Getting out of Haiti wasn’t without adventure- of course! I had all my bags packed to the brim (and max weight limit); I had 2 bags to check and two carry-ons. Now that doesn’t paint a very clear picture… the 2 bags to check weighed 50 lbs each and one of the (the one without wheels) was as big as me. My two carry-ons where a rather large mirror all bundled in paper, which kindly left a trail behind me along my journey, and a rolling suitcase that had to weigh more than 50lbs as it was full of books and the “heavy” stuff! I left the house that morning at 8 with all the people headed to work, filling the back of the truck up with all my luggage causing a couple of us to sit Indian style. I had about 4 hrs to wait until my ride to airport arrived. Matt and I had an early snack and split my last “plate of the day”. It is weird how excited you can be to leave a place and go back “home” only to realize that this really has been home for the last 2.5 months and that despite the way things turned out part of yourself is here. It is a place I see myself returning to in the future! Well back to the adventure. My ride came to pick me up and as I was loading my belongings a guy that matt had met earlier that week came to bring me a few gifts. It was a complete act of generosity without expecting anything in return, which is so rare in Haiti. He gave me a Haiti bracelet, a beautiful necklace and matching earrings. I put them on immediately which seemed to make him as happy as I was for receiving them! My ride left and to the airport we headed rather uneventfully. I arrived and of course the vultures were circling waiting for their opportunity to “help” (without so much as asking if I wanted their help). I had no Haiti money left (Matt had given me some to tip the driver) and only had a $100 and $20 American bill. I told them this upfront but they of course did not listen. I tried to take care of my own stuff as I literally only had to move it about 15 ft total but I finally gave in. They brought me a cart which cost $2 to rent at the airport so I figured I give them at least $2. They followed me all the way in even after my stuff was on the cart, which means all I was doing was pushing the cart (the remaining 10 ft) and they were walking beside me. Then when we reached the check in point they couldn’t go any further so they just stood waiting and kept saying you American give me good tip. I laughed and said I did not want you to help but I will give you $5 for getting the cart but I need change. They refused at first saying there was no change. I said either you get change or you get nothing… magically the change appeared instantly in their wallet. I’d like to learn that trick… it would come in handy! :) So I hopped in the line to check my baggage and at this point have 1.5 hours until my flight left. There were only about 10 people in front of me so I figured I be through in no time…. I forgot I was in Haiti! After 35 minutes and still not moving at all I started to get a little nervous that I may not make it through in time at the rate things were moving, but I decide to just keep waiting patiently. After 5 minutes later the power went out. I couldn’t believe it. I really thought I may not catch my flight, but after about 5 minutes they got the power up and running and eventually the line moving. Well I finally got up to the counter and hand my passport to the lady and begin to unload my bags onto the scale. The man next to me (checking in-I think) takes my bag literally out of my hands and places it on the scale. While he’s doing that I start to unload the next one but he does the same thing. I thank him and think nothing more of it. I receive my ticket and head to the gate only to feel a tapping on my shoulder. It was the man again, he was saying something I couldn’t understand and I told him that. Finally he holds his hand out and says money. It NEVER ends. I know for anyone reading this I sound so terrible but this is what it is like ALL the time. You can’t trust anyone to do anything nice for you without expecting something in return, but it’s not even that. I didn’t need help, I didn’t want help, and I didn’t want to have to tell him to get lost, but I had to and i did. I was more shocked than anything. I mean he TOOK the bags out of my hands…. Ah I digress. So continuing on, I make it through customs without an issue- thank goodness! I find a seat at the gate (one of two gates at the airport) and settle in. I sat down and began to read. I heard an announcement over the loudspeaker in Creole that I couldn’t understand except that they were saying names and they needed to come to the desk. I though t I heard my name so headed up there and was asking the lady if they called my name when a loud gunshot noise went off very close to me. Ladies were screaming, I thought oh geeze… I was so closed to getting out of Haiti. Nobody moved but everyone was looking around but there was no gunman. Slowly we figured out what it was. A guy pushing a dolly loaded with water bottles had just rolled in the gate area and the tire on the dolly had blown and had sounded just like a gun. Following was a bunch of nervous laughter from the 100+ people in the waiting area. My heart rate finally slowed down enough to find out that they hadn’t called my name after all.
Eventually we loaded the plane and set off. I was sitting in the middle of a family taking up the entire row across, with the children on the left side of the plane and myself and the parents on the right. The children on the left were coughing up a storm and all I could think was TB. The pilot then comes on the intercom to say were preparing for landing – or so I thought- but instead to say that weather was bad in Miami so well be circling for the next 1.5 hours. So I settle back into my book when all the sudden I realize the boy next to me (probably about 10 yo) is throwing up non-stop but trying to catch it in his hands. He had tears rolling down his face and was obviously upset and embarrassed. I tried to find one of those throw up baggy things but couldn’t find one. I headed to the bathroom to get paper towels etc. I felt so bad for him. We got it all cleaned up and taken care of but I felt so bad for him as we continued to circle for the next hour.
We finally landed and got off the plane to head toward customs. If you haven’t ever had to go through customs in Miami, consider yourself lucky. Fortunately for me I was in no hurry as my flight for NYC didn’t leave until 6am the next morning. After about an hour I finally made it through and headed to find a place to eat and then a place to hole up for the evening. I forgot how cold air-conditioning could be, especially as this wasn’t something I have had to deal with for the last few months. I found a somewhat comfortable chair and took my bagel and settled in for the night. I pulled out every piece of clothing I had in my bag, which wasn’t much since my check on was full of books and souvenirs. I tried my best to sleep but it was spotty, so I eventually just got up and decided to get ready for the day. It was 3 am. Dunkin Donuts was open so I headed to get some breakfast. Apparently many others had the same idea! Once I got my breakfast I decided to head closer to the security check (which opened at 5 am) and sit and read. As I’m waiting all sorts of characters that are at the airport at 4 am begin to reveal themselves. One lady comes huffing and puffing to the gate and is irate that it wasn’t open and decides to take it out on the people sleeping on a bench. She wakes them up to say she wants to sit there… I watching this unfold thinking all hells about to break lose… and I was right. The people on the bench just ignored her at first but she was not going to give up so easily. Eventually one of the ladies sat up (still half asleep) and asked her what she needed. Quite loud and obnoxiously she yelled I need a seat, I have a disability (I didn’t notice anything physical but the psychological was quite apparent). The lady kindly said "but we're sleeping here and there are many other seats available". This only set the other lady into a rage; she started yelling that she wanted security etc. Meanwhile I’m thinking this airport is huge, how did I pick this area? I just go back to reading my book trying to ignore all this but also staying alert to any needs for someone to step in, although not quite sure what I was going to do. I’m not sure what ended it all but eventually the crazy lady walked off leaving a nice quiet void behind her. The gate opened about 30 early which led me to believe the person at the gate would be in a good mood. I was wrong… I’m not sure what was in the water that morning. I got up to the gate and she insisted that my bag was too big to check on, too heavy maybe but not too big. It hasn’t ever been a problem and it fits overhead like everyone else’s. I tried to tell her I just flew yesterday and it wasn’t a problem but she wasn’t having anything to do with it and was very rude about it. After trying to be nice about it I digressed. I told her “you know I’m just going to go to another gate and check in there” she didn’t seem happy about it but that’s exactly what I did without any problems other than after putting it through the x-ray machine I couldn’t get the handle back out (that’s karma for you) which posed quite a problem for getting around. It was too heavy to carry and I wasn’t able to roll it without rolling over my foot every step without the handle. I’m sure it was quite a funny site! I decided to use a string to try to pull it along which was a little better but not much. I had to stop about every 15 ft to rest, I felt like I was running a marathon as I kept giving myself landmark goals to get to before resting! J The flight to NYC was nice and actually uneventful… finally! It was the 4th of July and such a treat to fly in over the statue of liberty that day.
I arrived a few hours before sarah was supposed to arrive so I set up camp with my 4 huge bags in the food court. I was sitting there minding my own business when all the sudden one of the workers at the counter across from me throws down his spatula and jumps over the counter. He and another guy (customer?) start yelling at each other and pushing each other. Day two round two… and I thought I was out of Haiti! Finally security came and put an end to it…
Sarah finally arrived and we got her luggage and headed out to the curb to hail a taxi. We hopped in and told him where to go and we went back to chatting. He starts talking on his phone while sarah and I were talking. All the sudden I realize hes speaking in Creole… what a crazy world. When he got off the phone I asked him if he was Haitian (in creole) and he about pulled to car over right then and there in the middle of the highway! We had a good laugh about it and I told him I was just returning from Haiti. I think it made his day! We then pulled up to the hostel we were staying at and right across the street was a Haitian church… the world gets even smaller! I couldn’t believe it.
We then got checked in eventually to our 5th floor walkup Harlem hostel, which actually wasn’t too bad even by American standards. We then head out to enjoy the 4th of July in the Big Apple. Sarah had a friend from high school who lives in the City and he had invited us to his friend’s place/party. It was on the rooftop of a 33(?) floor (luxury) apartment building and the view was incredible. You could see in all directions and it was fabulous, both the view and apartment. I quickly had to tell sarah to flush out the memory of the apartment because tomorrow the ones we will be looking at will be in a whole different category :) The next day she found out exactly what I meant!
Well ill cut to the chase on the apartment search… We found a place! A 5th floor walkup (anyone considering a visit should start training now! haha) that was recently remodeled running a total of 1800 a month for about 300 ft2 (and I think that’s generous). Anything under 500 ft2 they don’t tell you the footage… understandably and for all those prone to depression! Overall im very excited although my checkbook is not! We are in a great location : 5 minute walk to Cornell and 3 blocks from subway, so that should definitely be nice. Ill keep you all updated with any new developemtns or exciting stories and I hope that my crazy (but completely true) stories made someone chuckle today!
Mandy :)

Our weekend adventure

Well were do i begin? Matt and I decided on a whim to take a trip to the Dominican Republic (DR) after i bid on and won a 2 nights stay at an all inclusive resort in Puerto Plata. So we decided to take a long weekend and incorporate The citadel (in Haiti) into the trip since it was something we had wanted to see anyways. The adventure began at 6 am on Friday. The driver came to pick us up and took us to the airport (the wrong one) and dropped us off. We quickly found out that it was the other airport even though we had been informed that the company we were flying on left from this airport. The chaos of many taxi drivers and other random people trying to "provide" a ride to the other airport quickly hit us. It turned out the airline ticket sales lady/ticket checker/baggage tagger was headed to the other airport and provided us a ride and it was free of charge- that was quite a shock as nothing is free in Haiti! well once we finally got to the correct airport they said we hadnt paid for the tickets (yet i had paid online) and she kept insisting upon this, so i paid (again). Im hoping the first payment didnt go through but I'll worry about that later. They called for us to board and we walked out onto the runway toward a small twin propeller plane that held 20 passengers. It was just us and about 8 others. We took off and headed away for paradise. We landed at the small airport outside of Santo Domingo, which should have been nice but posed few options for transportation. So we ended up paying $30 bucks for a taxi to the bus station, which i know doesnt sound like much to you but considering we were going to pay $6 for a bus trip half way across the country it was more than i had planned on spending. We arrived at the bus station and bought our ticket for the 1 o'clock bus giving us about 2.5 hours to explore... or so we thought. We walked around, got some lunch and headed back with 35 minutes to spare. When we got there we took our time, went to the bathroom, got something to drink and then moseyed down to the terminal and on the way we passed a clock which read 1:40 not 12:40! At this point I remembered that Haiti and the DR are on different time zones and therefore we had missed our bus! So i immediately head over to the ticket desk and she said that the 2 oclock was late and not available so she changed our ticket to the 3 oclock which would put us in Puerto Plata around 7:30 which was much later than we wanted. We sat down and pulled out a book and prepared to wait. About 10 minutes later they called boarding for Puerto Plata (the 2 oclock)! I decided to try to work my magic and play dumb. I went up to a different counter where the boarding announcers were sitting. I told him i had a problem... i had to use the words i knew in spanish, turns out it worked! He laughed at me as i explained we lived in haiti and didnt realize the time was different here and we missed our bus. He laughed and called me stupid (jokingly) and said we could get on this one but we had to go NOW because they were about to leave. I yelled at matt to get our stuff and we ran out the door and onto the bus. We plopped in a seat and took off. It couldnt have worked out better, except of course for us actually being on time to the original bus. haha

We settled in for the ride, I sat next to an older gentleman who didnt seem to interested in chatting. Matt ended up next to a lady who was from haiti but studying in the DR so they chatted in a mix of english, creole and spanish. We stopped in Santiago to drop off passenger's and take a bathroom (and ice cream) break and then headed on again. We arrived to Puerto Plata and were kindly offered a ride to where we were staying by the lady that matt was sitting next to. Her husband and sister and daughter were picking her up, so we crammed into the truck with them.

We pulled up to our weekend paradise (what a contrast from PAP) and checked in. We were showed to our room and then we immediately headed down to walk around and check out our new home for 2 days. We passed the pool and a ping pong table. We decided we would play but first needed the paddles and a ball. We went to the desk and they just handed it to us, matt and i just looked at each other in shock what a difference from Haiti! We played a few games and decided we needed to check out the food. We headed to the main restaurant area and i couldnt believe my eyes. Any and every food I could want was at my disposal. We settled in and ate as though we hadnt eaten in days. It was incredible to have such a variety especially coming from PAP where all i feel like i eat is rice. After eating we walked down to the beach and sat and enjoyed the view adn how peaceful and quite it was here. After that we grabbed some dessert and headed to the room to relax for a little bit before heading out again but we ended up crashing for the evening... we are such the party poopers. The next morning we headed to breakfast and we were promptly greeted by a man who was going to show us around after breakfast. In reality they were trying to sell a timeshare like package to us.. until they asked us how much it cost us (so they could price compare their deal). When we told him how much he replied "yeh we cant compete with that" and the sales pitch was over. It was GREAT and quite humerous to both Matt and I. Once we got out of that we headed to the pool. Later we took advantage of the kayaks and snorkeling equipment. Matt decided we needed to brave the white caps in our 2 person kayak and do so sideways instead of head on. This of course resulted in us capsizing and me swallowing half the ocean, but it was well worth it, we had a great time!

Later that evening I decided we would try to smooth talk our way into one of the "nice" restaurants which you had to have reservations for (which for the record we DID try to make but had arrived to late on Friday). We had been placed on a "waiting list" but had been disregarded rather quickly from that, but when i had passed by, there were several empty tables. I decided that we would get dressed and try to talk our way in, explaining how we came late last night, had been put on the waiting list and were leaving tomorrow morning. The lady kept saying she understood but she quite obviously didnt because she just kept responding with "do you have a reservation?" Both matt and i eventually resorted to saying "no i dont think you do understand". It was quite funny. She left saying that she would have to ask her manager, yet while we were waiting another waiter came up and we gave him the same speech and he wrote us down and immediately showed us in. Matt and I just looked at each other, shocked, but quickly followed him as the previous lady begins yelling at the waiter. He ignored her and took us to a table! We were in and it had worked. We enjoyed our delicious Thai dinner over candlelight and wine. Matt decides he want to tip the guy who let us in and he was so excited to do the discreet handshake/money exchange. We were waiting for the right moment, we had rehearsed how to say thank you in spanish and in he went for the exchange only to say "por favor" (please) instead of thank you. I was cracking up and saying thank you to clarify... needless to say the handshake and exchange went well despite the miscommunication. Fortunately money speaks clearly even when our words dont!

We were feeling full of energy tonight so we headed to the nightly show (an african tribal dance like event) and enjoyed this from the front row. There was dancing, acrobatics, and flames. At one point i had gas land on my legs from the guys spewing gas/fire from their mouths.. we were that close! I thought i might become one of the attractions too. We then headed to the "disco" were we got the party started and i must add i think we were quite a hit with our swing dance moves! Its amazing how with just a few moves people think youre better than you really are! if they only knew better. We danced until we had blisters on our feet and then made the walk back to our place after stopping for a late night snack.

Next morning we ate breakfast and then headed out for our trip back to haiti via the citadel (northern haiti). We had our first real adventure riding into town. The 2 of us with our 2 bags crammed onto the back of a mototaxi (a small motorcycle). So picture 3 adults on this thing with the two on the back holding on for dear life... that should paint a pretty clear picture of how ridiculous we looked. We got to the bus station and bought a ticket for Santiago where we would catch the next bus to Dajabon the border city on the DR side. We arrived in Santiago around noon and went to buy the bus ticket but it was leaving until 3:30pm which would put us at the border after it closed. We finally figured out that there were smaller 'express' buses that left a few blocks away so we started walking that way. We were about a block from the station and bus pulls up (slowing slightly) yelling at us... we ran and hopped on and off we set on the 3 hour ride for $2. We got there and then caught another mototaxi to the border gates. We walked up and there were people jsut sitting around. The gates were closed and locked and we were quickly informed that we could not cross. Now i had read they will try to close early some days and not let you cross so i was geared up and ready to protest this. I started my on rampage and they quickly stopped me and said it was haiti who closed it because of the election. I quickly said taht we live in Haiti and we need to get back, they paused for a moment but no luck. I continued to press though because I thought it was because we were white/tourists, but they again said no one could get across. We finally retreated and found a hotel about 4 blocks away (after help from about 5 people following us)... we unfortunately didnt have enough pesos to pay for the hotel, as we had planned our money perfectly for leaving the DR today. We had 100 pesos left for the day/night and the hotel was 350 pesos ($10) so we began the complicated process of exchanging enough $ to pay for the hotel and dinner. This shouldnt have been so difficult but we only had large bills and didnt want to get stuck with a lot of pesos we didnt need. In the end it all worked out but getting a poor exchange rate, but what can you do! We paid for the room, settled in, went to eat, and then came back and went to bed. We were exhausted and had an early morning the next day, especially if we were going to have time to see the citadel and make it back to PAP at a safe hour.

Mondays are market day = chaos, as we quickly found out. The border is open and thousands of haitians come across to sell fruits, veggies, knickknacks and anything else anyone will buy. The town had transformed from a quiet place to complete chaos by the time we headed to the border. There were people everywhere and large carts being wheeled through the streets. We made it to the "border" and baiscally kept walking cause we didnt know where we were supposed to stop and get everything stamped. Eventually we were stopped (only because we stuck out like a sore thumb) and sent back to get a stamp and pay on the DR side. We then had to walk about 1/2 a mile to get to the very poorly marked Haiti immigation hut, but otherwise this went surprisingly smooth. We then caught our 3rd mototaxi of the trip (by this point im starting to feel more comfortable on it). Our driver dropped us off at the "bus station" which consisted of a school bus parked on a dirt road. We hopped on or i should say slowly squeezed our way on to the bus that had at least 3 people (adults) to every seat and then others standing in whatever small patch of open area was left. I had to sit on top of my bag because there was no space, which doesnt sound too bad but it was a 2.5 hour bumpy bus ride with my book (in the bag) poking me! haha! we made it to the junction we needed for the citadell and hopped off. We were offered a mototaxi again but it was a really bumpy dirt road and i had read there were tap taps that come along this road often so we decided to wait. We only had to wait about 1 minute and a school bus came flying along. We started running after it, eventually it stopped and started backing up down the road toward us. We hopped on and were off again. Time wise we were doing well with little down time between transfers but overall we were going to be cutting it close to get back to PAP. We arrived at Milot which is where you pay the entrance fee for the citadelle and rent a horse, start the hike or find a 4wd vehicle up to a parking lot area where you finish the hike to the top. They tried to tell us that there were no cars to the top and that we had to take a horse and i told them we dont have time to do that (its a 2+hour horse ride) eventually they told us we could take the mototaxi up... now i was starting to feel more comfortable on these things but that was all about to change. Eventually we all agree on a price and set out. Matt was on one and i was on a different one (both with drivers). Off we went up this winding, hairpin turn cobblestone path (if you can call it that) with pot holes everywhere. I thought i was going to die. I was holding on so tight i though my hands may fall off. Then there matt taunting my driver as they fly past us.... really do we need to race up this

thing? We finally make it to the parking area (thank goodness!) and start the 30 minute hike to the top as we're followed by more people telling us we need a horse to make it to the top (mind you its a cobblestone path, not a bushwhacking impassable route). They told us it would take 45 minutes by foot and 15 with a horse... in the end it took 20 minutes to walk with rest breaks. The further we went the less "helpers" we had following us and by the time we made it to the top we were down to just one persistent fellow. The whole way up we continued to tell him we didnt have any money and we werent going to pay him and this was conveyed in 3 different languages in which he responded "ok"

(in all 3 as well). We made up to the top, bought some water and started into the actual building (Still with the one persistent guy). The guy starts showing us around as though hes guiding us but is pointing out the obvious; "this is a cannon" "these are cannon balls", things that anyone with halfway normal vision and a brain could figure out. At this point he is just being annoying and so we just ignore him, but that was not going to deter him unfortunately. We continue on and start looking around and he yells at us to go a different way at which point matt tells him "look we paid our entrance fee and we have the right to look where ever we want, you are not our guide !and we told you that" Well the guy didnt like that too much and starts saying how we said

we would pay etc. Now im getting irritated and therefore involved and told him "No we told you multiple times we werent going to pay and that we didnt want a guide"! He starts a scene with the "officials" that work there but unfortunately for him we understood enough of what he was saying and Matt was able to tell the officials that what he was saying was untrue. That did the trick, the officials starting yelling at the guy and we just walked off! Always an adventure but unfortantely for Haiti and tourism that is what its always like here in this country. Its sad cause it only hurts their image and reputation, but i guess in thier mind when you have nothing you have nothing to lose. I am very empathatic to people in countries like this but this country is different in that there is NO relief from the constant badgering. Anyways, back to my story... We end up looking around and enjoying the fact that we dont have anyone annoying us now.

For more info on the citadel you can check out this: http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Citadelle_Laferri%C3%A8re

We were finishing up and about to head out and he comes wondering up again, this time with change.. matt had told him early the most he would pay him was 50gd but needed change, of course he had managed to find change....

We made our way back down the path and found the mototaxis waiting for us. It had just started sprinkling by the time we got on the mototaxi's, and I would be lying if i said that didnt make me even more nervous. It was bad enough on the way up, but going down, flying out of control on slick wet rocks just didnt seem like the definition of safe to me.... but there was only one way down on our time schedule. So on I hopped holding on for dear life. Fortunately my driver was more cautious than matts. Matt had to stop and wait for us several times, but believe me I was quite alright with that! We made it down alive and were beckoned over to the ticket desk again. They were trying to sell us a motortaxi ride to Cap Haitian (where we catch the bus to PAP) for $10 a person, mind you we paid about 55cents a person for the ride in. We declined at which point someone tells us his friend can take us in for a small fee. We turn to see a black suv with tinted windows pull up and the driver begins talking to Matt. Apparently he is drunk and is holding a martini glass by his side... needless to say we kindly decline and walk the other way immediately! I went to look at the palace san souci while matt rested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans-Souci_Palace)

I had several young helpers for this one too... They actually stopped hassling me for money after about 3 times of telling them i didnt have any, they agreed to stop hassling if i would take their picture. I'll attach pics, theyre actually pretty funny!

We caught a tap tap toward Cap Haitien and decided on the way to check out the airport and see if there were any flights back to PAP since in was already 2:30 and that would put us back in PAP via bus around 9pm at the earliest which we werent to keen about. We were dropped off about a .25 mile from the airport and walked the rest of the way. We walked in and quickly found out that the last flight was leaving in 15 minutes for $95 a person. We were ecstatic until we went to pay and they said the didnt have any sheets for us to pay by credit card. Well we definitely didnt have $190 cash on us. I went to talk to the one other company that flew from this airport to PAP but they didnt have anymore flights leaving today. Matt had been talking to the original company while i was doing this and they had figured out someway to pay via credit card. We paid and literally walked onto the plane. Im not going to lie it was wonderful not to have to sit on a crammed bus for 7 hours in the heat.. in 30 minutes we were in PAP and enjoying our first food of the day! We were also very lucky that we had new roommates arriving into Haiti today at 4:30 so we had a ride already at the airport waiting for us when we landed and we were able to greet our new roommates! It couldnt have worked out any more perfectly.. well except of course not getting stuck at the border overnight! Although we definitely would not have had the same adventure if we hadnt. Im sure i left out some details but i know this is way to long as it is... A shorter version may be read on matts blog at Doctorgoodwin.blogspot.com... of course this probably would have been better placed at the beginning of my blog! haha. Well i hope reading this brings a smile to some one's face today, if for no other reason that thinking... Jeez that girls crazy!

Matt and Med school

On a postive and exciting note we found out on thursday we may not have to eat ramon and tuna fish for 4 years in NYC. I was working on my research project presentation when Matt came up to me looking like someone had died! He very solemly asked me what I was doing and I told him nothing that couldnt wait. He told me he had just recieved his financial aid package from Cornell. We had both been braced for the worst due to several circumstance that arose this year, we totally expected to recieve less than last year. To both of our surprises he got about double! We are so fortunate and this will allow us to live with a little bit less of a financial crunch.. especially with the economy the way it is right now! So of course we had to celebrate and since our resources are limited here we walked down the Hill and got some pizza and Matt a beer! Sadly even if the situation was different I have a feeling thats exactly what he would have wanted... well maybe a Brick OVen pizza!

Random shots from Hash and Port-au-Prince

The rain wall that got us!

Round two

Well for all those brave souls who made it through the first novel.. ill try to keep this one a little shorter.
I was able to return to the TB hospital and work with Linda again. This time I was able to teach her some one handed dressing techniques (thanks to the many hours of working side by side with the best Occupational Therapist(OT) ever!) She was grinning ear to ear by the end but was also exhausted. I let here rest until lunch time and then we "walked" to the table where several of the patients eat lunch. She did much better than I expected as the previous visit she wasn't even able to stand! Unfortunately all this hard work wore her out and that put and end to our work together (despite my continual asking if she wants to do more... a true therapist doesn't let no stop her! :))

Matt returned from an eventful trip to Seattle on Sunday and was sad to leave his burgers and chips behind! We made a walk down (and back up) "the Hill" for ice cream and pizza... well worth the sweat and increased heart rate!
This week began with me actually getting a response from Healing Hands (the organization at which i am trying to volunteer) but it was from an email that was sent in march...hahah. so at this rate ill get a response to my current emails right about the time we move to NYC! Im still hopeful but with each day that passes my optimism fades a little more. I am contemplating returning early since I am not being utilized at all and spend many boring days sitting around AND there is a house in AL that needs to be packed and apartment in NYC waiting to be discovered as my new home. Ill keep you all posted on this, but for now I will continue to be hopeful.
Thursday on the way home from work we stopped to buy some fruit on the street corner(a corner we always shop at). Ive been wanting a watermelon since i arrived here but they've wanted $5-6 for a small one. Meanwhile I had heard you could buy them for much cheaper by the beach. We had actually just had a conversation with a Haitian that had bought one on the same corner for $2.50. So the bargaining began and she just laughed when Matt told her we wanted it for 2.50. He then told her a friend had bought one here for that price.. again she laughed and shook her head like "you're crazy!" He then said that his friend was Haitian and he wanted the Haitian price not the white price. At this all the bystanders and her burst out laughing- not quite the response either of us expected but we joined in too! This was quite effective and we were successful in our purchase ($3 and we probably could have gotten it down to $2.50 but we were so happy to get the Haitian price we went with it! The laughs alone were worth the extra 50 cents
Im making a special shout out here to Doris... THANK YOU for the hand sanitizer and gloves... they have been well utilized! Matt the other day turned to me and said out the blue "we need to tell Doris thanks for this" and I agree.... hopefully she will read this as she avoids computers like the plague.
Ok well back me.. haha... This weekend we went out on our typical weekend shopping trip but this week shopping for 3. We have a guest from Cornell coming to stay for the week. This means we stocked up... well things got exciting Sunday afternoon when all the sudden the power cut off. This is typical in Haiti but not where we live as there are 3 different sources (Haitian power, generator, and battery). Typically this would be no problem but we just spend 80 in groceries... so of course we were trying to figure out how to fix the problem. So Im at home today waiting for "them" to come by.. when you ask? I have no idea... I'm just waiting. Its amazing anything gets done here with schedules like this! :)

My trip so far

Well let me begin by apologizing for the extremely poor job I've done keep everyone up to date.... and for the novel you are about to receive! So grab a cup of coffee and settle in! :)
Well I'll start by saying things have been very interesting here. I am daily reminded of how blessed I am to have been born into the world I was.
Well my trip here was an adventure in it self. I had to get to the airport the night before my flight due to the extremely early departure time on Sunday morning. So I set up camp in the Atlanta airport with many other crazy people like me. I usually have no trouble sleeping anywhere and anytime but not so this night. I watched a movie on my laptop (a surefire way to put me to sleep) with no luck. I counted backwards, forward and in multiples to I dont know how many hundreds and still no luck. The man next to me then began singing with his Ipod and when i say singing... well thats very generous. The girl next to me and I made eye contact and without words very clearly we both felt exactly the same page... 'really... is he really doing this at 1 am, does he not realize there are people trying to sleep?' So i put my Ipod on and tried my best to drown it out along with the cleaning staff polishing the floors. Hours went by and somehow I finally dosed off to (what felt like seconds later) be woken up by a tapping on my shoulder. It was a cop asking if I had a ticket.... The tired smart aleck in me wanted to say "no, i just heard this was a popular place for homeless people with luggage to hang out" but i resisted and kindly showed him my ticket. Well i never fell back asleep and finally just gave up trying. I headed to check in and fortunately this all went pretty smoothly. I got to Miami and had a short layover and suddenly had the realization that i was headed to a foreign country in which i spoke practically none of the language. So i pulled my Ipod out with the hopes of magically learning everything I would need to in the next two hours.... in reality i dont think i learned anything new but it made me feel as though i was accomplishing something. Soon later i landed in Port-au-Prince and the heat wave hit me... nice initially but once i had to drag my 3 bags around and ward off the multitudes of people trying to "help" me, all on no sleep in the past 36 hours, I was exhausted! On top of this, today was election day in Haiti. Everyone(locals too) was encouraged to stay inside and no one was allowed to drive except the UN. So I was a bit nervous but all went well. In retrospect it made for a relatively quiet entry into Haiti. Now that I have been here and experienced 'normal' traffic, I now know we made guinness book of world record time from the airport to Le Clos (where I am staying). Matt was at the airport to greet me and help as much as possible but I was on my own until I could get out of the airport to him. I made it to the door and immediately saw him (the only white, tall person in the crowd). We headed out and i was so ready to take a nap, but apparently there was a party we were headed to! Yippee....
Well we got to the party (a shrimp boil) and somehow I felt like I was still in Alabama! We had a good time but i was definitely ready to sleep.
And sleep I did! Despite the heat and all the noise, there was nothing that was going to keep me awake. The guys (Matt and Karl- our apartment mate) headed to work the next morning and I continued to sleep like a champ. I finally awoke and spent the day unpacking and relaxing. Tuesday and Wednesday were more of the same. Thursday I went to work with the guys and was even put to work a little bit. The location they are working at is also connecting to a college, so this is where we eat lunch. The "plate of the day" goes for about $1.50 and is a huge plate of rice, bean sauce, and an oily mixture of who knows what. Its enough to feed you for the day! Everyone there had heard about me and wanted to meet me so the rest of the day consisted of me making the rounds, smiling and nodding (since I didn't understand most of them) and attempting to use my 5 creole words! It was so nice to finally meet all the people I had been hearing stories about for the past 3 months.
Friday I spent on the phone trying to arrange my first day at the orphanage (Monday).

A little more on where we stay (to help paint a better picture of my life here), we are in a gated 'apartment' area. Its like entering a little garden of eden from the streets of Haiti, but theres not much to do once in the garden. :) I'm not really allowed to go out alone (especially as a female who doesn't speak creole) and theres really nothing to do inside the gates. SOOOO this makes for pretty long and boring days if I'm here alone. It was nice and relaxing for the first couple days but it very quickly turns into a jail, which i dont do well with as I sure you all can imagine!

The weekend was pretty uneventful, consisting of an outing to go grocery shopping and a Hash. A little about this, as I was unfamiliar with this term until this day. Apparently this goes on all over the world (from what i hear). The hash here is put on by some marines and embassy workers. Basically it is an adventure 'race' with chalk markings you have to find, interpret and follow. At the end we all celebrate with food and beer or soda (for your favorite lightweight). Our adventure took us through the country side into an area that I don't think typically sees many "blan" (white people). You could hear all the kids across the banks yelling BLAN!!! and many more would come running just to see us from afar. They would just stand there waving and smiling as long as you would return the favor. There were several kids that made their way across the stream bed to get close to us. We (Matt and I) held back and tried our best to communicate with them. Matt ended up juggling for them with some rocks which they seemed to love and they showered us with many big white smiles and giggles.
So Monday arrives and the people coming to pick me up (who i had already talked to and provided directions) cant seem to find where I live. This goes on for about two hours or so. I end up walking down the street about 1/2 mile to meet them at the Digicel building which they finally "found and where waiting for me". Well i get there and no one is there... apparently they are at a different one.... It was a mess. So they abort the mission and said they'll try again tomorrow.
The next day we had better luck. They picked me up in a dilapidated old baby blue minivan which i wasn't quite sure was going to make it to wherever we were headed. The lady in charge (American) fit the description of what we would call a redneck in the states to a "t". She was missing all of her teeth except for the front right tooth. She had bleach "blond" (orange) hair that had grown out about two inches. I wasn't quite sure what i had signed myself up for but i was in... Well we arrived at the orphanage after a little over an hour journey and my first real trip out into Haiti. We passed through all sort of shanty town and people bathing in the gutters in the street. The kids at the orphanages were so excited to see me. I have no idea what or if they were told about me but their beautiful smiles were greeting me as i walked through the door. The lady in charge invited me to eat lunch with her, which i thought was a nice gesture but had no idea that it wouldn't be with everyone. Unfortunately it was just us (the only Blan), upstairs, and very separate from everyone else. We had our own separate food and eating area and it made me feel terrible. If i hoped to make any progress and have any carryover and assistance from the "moms" (this is what the caretakers are called there), then I needed to show them that I am "one of them" as much as I can be. I cant change where i was born or the color of my skin but i can eliminate these "lunches" that separate me even more. Later, I discovered the lady in charge who has been living in Haiti for over 8 years speaks no creole and the staff doesn't speak English... a very disturbing tidbit for me.
I begin with the children after lunch, seeing each one individually for 15-30 minutes to get a feel for what they were capable of and where to begin with them. Every child had at least 1 contracture (shortening of a muscle/muscle group) that has to be addressed before most functional activities will be successfully attempted. The sad thing is this is something that could have easily been prevented in most of these children through just positioning them properly. So I began to try to educate the "moms" about stretching techniques. They all nodded yes and said ok, but their eyes said that to them I was just some "blan" who was coming into their world and giving them more work to do. I had to tell myself... One day at a time! The day was over before I knew it and we headed back out on my journey home.
The guy who drives me is the "Director" and serves as a liaison between the lady in charge and the staff. He was born in Haiti, lived in NY for 18 years and returned to Haiti 3 years ago and fortunately speaks creole and English! He has been stretching some of the kids and working on rolling with one boy with hydrocephalus. He wants to learn how to help the kids and give him ideas on activities to do with them!
My next day at the orphanage (Friday) went even better. I was able to spend most of the day working with the kids. I made a point to eat lunch with the staff and the kids. I sat at the table with the kids and I'm surprised any of them finished their food. They all just sat and stared and smiled at me the whole meal. Unfortunately I know about 5 words in creole so my conversation with them was pretty short, but they seemed happy none the less! I felt so much better about eating with them and I could tell that it did not go unnoticed by the staff. I ate their food (rice, bean sauce and salted herring) and cleaned my plate which I think surprised them all.
Oh, these children are in such rough shape. Only one of the 12 (age 6 months- about 12 years)with disabilities can sit without falling over. I don't even know where to begin sometimes. There are three that I dont think there is much I can do for beyond stretching and positioning. One little boy has seizures about 5 times (or more) a day and pretty much doesn't respond to anything stimuli (and is not on any meds for this). All of the children look so much younger than they are.. the only thing that gives them away is their mouth full of teeth!
There is another child (about 3 y.o. and looks about 9 months old) who has hydrocephalus and failed shunt placement. He has a feeding tube through his nose that has formed permanent slits in his nose on both sides. He has cataracts in both eyes and both of his hands are tied to the crib because he pulls the feeding tube out otherwise. Yet when you talk to him or hold his hand he just smiles and coos as though life is grand. He is precious and it is amazing that he is still alive. Im not working with him other than positioning but I am drawn to him and cant make it by his crib without stopping to say hi and rub his back. Well another day flew by and I am headed back home.
This weekend was pretty quite. Matt and I walked to a famous hotel in Haiti and had lunch there. It was a beautiful view overlooking Port-au-Prince (PAP). On our way back we stopped by the grocery store and then began the long the steep uphill walk home. We both were drenched by the time we made it home... quite a funny site!
Monday I returned to the orphanage and had the help of about 5 OT's from the states and Canada who where there for the day reassessing the children for a non-profit called Healing Hands. Today was the last day of their week in Haiti. They spent each day at a different orphanage reassessing the children. Healing Hands is the clinic the children at the orphanage are "registered" at, which Im still not really sure what that means. I do know that Healing Hands works with the children with hydrocephalus and hospitals in the states to arrange shunt placement. They also have an orthotic and prosthetic lab they are able to make items for people as needed.
Wednesday I was told we were taking a new 3 month old girl with hydrocephalus to Healing Hands to be registered. I was excited to go visit as I had been in contact with them to see if I could volunteer on Tuesdays and Thursdays and to deliver the prosthetics I brought with me. We made our way over among the extreme heat and some protesting (non-violent.. dont worry!). I was able to drop off the prosthetics and talk to a few people in charge there. They seemed very excited to have me and said they'd be in contact about transportation. Once we left there I thought we would head to the orphanage but i was dropped off back at home instead. I was also informed that the lady in charge was going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks so they wouldnt be able to pick me up... I didnt really follow the logic since she has nothing to do with picking me up, but i was going with it. The only thing i can figure is that 1) The guy who picks me up is the director so if hes picking me up theres no one left in charge or 2) Ive does something to irritate the lady in charge. Im hoping for #1 but ever since I started eating downstairs with the staff I felt as though she was being challenged by that or that it made her look bad or something.... I dont really know!!!
Well I guess well see in 2 weeks.
So i continue on my quest to get in over at Healing Hands .... all i'll say is that was 2.5 weeks ago and Im still waiting! So I spent the next week at home working 8+ hours a day on my research project, which was good and bad. Good because it was due the next week, bad because I was going crazy. I needed to get out. I was getting bummed out too! I felt as though I was wasting time here and being of no help whatsoever and that is really hard for me to handle. The next week I told Matt and Karl I have to do something, I am goin crazy! I'll sharpen pencils for 8 hours, I dont care just give me something useful to do and get me out of these 4 walls. So I became a data entry specialist for the next 6 work days. I enter data for a new friend (and neighbor) and enjoyed it thoroughly. Under any other circumstances I would have been miserable but I was out of the gates and doing something to help someone!
This weekend was spend finishing my paper and Matt working on his presentation for a conference in Seattle. We also made the weekly trip to the grocery store and attended another Hash. This one led us through the busy section of PAP called Petionville. The good and bad thing was that it was at 9 am on sunday morning! Good because it wasnt so hot, bad because thats way to early to be running around! Well we finished the run (a little earlier than expected- we lost the trail but ended up at the finish anyway!) and enjoyed a brunch at someones apartment. The rest of the day was shot though, we came back and took a long nap, ate dinner and then went to bed.
The week began with Monday as a holiday and a lazy day of fixing a huge brunch and sharing food and conversation with some neighbors. Tuesday consisted of another day of data entry. Tuesday night we went out to eat at a Chinese (yes, chinese in haiti!) restaurant for one the neighbors/co-workers last day. The food was amazingly delicious! Im not sure if its because I hadnt eaten out in over a month or if it was because the food was that good... either way it was great!
Wednesday was the big d-day for my research project. I was a bit nervous I wasnt going to get it turned in, not because it wasnt finished but because the internet is so inconsistent and sketchy here! We'll go days without it working. Fortunately i was able to turn it in! Matt and I went to lunch to celebrate with the "plate of the day" but they were all out so we celebrated with fried plantains and a coke instead! The rest of the week was pretty quiet, with me helping out a little here and a little there.
Saturday I went out with one of our neighbors and some of her friends. We got a pedicure (gasp- I know... who have I become here in Haiti!!!!) and then went for lunch. It was a really nice. I am constantly amazed at the little alcoves of beauty in Haiti. Most everywhere you look its trash, filth, poverty and dirt, but there are a few areas that open your eyes to what Haiti could be if things were different here.
Saturday evening we headed to some friends house for a cookout and Rock Band. We were then going to head to a outdoor concert but FINALLY decided not to go because it was storming. Later we found out it had been cancelled anyway. Sunday was the highlight of my trip so far. Matt and I headed out to conquer the "mountain" that backs up to where we live. We had been told that it was a beautiful view and we would enjoy it. So out we went... the hike began with us heading up a very steep mixture of a cobblestone, gravel and rock street (alternating between these three sporadically). We headed through what seemed like peoples property and alley ways and we're did pretty well until we made one wrong turn. We start getting heckled by a group of guys and felt a little uncomfortable, so we turned around and backtracked our way out of there. Another guys then asks if we are headed up to the top and begins to guide us the right way. The hike was steep and very scenic. There were many kids along the way yelling, pointing, smiling... and of course asking for money (a very common occurrence here in Haiti by all ages). We stopped many times to enjoy the view. Its amazing how beautiful such a dirty place can look from up high. We continued on our journey after our "guide" departed, with a combination of bushwhacking and guessing which way to go. We made it most of the way with just spitting and sprinkling here and there but then the rain began (see photo of rain wall approaching us)! We turned around and just started "running" as best as possible down the steep, slippery rocks and narrow gravely path. Once we got back down to a more populated area this turned into a comedic relief for all those watching as matt and i slipped and slided all around soaking wet in the downpour!!! This just encouraged Matt and he took to purposely sliding down on his bottom. Everyone thought this was hilarious! The locals were either all inside or under a covered area just giggling at us and pointing or they were outside showering in the streets. It made sense... there was no way i would want to hike up to where these people lived up with gallons of water to bathe!!! Surprising we made it back down alive with little more that some scrapes and bruises and weighing about 10 extra pounds from all the water we had taken on!
Monday, one of the ladies I had met at lunch Saturday is an infectious disease doctor working at a TB sanitarium/hospital right outside of PAP. When she heard I was a physical therapist her eyes lit up and she began to explain that she had a patient with Hemiplegia that could really use my help. I jumped at the opportunity. So today i was headed out to meet her (Linda). I was going to work with her while the doctors made their rounds. I felt back at "home" work wise. She presented like many of my stroke patients back home, with severe weakness, muscle wasting, poor balance and poor attention. I was told she had had seizure 6 weeks ago and was completely unresponsive for a few days afterwards. She had no movement on her left side until about 2 weeks ago. She is 31 and has a little boy.
They had to change some of her TB meds due to the seizure which in turn made her depressed and she had tried to commit suicide. She was all smiles today. She just wanted to hold my hand, touch my hair and my face and smile. I worked with her on and off for about 3 hours until she was exhausted and her smiles started to fade. She is there like the rest because she has TB. The patients there with TB stay 9 months and those with multi-drug resistance are there for 2 years. There is no electricity, no tv, nothing to do but sit, take your medicine and wait... 2 years of waiting. The doctors have quite a task convincing the patients to stay ... the patients all want to go home and who would blame them. Would any of us willingly sign up for prison? Thats what this is like but they dont understand that even though they feel better and arent coughing anymore it doesnt mean they can stop taking the medicine and go home. Its a constant battle there. In the 5 hours I was there (3 working with Linda) I heard the same explanation and pleading 4 times! I understood both sides... what a tough situation. Im headed back there Wednesday (tomorrow) to work with her again!
Well on a more positive note.... Despite what you read and hear about Haiti, currently it is relatively safe here besides the occasional pickpocket. The biggest risk for me here is probably TB! :) While I dont venture out by myself, with another person I am able to explore most areas until my heart's content! The problem is the lack of transportation, which limits most activities for us. I promise to update this more regularly so you dont have to have a marathon session each time... Enjoy the photos too! Love you all and miss you all!