for dinner, the cooks are off Saturday night and Sunday so we had chicken salad. After dinner we divided our donations and got our room assignments. I had been expecting to be in a room with just Amy and Jolie but instead we were in a room with ten other girls as if we were at camp. We had a short orientation before we went to use the internet to check in with our families (this is when we found out we were going to have to pay for internet)
When I went to bed I wrote in my journal that I was "VERY" excited to go to church. Jolie's account of the faith of the Haitian people is what made me interested in visiting in the first place. I also wrote that the highest impact of the day was learning the reasons we couldn't give anything away outside campus (it would create chaos and possibly danger for us and the Haitians) and that there are 47,000 orphans on the waiting list for MOH care-so sad. |
| This is the dormitory with the rooftop deck, our room was on the first floor all the way to the right just outside this picture |
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| Outside our room |
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