Day 1: Arrival in Haiti!

Today is Monday, May 24, 2010. We began our day at 2:30am meeting our group of about 20 people at the church to get ready for our journey. We packed our 36 suitcases full of supplies and donations onto the school bus and headed for JFK airport. We arrived around 6am, had a 9am flight, and landed in Port au Prince at about 1pm. It was absolute craziness as soon as we stepped foot off the airplane, but Kim and Doctor Franco were both there to help us out. The 85 degree weather felt like well over 100 degrees. It took us a long time to gather all 36 suitcases that we brought. Then we got on another school bus to drive to the Christian Hatian Outreach Orphanage, where we would be staying for the week. The ride there took around 2 hours and during that time we were able to get a taste of what this third-world country was like. The city was a complete disaster. The damage from the earthquake quickly became apparent, but even before the quake I feel the area had many of the same qualities. Buildings were falling apart, heaps of rubble and garbage cluttered the streets everywhere, there were sites where hundreds of tents/tarp houses were set up- many even lined the median in the road, the streets were chaotic, wild pigs were in the rivers and garbage piles, and many begged for money.
When we finally reached the orphanage the kids ran up to the bus smiling, waving, and jumping up and down in excitment. We hung out with the kids for the rest of the day and night. They showed us around the orphanage and we listened to them sing for a while. Two girls became attached to me right away and they did not leave my side all day. I danced with the kids and taught them some new moves. Then, a teenage boy named Emmanuel taught me some Creole.. I learned how to say what is your name - Ki jan rele ..and how are you -Komanouye.. and beautiful -bel'.. and I like you- Mwen renmen ou! I told him I would keep practicing.. I couldn't believe how many kids were at the orphanage and the range of ages that were here. They were all so welcoming and so much fun. Before bed Doctor Franco met with us to tell us about what we will be doing all week.. It will be eventful, that's for sure! I can't wait..