Haiti - 1st impressions

Day 1 Tuesday 28^th Feb

So after 24hrs of travelling, a rather uncomfortable night at the mercy of Miami airport air conditioning I made it to Haiti.

CULTURE SHOCK! The airport was not too bad as this is was the part I was dreading. I’ve had experience of being hassled cos I’m white before so a nice smile and a firm no thank you usually does the trick. Although here I said no thank you and the guy preceeded to tell me he was deaf! I do feel very white though and a little out of my depth knowing that no one really speaks English. Anyway I was met by the driver and off we go. So now think Bangkok meets Cambodia on roads that would make Percy cry and think he was being tortured. Unmade roads like the one outside kenthouse station but 10 times worse, with pot holes that stretch into potholes and deep ravines on either side. Also along the side of the road you might meet a goat or two or perhaps a donkey or cow. Pedestrians everywhere setting up little shops and stalls outside shacks hoping to make the most of the passing trade. Vehicles are all 4 wheel drives but they vary from tap taps (think mini philipino jeepney) crammed full of people to official UN vehicles with very official American men behind the wheel. Along the side of the road there are piles of rubble, cars and vans that have been abandoned. The most shocking site was that of the remains of a clinic de urgency built behind massive iron gates. Remnants of large concrete walls jutting out from the pile of rubble that it has been reduced too.