the second weekend

This weekend we went to the beach in Jacmel for one of the volunteers (Jeanie) birthdays. We left early Friday afternoon on our epic journey across the country. We had to go into the heart of port-au-prince to catch a ride from the ‘bus station’. I say bus in the loosest term. It is a minivan that we in the UK would use to sit 6-8 people, well the Haitians cram 16 of you in there! Very cosy! We board this van and the local vendors seeing the group of ‘blancs’ make a beeline for the van and try to sell us everything from prescription drugs to sunglasses, water to English grammar books! We finally pull away from the station when the bus is full and start on the trip up and over the mountain. The driving over the mountain is no different to how people drive in the city. Even if you are going up a steep incline on a hair pin bend with a blind turn to follow I will still overtake you, and hooting my horn as I do makes it ok!

We arrive in Jacmel and unfold ourselves from the bus to go and find some food. A couple of the volunteers new a place to get good chicken and it was good! The owner spoke English and was so proud of the sauce he used which was his own recipe. The secret is thousand island dressing with bbq sauce – it is delicious you should try it next time you have chicken.

The next challenge was to find a tap tap to take us up the road to the hotel. By this time the sun was rapidly setting over the mountains and darkness was setting in. We tried one tap tap but it was charging too much for the ride so we walked on to get a reasonable price. We jumped on the next tap tap along but made the mistake of not negotiating price before boarding. So 5 minutes down the road the vehicle stops and Erin who was sitting in the front tells us all to get out as the driver is demanding too much money. So although we got a free ride 5 minutes down the road we were still 20 minutes from the hotel and no tap tap in sight. So as I am standing on the side of a Haitian road in the pitch black and no idea where I am I pondered my risk assessment and thought this is everything I said I wouldn’t do. But hey you have to live a little! We did finally find a tap tap to take us where we wanted to go and I have never been so happy to see a hotel sign.

The hotel was right on the beach and it was so beautiful! So we met some of the rest of the crew and sat on the beach front until we were all too tired and decided it was time to turn in.

The next day was spent on the beach! With a slight interruption half way through the day as we moved 5 minutes down the road to the beach house we were staying in that night. So we chilled on this beautiful beach which was barely populated. This is a feature of Haiti that needs to be more in the media. It really is breath-taking. I will post some photos on fb soon.

That evening we were joined by another group of people who were over from the states on a mission trip and spent the evening chatting and celebrating a couple of birthdays and the passing of my finals. Taking a walk along the beach in the dark with the moonlight shining off the ocean was just incredible! Most of you will know my obsession with the ocean so you know that I find this the most relaxing thing in the world and this is my favourite place in the world.

Sunday we spent the morning hanging out on the beach before getting a ride back over the mountain to the clinic. Thank goodness we got a ride as by this point we are all tired and the thought of riding 3 tap taps a cramped bus and who knows maybe a moto or 2 did not sound fun.

We did receive an announcement half way through the day though that we have gone to day light saving time. So I am now 4hrs behind the UK. This apparently happens in rather a haphazard manner in Haiti, being not every year and not at any particular set time of year either. At least this time it roughly fitted in with the american time change. The President just decides and announces! Very Haitian!

Overall it was the perfect way to celebrate becoming a Dr! Good food, good company, good beer and the ocean!