Deception

I made it to Haiti today after 30 hours of traveling. I tried once already to type up my blog, but then we lost internet. So here is a super condensed version

I landed in Miami last night after my flight was delayed in Dallas. Got there around 11:30. Caught a shuttle to my hotel. The two girls I was sharing a room with were already asleep so I had to share a bed with a girl I had never met. It was awkward but she turned out to be super cool and very helpful coming into Haiti since she has been before and has experience

Upon arriving in Port-au-Prince my group that I was with had a 5 hour layover in the national airport there before we flew to Port-de-Paix on a 20 passenger plane. Scariest flight of my life with the amount of wind and turbulence today! After arriving in Port-de-Paix we took a tap-tap for about an hour to St. Louis du Nord. For those of you who don't know what a tap-tap is, it is essentially a truck whose bed has been converted into a bench on either side.

The ride to St. Louis du Nord made me realize how deceiving Haiti can be. Many people I had talked to told me that Haiti was ugly and flat and treeless. While that may be true for areas around Port-au-Prince, it certainly isn't true here in the north. St. Louis is right off the coast and has mountains and many trees. I'll try to upload a picture of the view from our dorm balcony (which if my checked bags come in that has my mosquito next tonight, I'll be sleeping on outside tonight with several of the other interns.)The view is absolutely breath taking!

Yet while the views of the landscape from the ground and the air are absolutely gorgeous, the living conditions are not. Haiti is poverty. As we rode through on the tap-tap the smell of sewage filled the streets, people had to walk to get 'clean' water and many homes were shacks made out of trees or metal. This country needs a whole lot of help! I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to work at this mission and serve the people of Haiti. Because while they may not live in a place that is desirable, they are desirable. The Lord desires them so much! He wants them! He loves them and he calls us to love them as well.

Ally-ism of the day: I did not know the creole words for women and men. Which made figuring out which public restroom to use in the airport a little difficult.