Monday, September 10 - One Wild Ride Part 1

Monday was the most eventful day on the trip and the title one wild ride doesn't begin to describe what really happened that day.  Looking back Monday could have been called a million things but ultimately it was about getting the final adoption paperwork - THE IBESR TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION!

I have traveled the road from Camatin to Jacmel many times and conversely I have gone the other way from Camatin to Port au Prince many times as well. This trip goes down as an EPIC journey that is almost unbelievable.

Christy and I had stressed for several weeks about what would happen when we got to Camatin.  The thing we knew was that we had to get the IBESR travel authorization for Berline to leave Haiti.  Hearing the stories from other parents in our adoption group we knew that at best we were looking at a long day that involved traveling to PAP, meeting with Nathalie, and then sitting at IBESR for several hours to get the authorization at worst it could take several days to complete everything.

The travel authorization is a stack of papers that must be presented to Haitian Immigration at the airport.  The travel authorization validates Berline's Visa and lets the authorities know that we have permission of the Director of IBESR to leave Haiti.  It wasn't a necessary step until after the earthquake.  Since then there has been concern about child trafficking and I am in complete agreement that we need to protect the children of Haiti so I have no problem with the Haitian Government trying to do the right thing.  However, as with everything else in Haiti getting the travel authorization can be a difficult process.

We had called Jabet on Sunday afternoon with the help of Marie Flo to see when and where he would be meeting us to go to PAP for the appointment.  Jabet told us that he would be picking us up on Monday morning and something was said about 8:30 AM.   Even with the best English speakers in Haiti there is always a gap of information, something that gets lost in translation.  Christy and I were confused as usual.  Based on the past experiences in Haiti Christy and I knew that we would be leaving early to get to PAP before the traffic got bad in Carrefour.  This lack of information brought out some real questions we didn't have answers for.  Did Jabet mean that we were leaving at 8:30 AM or was the appointment at 8:30 AM?  If our appointment was at 8:30 AM  did we need to be ready to go at 5:30 AM?  We knew the truck and the rest of the team was leaving on Monday morning to go to Jacmel to pick up building materials to start the bench building project.  When they left we would have no way to get around other than walking.  So we just had to be faithful and know that Jabet had a plan.

Jabet is a former orphan that was identified by Pastor Nicholas Juste as a "kid" with lots of potential.  Just as Pastor Nicholas had identifed many others, Jabet was sent to school, got a good education and now works for Ricot.  Jabet is full of life and continually laughs with an infectious laugh that creates joy in all those he comes in contact with.  Jabet has become a dear friend and I feel blessed that I have gotten to know him.  A church purchased Jabet a dirt bike several months ago.  It is green and very sporty.  Every time I think of Jabet I see him on the bike darting in and out of traffic on the road from Camatin to PAP. 

Christy and I slept fitfully on Sunday night.  It was hot and we were unsure of when and where we needed to be on Monday so I kept waking up every few hours to check my watch, phone, IPOD, and any other time piece that was available.  We got up and were read to go by 6:00 AM knowing that Jabet would be there any minute.  Well minutes seemed to turn into days and finally at about 8:30 AM we called Jabet to see when he would be getting there only to find out that Jabet was sitting in traffic in Carrefour.   Knowing the road from PAP Jabet wouldn't be in Camatin for another 2 hours, but we were ready.  The team got up, loaded up the truck, and left for Jacmel.  Christy, Berline, and I were left sitting in the orphanage just waiting on Jabet.

At about 10:00 AM Ricot's truck comes roaring down the drive to the orphanage with Jabet at the wheel.  Jabet comes to a stop and out jumps several Haitians and Jabet.  I looked down from the second floor and saw something odd, the back of Ricot's truck was pink.  It appeared that Jabet had picked up Leslie and some paint so that Leslie could do a job near Camatin.  That paint had crashed hard in the back of Ricot's truck and was now all over the bed liner.  That should have been a hint of what was to come during the rest of the day but Christy and I were just excited to get going. 

Berline, Christy, and I loaded up into the backseat of the truck.  Jabet turns to us and tells us that the Haitian lady in the front seat has to go to court in Jacmel before we can go to PAP.  In the best Haitian Creole we can muster Christy and I say, "Ok, no problem".  So off we go to the end of the drive and a right turn towards Jacmel. 

To give perspective to what it really is like to travel by car/truck in Haiti I can think of only one real comparison here in the USA.  For those of you familiar with Highway 129 (aka The Dragon's Tail) that runs through Monroe County, Blount County, and on into North Carolina this is a good starting spot.  The Dragon's Tail is an 11 mile stretch of road that has 311 curves.  It is a popular spot for motorcyclists and those with high performance cars but not the best route for travel from Blount County to North Carolina.  The road continually switches back and can be very dizzying for those who tend to get motion sick.  However, the Dragon's Tail is a masterpiece of engineering compared to mountain roads in Haiti.

The road that runs from Leoganne to Jacmel is very similar to the Dragon's Tail only longer.  It was constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers during the "Occupation" of Haiti back in the early part of the 20th century.  It is a mountain road that is full of curves and is roughly 20 miles in length.  The road goes up some serious climbs and offers some spectacular views of the mountains in Haiti, but there are certain things to remember when you drive in Haiti and I have made a short list.

• There are always people walking on both sides of the road. 
• Every so often you run into markets, fruit stands, animals, soccer games, , landslides, police road blocks, etc. 
• If you slow down someone may jump on your vehicle and try to sell you something. 
• You will get passed no matter how fast you are going.
• Horns make a great sound so blow them all the time.
• Motorcycles are like mosquitoes - they are everywhere!
• It is not illegal to drink and drive.
• You cannot legally drive a car without a shirt on however no one has said if you have to have pants on.  

By PCAP truck it takes about 40 minutes to get to Jacmel.  We have had the fortune of making the ride several times so Christy and I arefamiliar with the route and not overly concerned about a quick stop at court before heading to PAP.  As we quickly discover being in Ricot's truck with Jabet at the wheel is more similar to riding Space Mountain that riding in the PCAP truck.  It us less than 20 minutes to reach Jacmel and all this without a seat belt.  

 

We circled around the courthouse and after much horn honking and chatter found a parking place near the "Home Depot" or local hard ward store.  Jabet jumped out with the Haitian woman and said that he would be back shortly. While sitting and waiting Christy and I are talking about the people we see on the streets.  Everyone was wearing blue jeans.  It was 90 plus degrees, the sun was beating down, and people were walking around in long shirts and blue jeans.  It was odd to see but it is life in Haiti where it is 90 degrees every day.  Another interesting thing is that you never see "blancs" or white people.  White people really stick out in Haiti.  The country has less than 5% Caucasians so we got a few stares while we were sitting in Ricot's truck.

We waited for about 30 minutes and Jabet comes back to the truck with the Haitian lady.  We are finished and now on to PAP.  We take off towards the main road and sticking out like a beacon ahead of us are a group of blancs loading lumber on to the PCAP truck.  Our group is picking up lumber to build desks in Coq Chante.  So we do the Haitian thing and stop to say Hi. 

It was really neat to see the Club kids along with our team working to load lumber onto the PCAP truck.  The kids were working hard and looked comfortable in a foreign place with a different set of rules.  We hung out for 30 minutes or so and bought some drinks (25 goudes will buy a 20 oz Coke in a plastic bottle) on the side of the road.  We loaded back up with some additional passengers that we would drop off at the orphanage on the way to PAP. By now it was around noon, only a 2 hour drive to PAP, assuming that there was no traffic, and we would be sitting in the IBESR offices waiting on our travel authorization.