Day 2: Arrive in Haiti

After taking the 5am standing room only shuttle to the airport, we again breezed through security, found coffee & bagels and eagerly awaited our flight to Port-au-Prince. As we boarded the plane, I spotted our luggage through the window - a nice little blessing since we hadn't see our checked luggage for almost 24 hours. Our assigned seats were just in front of the exit rows which remained empty throughout boarding. The flight attendant made our day when she said we could sit in the exit rows! Eli maximized his options by trying several different seats and we all enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs. However, moments after we pulled away from the gate, the

captain announced we needed to return to the gate for maintenance issues.

Thankfully, the computer issue was resolved and our delay was short-lived, about 30min. I was able to exchange Facebook messages with our driver while at the gate which alerted him to the situation and confirmed he would be there to meet us. Technology is amazing.
The flight was a quick 1 hour & 37 minutes and finally we reached Port-au-Prince. We paid our $10 tourism fee, cleared customs and made our way to baggage claim. All our luggage finally appeared and we made our way through the final airport checkout line. While we were waiting, Patrick sent a text that he sent his friend Jordan who works at the airport to meet us as we exited the terminal. He walked very quickly and took us through what felt like a back lot, which turned out to be the rental car lot. We were not prepared to tip his friend which flustered Chris, Kathy and I a bit. We all took out cash which he gladly accepted from all three of us! After filling up the gas tank, Jordan took us the the Delmas neighborhood to see the Apparent Project (http://apparentproject.org) which helps create jobs for local women. Although the factory was closed, Patrick convinced one of the guys to give us a tour, which he did. We ended our time enjoying frozen lemonade in the open air dining area with a cool thatched roof and purchased a few items from the gift shop.

From there we drove up to the observation deck on Radio Hill. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch (Patrick joked that they don't have fast food in Haiti, they have slow food since it took quite a while to get our food) and spent time getting to know one another. We made our way down the hill and experienced some of the craziness of traffic in Port-au-Prince - it's hard to describe what it feels like to drive in a busy city in the developing world. We finally arranged to connect with

Jordan, his new wife and Evenson who are our main contacts at the school. We shared a Prestige (beer) and the boys happily gathered mangos from the nearby tree. The rain started to fall so we decided to head to the guest house. The first 2/3 of the trip were fine, but the last few hills were quite sketchy given the slick conditions on dirt & rock roads. Patrick gunned it several times and on the 4th or 5th attempt, finally made it up the steep hill. He, Jordan and Will unloaded our bags quickly and headed to the tire shop to get a repair because they could tell our trip up the hill caused tire damage - he said air was leaking. We prayed as they headed down the hill. Our guest house host summed it up well, "Welcome to Haiti."

We all enjoyed about an hour of down time taking in the view from the On a Hill Guest House in Carrefour - the view calms your soul, which was especially appreciated after the adrenaline rush we experienced on the way up. Meliana cooked a typical Haitian meal - beans and rice, creole chicken and fried bread fruit with their homemade fry sauce. We enjoyed a few moments with her kids and then had time to talk about her experiences in Haiti. We look forward to more conversations when her husband returns tomorrow.