First Night

We're here!

When we boarded the plane in Miami, the flight attendant welcomed us on board the "767 Luxury Liner," which seemed a bit out of place considering where we were headed. There were A LOT of church and non-profit groups on the flight.

The deforestation could be seen from the air as we flew over. Years ago, I visited the other side of this island and Haiti not lush and green like the Dominican Republic. It's almost desert-like.

The 45 minute ride from the airport was unreal. The first thing we saw was a huge tent neighborhood by the airport, alongside the runway. There were portable showers and restrooms that look like they were installed by the UN.

There were street vendors everywhere, selling everything imaginable. One lady's setup looked like she had cleaned out the health and beauty section of Costco... made me wonder if her merchandise had been sent as relief donations. Our host would later explain in our initial briefing that the street vendors, technically illegal, are some of the reasons it's so hard to start legitimate businesses here. Legit retailers are taxed, so it's difficult to compete.

There were a ton of "busses"... They look like pickup trucks with oversized, multi-colored camper shells on the back... with Haitians stuffed in like sardines. The traffic is crazy too.

There are flattened buildings and rubble everywhere, as if the earthquake just happened yesterday.

When we finally pulled up to the hotel, the entrance was a large metal gate in a huge wall... it was almost very sinister. The guard opened the gate to reveal a dark driveway alongside a huge pile of rubble. What was obviously the main building and lobby was completely deserted. We learned from the woman at the front desk that they lost about half of their rooms, and only about a third of the remaining are available right now. The hotel is o generator and it's only running from 6pm to 7am.

I have a nice room though, and despite the construction, the atmosphere is pretty neat. It feels like a 5 star resort compared to the tents we saw earlier.

There's so much more I've taken in, but I have to be up in 5 hours and I got a late start after getting all my gear ready for tomorrow.