Adventures WorldRace SethBarnes Sponsorship Giving

| by archiveworldraceblogs

First Impressions:



  • The exclamatory statement, “Its hot as Haiti!â€� has reasoning and truth
  • Coming to the boarder there are lots of pods lined up, almost like a small market…we guess that the pods are relief supplies. What we saw was like Haiti’s version of Costco where you buy in bulk.
  • The landscape is hilly and rocky on one side and flat farmland on the other.
  • The roads here are terrible, I mean terrible.  They are rocky, dirty, bumpy, narrow-unsafe for drivers as well as hard on the vehicles.   An excavation company should propose to large organization for funds to support road work in this country. 
  • The streets are crowded.  The market area is crowded.  There are people competing for space.  There is trash everywhere.  It is a poor nation.
  • Small pools of water (probably from ocean swells) are used for washing clothes, washing bodies and washing away trash. Yuk.  On the bus, across the border and through the country, I promise I saw all thee, and more, multiple times.
  • I’m not sure whether to say “gracias, merci, or you’re welcomeâ€� so I just smile.
  • Construction equipment seen on the job and interstates in the states is the same construction equipment the Haitians see-Big Mack trucks and CAT machines.
  • Like in the Dominican Republic, trash gets burned in Haiti.
  • Cement blocks are the only building materials used for permanent shelter.  Wood, cut from trees, is used for fences and vendor stands, but is not so structurally sound. 
  • Overly bright and obnoxious “tap tapsâ€� fly by, full of people.  These converted short school bus taxis follow one path.  They go one way to a point, and then turn around, allowing you to go all the way to the capital without changing buses. It seems convenient enough, but is deemed very, VERY unsafe.
  • Every so often there is a strong scent of trash, rubber, or polluted water.  In combination with what I see from the bus window, I am heartbroken.
  • Palm trees seem unique in the states, I easily forget they cover tropical islands.  They are the dreamiest trees in the world.
  • Tents still rule along the drive from Port Au Prince to Grand Guave. Harden shelters and small concrete homes covered in tarps are seen scattered through the numerous tent cities that remain