Welcome to Haiti, Mom and Dad! After for waiting over an hour outside of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, I saw my parents walk through the glass doors, luggage in tow, looking like they were ready to go on an African safari =) It was about 4:30 in the afternoon on April 9th. Just the beginning of our adventures...
But I'm glad they were prepared. Because the little white combi (a small bus) that we had 'reserved' for our trip to Jacmel was already full and had left without us. So we made our way to the very Haitian 'bus station' in a somewhat sketchy part of town and proceeded to sit for over an hour until the bus seats were full and the driver willing to leave for our destination.
Just to give some context to our ride - Haitian buses are not FULL until you have 6 people to a row. 2 on a seat, with a 3rd squeezed uncomfortably on the end of each, with half of their bum on the seat and half in the aisle. I was one of the privileged aisle sitters ;)
We were sitting shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip with hot, sweaty Haitians (we were the only blans on the bus, and we definitely stood out...), a random chicken or two, some guy chewing on sugar cane (and spitting the chewed up fiber on the floor of the bus), and to top it all of, I heard a poor little goat bleating away on top of us. He must've been thrown up there with all the luggage.
I always wanted to experience public transportation in Haiti, but had NO idea what it would really feel like. And it wasn't all that bad ... for the three of us young 'uns. But I felt awful for my parents. Yes, they've lived in Africa. And I am so glad they did! But, after a long flight, I'm sure a 4 hour trip in a bus was NOT on their top ten list of things to do. (one of those hours, we were just sitting in heat of the sun, till it set and left us in the dark, noisy chaos of Port au Prince).
By the time we pulled into Jacmel around 10pm that night, we were more than ready to crash in our beds. And all I could say to my parents was, "Well, this is the REAL Haiti." ;)
The three teachers, at the beginning of our much-needed and adventure-filled Easter break. To help keep our minds off the long, uncomfortable bus ride, we tried getting our fellow travelers to join us in some upbeat Kreyol worship songs. But after a round of "Amen, Allelujah, Amen ..." we were singing alone. So we stopped ;) And enjoyed the rest of the time to just talk, attempt short naps on each other's shoulders, and eat leftover pizza from Esther's class party earlier that day. It was quite the trip ...
And these were our 'chauffers.' Amos and his brother - friends of Esther's from Jacmel, when she worked at the YWAM orphanage this past fall. Here, they are trying marshmallow peeps for the first time - the little little green bunny ones ;) I think they liked them too!
And these are the mountains we drove over to get to Jacmel. But on the trip DOWN, we did this in the dark. And the rain. And it felt like we were about to careen over a cliff's edge with almost every twist or turn we made. I think it was a blessing we made the first trip in the dark...
But on the way back, my poor mother got the 'bench' seat right by the open door! She had a great view, but I know she was getting a bit concerned when the two guys hanging on the outside of the door started falling asleep... I guess they were looking out for each other though, because neither one fell off, and she stayed safely seated inside the bus until we pulled into Port au Prince once again.
These were our beds after the long night of travel. But despite their humble appearances, they made us feel like royalty when we crashed onto them close to midnight. Lindz, Esther and I tried draggingours outside to sleep under the stars, but an hour later, it started to rain. So, half-awake, we pulled our wet selves back into this room and slept the rest of the night away.
And in the morning, this is where we found ourselves. The YWAM orphanage of Jacmel. The previous YWAM base in the city was destroyed in the floods and hurricanes this fall, so this house was a new addition. But it was beautiful and perfectly suited for the children and workers who lived there.
We enjoyed meeting the kids, hugging them, playing with them, and taking pictures of them, before we headed out on a morning tour of Jacmel.
Two of the young men in the orphanage, lounging around and looking cool.
The small ones - not too cool yet, and more than eager to hang all over us ;)
The little boy on the right was one of my favorites ... he loved playing hide and seek with me ;) But it was so hard to see how frail his little body was. He was six years old, and hardly looked a day older than 4! His parents, who live in the mountains above Jacmel, were not able to take care of him, so they sent him to the orphanage to receive care and schooling. This was the story of many of the 'orphans' here. Their parents would try to visit occasionally, but I think the children still felt pretty orphaned ...
Lindsay brought along some new Old Navy sandals for the young women here - some orphans and some staff. It felt like Christmas!
They wanted to show off their beautiful feet. =)
And this was the beginning of our walking tour of the city. I LOVED the steep roads and walkways! We didn't really have a map or tour guide to show us around, so we just decided to walk down - towards the ocean =) And we ended up finding some pretty amazing stuff!
Old run-down buildings.
A large, open-air market that was not in use because of Good Friday observances (actually, the whole town felt pretty dead, due to the holiday weekend).
Taking a water break =) Gotta love Haitian water-in-a-bag. It's quite the experience! Kind of like the milk bags we used to get in high school ...
We met up with Esther's friend, Sony, during our walking tour as well. As a local, he told us about a few things we could do or see as well, but we were getting pretty worn out at this point. The tropical sun is quite hot by early April ...
This is Sony, hard at work in his barber shop. We didn't go inside (Esther took this), but I thought you might enjoy peeking in anyway ;)
I loved the colorful buildings of Jacmel. Much less dreary and industrial looking than St. Marc ... Even this Funeral Parlor! Not the color scheme I would come up with for such a place!
And the flowers! Breathtaking. Mom and Dad loved seeing these bouganvilla, which they had seen all over southern Africa when they lived there in the late 70's.
But THIS was, by far, our most exciting discovery of the morning. An old, run-down hotel that overlooked the ocean. We stumbled upon it from the street below, when Lindsay, Esther and I spotted their beautiful tumbled-down gardens. And as we were inspecting the gate, a young college student came along and offered to show us around!
While we were inside with him, the caretaker and his boys stopped by, and he offered to give us a tour of the inside! Technically, I guess this all was 'free.' But we gave the caretaker some goudes before we left, as a thank you for his time and generosity in opening up the place to us. What a treat!
The view from below.
And from the stone staircase...
And the stone bridge ...
A random turkey that I heard gobbling away in the garden when we were walking around the hotel. I didn't think it could be really be a turkey, but there he was! Proud as anything, walking around as if he owned the place =) Maybe he did ... apparently, the previous owner died within the four walls of the hotel, and no one wants to buy it now because they believe the place is haunted by a zombie. Such a shame...
Resting on an awesome green chair that we found. Gotta love digital camera technology...
And the view from the hotel of the porch. Amazing!
Walking from the main road, back towards the YWAM house.
Enjoying lunch at Se Sa Net - the little internet cafe that Lubens opened about a year ago. He is currently the director of YWAM Jacmel. He and his wife, Andie, run the orphanage as well.
After our quick lunch, Lubens drove my parents and me and Lindz to our final destination - the Hotel Cyvadier beach resort! It was so exciting to finally settle in to our rooms, take naps, read books, walk down by the beach ...
Relax by the pool ...
Hike around the bay ...
Walk up gated staircases ...
And pose for pictures =)
And play with fun pieces of fan coral ...
We also enjoyed writing our names in the sand. =) Mom and dad were celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary, so they went first...
And Stu and I were celebrating the one year anniversary of our first date, so we went next ;)
And Lindz and Daryl were celebrating 11 months =)
It was such a blessing to have my cell phone along, even though the connection was awful ... Kristine, David, Melissa (my siblings and my brother's girlfriend) and Stu were all together in the windy city of Chicago over Easter, so it was fun to stay in touch with them. When we talked, it almost felt like our whole family was together again!
Lindsay and I really enjoyed getting to know the vendors along the beachfront. They were happy to sell us the few little things that we bought, but it was also a lot of fun to use the little Kreyol that I know to just chat with them.
Mom and Dad, checking out some of the paintings.
Now the food at the hotel was another story ... I have NEVER eaten so well in my life! Not only was the food good, well-seasoned, and healthy, it was so inexpensive! The manager of the hotel was also the chef, and he did a great job =)
The fresh fruit juices were my favorite. Mango, grapefruit ...
And every morning for breakfast, we had a side of fresh fruit. Again, the mango won me over...
Easter morning! We coordinated without even trying it =) Must be the effect of the tropics...
And Lindz's favorite purchase from our beachside vendors. A Haitian hat!
We also loved the little lizards that we saw running around everywhere. This little guy kept crawling in and out of the pipe under mom and dad's balcony when we were trying to have our Easter morning service up there. He kept us entertained =)
So after our lovely weekend, we took the long bus ride back to Port. This time, in the day light. This colorful tap tap drove by as we waited along the street for the YWAM bus to pick us up in Port. We were almost home!
And once we got in the bus, this was some of the exciting scenery we drove past, as Freeman tried to find his way out of the city (from the station, an area he had never been in before). Another 'welcome to Haiti' moment...
And yet another! We made a short stop at the house in Port where the DTS was staying during their 2 week outreach there. And we were all in need of a bathroom stop, so ... we took one ;)
But the ride home took longer than expected, because our 'trusty' bus broke down just 45 minutes outside of Port. We sat for about an hour before someone came with the van to rescue us and tow us back to St. Marc. Our 'should-have-been' 5 hour trip from Jacmel ended up taking 13 hours! Poor mom ...
But we finally made it. Once again, at like 10pm. They saved dinner for us (my favorite - Monday night white rice and legum), and then I walked mom and dad over to the guest apartment where they would be staying the next two nights. We were greeted with the most amazing blast of cold air, and it didn't take me long to decided to crash on their couch ;)
The day before mom and dad left (you can see other pics of their visit in my classroom on the other Easter post), we did a quick tour of St. Marc. We visited the little grocery store where we buy our groceries, drove through the local market, and then stopped by the park so they could see the 10 Commandments monument.
Saying goodbye!
There are many more stories to tell and pictures to show, but I've probably overloaded you as it is. So I'll stop here =) Thanks for listening!
