The lead security officer at Haiti Communitere, where I stayed in Port au Prince for a few days, gave me a motorcycle ride to the bus station. Here are clips that pretty well represent some of the less damaged parts of the city.
Why would I pay $1.25 for a garbage bag? Well, I got caught in the rain about 30 miles from my hotel. It wasn't a heavy rain, but enough to soak me. I found these guys who ride in the rain for a living - they hang out on their motorcycles near bus stops and give people rides for "the last mile." I gave the guy 50 Pesos after he ran and got me a bag and custom tailored it for my arms and neck. And besides, he at first offered to give it to me.
Well, it started out that way. I walked to the beach with Miriam, a new friend I made while staying at the Gypsy Ranch in Sosua on the north shore. She's taking kite surfing lessons and instructors set up these cool structures to stake their claims to parts of the beach. Surfing is popular here, as the waves are really long. "Get on one of the big waves, "a surfer said to me," and when you reach the beach, you have a long walk back."
I'm hesitant to post many photos of Haiti because so much has been shown already, and without being able to spend time with people, I only have these "drive-by" shots, this one was from the back of a "tap-tap" shared taxi. i stood on the bumper and held on. Just wanted you to know that even through exhaustive efforts by thousands of people, things are still a mess down here, especially in the Port au Prince area.
I started this morning in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic amid poverty I could not have imagined a week ago. Then I traveled to Haiti. Consider if you can; what if your child was born here? Simple notions that may have helped propel the thousands of volunteers who come here to try in their own ways to give Haiti a new future. I have been collecting loads of material in the past few days and have had very little time to process it. I'll be in Haiti a few days and then I plan to head to the northern coast of Hispaniola where I should have time for more thorough updates.
Anyone ever see advertising inside airplanes? Amazing, but that's what I saw while flying Spirit from Ft. Lauderdale to the Dominican Republic. Several of the luggage bins were covered with ads. Sorry I didn't get a pic, but I was a bundle of nerves for several reasons.
The plane was fully loaded with partying tourists speaking several languages I didn't understand. The crowd behind my non-reclining seat did not know how to use their "inside-the-airplane" voices and they passed the two hours like they were in some kind of raucous bingo game in the middle of a drunken livestock auction. Click Like if you agree that air travel sure has changed. Landed in Santo Domingo and caught a cab to a hotel in town. I hope to get up to get up to Mao tomorrow to meet Darryl and Paul Whittington, Ted Williams, Ken Clark, Mark Creech, Doug Lane and Neal Turner as they work on the church. I had started this day with a few delicious eggs cooked by my Aunt Lucille in her Stuart, Florida home, and I'm finishing it with an apple that I bought here for 32 pesos. Leaving tomorrow (Wednesday) for Fort Lauderdale. Maybe I'll visit some relatives before flying out Thursday. Then while on Hispanola I hope to:
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