First of all, let me explain something to you. We ride in these "taxis" called "tap-taps". It's basically a shitty pickup truck with a hood built onto the back of it that is pretty much made out of cardboard. They line the inner of the truck with bench types so you basically line the sides of the back with people. We fit 14 people on the back of these things and its the most uncomfortable thing in the world. These people drive like animals and the roads are all torn up from the quake. It's a zig zagging weave of roads, very similar to St. Thomas. It's a painful ride to say the least. The beach is only 25KM away, which isnt even 20 miles, yet it takes over two hours to get there. The ride in itself was a pretty amazing experience. I could have taken the ride, got there, hopped right back in and went back and it would have been still one of the wildest days I've ever had. It literaly feels like a disney ride going up and down these mountains, except their are no regulations. I have some really amazing pictures to upload once I get home of the ride, as well as some video I captured just to show you what his place is all about.
We got to our destination and finally it was time for some desperately needed rest and relaxation. Yu have to realize everywhere we go, we draw a crowd. They don't really see white people and when they do, they like to ask for money all the time. You cant give them anything or else it'll be like feeding time at the zoo and that shit gets SCARY. People are starving, it's not like its civil and they stand in a single file line to ask questions They push, shove, kick and screa their way to survive...
So, we get to our beach and we are pretty much the only ones there. It was a little private type beach that we had to walk about two miles to, but the beauty of it was well worth it. By the time we all made it into the water, their were about 50 Haitians just standing on a cliff staring at us. By the time we noticed that, another 50 were ready to come swim with us. It's strange at frst because you dont know how to react. Youre taught that its not safe here at all and to protect yourself, but on the other hand you want to learn and some of the locals genuinely do too. The vast majority of them are ecstatic that we're here. They come up and thank us repeatedly and are truly grateful for our effort. It's a nice feeling, one I've never really felt before. As the time went on we swam out a little further to a giant piece of coral sticking out of the water and decided to start jumping off for a little cliff diving adventure. It was cool because thats where we started that days bond with the locals. By the time two people from our group swam out to the rock, their were 5 locals following. We climbed to the top and immediatly exchanged high fives and started laughing. We all started jumping off, doing our thing and just enjoying the day. By the time I was done I had us all doing flips off of it and giggling like a bunch of school girls. For some reason, these people just love the gentle giant:)
When it was time to walk back, we wanted to do some shopping and I picked up some amazing art that I can't wait to plaster on my wall. It started getting cloudy and we knew we had to hit the road soon. By the time we were halfway home, the rain started coming, and boy did it come. It was like a hurricane that night, flooding everywhere. Our base is located at the bottom of all the mountains so by the time its done, we get flooded as HELLLL!! We finally made it home and we were pretty much all exhausted. After that day I laid in bed and thought to myself I could live here forever. I literally laid there for an hour just thinking to myself how much I love it, as I tried to fall asleep. It's not easy falling asleep here. You have to understand, we sleep in either tents or these awful bunk beds made of slabs of wood. They are lined up underneath this giant brick roofing and we go about 10 deep with 6 aisles. Its hard to explain but I will have a giant video tour of our base once I get home and edit my video.
When we first arrive they explain that if theirs an earthquake, you yell earthquake and everyone runs into the middle where their is no cover. That day it rained so it was slippery everywhere as our camp floods pretty much daily. We sleep with these mosquito nets around our entire bunk so we dont get bit to death so we each look like little cacoons. At night it's dark and all you hear is a mixture of farm animals making as much noise as possible. If it ever gets silent here, be scared. So, finally I fell asleep and within twenty minutes of that I felt my bunk shaking. I thought maybe my bottom bunker was just getting on and making a little rattle until I heard about fifty people yell "EAAARRRTHHHHQUAAAAKKKEEEEE!!!!" Holy shit, I've never jumped up so quick. I jumped right through my mosquito net and right off the top bunk, which is about 6 feet down. I sleep pretty close to the center, so as soon as I landed, about 8 people were sprinting at me and I got gang tackled like a streaker running onto the Phillies field during a game(yeah, I heard about it) Not to mention, it was like running on a slip and slide. It was so intense I realy don't even know how to desribe it other than SCARY. It's a helpless feeling to know the earth is shaking as you are trying to run from it. People were freaking out, screaming and yelling. We had only one minor injury, but that was one too many. People don't realize it doesn't help to panic, but as we all know, they do it anyway. One of the scariest moments of my life, and made me rethink living here for sure. It was only a 4.0, but still a quake nonetheless. That night I didn't go back to my bed. I just laid in the center on the concrete and slept right fuckin there. I'd rather have a peace of mind than prove to these people I am tough enough to go right back to bed in the same place that just shook me like an unloved baby.
It's exhausting here. Mentally and Physically. I am fighting to stay grounded and keep on moving forward. I dont know when my next blog will be. I dont wanna bore you with babble like I feel I did this one. I miss you all. I don't know when I'll be home, but I know now it will be sometime sooner rather than later. I am just going to keep on working as much as I can and do everything I can with the time I have here until I just can't fight for it anymore. When I do write to you next, it will be emotional for me. Because I am saving my last ounce of energy to explain the emotions I've went thru on this entire journey. I love you all and hope you pray for me. I know I pray for you.
LOVE
Dan.
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