Day 2 (Part 2)- Saturday March 27, 2010-Trip to Haiti

Day 2- Part Two- Crossing the border into Haiti

Crossing the border was a bit nerve-racking mostly because of the language barrier. As we crossed into Haiti, we had to get off the bus and show our passport. We had no idea what to expect so we just followed the crowd. As we got back on the bus and settled back in our seats the bus started to leave. I looked over and noticed that the person sitting across from us before was no longer there. We still don’t know if she made it back on the bus or not. We also noticed about 8 fire extinguisher boxes in the bathroom that were not there before…hmmmm. As we continued on our journey, we noticed that the two-lane road was very narrow. On one side of the road was a rock wall and on the other side was the ocean, literally a few feet away. One wrong move and we would fall in. The roads were not paved at this point either so let’s just say I tried not to look out much. I did look out to see a male stripping down to nothing and washing his clothes in the ocean though!

This part of the trip is where we began to get nervous. The night before our taxi driver told us that our trip would take about 6 hours, but the end was nowhere near. As we traveled on, we were starting to see the damage from the earthquake more and more. The houses were indescribable. But the people seemed happy. People were talking and laughing out in the streets and generally enjoying each other’s company. As the sun started to set I began to panic. I knew we were not supposed to be traveling after dark and that our site was another 20 miles at least from Port Au Prince. We had a driver waiting for us at the bus station somewhere between 5 and 7 but we were going to either get there right at 7 or sometime after that. This is where we started to plan what we would do if the driver wasn’t there- find a safe place to sit until morning then take the first bus back to DR and go on vacation. When we finally arrived at the bus station, we got off and heard a man call our name- Thank GOD! Carlson spoke English very well so we had a nice, relaxing 2 hour trip in a 2 door Suzuki Sidekick. Oh wait, it was far from relaxing- the drivers in Haiti are the most ridiculous people I have ever seen, let alone the roads are bumpy and full of rubble. There are obviously no lanes so people pass you whenever and wherever they see fit. I think we came inches between either hitting someone or someone hitting us at least once every few seconds.

-Kat

Alright, imagine Frogger, but with people, and there are bonus points for hitting animals and almost tagging other objects in the street, while in the backseat of a tiny car holding luggage and trying to keep a box from falling out the back window, that won’t close. Nuf said.

-Rik

One note that I feel is very pertinent to add is that for the first time on this entire trip, I was acting as an interpreter for our driver Carlson. For those of you in our reading audience who now believe that I know the native language, I don’t. However, it was brought to my attention that my fast talking, heavily southern accented, North Carolina comrades, are even more IMPOSSIBLE to understand to the local English speaking Haitians than they are to the rest of us in the USA!! So therefore, I soon became the only logical interpreter and therefore feel that the credit due for us making it safely to our destination belongs to me!!

-Ryan

When we crossed into Leogane we immediately saw why we were there. Houses had completely crumbled to the ground. Rumble was out in the streets to the point where it was hard to travel over. There were tent camps everywhere. As we pulled into our camp sight we all let out a sigh of relief. We made it there safely and we were greeted by smiling faces. We were giving a brief tour of the site and then given time to figure out where we were going to set up camp. We decided to set up our tent on the roof of the building instead of down on the ground, mainly for the breeze but also for the safety that if the building collapsed we wouldn’t be the ones getting crushed. At this point we decided to set up our tent, eat a quick bite (a pb&j sandwich) and go straight to bed. As we laid down to go to sleep we realized how hot it was and how hard it would be to fall asleep so we took the cover off the tent to get as much breeze as possible. We then put in earplugs to drown out the noise but it was hard to ignore the cow in heat and the roosters crowing. As I was finally falling asleep I felt the ground shake for a few seconds. I thought it was a dream and I didn’t hear any screaming so I fell asleep. When we woke up in the morning we found out it was an aftershock but only a 4.2.

-Kat