Solo Project

Because I had the spare time, and because not a day passes without a thought of Haiti crossing my mind, I offered to complete a special project for my NGO and do follow-up from our last visit in November. I planned to go in February, and since that is the season of Spring Break for students I tossed the idea to my sister: "Want to join me in Haiti?" I dont think she even took a breath before exclaiming yes. I am so thrilled that I finally had the chance to share this experience with a member of my family! I have been raving about Haiti for years, and now I have recruited another die-hard fan so that I am not alone in the story telling. Perhaps having another person on my side will help alleviate the paranoia that people are internally rolling their eyes and thinking: "Oh yay! Another story about Haiti...", "geeze, how does she manage to find a reference to Haiti for EVERY situation..." Hopefully they arent really thinking these thoughts.
Regardless, Emily and I have already completed our project; and now I am back in Canada, dreaming and planning my next visit!

I have to admit, the night before we departed I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering to myself how I come up with these crazy schemes! What had I gotten myself into! How was I going to pull this off! Going to Haiti with my younger sister in tow, I began listing the vast amount of things that could go wrong. When our plane caught fire before we even left the the jetway might have been a good moment for a panic attack to ensue...but thankfully it didnt. We arrived in Haiti a day later than planned, after an over-night in Miami (where I learned my sister is extremely easy to please during travel) and were greeted by our tour company (we use Tour Haiti if youre curious) at the airport, along with my friend Gail who handed me a charged cellphone and sent us off with hugs. Our driver was my old pal Hero so the Kreyol practice began immediately! We left the city and headed to Les Cayes with a truck loaded with wheelchairs and my lonely hockey bag of supplies. Emily's bag was stuck in Miami. We didnt see it until we returned to Port au Prince- and yes that is infuriating. Our drive through Cayes was more eventful than would be the norm because the city was hosting Kanaval! It was such a treat to spot people dressed in costumes as we made our way to the dock to meet our boat. Pulling up to the dock I spot my friend from the island, what a wonderful surprise that was! He was there to pick up people so I was able to coordinate with him our drives from our cabin to the town where the orphanage is- there are no roads on the island so we use boat. We arrived at our Haiti home and were shown to our first room. First room you wonder? We were in our first room for maybe 5 minutes before we were given a serious upgrade :) We were busy checking out our new digs, and taking pictures so we could document every second of our trip, when I looked up and spotted our roommate. My sister was in the bathroom exclaiming about how cool the mirror design was, so she wasnt there to meet him (or perhaps her?) Emily is TRAGICALLY afraid of spiders. So much so it has become a bit of a family joke. So when I spotted the enormous spider on the wall above the bed I hesitated on how to react. I chose to kindly request she remain in the bathroom. This tipped her off. When I wouldnt let her look out she knew something was up. Needless to say, when I asked a staff member to remove the spider, they took their service to a new level and offered us a cabin on the beach. Um, yes, of course we wouldnt mind moving onto the beach- how quick can I grab my bag and run to the cabin? It was such a fantastic little cabin on the beach, we were entirely smitten at first sight. (We stayed at Village Vacance if youre curious) To top off our little streak of luck, my friend who I had run into in Cayes had come to drop off his customers who also were staying at our resort and invited us to come to the beach with them since they were already being paid to drive the boat there. Who turns down a free trip to the beach which would normally be an arduous hike? Not us. While at the beach we spotted Sean Penn who had arrived by helicopter. Let me take this opportunity to explain my new found hatred for helicopters on beaches with a little math: high winds + sand + little ol me = a whole world of discomfort. Thanks Sean, Thanks. We had a nice swim and then returned to our cabin to shower and enjoy our lobster supper. Ah, living the life in Haiti we were! We were both extremely excited about finally making it to the orphanage the next morning after our delay, and Emily could finally meet all my friends (big and little!)