What a trip. Almost 24 hours after we left Portland, we arrived in Terre Blanche. The plane rides were fine, though packed. And the PDX to San Francisco to Miami to Hiati route felt long, but the real fun started when we arrived here in country.
Lots of people here to help- I've seen Japanese, Canadian, Dutch... even one actor from "Band of Brothers" here to do who-knows-what.
Haiti isn't like I expected- though there's evidence of the quake, the parts of the country we've driven through have seemed quickly to get back to some semblance of normal, with the caveat that many people (most, probably) in Port au Prince are sleeping outdoors- in cars, tents, whatever. But the place is bustling- we saw open markets, open stores, people out enjoying themselves. I understand that there are parts that are up to 90% destroyed (with the remaining 10% not something you'd want to live in), but we didn't drive through those areas.
I think it took us about 6 hours to drive the 100 miles or so north to Terre Blanche. It's a no-lane road with kind of a Mad Max ethos prevailing. I lost count of how many trucks we passed on blind curves! The highway runs through a lot of towns, and people pretty much stay off the roads as the traffic comes through/by at a fair clip. Most of the road was paved, though in some areas the difference between paved and unpaved was negligible. It's amazing how many pack into the buses and on the backs of make-shift taxi's fashioned out pick-ups. The bus art is amazing- you could make a book just of the amazing blend of religious and musical/movie/sports stars they have colorfully painted over every surface. The main industry here seems to be "taxi" with "hair dresser/barber" a close second. The way we have coffee shops on every corner in the PacNW? They have hair salons.
Terre Blanche seems to be a more dispersed village- I hope to find a way to post pictures here pretty quick- but a lot of farm land, make-shift houses/huts, not a lot of power. We spent the morning preparing for the clinic we'll run the rest of our time here, and after lunch, I think we're taking a walk through the village.
The Haitians have greeted us warmly- more in a bit!
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