Thursday: July 22

Back home again. It feels off though. I miss Haiti already. It will take time to process everything that we have seen and been through this past week. Indescribable.

I am just looking forward to going back in September. I will make it happen!

I will find a way to get my pictures out in cyberspace.

That is all, my friends. Haiti trip 2010 was more than I could ever imagine. I wish you could all have experienced it.

-Andrea <3

Wednesday: July 21st

Woke up tired again. I threw a sock at my mom in the middle of the night for snoring too much. The earplugs kept falling out again, too. We walked to the PT tent today with an extra couple pounds of mud caked to the bottom of my converse. It was another fun and rewarding day.

We went back to camp tonight to play soccer. It was raining, so we just played in the mud. When they saw that I was holding a soccer ball, they all started yelling at me. John and I played with the guys (shirts v. skins.) I kept my shirt on. They are so muscular! I just stared (maybe drooled a little) the whole game. It was a blast though. I was caked in mud and soaked. The ball went flat after about 30 minutes, but that didn’t stop anyone. At one point, they were all yelling at each other in Creole and it looked like a fight was about to break out. I feel bad because we didn’t end up playing with the little kids.

I’m really going to miss everyone from the camp. It was so hard saying goodbye. They are some of the most amazing people I have ever met. I am already making plans to come back by myself in September. I just can’t have this be the final goodbye.

Tuesday: July 20th

What a musical night last night! Snores were coming from all directions, and John’s cot next to me was squeaking like nobody’s business. As usual, we went back to the PT tent today. It was just me, so all the girls kept asking “where’s John?” I feel like a spectacle in the front of the tent…that crazy white girl. I was getting flattered left and right today though, and was left feeling awkward with my distaste for compliments. It made me really happy to hear that Jeff Berry, one of the interpreters, told me that it is his dream to become a doctor. He is seventeen and speaks English very well. It is kind of funny that if you call his name, he responds with “hello?” Thomas (one of the pseudo-interpreters”) kept asking about my mom. I think he has a little crush on her. He’s a good looking guy, probably around 22ish. He would say, “Does your mom miss me?” But you never know how me means it with translation.

The patients were all proud of me for now being able to count to 20 in Creole. I got a lot of chuckles when I was trying to do the days of the week, although they did try to help guide me through it. I always get asked if I like Soulja Boy, Akon, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and all sorts of artists that I don’t really care for but smile and nod to anyway. It is funny the impressions our culture makes on them.

I have to say that the most rewarding thing I did today probably would sound really stupid to anyone else. Apparently some glasses come with a small painted on image on one of the lenses. Usually you see stickers, but these are really painted on there. The other day I saw one and got most of it off this one guy’s pair of glasses. Today, I noticed the same thing on Jeff’s: a yellow crown. He asked for “a favor,” to get this thing off because he heard that I had done it before (weird how word gets around.) Of course I was willing to do it and it wasn’t any trouble at all. Just a little rubbing alcohol and viola…a clean lense. But Jeff was so happy and grateful…disproportionately grateful. Something so simple meant a great deal. Although he was no longer “the king,” there wasn’t a crown in his line of sight anymore.

I was a little bummed that we didn’t get to go back to camp to play soccer tonight because of the downpour. Rain or shine I want to go tomorrow. It is time to sleep now, although the snoring has already started and Cindy’s fan is buzzing. The air conditioning shut off two hours early, so we’re all pretty much baking like potatoes in here. I’m planning my next trip down here though. These people are indescribable. I want to take them all back on the plane with me. You would fall in love the same way I did.

Monday July 19

Today we went back to see patients. John and I sat at the front, checked in patients (with help because I can't understand any of their name pronunciations,) made flow charts, and goofed around with the little kiddos. The girls congregated just to stand there and call his name. Today was basically the same as the other days as to what happened in the PT tent, except it was ridiculously hot...by far the hottest day so far. Somehow my new nickname is "big baby." I have no idea where that came from.

We had a "party" tonight with honey baked ham shipped from Michigan....and plenty of M&Ms We are eating well for being in a third world country. I've had beer the last two nights with my mom here. That was strange as well. Let me tell you though, beer and honey baked ham is quite the interesting combination.

Two more days at the clinic and we will be heading home. Tomorrow night John and I are going to go back to camp and play soccer with the kids in the afternoon (when it is nice and roasting.) I'm looking forward to that.

Sunday July 18

Sunday: no work today. This morning I went on a 4 hour hike with Kevin, Phil (muscle-man carpenter,) and Kathy (who works on the camp grounds.) We drove to the top of a mountain and hiked our way down with no idea where we were going. There were cow pies everywhere and the turds (both cow and goat) guided us on our way toward the shore of the lake. We encountered cows, goats, relentless thorns, and strange looking bugs. I tried to use my fluent goat, but I’m not sure these Haitian goats understood what I said in English goat. I must say that I have never been happy to see goat shit. After some rocky and questionable terrain, backtracking, a few falls, and a little blood, we made it to the lake at the bottom. Since we had made it that far, we took a swim for a while (we found out later that there are alligators in that area.) I went in with my clothes and shoes, but it was great. The landscape is really beautiful here. As we were floating around in the water, a built Haitian man and his machete with a little boy came by. They stood and stared at us. Since our fannypacks with passports were sitting on shore close to them, we figured it was time to get out. We followed the two with their cow to find our way back. After we got lost, we had to backtrack and the guy led the way for us. He used his machete to help clear the path for us. We finally made our way back and headed back to camp.

Eight new people came today: Nancy (head of HOLIA), Anne, Joanne, Dianna, John, Kelly, Cindy, and Jen. It is very crowded! And there are a few snorers. One at home is enough! We will find out what happens.

That’s about it for a Sunday. Three more full days here. In a way, I don’t want to leave, but I’m sure it will be great to be home too.

Saturday: July 17

Back to Camp Hope today. Sarah and Carol came to help out in the morning and then left after a couple of hours to head back home. Hopefully I will be okay to man the front desk on Monday. Again, just so many smiles and laughter. Sarah and I tried to amuse the little children, but ended up laughing more ourselves. I made some really heavy “glasses” with a roll of duct tape, a roll of masking tape, three rubber bands and a marker. Junior learned a new song today: Day-Oh. We sang it in the back of the truck on the way to camp. I don’t feel like I have too much to report besides that it was another good day. I have never seen so much poverty, but I have never seen so much joy and ear-to-ear grins. These truly are beautiful people. Oh, and I learned how to count to ten in Creole, so that is progress! I have learned a few other miscellaneous words.

Friday: July 16

I woke up today with the very early rising Haitian sun. Sleeping on the cot wasn’t too bad, but I was awfully tired to begin with. After breakfast (watered down oatmeal,) we headed down to Camp Hope and set everything up in the PT tent. It was especially hot today because there was no breeze. There were many patients who waited all day and some were just there to hang out in the shade. Sarah and I sat up front working with the charts and winking at the cute little kids. There was the cutest goat that just perched itself on the floormat of one of the tents and took a little nap.

We had way to much fun today. Johnny, a blind man at the camp, got his first walking stick. He danced with and twirled Betsy and had the whole camp smiling and laughing. On his way out with his new cane, he would tap on chairs and sit on girls’ laps, giving them a kiss on the cheek. He definitely didn’t mind the attention. It was awesome to see that he would now be able to get around a little bit easier and wouldn’t have to rely on other camp members to get around. A group of boys were making fun of a girl for being lighter skinned (they called it “trying to be white”) like Michael Jackson. After that we all had to do a Michael Jackson move as our names were chanted. It was hilarious. We also had an “In the Jungle” sing-a-thon with the translator, Junior, as our leader.

One girl with a leg length difference got a new pair of shoes today with lifts. It should help her back pain and she was just so excited. Brice, a translator hopeful, hung out with us a lot in the front and walked around checking things out. He speaks five languages.

It started raining in the afternoon, which was nice, but it didn’t last long. Towards the end of our time there, Sarah and I went outside to play soccer with the little boys. They are so funny and all the guys there think I’m great at soccer, which isn’t exactly true. The ball usually deflates after ten minutes or so, but it is as if they don’t seem to notice. We keep playing and trippin on the flat piece of plastic. I’m sore though, from last night’s soccer and piggyback rides.

Some of the stories today were hard to hear. Louis, also a translator hopeful who wears the biggest smile and has an incredible amount of energy, told me that his mother died five years ago and he lost his fiancée in the earthquake. What do you say to that? Another little girl had her sister and father die in the quake and another came in with two broken femurs and shoulder. I saw a little girl today, about 4, with the worst burns you can imagine, face, chest…everywhere. She can’t close her mouth or turn her head because of the scar tissue. They are working to get her to the US to have surgeries. Apparently, her sister dropped her in hot oil as they were trying to run away from the shaking. The father was up in the mountains and died, and this little girl didn’t receive any care for 2 weeks.

The problem is that you would think that the earthquake was a few weeks ago which the conditions we see. It has been six months! But it is amazing that these people wear the biggest smiles I have ever seen and have the most joyful laughs I have ever heard. How do they do that?

So, today was awesome. I’m gross and sweaty and dirty and hot, but it was all worth it.

Thursday: July 15

Today was quite the emotional roller coaster. Here is how the day went:

We woke up at 4:30 am (1:30 am San Diego time) to get to the airport for our 7:30 flight to Port-au-Prince. The shuttle from the hotel was jam-packed…that should have been the first sign. When we arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport, chaos ensued. The computers had been down at Spirit airlines all night, so lines went out the door. There was yelling, pushing, etc. Tension was high. We eventually made it through check-in and security to our gate…on time, thank goodness. I thought it was going to be a rinky-dink airplane, but it was full-sized and was a full flight trip. We were two out of about 10 white people on the flight. Let’s just say that if we were “Where’s Waldo,” we would not be hard to find.

Arriving at the airport was wild. We walked out of the air conditioned plane and into madness. There was a band playing “island” music at the door, which was awesome. We all crammed onto a bus that took us to immigration and customs. That was easy enough. But walking out those airport doors was another story. People were lined up wanting to help with bags to make a few dollars. We found our driver, Julma, right away so we didn’t have too much trouble. Hoards of people, mostly children, lined the chain link fence and yelled for us. My stomach sank to my feet and my throat closed tight seeing for the first time what third world poverty is like. Ignoring the pleas was not easy. We loaded into Julma’s truck, which had to be push started, and hit the road. I had no seatbelt in the back, and the driving was insane. New York City roads are nothing. No lanes, just honking and passing. All I could think was that if the car flipped, I was a goner for sure. The poverty was heartbreaking and the crazy thing is that we didn’t even see the epicenter of the earthquake’s horror. The airport and the direction we traveled were not affected much. That made the situation all that more real, that this wasn’t poverty and destruction from a natural disaster. This devastation has always been here. What I really want to know is: how do they hold that much weight on their heads without spilling the whole bowl?!

After about 45 minutes, we arrived at Love A Child. The House is small, but is luxury compared to the conditions the Haitians are living in. We got settled in and drove to the camp where the PT tent was. It was unbelievable…I don’t know how to describe it. The tent is small with only a few beds and there are a bunch of people waiting (we got there in the afternoon, so we’ll have to see what it is like tomorrow morning.) Children were running around with dirt caked to their faces, but wore smiles that make your heart melt. It is difficult not speaking the language though. I will be sitting at the front of the tent for a while, organizing patients, but it is still rewarding. I got “chatted up” by a guy I couldn’t communicate with. He tried French, Spanish (how have I forgotten so much), and a few words of English. It ended in awkwardness. When all the patients had been seen, we went out to distribute stickers and toys to the children around the camp. Flocks came. I kicked the soccer ball around with a few boys and had them climbing on me like a jungle gym. They all loved to have their picture taken and view them on the screen after. I don’t know if I have ever smiled that wide, or if I’ll have mouth stretch marks when I get home.

We got back to the camp and had dinner…already prepared by Kevin (luxury right?) Then we went to watch a soccer game back at the camp. We walked there trying to avoid the manure. It was awesome. I played soccer with the kids and they had a game with two full teams in uniforms. They were quite good, too. The little kids will come up and just hold your hand. They don’t know you, they don’t speak the same language as you, but they will climb in your lap without question. I gave a bunch of them piggyback rides and I’m now feeling it. Also, I have never been this dirty in my life. Dirt caked, clothes gnarly (vote Marlie?) I am now showered and clean and never felt better.

P.S. I just found a place that I can get internet…so that is why this has taken so long.

Update

Word came today that the internet is down at the place we will be staying in Haiti. Some church group crashed it with too many computers...figures. So, hopefully it will be settled when we get there, but if not...my posts and awesome stories and insights will have to wait. I will write even if I can't send it throught the great world wide web.
Cross your fingers!

Tuesday: July 13th

This morning was a little rough trying to get ready, get to breakfast, and then make it to the airport. The all too familiar mother-daughter tension was present in abundance. Surprise! I am now sitting in Las Vegas waiting for our plane to Fort Lauderdale. Don’t you love layovers? You gotta love that hopeful handful who park themselves at the airport slot machines hoping to add poundage to their luggage. And the airport is the best place to people watch. There are the little kids with Thomas the Train roller backpacks who don’t know what to do themselves and the adults who act the same way. The women who wear four inch heels and floor length dresses to get on an airplane. There are those who wear the more appropriate sweatpants, but go to the extreme of frumpiness. Men sit and ogle pretty women walking by. And couples cannot keep their hands off each other. It is interesting to think that all these people are traveling to different areas of the country and around the world. Everyone has a story to tell. Each one of these people, even if I criticize their attire or behavior, has a destination and (in most cases) someone waiting for them on the other end of their flight.

I am not nervous about going to Haiti. It may be partly that I have no idea what to expect. Reading about horrible disasters occurring far from home can make your stomach sink, but to witness the devastation will be something else entirely. What I expect is that I will come home with a different understanding of the world and a new appreciation for the life I lead.

Next time I write, I will (hopefully) have something interesting and meaningful to share. For now, I shall go get my tan on in the Florida sun.

Pre-Trip

Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 12th) we will leave for Fort Lauderdale. Since we get in so late, we are staying in Florida on Wednesday and will fly out at 7:30 am on Thursday to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. I will begin posting when I get there! I'm expecting an experience that I will never forget.
-Andrea <3