Yesterday, I woke up at 0300 to get to the airport on time. Although I thought I had plenty of time, I quickly realized there were long lines and people had an absolutely absurd number of bags which really slowed down the check in line. The poky puppies in the lines were also going to Haiti. There were a few groups that had matching shirts with slogans such as " Mission Haiti" or "Bless the Children" and many of them had no fewer than 4 or 5 bags each as it is less expensive to bring bags than to send them from the US.Needless to say the check in took an extraordinary amount of time because of all of these bags. These groups were all astonished that I was travelling to Haiti alone and without a bright colored t shirt. Also, I had only one bag. The long and the short of it is that I was able to catch the plane to Port au Prince from Miami but it was a close call. When I arrived it took a little while to find my bag as the luggage gets lined up in a separate area from the conveyor belt if it hasn't been claimed right away. After this I stuck with my newfound friends from the plane ride so that I wouldn't appear alone as I left the airport. When I walked outside Boudo was waiting with a sign so it was really easy to find him and then we drove home.
Boudo and I have been working on the Biosand project together. I would not be able to ask the right questions or talk to the right people without his input and ideas. This is definetely a joint effort. Yesterday we went over the questions we will ask when we are interviewing people. We have come up with a good list and today we are going to print these and photocopy these as my translations from home were not quite perfect.
The house I am staying in is quite lovely and my room is beautiful. It has yellow walls and there is a bathroom with a shower for me to use. I also have a Biosand filter right outside of my room. Yesterday I learned where to gather the water from to put it in the filter. There is a well right next to the kitchen so it is very convenient to collect the water.
The children are wonderful and we have been reading some books and coloring pictures. This morning I had bread soup and coffee. Polene is a great cook and I can't wait to try some more Haitian cuisine!
time to go!
Katie
No comments:
Post a Comment