...and it begins

i made it into haiti today. we stopped in turks and corcas (sp?). a very beautiful island. we stayed there about an hour and made it into port au prince. coming in was kind of surreal. a lot of the flat out destruction has been cleaned up. though you do still see heaps of rubble on the side of the road and you don't know where it came from exactly.

coming out of the airport, it reminded me a lot of Liberia but a little more intense- it's really loud- people in a hurry to grab your bags so they can make money- but they are all competing, so they all want money. right when someone tried to grab our bags- melissa said, "and it starts" right when i said, "and so it begins". i think we were right. it turns out that working in an organization, it becomes a small world- there's a girl here who left Liberia about 6 weeks before I went- so i already felt like i know her and other friends of friends along with people i went to orientation with. it makes it an easier transition when that happens.

so, yesterday (when i actually started writing this) was quite the first day. we made it in and the compound is really a lot nicer than i thought it would be. except....for the bathroom. don't get me wrong, this is my 18th country, i've used latrines before, i've bush squated before (probably TMI) but i have never smelled anything like this. it was rancid mixed with asinine. so, my friend, flor and i decided that we were going to bleach these bathrooms. we find some bleach in logistics and go to town. literally, our eyes are burning and i'm yelling at flor that we have to get out and breathe. flor is salvadorian, which makes it hilariously funny. i tell her i'm going to get some paper towels and all she can say is, "please do. in case i die" and to explain how horrible this smell is- flor has also used latrines in sudan, myanmar, lots of places- so it wasn't just me. but oh, flor made me laugh- saying how it was impossible. so i said, "Flor, nothing is impossible with God" and flor said, "yes. God, please give us mercy" which made me laugh harder.

so, i guess onto something more serious, but you have to have some fun right? well, it's been interesting. we were supposed to leave for the sub-base where they really need our help today- but transportation issues happened, so we're leaving tomorrow. i'm excited to go. i've done some organizational stuff here in the past two days- which isn't bad. you need organization on the main base- but i am ready to be out there and stuff.

thanks to all for your prayers: please continue to do so. i know that with all people- it's kind of out of sight, out of mind, but please don't forget about the people of Haiti. people are just so desperate and rightly so. all they want is food but we have seen that despearation- and i can't go into all of the details- but just know that those who are doing distributions can use your prayers. the staff here quickly, quickly become family. you work with them, eat with them, sleep beside them, and laugh with them too- so, their safety means more than just, "O God, please be with the relief workers in Haiti".

also, when i leave tomorrow, we're going to a place that got hit pretty bad. supposedly, they still have tremors. people have become used to them. pray that we can be used to bring some relief to the pain that they have experienced while we're there.

love you all!
patty