I'm back in Corail and it feels good! I have been nervous about my Kreyol being too rusty, so I have been practicing and practicing. It's definitely coming back though. I have seen so many people so far! We saw Florence (Pierre's sister) and Viola (see my previous posts from this summer). We brought them presents - two sharp knives and a knife sharpener! I saw Patrice and his son Patrick, Andy (Florence's son), Channy (Pierre's sister), Cassy (HOAS staff and dear friend), Madame Ramert (Pierre's godmother), Mialove and all of her friends, Jwa Chenn, Berard and Dumane (Pi Love).
It's GREAT to be back!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
I'm Back!!...almost...
Yesterday, Bennett and I arrived in Port-au-Prince. We landed and walked into the airport, which had finally been renovated since the earthquake happened almost 3 years ago. Now, instead of getting off of the plane and getting into a sweltering shuttle van, which used to bring you to this chaotic immigration room, with broken fans, and lines that didn't really form lines, we got off the plane and walked into an air conditioned room. The immigration room had walls, lines cordoned off so people knew where to go, and many officers checking passports (as opposed to just 3 people). There were murals on the walls spiriting Haitian culture and history. Then, we took a working escalator down to where there was a real, live, working baggage carousel! I couldn't believe it! Everything was cool, well-lit, clean, and new! Great job putting those re-building dollars to work!
At 1 pm, we called our friends to let them know that we had arrived - they quickly told us that they were stuck in traffic and would most likely be an hour late picking us up. "No big deal," we thought, "This airport is pleasant. We have each other, and we are just happy to be here!" An hour later, they were still in traffic. An hour later, they were still in traffic and they hadn't moved 10 feet! Our poor, dear friends in traffic! How absolutely terrible. They helped find us another ride, and we were brought to Visa Lodge, a hotel right by the airport. Visa Lodge is a very nice hotel, where Bennett is friends with the owner. So, we plopped our bags down and began to wait. We waited...we had lunch...we waited...we read....we waited...we had a few Prestiges...we had some good conversation... We talked to our friends almost every hour and learned that they had not moved more than 10 more feet. A new market that had just been built had burned down and had caused the largest traffic jam they had ever seen. They told us that they saw an entire wedding party walking on the sides of the streets to get to their destinations. They saw cattle, that were in large trucks, marching through the cars in single file lines to get to the slaughterhouse. There was no law, no order, no rules that were being followed. No lanes, no incoming/outgoing traffic. Just pure stand-still chaos. We started asking our friends in the car if we should reserve a room in the hotel for the night. "Not yet," they said. "It might get better after the bend in the road." Finally, at 10 pm, we reserved ourselves and them a room in the hotel. After 10 hours, they had only driven a couple 100 feet. We were staying the night in Port-au-Prince. Finally, at 11 pm, they arrived and in surprisingly good spirits. It was amazing to hear their stories in the traffic jam. It was definitely a terrible reminder of how fragile the system is in Haiti. One fairly minor disruption, a fire in one of the markets, causes such terrible repercussions for the entire city. An entire day lost to traffic.
So, we didn't make it to Corail until Sunday. But that was just fine. I got to spend my first overnight in Port-au-Prince, and heck, I was in Haiti. I was happy.
At 1 pm, we called our friends to let them know that we had arrived - they quickly told us that they were stuck in traffic and would most likely be an hour late picking us up. "No big deal," we thought, "This airport is pleasant. We have each other, and we are just happy to be here!" An hour later, they were still in traffic. An hour later, they were still in traffic and they hadn't moved 10 feet! Our poor, dear friends in traffic! How absolutely terrible. They helped find us another ride, and we were brought to Visa Lodge, a hotel right by the airport. Visa Lodge is a very nice hotel, where Bennett is friends with the owner. So, we plopped our bags down and began to wait. We waited...we had lunch...we waited...we read....we waited...we had a few Prestiges...we had some good conversation... We talked to our friends almost every hour and learned that they had not moved more than 10 more feet. A new market that had just been built had burned down and had caused the largest traffic jam they had ever seen. They told us that they saw an entire wedding party walking on the sides of the streets to get to their destinations. They saw cattle, that were in large trucks, marching through the cars in single file lines to get to the slaughterhouse. There was no law, no order, no rules that were being followed. No lanes, no incoming/outgoing traffic. Just pure stand-still chaos. We started asking our friends in the car if we should reserve a room in the hotel for the night. "Not yet," they said. "It might get better after the bend in the road." Finally, at 10 pm, we reserved ourselves and them a room in the hotel. After 10 hours, they had only driven a couple 100 feet. We were staying the night in Port-au-Prince. Finally, at 11 pm, they arrived and in surprisingly good spirits. It was amazing to hear their stories in the traffic jam. It was definitely a terrible reminder of how fragile the system is in Haiti. One fairly minor disruption, a fire in one of the markets, causes such terrible repercussions for the entire city. An entire day lost to traffic.
So, we didn't make it to Corail until Sunday. But that was just fine. I got to spend my first overnight in Port-au-Prince, and heck, I was in Haiti. I was happy.
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