day two:
i feel like i've been stuck in the russian roulette scene from deer hunter for the past four hours. haitians screaming through me into cell phones negotiating over our daughter to be. well, minus the deniro and walken characters. just the crazy guys with money in their hands. this all while spending an exhausting & exhilarating day with 60 of the greatest kids i've ever laid eyes on. suddenly, it's calm. all sides have come together and we are as close as we've ever been to being a family of four. i could sleep for months.
day one:
it's been 5 months since we've been to haiti. it's also been 5 months since we decided to try and actually do something here. our previous visit was eye opening, transformative, life changing, humbling, and ultimately a wake up call. we're trying to adopt a child and make a difference, 2 things that can co-mingle and entirely intersect with profound implications on personal lives we barely know. a scrap of an idea where to start and no idea where to stop.
flying in to port-au-price was a bit disheartening. yeah, we've followed the relief work ebb and flow, but seeing dozens of tent cities under the wings before landing is a callous reminder.
if the heartstrings don't sate you, the airport provides … you'd think landing in the caribbean would be a relaxed event (jamaica mon!). not so. you exit customs at warp speed. service workers descend like flies. They seemingly outnumber passengers. bring lots of $1's and expect lots of fights about them.
as our luck with amazing friends and contacts continue, it was arranged for us to be picked up by the local chief of police, saving us not only a ridiculously long walk from the airport to the taxi stand, but another onslaughts of men trying to help push your luggage cart ("we love americans!").
signs of slow progress abound leaving the airport in the packs of yellow clad rubble removers. unfortunately, until the endless mounds of concrete are dealt with, little reconstruction can take place.
we headed into port-au-prince. it looks exactly the same as it did 5 months ago. the cleanup takes place mostly by hand-- though we found out later the big equipment generally comes in at night. we rushed to meet our lawyer as it's the only time he is available on our trip. he outlined the final steps towards making the adoption a reality and given some help from her family, this can happen.
and then there's the food … i'm a vegetarian, but within reason. if there's nothing else to eat, well … had a biscuit at JFK this morning. next meal was dinner at the hotel. i haven't eaten chicken since i was last here, but tonight's menu dictated something on the carnivore side. decided to go all out … bad idea … suffice to say, the worst chicken i've ever had. dry and tough. hard to take when there are actual chickens walking over your feet under the table.
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