Before the massive earthquake in Haiti in 2010, I honestly
did not know that the island nation existed. Well maybe I knew, I just did not
pay much attention to it. Therefore, for me the tragedy helped put the country
on my map or on my radar of countries I knew I wanted to visit. When my chance came during youth meeting at
my church community to suggest a country our group should visit, I was the
first one to shout Haiti. There were other suggestions like South Africa and
Tanzania, but with my strong will of wanting to go to this island country, I managed
to have some fellow friends changed their minds and Haiti eventually was the
decided destination.
After a long wait, the trip was finally here and I could not
wait to get all my stuff and get on that flight to port au prince (Haiti’s
capital). At the airport in Washington DC, while waiting to board my flight, I
read some articles online on Haitian culture. I could not help but think of all
I had read about Haiti, both good and bad, and I wanted to experience it all.
After a 3-hour flight to Fort Lauder-dale, we boarded another flight to port au
prince. Before landing, I looked out the window and could not believe how
beautiful the sea features were. A very clear blue-green waters with Sea
Mountains and valleys. After a two-hour flight from south Florida, we finally
landed at PAP. Going through security check lines, I could not help but feel
how hot and dry the air was and also thought how entertaining the traditional
Haitian band playing Africa drums to welcome tourists were. We each tipped them
a couple American dollars and moved to getting our bags.
We got all our bags and headed to our hotel where we stayed
for the next couple of days (Palm inn hotel in Delmas). We ate dinner and we
all were to retreat to rest in our respective rooms to get some sleep and get
ready for the long day we had the next day. Being a people’s person, I had
quickly befriended an employee Kayid. I had asked about Haiti’s voodoo religion
and culture that I had read about during the 2-hour layover in Fort Lauder-dale.
Kayid was proficient in English so he promised
to show me around later that evening when he got off the clock and everyone who
could stop this adventure had gone to sleep. It was about 9.00 pm, kayid had was officially
off the clock, and we could go out. We walked about 5 minutes and then took a
tap tap (a Haitian taxi where passengers sat at the back of a roofed pickup
truck). ‘Get down here’ kayid said to me when we had arrived at junction with
fairly a lot of people. For some strange reason, I was not so scared following
this stranger around in a strange country. I could smell some grilling on the
street and asked if we could buy some.
“Griot” kayid shouted to me. ‘Tu veux le griot’ he said to me pointing
at grill of
roasted steak and pork. I said yes and he explained to me that
griot was fried pork and it was a staple Haitian street food. We both got some griot for 100 gourdes each,
which is equivalent to about four US dollars then we walked into a nearby street. We
walked about a quarter of a mile in then we stopped at what looked like an old battered
house. Now I was a little scared however there where some people walking up and
down the street and being a former track runner at my high school, I trusted my
legs. ‘There’s a voodoo temple in there’ he said to me. He later explained that
a couple days before our arrival there was a voodoo ceremony festival. I quickly
thought my English 336 assignment to cover an event like a festival and said oh
damn it. ‘Do you want to go inside’ he asked. I quickly said no and turned back
to return to the main street. Kayid began to laugh and started saying I was
scared which I was but did not admit to. ‘Where else do you want to go to’ he
asked. After joggling some ideas around, we both agreed it was late and time
for me to head back to the hotel and Kayid to his house. Again, we took a tap
tap and within a few minutes, I was in front of Palm Inn. Kayid asked if we
could do some more exploring the next day and I explain how busy my day will be
the next day. I said good-bye and went straight to sleep.
‘Where are you from’? 'Maryland' I answered when
asked by a local at breakfast. her name was Sasha. She told me she has been to New York because she had some family living there
but had only driven through Maryland. After a small friendly conversation, I said
my au revoir because our group were leaving for Haiti's national museum. The museum
did not allow pictures but they had cool artifacts like Christopher Columbus’
anchor of the lost ship that left Spain in 1492 and also actual Native American
spears and weapons used to fight against the invaders.
After spending a couple hours at the
museum, we moved on to go see the remains of the 2010 earthquake. The Catholic
Church, homes, market places etc. One place that hurt me the most and I could imagine
myself in such situation was a local high school. As the guide explained that he,
in fact was there outside this high when it happened. He explained how he could see students trapped
in the building as it had crushed so many and he could see hands sticking out
crying for help as they were died. I immediately burst out in tears and took
some alone time. Also seeing the kids on the streets asking for food was not
helping the situation. Because everyone was so sad, we decided to head to Wahoo
beach to lighten up the day and save the trip to the orphanage for later. The days following, we went out to the villages of port au prince and I eventually met
up with kayid again, but that is another story.
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