THE CHRONICLES OF
HAITI… pt 1
Fond Blanc, Haiti
(written on July 5,
2010)
It all started in the D.R.
WR Launch complete…. 76 racers all packed up and ready to
head out. 4 teams, including my own, set off to the Haiti/DR border around 9
AM.
CHALLENGE ONE: Car Sickness.
So, unfortunately I’m a bit of a weenie and succumb to my
little friend known as nausea when in the rear of a large vehicle. Let’s just
say WR is out to set me free of this demon. I spent the entire voyage, eyes
closed, laid out on the nasty bus floor, pseudo-asleep. On the trip, we had brake trouble. All our gear was stored in a trailer
behind our more than questionable vehicle. Not to mention, these aren’t your
typical roads, people. If you’re
ever interested in a smart investment, just start selling tires for cheap in
foreign countries. IT’S GOLD.
CHALLENGE TWO: The Border.
Hours later, we hit the border. Our set-backs put our border
arrival dangerously close to the shutdown time of 6 PM. Aaron Bruner (a
fantastic WR “in country” contact… does many logistics details and maintains
connections in Haiti) jumped out to the rescue and, by the grace of God, got us
through to our next location. Meanwhile, I am passed out in the front seat
thanks to my wonderful racer friend Rachel who slipped me a sleepy pill for the
trip.
CHALLENGE THREE: Sleeping on a Roof in Haiti? (not really a challenge)
All four teams bunked down in Haiti Christian Missions’
compound. It was a beautiful end to a long travel day! They had a huge spread
waiting for us to eat… enough internet to tease me into trying to blog… another
crew awaiting their own mission… and an amazing roof top. I slept on a lawn chair sleeping mat
with no pillow and a sleeping bag.
All the traveling put me in a funk. Morning set me straight, though. At
roughly 5 AM, I opened my eyes to the sea on one side and amazing mountains
encompassing our small roof on the other.
I have learned that the song lyric “every morning, new
mercies I see” was made for my next 300-ish mornings.
CHALLENGE FOUR: Team City Light’s location and our Lay-over
spot, Fontamara
Aboard another bus. This time a yellow dog. Hot. Traffic.
The smell of Haiti in all places that you don’t want it. We take our trek to
and past Port Au Prince. Team Crash was the second team off the bus. Team City
Lights and Crash both de-bused at Fond Tamara, the home of our contact Jean
Claude. He is MORE than amazing. We watered up while Team City Lights got
comfortable. They are staying in Fond Tamara for the month. Kameron and I
started a small jam session of guitar and djembe music making! I met a sweet
woman that I realize, now, was an angel in disguise. Rebekah, an American that
lived only 30 MINUTES AWAY from my USA location in Texas, was visiting the
orphanage with her brother. She has been on mission in Haiti several times
throughout the past years. She and her brother rode with us to Fond Blanc.
CHALLENGE FIVE: The Winding Road to Fond Blanc.
We loaded up a van, World Race style of course. Packs around
our ears… Day packs around our ankles…. Smelly. It took about 2 hours to make
the drive to Fond Blanc. WARNING: I have no words to describe the next scenes
beauty, so take what I say and multiply it times a billion… that’s how
beautiful this place is. We travel a good ways North East of Port Au Prince. It’s
mountain country, the hills greener than any granny smith apple, the foliage
thicker than any scene in Jungle Book, the roads winding like they were written
in cursive handwriting. We trekked through villages and streams. I can’t
describe it any better than you seeing it yourself…. So here is a picture of
the beauty that sets the backdrop for Team Crash’s next month.
Feel free to drool.
