Day 1: Arrival in Haiti

Mixed emotions about traveling to Haiti today. I was so excited for this day and now that it's here I'm not sure how I feel about everything. Begining our journey at 10 on Tuesday night and after about 14 hours of traveling to Minneapolis and then to Miami, we were finally boarding the plane to depart for Port Au Prince Haiti. Crying as I say my final goodbyes to my parents I boarded the plane feeling quite uneasy. I sit down in my window seat, thinking that I was going to get a whole row of seats to myself because boarding was almost finished was a little more comforting because at this point I just wanted to cry the whole time by myself. However, this little Haitian lady comes and sits right next to me, and of course right away I'm a little annoyed. My thoughts were everywhere, mostly negative, asking myself really, she couldn't leave the seat in between us empty and sit in the aisle? I put my feet up on my seat and turn away from her to look out the window. I felt a slight tap on my leg and turned to look at her. She was pointing at my cross tattoo on the back of my leg. She asked, with the little English she knows, if I pray? I said yes and began to feel a little more comfortable. She smiled and grabbed my hands and started praying as we took off. Immediately after that my mood had changed and we talked throughout the entire flight. She told me so much about her country and even that they have gone through some very tough things, that it's one of the most beautful places and she wouldn't leave it no matter what happens there. She explained how stunning the mountains are at night with the lights just sparkling and said it's something I need to see. Landing in Haiti and seeing the mountains was stunning. I knew after talking to this lady for the past hour that I would absolutely love Haiti.

We were welcomed in Haiti as soon as we stepped off the plane by this little band in the airport playing music as we began to go through immigration and customs. After getting all our bags in the Baggage Claim my thoughts on Haiti were already changing. It was stressful, giving me serious anxiety, because so many Haitians are just sitting there wanting to take your bags from you and asking for money. They are not just sitting there asking either, they are literally smothering you, you have to push through people, cut off people in the line and be assertive, all of things which I am not good at. After finally getting through all these people, a clunky old bus pulls up, which was our ride, so we pilled all of our bags in and climbed in. Seeing everything for the first time while driving to the compound was difficult. I just kept thinking to myself "what did I get myself into" and "how do people live like this?" It was only a short 20 minute drive to the compound, so when we arrived there and met everyone I began feeling excited again. Everyone was so nice and welcoming there. It was nice to just relax the rest of the day and take everything in as well as unpacking things in the bunkhouse and getting familiar with the clinic and everything. Glad I ended the day feeling better about things here, but extremely tired.