Safely in back in Port au Prince

Five hours to get from Cayes to PaP--pretty much the same as last time, but with a bit more drama.  It probably didn't help that I was more awake this trip (still sleep deprived, but not going on 36 hours of being awake like the trip out to Cayes).  Interesting traffic-related drama I can remember includes:

1. Donkey running away from owner right in front of our Land Cruiser when we were going about 60 mph.  
2. Road shared with the following: people and children walking, motorbikes with up to 4 or 5 people on them sometimes with no helmets, cars, trucks, mac trucks, tap taps (mini vans or trucks that act like buses STUFFED with people and sometimes with stuff stacked on top), vendors selling stuff, rocks, debris, donkeys, and we even saw a guy in a wheelchair.
3. My neck is handling all the driving sitting in the back of the Land Cruiser facing sideways remarkable well.  Better than my backside, in fact.
4. Swerving around while honking is how you pass here.  The road is only two lanes (if that).  Read #2 again and imagine that.
5. Ate half a 'sandwiche fromage' at the truck stop.  Reminded me of pannini at the train station in Europe, since it was toasted and melty. Hasn't made me sick yet, and highly recommended.

We had super big thunderstorm lasting all night last night, so sorry for no update.  I did add some photos over on FB (open account, anyone can view): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2215388714051.2130245.1527584939&l=aea6c348d4&type=1

If I get motivated tonight, I may put the ones I took at Bonne Fin and the ride out here to PaP up tonight.  Turns out I leave tomorrow for Deschappelles (thank goodness for international phone service so I could get that phone call while we were on the road) and on to Hopital Albert Schweitzer.  Cannot wait!

PaP (Port au Prince) is depressing and hopeful.  There were signs of rebuilding, but also a lot of trash and rubble and poverty.  And that's just what I saw from the road.  Also, lots of UN and UNICEF trucks.  The MTI Team House here is amazing--very nice, swanky by Haiti standards.  I don't know about the armed guard at the gate, I suppose it's necessary but it's a reminder of how safe I felt in Cayes and how potentially unsafe PaP can be.

Well, looks like rain is coming and sounds like there may be distant thunder.  The breeze is certainly nice, and the humidity here doesn't seem as bad.  Looking forward to being TIRED tonight and sleeping in an air conditioned room.  The adventure begins again tomorrow.  I don't know how able I will be to update from Deschappelles, so these may be short (via text).  

Photos live!

I finally got the photos I took (mostly of Port Salut) to load!  Check them out http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2215388714051.2130245.1527584939&l=aea6c348d4&type=1

Let me try to explain how hot it is here...

Sorry about no update yesterday.  The internet was super slow and the wifi was acting up at the house.  Seems to have fixed itself (even our attempts at resetting the router had no effect) by this morning, so here I am.

Clinic and the inpatients are going well.  There's a lot a pediatric patients with developmental delay and/or what seems to be CP (hey, cut me a little slack, I'm a GERIATRIC clinical specialist).  I am glad they are coming, but feel very inadequate.  Then I remember if I wasn't here they would be getting nothing.  No PT at all.  So it's a bit easier to at least try what I can.  Taryn and Ed even think my one girl that is coming every day (so tomorrow will be 5 days) seems to be doing a bit better.  At least now this little one will talk to me and doesn't seem so scared.  She's a bit easier to work with, just seems to have physical problems and is so smart.  She names colors and counts and tries to get away with stuff with me, she's so sharp!  At least for some of the more challenging kids (one who has really low tone and is very floppy, and another who has a lot of tone and is very stiff) we've decided to treat with at least 2 if not all 3 of us.  More heads are better than one when you're trying to do a bunch of stuff!

The inpatients are pretty interesting.  We've got 2 patients with burns, one pretty severe on both his arms and his legs.  They are healing up, only one open area, and yesterday and today marked the first time since his burn (at least a month ago) that he's been up walking.  He's a champ, and his daughter was so happy.  They think he might be able to go home in a few weeks and we are hoping he can be walking by himself with a cane by then. Another inpatient is pseudo-famous.  He had cholera in January and developed a very rare reaction to the saline solution used to treat the cholera that gave him paralysis.  For those medical types, they thought he developed Guillian-Barre, but it turned out it was this rare reaction.  He's the only person in Haiti know to have survived this reaction, and he's walking now with some bracing and a platform walker.  Today he went up and down a long steep ramp we have at the clinic, as well as up and down the stairs. 

The heat is oppressive.  I don't know how to explain it, and I don't know if I'm not tolerating it as well as last year or if I just blocked out how awful it is.  Nonetheless, it's hot.  Damn hot.  Hella hot. So hot that after the 2 block walk to the house after clinic this afternoon at about 3 pm I'm all tired and completely sweated through.  Mind you, at the clinic and in the hospital I'm hot.  But at least there are a few fans and I'm indoors in the shade and I'm occupied doing things while I'm being so hot.  In the afternoon, after clinic, without much to distract me....hot.  Too hot.  Damn hot. Hella hot.  So hot that your sweaty, sweaty clothes aren't really all that smelly because you are constantly sweating and there is no time for the bacteria that cause the smelliness to grow.  That hot.

The food continues to amaze me, and the cooks here are so sweet.  It's been nearly a week since Taryn, Ed, and I arrived and they have figured out what we like.  So they keep making those things.  Or they do little things.  Taryn loves hot sauce, now they've figured that out they keep getting the Tabasco out of the fridge and handing it to her when she's making up her plate.  Or that Ed likes tea in the morning, so they have a small bowl of water for him either already heated or all ready for the microwave.  So adorable, and so very, very kind!

I promise to try to upload some more photos, if the internet holds, later tonight.  For now I'm off to reply to some email and take a nap.  I hope it rains tonight, since that helps a bit with the heat and certainly helps me sleep a bit more. 

Port Salut and serious chillin'

Back from a gorgeous day over in Port Salut.  The ride was nice, through the countryside and over the mountain to the southern coast of Haiti, a bit farther west than Les Cayes.  We went to the same beach I celebrated my 40th birthday at last year. It's a beautiful beach, very shallow with great blues and greens and white sand.  Had the lobster with frites again (because you don't mess with a good thing), and some of the local Prestige beer.  Gotta love Haiti time--we ordered right when we got there at about 10:45 am and were told it would take 35 minutes.  A little of 2.5 hours later, voila lunch!

What I learned today...part of the reason Port Salut is so pretty and developed (it even has a bit of a tourist trade with 3 hotels on the beach) is because this is where Aristide was from.  He had a private airstrip so he could fly here for weekends when he was dictator.  The UN now uses the airstrip for helicopters. 

I swam a bunch, read a bit (thank you Kindle, for handling the sun so wonderfully), had some more beer, practiced my French with Harold (our driver), practiced my Spanish with Carmen, and otherwise had a great day.  Also got to listen to the Women's World Cup final match in the car on the way home.  I loved how the announcer was speaking French but when anything exciting would happen he would slip into Kreyol.  Hee.  From what I caught, it was exciting to the end.  Too bad for the US, but at least it was a great game.  I also loved driving past small, cinder block houses to see people all crowded at the doors and windows watching the game on the few TVs that people have hear, as well as hearing all the radios turned up with the game. 

I'm a bit uncomfortable right now.  I've got a bunch of bites from something (I don't think mosquitoes) and have added a bit of a sunburn on my shoulders and upper back.  Whatever.  It was a great day.  I did take photos, so I will try to upload those later tonight!

Going, just when the going gets good

[Please note: now accepting your generous support of donations via PayPal.  Link is to the right.]

Props to Reuben for sending me an email today reminding me I'm NOT insane for doing this.  Because I have moments.  I tend to be the type of person who mulls over an idea for a while, and then suddenly decides to jump in head first.  It's not really as impulsive as it may look to outsiders, the mulling is pretty substantial and prolonged, but when I jump I'm all in.  This was one of those decisions.

I do have concerns or doubts, even with the excessive amount of positive support and adrenaline this plan has sparked.  From this silly and self-centered (Malarone will be required, and it gives me funky dreams after about 10 days), to the serious and scary (the Frontline on Haiti 6 weeks after the quake was an eye opener).  But fluctuating feelings is a by-product of being human, and only because I'm so excited and emotionally invested is this even the case.

Funny enough, on what probably sounds like an unrelated note, I found this piece about Mt. St. Mary's College in LA to give me pause.  I've always tried to volunteer (with all those years in Girls Scouts when I was younger, followed by Semper Comites in high school), but I wonder how much of a different person I might be if I hadn't stepped out of the box and done the unexpected and attended the Mount?  Would I be the kind of person planning for a "Haiti Birthday?"*  Would I be doing this, now?  Would I even be considering it?  I'd like to think I would, but honestly I can't say with certainty if that would be the case. 



Well, on other fronts...I'll be away for the next week.  I know, bad planning.  Start this up, just to ditch ship for a week.  Oh well, life isn't always what you plan, sometimes it's just what happens.  I'm off for what I hope is a well deserved vacation in sunny Mazatlan.** I'll be sure to bring back some stories of that trip to post here, as well as some photo updates.  Have a great week, and thanks in advance for your support!

*tm Andy (I told you I was stealing that, just too hilarious!)
** which is in Mexico, in case you didn't know (and yes, I'm looking at you, Jim)

Shameless Shilling Begins

That's right. I'm asking for your help. This three week adventure to Haiti won't pay for itself, so I'm...well, for lack of a better word...begging.

How to help:

• Donate some money to me directly to help pay for my room and board, taxi fare to shuttle between airports in Port-au-Prince, help me buy a solar charger for my iPhone, or help cover the overnight stay I need in Miami.  Any donation, no matter how small, will be treasured.
• Donate to the Advantage Program (secure online donations, or print a form), the group I'm volunteering with.

When* I get donations, I'll be adding a sponsor blogroll.  That's right, see your name on the Interwebs!

Read long version, for all the juicy details (including where to send any donations).  I'll be crossing items off this list as they are funded.

And thanks in advance!

*I'm such a negative nelly.  The first incarnation of this had "If I get donations..."  Edited to reflect my lame attempt at staying positive.

Because who doesn't dream of a 40th birthday bash in Haiti?

New adventure, new blog.  This one's all about travel. Why, where, when, and sometimes how.

What inspired yet another foray into the ridiculously overcrowded blogosphere*?  I'm going to Haiti in slightly less than 3 months.  Yes, you heard that right...Haiti.  I've decided that without grad school to blame, I had no valid excuse for not getting off my backside and doing something I've been tossing around in my head for awhile, namely voluteer overseas as a physical therapist.

I leave on July 10th, and plan on returning on July 31st.  So my 40th birthday will be spent in Les Cayes, Haiti. 

I'll post more details, include shilling for donations and taking you up help to make this happen, in the upcoming days and weeks.  But I wanted to get in the groove.  I'll also probably migrate some good travel posts from other locations, and update my flickr feed with more recent trip photos. 

In the mean time, welcome and enjoy.

*And in case you were wondering, it did feel just as stupid to type blogosphere as it feels to say it. The more you know.