St. Marc bound! Day one in Haiti.

The plane ride to Haiti was MUCH put than the one to Fort Lauderdale. I didn't have to take any anxiety medicine and the lady beside me traded seats so Megan could sit next to me. The sun was rising and it was a very beautiful view for my first trip over the ocean. 

I don't know what my expectations were going in to Haiti, but just flying over Haiti was an eye opener. You could see the shacks from the air. Haiti itself is a very beautiful island. Gorgeous green rolling mountains. The air port was tiny. We disembarked via outside steps rolled to the plane. The first thing you notice about Haiti is the smell. There is a noticeable stench in the air. The airport itself was an experience I will never forget. The people were very nice until we went to get our baggage. There were men there who were trying to scam us out of money. Grabbing our bags then demanding to be paid for grabbing bags we didn't even ask them to grab. It was a little overwhelming. Thankfully our YWAM Airport representative came to our rescue, and got us out but not without shelling out some money to the scammers. 

When we got settled on our bus (no a/c) our Outreach coordinator Kate called to let us know there were riots and attacks on the route they would normally bring us on so we would have to go the long way around. It took us 4 hours (maybe more) to reach St. Marc. On the way we were treated to beautiful scenery and a tour of some of the towns people live in. Our driver had some impressive skills. From what I could tell there isn't a speed limit and no rules of the road. There are people weaving in and out of traffic speeding around you and a lot of honking. 

Sometimes when we were in traffic people would walk up to our windows and offer water, fruit, fried plantains, and coca cola. We all said no politely. Pretty much everyone we saw was nice and waved, we only had one rude person the whole bus ride. We saw some nudity. Especially around the rivers where people were bathing and washing clothes. Other times it was children. 

Pulling into YWAM St. Marc was awesome. I had been talking to my friend Kate, who lives there, since last fall. We talk a lot over Facebook. So I was excited to meet her for the first time and to see the base I had read so much about. They had lunch ready for us and some much appreciated ice cold water. After we ate we took a tour of the base. Once we finished the tour we went up to our dorms to fix our beds and put our stuff away. 

While my friend Kristy was fixing her bed net she stood up and hit her head on a metal fan that was running at full blast. We all asked her if she was okay and she said "I'm fine", but when she removed her hand you could tell she was clearly not fine. Our outreach coordinator has EMT training and was able to stop the bleeding, but the base director said she needed medical attention so he drove her and Lee to some American doctors where they patched her up and gave her some stitches and medicine. Asking for prayers for her complete healing!

Dinner was delicious. I never knew rice with tomato and bean sauce could be so good. We also had fresh pineapple for dessert and Haitian Coca Cola. I am not a Coke drinker but Haitian Coke is delicious. 

I just ask for your prayers. I feel like Satan is trying to get us down. We had so many hiccups getting down here, then getting to the base, and the minor medical emergency (that we all thought was major at the time). We need prayer because Satan doesn't want us doing what we are here to do and he is trying to stop us.