The Start of Our Journey Home

     Our day started with packing.  Leaving behind all of the medicines, medical supplies and any personal items and clothing that could be used certainly lightened the load for the trip back.
     Because Jim and I were the "new guys" on our first trip, we got the opportunity to tour the orphanage.  They have a girls building and a boys building.  The beds and bunk beds are neatly arranged, with the personal possessions they do have stored or displayed in their own area.  In the boys big room, there was a large shoe rack that looked like a very big bookcase.  The rooms were neat, tidy and clean.  The bathrooms are outside as are the showers-I'll bet they are cold too!  There was a large dining area, a laundry "room" in an outbuilding and a cooking area that is no longer in use with the addition of newer facilities.
     After the tour, the bus was loaded and our goodbyes were said.  For most of the group, this was with old friends, but for Jim and I, it was with new friends that we will not forget. The bus ride was back to the airport, not to catch a plane, but to catch a bus for the rest of our trip to Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. On the bus ride to the airport, we saw large crowds of people gathered at several outdoor services as Haiti started the first day of a 3 day fasting and prayer period.  As we approached the City of Port au Prince we again saw the large tent cities that had sprung up.  The "tents" being a crude shelter of sheets, blankets or reed mats strung up across a wooden frame with the sheets flapping in the wind.  Enough to provide shade, but if it rains there won't be much shelter.  We then saw the many military encampments.  I saw flags from Britain, France, Canada and the US.  The UN troops we saw were all Brazilian.  Add to that the Jamaicans and there is quite a mix of military contingents that we saw and I'm sure there were more.  Once arriving at the airport, we had to wait only a short time for our next bus to arrive.
     Our next bus was a smaller tour bus and actually air conditioned.  The first leg of our journey was through the downtown area of Port au Prince.  The pictures that I posted earlier are but a very small picture of the magnitude of this disaster.  Block after block after block of destruction that is hard to fathom.  Some of the many storied buildings are pancaked one story on top of another and you know that the inhabitants are still in there.  In some of the larger buildings, maybe hundreds.  I could go on and on, but words cannot possibly describe it.  Again, we saw many gatherings of the services that started today.
     Leaving Port au Prince, we started what turned out to be an 8 hour ride through rural Haiti and into the Dominican Republic.  There was beautiful scenery, but evidence of poverty everywhere.  At the border there was a checkpoint but no formal immigration, we just slowed down and drove through.  We did get stopped at least 5 times however, at military checkpoints past the border.  No passport checks, just a visual check of who was on the bus.  The villages changed.  Now the houses, although still primitive, were painted in bright colors-pinks, greens, blues, yellows, etc.  There also appeared to be more organization of the village layout.  Although it appeared to be economically a step up from Haiti, rural Dominican Republic still appears to be a poor country.  Once arriving in Santa Domingo, we saw more night life-neon lights, music, motels, casinos,traffic.
     We arrived at the motel and ate dinner, then off to bed.  No night life and casinos for this crowd.  I'm sure I'm the last one up because I'm still typing.  now its my turn to turn in, so good night until tomorrow.