Hurricane ...what hurricane?

Well, news doesn't travel fast here in Haiti. Upon returning from our trip to Cape Haitian, we read our e-mails of storm warnings and hurricanes and we knew nothing was even threatening the island. I believe we were hiking / 4x4 trucking to a fort called the Citadel during this tropical storm, and I do remember saying to Sharon, "this could be a hurricane for all we know; we haven't seen the news for 3 weeks"--and it seems like I was more right than I thought.

Our trip to O'kap (as they call it) went well. We visited some historical areas which are a source of great pride for Haitians. If you know it or not, they were the first independent country in the Americas and fought very very hard for that independence. The Citadel was built to defend their freedom; after 14 years of construction the king died and the Citadel was never finished and never used as a means of defense.

We also had the chance to dip our toes in the Caribbean waters and swim a little bit, and we found starfish, crabs, and all sort of sea life right by the shore. Something that made me chuckle was the name of our hotel: the "Gros Bebe," which in French is the Big/Fat Baby, and in Haiti means that you are cute as a baby. On the downside, most of us got sick; they say it's Haiti getting into us and that everyone gets sick when they come....great. We're better now after a day of rest.

To give you a little idea of our trip, there was 7 of us in a 4 door pick-up, 3 up front and 4 in the back. Imagine the worst roads you've been on and multiply by 10 or so. The four of us in the back jostled around for about 7 hours each way, sometimes whacking our heads against the window because the car shook so much. I emerged with a bruise on my hip from all the bumps....these are seriously potholed roads.

My new dilemma is what to do when you are asked for money. In the U.S., I got used to ignoring people asking for money, but now these people really need money--its still awkward. White folks are called "blan" here, and every once in awhile a young boy will see you and say, "Blan, give me some money!" It's hard to blame them, as most Americans come so they can give things away (money, food, clothes, medicine) with the best intentions, but it has created an impression that all blans are wealthy and have things to give away. This opens up a whole can of worms. I shouldn't go too far now in my personal impressions of Haiti; maybe after a year of two I can more accurately describe it, but for now I am merely an observer in my third week of living in Haiti.