Day 9

[Sorry it took so long to post this one. After a return trip that was a day longer than expected and many other minor calamities, I am finally home.]

Happy Sabbath! I attempted to make huevos racheros this morning. It was a huge failure. I can’t even cook backpacking food. ):

Today we were privileged to go on an expedition into the mountains. Our driver somehow found us a megavan that fit 16 of us AND was air conditioned! We drove through several cities and villages, including Port-Au-Price and Petionville, and ended up near Kenscoff. It, like the drive from the airport, was a fascinating road trip. We got an eyeful of a completely different world. In Port-Au-Prince, we saw fat pigs rooting through the trash in the streets. I saw a lady dragging around a chicken by its feet. There are barbershops everywhere, usually housed in trailers or very small buildings. Instead of real pictures or posters, they have paintings of peoples’ heads painted on the front as examples of their hairstyling capabilities. On the way back we saw a wedding taking place at a church with barbed wire around its walls. The bride was dressed in pink and talking on her cell phone.

Quite a few of the taptaps are themed. For instance, we have seen an “under the sea” taptap with fish all over it, “love” themed taptaps plastered in painted hearts, and even a Vegas themed vehicle with cards painted on the windows. Many have depictions of Jesus dying on the cross, walking on water, or performing other miraculous acts. I recognized the faces of Lil’ Wayne, Barak Obama, and Justin Bieber on a few taptaps.

Dr. Dietrich has his own taptap! It’s an old white truck wit ha festive top over the bed, where you sit. He is planning on painting Bible verses on it and adorning it with a plastic bone and  Green Bay Packer paraphernalia. He is also considering painting on the faces of Aaron Rodgers, Dr. Scott Nelson, and a Haitian friend.

There are a few signs of progress within the city: we saw some carpentry “shops” along the way. Also, there were caterpillars and backhoes digging out a channel. Dad said that particular channel was so full of trash last year that you could walk across it.

In Petionville, we stopped for the Dietrichs to buy some fruit, which they shared with us tonight. The watermelon was heavenly, so red and so sweet. When you get into Petionville, you can start to see evidence of slightly more wealth. There are nicer cars, taller buildings...there were even some asphalt roads when we got farther into the mountains. It seemed that they were less affected by the earthquake, although poverty and rubble piles were still present. There were a few mansions surrounded by huge stone walls, German Shepherds, and even a police car in one case. There were a lot of paintings for sale in Petionville, but I am happy with the one I have.

Continuing our drive upwards, the city gave way to jungle. The trees, flowers, fern, and vines growing from crumbling buildings were reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. The roads got steeper and more broken. It was significantly cooler in the mountains, thank goodness. It was a perfect temperature, so refreshing. We stopped and got out of the van part way up the hill. It was an adorable village that included a playground, a tiny hospital, and even a zoo! We ate lunch in the van. After hearing of my vegimeat withdrawals, Dr. Dietrich kindly gave me a piece of his Leanie. (Summer and Tim, his daughter and son-in-law, brought some vegimeat from the States when they arrived yesterday.) He informed me that I am one of the few people in the world that can say that they have gotten a bite of his precious Leanies.(: At another stopping point, we had a great view of the valley all the way down to the ocean. The smog partially deterred our view, but it was still cool. We walked up the road at this point, to stretch our legs and get a better view of the area. We walked between crops of corn, onions, and potatoes. The dirt is red clay in these mountains. (I got some on my pants.): ) The Haitians tie their goats and their cows and their horses by the side of the road in seemingly random places. We drove a bit more, and soon came to a cliff looking over a gully. It started to rain, so we took shelter under the trees are watched the lightning. The raindrops were huge! It really started to pour as we were leaving, and with 16 of us in the van, we couldn’t make it up the slick, muddy hill! Our driver wasn’t super aggressive and his approach was to try creeping up the hill. Once we convinced him to gun it with a running start, he finally made it up the hill. Meanwhile, however, we all piled out of the van into the pouring rain. When he saw us huddling under some skinny trees, a native opened his gates and let us seek refuge on his roofed porch. Or maybe it wasn’t his, and he just opened the gates anyway. I was thankful that we kept traction on our ride back down the steep mountain. We only traveled 30 to 40 miles, but it took us around 2.5 hours, one way. This was due to the wet roads, gridlock in Port-Au-Prince, and one stop. I am SO glad we got to take this trip into a different part of Haiti! I was not expecting such a wonderful surprise. It was priceless to be able to see all sides of Haiti from the slums to the jungle. Today’s trip reminded me how beautiful Haiti truly is. It’s gorgeous! It could be such a paradise. (not a proper noun.) Just on the other side of the island, in the Dominican Republic, there are hoity-toity tropical resorts. But alas: no such thing in Haiti. Poverty runs rampant.

I am surprised by the lack of road rage here in Haiti. Everyone honks at each other, constantly, but they never get mad or yell. I’m also surprised that there are so few injuries due to traffic accidents. People dart across the street whenever they please, and people drive like complete MANIACS.

I was looking through the pictures I have on my computer, and a Haitian girl came up behind me. Her name is Christina, and she loved looking at the pictures I have of home. She especially liked the cheerleading pictures I have of our PAA Spirit Squad, and she thinks Zachri looks like Brad Pitt.(: I tried to explain the difference between skiing and snowboarding to her, but I don’t think I did a very good job of it.

There are still frequent brownouts here at the hospital. That means that I won’t have wifi until we get to Miami. I’ve noticed that the microwave really affects the power issue: whenever someone uses it, the lights flicker and dim, and eventually go off. I’m hoping that the power stays on through the night, so our fans will continue to blow on us. It’s sweltering without them. But I reckon that since most people will not be using lights or other power sources, the power will be enough to keep the fans on.

I am looking forward to coming home. I’ll finally be able to get a good night’s rest! I’ll be able to put the toilet paper in the bowl and eat ice. Seeing my friends, family, and pets will be a welcome experience. And Gramma Minnie’s pool sounds divine right about now.(:

However, I have enjoyed my time here, immensely. I loved the Nursing aspect of it; it reinforced my interest in the career. I loved the mission aspect of it; handing out those shoes was such a blessing. I loved the foreign aspect of it; excepting a day spent in Vancouver, BC, I’ve never been out of the US. I loved the tropical aspect of it; despite the heat, I have enjoyed being in the Caribbean, especially seeing the jungle part of the island.

We leave the hospital tomorrow morning at 5:45 am. Yikes! But at least the sun will be up, so we can see Haiti one last time before we depart. Dad says airport security takes forever in Haiti, with multiple metal detectors and grumpy TSA employees. Just another exciting Haitian experience!

I am determined to return to this country. This trip has been such an incredible blessing. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to see God working in a different part of the world. Thank you again for your support and prayers, church family. God is good. Haiti is hot.(:

Vegimeat, here I come.

-Chloe

Day 8

Friday, our last day of work. Another orthopedist and his team came last night, so Dad got to be in the OR instead of the clinic today. And the new team included a nurse anethetist, so between Dr. Tym, the nurse, and Jonathan, we easily ran two rooms. It went much faster today; we got out of the OR at 2. I was happy I got to scrub and assist my last day on the job. It won't be legal for me to scrub once we get back to the States. ): And I was just getting good, too. I've really loved the OR experience down here. I am so fortunate that I have been allowed to do the things I have. I've gotten to see so many things I never would have in the US, and not just in the operating room. I truly am fortunate and blessed to have been here in Haiti. I'll miss operating. I'll miss Haiti. Our last surgery was killer. We have been having a lot of problems with the power down here. Everything randomly shuts off. Luckily, some of the supervital equipment like the anethesia machine are run on a separate battery. However, the anesthesia machine did die during a proceedure yesterday, when Dr. Tym wasn't around to fix it. Stacey sent me running though the hospital to the recovery room, where Dr Tym was. I got out, "the anesthesia machine-" before he was dashing back down the hall to the OR. But I digress.
The AC died along with the lights as we were opening our last case. We were equipped with headlamps, but there was nothing to help us with the heat. The only thing I can compare the heat to is when I was biking up Table Mountain on the Wildflower this spring. (And I thought I was going to die at the time.) I'm pretty sure I was quite close to sponateously combusting. I could feel the sweat beads running down my face, my back, my chest. And since I was scrubbed in, I couldn't do anything about it without breaking sterility and endangering the patient. Thankfully, it was a short case and it did not require x-rays. I was so glad we didn't have to don the lead vests. It's a pity that it was my last surgery. I would have lingered a little more if I hadn't been so desperate to rip off the surgical gown and bolt to the shower.
I got a painting! It's really neat. It's colorful and just what I wanted. The artist, Noel, had a LOT of incredibly pretty paintings. If I had all the money in the world (the pieces are pretty expensive), I would buy many, many more. He also had some animals made out of pianted metal and wooden boxes and neckalces. Daddy was nice and didn't haggle with him over the price of the painting, so he gave us a box for free. The paintings were done on just a piece of old canvas, stained around the edges and a little ragged. But I like it that way. It's so...Haitian. They use everything. (And besides, it will look just fine framed.)
And when in Rome, do as the Romans. While doing a hip adductor release yesterday, we used sticks from the yard to stablize the cast.(: That's not something you see in every surgery.
This week has not been one of good fashion statements. The humidity is doing marvelous things for my hair, and I'm usually clothed in damp scrubs. Dad was thinking that they should make missionary scrubs for places like Haiti. Wicking fabric, lightweight, quick-drying....you could totally market that.
It's really too bad that we are leaving on Sunday. It's been an incredible experience and one I'll never forget. I'll make sure that we plan a return trip. I've loved being here with Dad in this polar opposite to my own environment. The Haitian reality is just starting to become my own.

But I've really, really missed vegimeat.

-Chloe

Day 6-7

Tuesday night's pizza expedition was fun...it was nice to get a way from the hospital compound. Sticking my feet in the pool felt so good. There was an armed UN officer prowling the poolside. I wouldn't have gone down there by myself if he hadn't been there, but after a while I got creeped out and went back to the table. The pizza was....eh. Hard. But that's okay. I am grateful.
Wednesday was another clininc day, but I was again in the OR. It was slow at first....a few unsterile TSF proceedures that I could only watch. But it picked up again and I was more involved.
I like to go up on the roof when I have a break in the evening. The last few nights there's been a breeze. It's fun to see the ocean and the building of Port-Au-Prince on the hillside. Haiti, in all it's destruction, is beautiful.
I saw a teenytinybitty gecko on the wall the other night. He's my pal. His name is Buddy.
There are other critters that oft like to hang out at the hospital: BUGS. Terrible things. Normally, I don't really care. But if they come anywhere near my sterile field.....bad news bears. Stacey is an animal with the bug zapper. "Vermin! OUT, out! Vermin....." Dr. Tym and Jonathan (med student at LLU) have both cought flies with their hands. I think they're secretly ninjas.
Jonathan has been Dr. Tym's apprentice this last week. He's never done anethesia before, but we wanted to run two rooms, so Dr. Tym would let him monitor the patients while he bounced back and forth. It's pretty cool. We're all getting to do things we never would be able to do in the States. I mean, I'm 17! And scrubbing! How cool is that?!
Today our friend Adeel Husain, a resident at LLU, was trying to tell a patient his name. He was giving examples: "Adeel, as in, let's make a deal." But his last name was the clincher: "Yeah, and Husain, like the famous guy." I like Adeel. He's a crackup, and always positive. A patiet urinated all down his leg today, and he has been joking about it all night.
Today, Thursday, has been a long one. We started, as we do every day, with 7:30 worship. Then we do our rounds, and finally head to the OR (or the clinic, depending on the day). We operated from around 8:30 this morning to 9 tonight. We just finished dinner, and now we're going to shower. My feet hurt!
The operations we have been doing here in Haiti are very different from what you would see in the States. We did four hip fractures that have been broken for over a month, and all on geriatric patients. There are a lot of things that should have been fixed a while ago, and lots of infections. ]: There's also a large amount of club foot cases, and we do TSF proceedures every day. Blouts, Ricketts...stuff like this would be recognized and treated closely after birth in the US. But before the earthquake, there were no capabilities to recognize or treat these type of conditions. Because of the earthquake, the hospital has better equipment and treatment options. In this way, God has brought a blessing out of turmoil and tradgedy. Today, we treated a 9 month-old boy for club feet. This is great, because 9 months is close to the age when he would be treated for club feet in the US.
Our last patient today was convinced he was going to have an amputation. He kept asking. And when he saw my big Hohmann retractors, he nearly fainted. (They're really not that bad. They just look scary!)
I am hoping to be able to sneak out of the OR tomorrow afternoon: a Haitian artist is dropping by the hospital and I really want to take a painting home. But Dr. Dietrich says there's lots of places to get them, and he knows his stuff.
The president of Haiti had planned a visit to Hopital Adventiste for tomorrow, but then he changed his plans. ): Nathan (Amy's husband) said he is probably coming sometime next week, after we are gone. Boo.
Stacey and Brad say hello to everyone home!(: Dad hates you all, so he doesn't say hi. Just kidding! He's just not around at the moment.(:
I must do something productive before I go to bed. I've uploaded some new pictures to the flickr account, if you want to take a peek. Most of the pictures will be uploaded after I get home, off my dad's big camera. The wifi is faster in Cali.(:

-Chloe

Haiti Photos

If you would like to see pictures we've taken, I set up a flickr account, also called Tape and Tarp. Go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tapeandtarp . I've never worked flickr before, and almost everything is in French, so bear with me. The flickr will not be updated nearly as frequently as this blog; the wifi here makes uploading photos go really slowly. Also, they aren't in chronological order because I don't know how to do that yet. But enjoy!

-Chloe

Day 5

Last night Dr. Tym administered anesthesia to Mimi the cat for the removal of her sutures from her recent spaying. Just another satisfied petient.(: Today was great! It was an OR day, and I got to scrub in for three cases. IT WAS SO COOL. The first one, I mostly just watched JJ, another Haitian scrub tech. I assisted on the second case (using retractors to hold the tissue open, etc), and worked the back table on the third (handing over instruments, loading scalpels and sutures, etc). I loved it. This is why I came here. Well, I came to help the hospital and the patients, but specifically, I wanted to be scrubbing.(: I made a few mistakes, but luckily they were before the actual opening and I had time to remedy the problem.
The second surgery was HOT. The OR is air-conditioned, but it's still a gazillion degrees. Especially with this case: we were using the C-arm to take x-rays, so each of us had to be wearing a lead vest. The vest is unsterile so it is worn underneath the sterile surgical gown. That meant I couldn't take the vest off for the duration of the surgery, about 3 hours. And on top of that, the light was shining directly on me. But it was so much fun operating with my dad, I didn't notice it as much as I thought I would.
Tomorrow is another clinic day, but there are three surgeries sceduled. I don't know where I will be placed or who the surgeon will be. I'm not super thrilled at the thought of doing what I did yesterday, the previous clinic day, but today was worth it. Thursday is our next OR-only, non-clinic day.
It has been dumping rain on us today, but only in short bursts. There's lighting right now, but it's far enough away that I can't hear the thunder.
Those cold showers.....they're getting colder every night, I tell you.
Oh, and Zachri? I haven't seen any more of Mr. Creepo in two days.(:
Tonight we're ordering pizza from the hotel. Normally I wouldn't eat pizza....but I've been eating food out of a pouch. I think I can indulge tonight.

-Chloe

I was not paid in any way to market this. It's just awesome.

Terry Dietrich, one of Dad's old friends, has dedicated a year of his life to be down here and lead out in the hospital. He is responsible for starting the movement for a book about Haiti. God opened up lot of doors, and now it's in print.
It's a compilation of pictures and text from people who have experienced Haiti. My dad's photography made it in the book, and he also submitted some text. It's a really neat book that shows the culture of Haiti and what it was like during the months following the quake. It's still being printed, although you might be able to pre-order.
Hyperlink!
http://www.haititogetherwemove.com/

-Chloe

Day 4

The light show last night was incredible! And the rain made it significantly cooler. Selfishly, I was so glad, beacause I felt clean for more than 10 minutes after my shower. But I can't imagine how the people in the tents manage.
Today wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be. Dad helped in the clinic, but I don't know enough French to translate or enough medicine to administer treatment. So I was shunted to the OR, which I would have normally enjoyed. But there were only three surgeries today, and Jeanty, a Hatian scrub tech, was working. So I spent 2 hours organizing sutures and another 3 hours organising implants as well as some other odd jobs. Not super thrilling, but I suppose it had to be done by someone eventually. Mission work is about helping where there is help needed, not where I want to help.
You can tell that the hospital is really starting to recover by the number of Haitian staff members there are. And not just translators. I'm almost positive that all the floor nurses are Haitian. Their uniforms are the old-school kind: white skirts, jackets, and stockings, and little, white, starched hats. There is at least one Haitian anesthesiologist that I know of, and at least one surgeon. I'm glad that Hopital Adventiste can provide stable, although cheap, jobs for these people. At least they can rely on having a job tomorrow.
Mimi is very talkative. She yowls lous enough for me to hear down the hall when Amy leaves her in her room. Mimi's story is actually another incredible Haitian survival story. She was found in the hospital basement as a kitten, and Amy and her husband adopted her. They don't think she's ever actually left the hospital in her whole life. I like her.
It's darkening and the clouds are rolling in. I predict another thunderstrom tonight, although it was as hot as ever during the day.

-Chloe

Day 3, part two

That orphanage. Good gravy. That orphanage was worth some creep giving me funny looks all week. It was absolutely incredible.
Thank you, church family, for your many generous donations. I wish you could have seen the happiness that our visit brought them. I am so fortunate that I got to participate in something this special, and it was all thanks to you!
This orphanage used to operate mostly as a school before the quake. It was a three story building, and also served as housing for the family in charge of it and the orphans. It was decimated by the 7.0 earthquake. It cost $5000, provided by a donor, just to clear the rubble! And even though her home and all her belongings were gone, this lady continued to be a mother figure to these motherless children. She even gained more wards because of earthquake casualties. These days the orphanage is a ramshackle thing, hardly what you could call a building. The door is a large, black metal gate.There were some walls, which bunk beds were placed between. It did not look like they had nearly enough beds for the children; there were about 45 kids there. The roof was made entirely of tarps. I can’t imagine what they do when it rains, as it does a lot during this season. The tarps were held up by long sticks topped with tin cans and were ripped in places. Their kitchen was a tiny, unlit, L-shaped corridor. They had some rickety wooden benches to sit on, as well as a brown chalkboard. (Or something that served as one, anyway.) In addition to the children and her own family, this woman, whose name we think is Lillian, housed several coyote-looking dogs and their puppies. Thought she was up against a giant, Lillian had a huge smile on her face as she showed us around the orphanage. What she has done with this organization and these kids is incredible. If I am half the woman Lillian is when I grow up, I will have lived a good life.

After a brief tour, Lillian chattered something in Creole to the children and all of them went immediately to the rows of benches near the front gate. Every one of them was incredibly well-behaved, I was astounded! They were all cheerful and compliant. (Except for one little boy….he cried the entire time we were there. I have no idea why; I didn’t think I was that ugly.) Another little dude was hangin’ with us at the front of the room, as if he was one of us, a visitor. He was super chill. So much so, that he didn’t feel like responding when I asked his name in French.(:

I stepped forward and in my limited French introduced myself and the other members of the team, told them where we were from that we had shoes for them. They were politely hesitant to come forward, but after beckoning to a few kids specifically, they all crowed around. We decided to pass out all of the shoes we had, because we didn’t know if we would be going to another orphanage and we felt like it was the right thing to do. Although it seemed that each child already owned a decent pair of shoes, those shoes will soon wear out from constantly walking over rubble and concrete. Lillian deserves to be free from the worry of buying shoes for her kids for a while. Lillian deserves the world. She is a remarkable woman with a remarkable family and a remarkable, generous spirit.

Unfortunately, we ran out of the bigger sizes more quickly than anticipated. We didn’t know what to expect coming down here, so we tried to get a variety, although it largely depended on the donations. However, I’m fairly confident that each child received at least one pair of shoes that fit them correctly. We knelt to the ground and fit each child as they tapped on our shoulders. We also gave Lillian some toothbrushes, a few school supplies, some toddler clothes, and the suitcase we carried it all in. She really perked up when we handed her a few boxes of pencils. I wish we would have known more about the situation; she probably could have really used school supplies more than almost 200 shoes. Still, she was very grateful, and each child said “Merci!” after receiving a pair of shoes. One little boy kissed my cheek upon being fitted with a pair of lightning bolt flip-flops.

After each child was in possession of a pair of shoes or two, they assembled back into the benched and at Lillian’s encouragement, sang to us. The songs included jumping and clapping and shouting. They slapped their new shoes on the benches to the beat. They called, “Merci!” and “God bless you!” These kids were joyful. After all they have been through, they are genuinely joyful. (Except for that one little guy.) They didn’t care that I was white. They didn’t care that I didn’t speak their language. They didn’t care that they lived in a slum. It was difficult to say au revoir.
How....ironic?....coincidental?....sad?....that we should visit an orphanage on Father's Day.

It’s raining now. Thunderstorm. I hope those kids are okay.

-Chloe

Day 3

The sun comes up at like four in the morning here. I was hot when I woke up.

So yesterday was superawesome and all, but we totally could have come a day later. I think today is going to be another lazy day. We might get to go the orphanages…I hope. We might go to the pool. There’s a vendor selling paintings just outside the hotel gates; I hope he’s still there. I want one. But apparently there are four possibly untreated hip fractures here, so we might be fixing those? I don’t know. Dad’s still asleep. I’m sweating.

I forgot to mention that we drove past the President’s mansion on our way through town. It was incredible.  The dome had caved in; the walls were crumbling….it mirrors what Haiti’s government is like. ]: There are political posters everywhere; they’re constantly electing someone or voting for something, because half of the elections are fraudulent.

In Haiti, there are a lot of these taxis-like things called taptaps. You know a taptap when you see it, due to its crazy stripes and geometric shapes painted brightly on all sides. Most of them sport painted faces of supposedly famous people, but I don’t recognize them. Bunches of them have “Merci Jesus” across the top of their windshields, which means “Thank you, Jesus.” Taptaps are painted trucks or mini buses that have extra seating in the back. They drive madly through the streets and have so many people inside them, you’d think they might burst. Sometimes people are even standing on the bumpers! They must have a death wish; most of the cars have long scrapes down their flanks from squeezing through impossible gaps in traffic.

Another thing we saw when driving through Port-Au-Prince was funerals. In Haiti, funerals apparently consist of a parade through the streets, lead by a jazz band. Friends and family members, looking more overheated than sad, follow the flower-topped hearse. The strange thing was, we saw like, five, all after one another. I don’t know if that was just a strange coincidence or if Saturday is the accepted day to have funerals.

The water is icky tasting here, even the filtered stuff. But there’s no Crystal Light in Haiti. We have a minifridge, and I made ice cubes with plastic cups.(:

The wifi is off-and-on here…we’ll see when I can post.

We did rounds this morning. (Checking up on all our patients in the hospital.) Not everyone in the hospital are ortho patients, of course. Dad read the limited charts we have on the patients and oriented himself to their maladies. But we saw one 19-year old boy with a massive shoulder….Dad thinks it might be bone cancer. ): It is possible that he would have to have his entire arm amputated, up past the shoulder. There were two little girls in a separate building, Beatrice and Chademere, both with lower extremity injuries. I knew enough French to tell them that my name was Chloe, that the doctor was my dad, and where I live. I also told them that I had two brothers and a mom back home. I couldn’t really understand them very much, but they seemed glad to meet me. Later, Stacey, Dad & I went back to the girls’ room and gave them little stuffed tigers and fruit snacks. I’m glad they were in a building by themselves…I don’t want to be seen passing stuff out. People notice me enough already and I don’t want to create a mob.

Amy is nowhere to be found….so no orphanage visit today. But hopefully later!

That CREEPO Mc Creep Creeper who was hitting on me in church apparently works at the hospital. Ughhhhhhh. Either that or he was visiting someone. He kept poking his head into the room where we were looking at x-rays and shook my hand. He waited outside the x-ray room. He was leering at me. Dad seems mildly amused, but I’m afraid. But God will protect and provide.

You know what’s strange? Everyone seems to have cell phones! I guess they buy the phone and then buy minutes. A lot of Haitians seem to have MP3 players as well.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!!!!!!!!! Amy just called, and we’re going to an orphanage at 3 today! Woohoo!

We aren’t operating today, due to lack of blood supply as well as patient complications. Monday, Wednesday, & Friday are usually clinic days. I guess the clinic is pretty crazy. Tuesday and Thursday are the normal operating days. I think I’m the only scrub tech here, & I’ve barely had any training at all. Dad says I might be assisting other surgeons. Eeep.

-Chloe

Day 1-2

Golly, it was a long trip here. It feels like we have been in Haiti for days….but really it’s only since about 7:40am today, their time. We travled all night; we were in four different airports and several vehicles. I managed to catch a few hours of sleep on the plane with some help from my pal Ambien. And I took a nap today, when we got to the hospital. That adds up to a grand total of……about 5 hours of sleep for the last 36 hours. Yay! Baggage was a pain the in the butt. We paid SO MUCH for extra/overweight luggage. I mean, we did have a lot. But hardly any of it was for ourselves! I mean, American Airlines gave us one suitcase each free, which is nice. But…eh. I think they could have been a little more lenient. Southwest doesn’t charge for baggage. Too bad they don’t fly into Haiti.

Haiti is HOT. Sheesh. It’s 6:40 right now, and blistering. Luckily, we’ve got a fan by our beds. We are sleeping on the top floor of the hospital. It’s got a roof on it, but it’s open on almost all sides.  It’s humid, too. The forecast is in the upper 90’s with thunderstorms. That’ll take some getting used to. Of course, by the time I’m used to things here, it will be time to go home.

When we were flying in, the landscape was dotted by hundreds of blue squares. My dad informed me that they were the standard blue tarps, only they were being utilized as roofs. Yup, the tent cities are still there, with people by the thousands. And “tent” city is if you’re lucky: a large amount of these mini-structures consist of cardboard walls, tarp roofs, and rusty tin doors. And by the way, Port-Au-Prince is a city of FOUR. MILLION. PEOPLE.

Upon our arrival in Port-Au-Prince, we were absolutely mobbed by a gazillion people trying to “help” us with our baggage. (We have a ton, by the way. All full of medical supplies and orphanage donations. More on that later.) The problem is, everyone who touches your baggage expects and demands a tip. When we finally made it to our hospital-provided van (which had an AC, thank goodness) we got to drive through Port-Au-Prince, as the hospital is on the other side of town. The devastation is still tremendous, and it has been just over a year and a half since the quake. There’s rubble everywhere, along with heaps of trash. The horizon is smoggy, almost like L.A., because of the constant trash burning they are doing. There are absolutely no traffic rules here, except “Try Not To Kill Anybody” and “Honk A Lot.”

We settled in, and then wandered down to the hospital chapel. Their church is teeny teeny tiny, but everyone dresses up nicely and participates enthusiastically. The Haitian people love to sing, and I love to listen. Even if I don’t understand the words, it’s beautiful. There was a girls’ choir in church today, and I wanted so badly to be able to sing along with them.

I want to kick myself for slacking off on my French! I can pick out a few words…but not enough. I’m bad. ):

Not everyone is…well, everyone seems friendly. But some people are a little too friendly. This one guy in church….ugh. He kept turning around and grinning his face off. At first, I though he was just...I don’t know. Nice. Whatever.  But then he came and sat next to me and accidentally-on-purpose bumping into me. He was very, very NON-SUBTLE about it. It was sick. He wouldn’t stop staring at me. This is church, people! Honestly. As soon as church ended, he jumped up and shook my hand and didn’t let go for an awkward amount of time. Then he shook my dad’s hand, but before he dashed off, he reached over and pet my hair one time. BLEEEEEEECHHHHHHHHHHH. BLECH BLECH BLECH. I decided then and there to keep the zip-off bottoms of my backpacking pants/shorts zipped ON for the rest of the trip. Then some other guy randomly crossed the street to touch my shoulder when we were in town. Another one made kissy noises when I walked past. I’m not leaving my dad’s side. Back home, I am noticed because my skin is so dark, although I am Caucasian. I just tan easily. But here, I stick out like a sore thumb because I am so clearly white. We get a lot of stares around town.
After church & an afternoon siesta, we took a walk around with our new friend Patrick. He looks to be a little younger than me, and is very friendly. (Although I am still wary of pretty much everybody. Blah.) There are tons of vendors selling stuff on the sides of the roads. They sell strange assortments of things, too: they sell the hair dye and bananas right next to the motor oil and candy. There are quite a few people selling shoes…. (more on that later.) There are piles of sugar cane for sale that the vendors push around in wheelbarrows. They sell a lot of stuff. I mean, people are selling STICKS. Yes, sticks. They’re tall and skinny, but study looking, so I think they are for making shelters/tarp houses. Dr. Tym bought some mangos from the street….I wanted some so badly, but I don’t want to catch any bugs down here. Dad said the fruits that you peel yourself are probably okay to eat, so we can get some later in the trip. That way, if we get sick, we’ll be home soon.

It’s only 7am now, and the sun is already down.

So, Amy, the volunteer coordinator here, doesn’t seem to know a lot about the orphanages….which is worrying. I mean, here we brought $500 worth of shoes, what happens if we can’t give them to the orphans? Are there really legitimate orphanages around here, or just people saying they have kids so they can get free shoes and make a profit off of them? And if there are a good number of people selling a good number of shoes….are ours needed that desperately? I mean, should we have brought more school supplies, or toothbrushes? We just weren’t given a lot of information. But, God will provide us with a person to give the shoes to.
Amy has a kitty! Her name is Mimi, which I think is the Creole word for cat. (In French, it’s chat, pronounced “shaa.”) I like her. She is small, but all the animals are down here. The dogs, the goats, the chickens…all of which roam free, by the way.

My buddy Kiefer Williams is in Turks and Cacos, a neighboring resort islands, for his dad’s wedding. And as excited as I am to be on a mission trip…..a Caribbean resort sounds mighty fine. (Also, an AC.) Note to self: plan Caribbean honeymoon.

There is, however, a hotel in the middle of town, a dozen blocks (if they have blocks?) away that appears undamaged by the quake. AND. IT. HAS. A. POOL. YES, A POOL. A pretty nice one, too. I dipped my feet in today, and it felt marvelous. I hope that we can go back at some point, maybe tomorrow, a Sunday, or next Sabbath.

I know this will be a great, fulfilling, perspective-changing experience. But at the same time, I know I’ll appreciate a restaurant when I get back home.

Now I am going to skip over to the break room & eat my backpacking food dinner. And after that, I’ll take a nice, cold shower (that’s all they have, but in 100° weather, I welcome it.) Then, bed time, under the mosquito net! Au revoir!

 -Chloe

Bonjour!

Dear friends and family,

we set this blog up so you could get a little idea of what our experience of Haiti is like. The wifi is sometimes off-and-on, so we don't know how often we'll be able to post. Our trip has thusfar been astounding. Thank you for your generous doantions and prayers!
We named this blog for the way the Haitians live - in shelters made largely of tape and tarp. They also use poles, cardboard, crumbling cinder blocks, and pieces of tin or other scraps. But we didn't want to put all of that in the url.(:
We are incredibly grateful to be here, and we know that we will come out blessed. We only hope that we can be of some blessing to others as well.



-Chloe, Brock, Stacey, and Brad